DC Restaino, LISP 2025 Flash Fiction Finalist, 'Our Swarm a Plague Over the Water'

- Could you please tell us about yourself and your daily routine?

I’m a freelance editor and PhD candidate at King’s College, so my days can be quite hectic and varied — which I actually prefer. At the moment of writing this, I’m getting to the end of the autumn term which means I’m bumping into a lot of deadlines so my days tend to start early with coffee and anxiety-induced existential dread. From there it’s just work. I try to take a walk every day, but consistency has never been my strongest attribute.

- When and how did you start writing?

I started writing out of anger and frustration when I was fifteen or sixteen. I think I was frustrated with a lot of things going on and I struggled to understand it, and writing helped me navigate that experience. I must’ve been a very fun teenager to deal with (sorry Mom and Dad). But now I like to joke that spite is what allowed me to get pieces published in places like Michigan Quarterly Review, Funicular Magazine, Thread Magazine, and now this anthology. So I guess it worked out in the end.

- How frequently do you write? Do you have a writing routine? And what inspires you to write?

I don’t really have a writing routine, and I don’t necessarily find that forcing myself to write for the sake of being productive to be conducive to good work. So I try now to be generous in what I’ve come to consider as my “writing practice”. It can range from simply taking notes of things I’ve read or seen throughout the day, listening to an author interview, or even just complaining to someone about being stuck in the middle of a new story. And I try to engage with writing in this way every day, though I’m not always successful. That being said, I do find that I write best after 2 AM.

- How does it feel to have your work acknowledged, whether through being a finalist in a competition or having it published? 

As someone who constantly re-edits work even after I submit it to publications, I’m often surprised, in a great way, that the story has resonated with people beyond myself. It’s a reminder that I’m not so alone in this process, and that is a gift in and of itself.

- What's the most rewarding and challenging aspect of writing a story or poetry? 

Every time I write I feel like I have to completely re-learn how to construct a story. It’s like raising children — every story is its own life, and what worked for one is rarely going to work for another. But there’s a joy in that as well.

- How did you come up with the idea for your LISP-selected story? Is there a story behind your story? And, how long have you been working on it? 

‘Our Swarm a Plague over the Water’ is part of a larger body of work dealing and contending with perceptions of climate change and disaster. With this story, I was focused on the idea of time — how our actions now result in consequences we won’t see the full impact of until years later and how that can mitigate our sense of responsibility. The perspective from the swarm of mosquitoes came about during the editing process. I’d like to say it was some grand moment of insight, but really it was just a narrative choice and I stuck with it.

- Please share a few tips on writing poetry/stories. 

Lean into your weirdness. That’s where the interesting parts of a story exist.

- Finally, would you recommend that writers consider submitting to LISP?

Of course.