What would you do if the company you worked for started to feel a little bit off? And not just in a criminal enterprise kind of way, but in a reality-bending, defying laws of nature kind of way?
From the author of the critically acclaimed Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel, Fillius Glint, Sticks Shift Incorporated (SSIP) is an audio drama podcast slated to debut in 2020 that tackles this very question.
Ditrie Marie Bowie, the creator of SSIP, is a professional voice actor, artist, and musician with a master’s degree in creative writing from Full Sail University. As a queer Latinx immigrant who openly struggles with chronic and mental illnesses, Bowie’s goal is for SSIP to center and showcase as many disenfranchised voices as possible.
Sticks Shift Incorporated is a mystery about life, death, and capitalism set in a fictional version of modern-day Vancouver, BC. We enter the story just as Skyler Henderson has given up all hopes of pursuing the journalistic career that they’ve dreamt about since childhood. And then we follow along as an overworked and jaded Skyler takes on a driving position for a gig-economy-based company called Sticks Shift Incorporated. At this point, a desperate Skyler only has hopes of squirrelling away enough money to move back to a less densely populated area and where they would have a higher chance at buying a house of their own.
But as the story continues to progress, we and Skyler realize that there is far more to this “ride share” company than meets the eye. It also turns out that Skyler’s roommates are not what they seem– at all. As Skyler’s innate journalistic curiosity is piqued, they begin to uncover more and more secrets. But along with those secrets comes increased danger as the forces involved would do anything to stay hidden from public view. As things begin to spiral out of control, some unlikely allies rise to the fore and help Skyler push back the veil to reveal some dangerous corporate forces that may not be so corporate– or even human– after all.
