Thank God it’s finally here. I live in the suburbs of Chicago and every single year I struggle to make it through the winter with my mind intact. It’s only become harder with small kids.
You know those scenes in every Superman movie when our hero—after suffering an epic beating—ascends like Jesus into the mesosphere to bathe in solar energy until his strength and energy visibly return? That’s me at this annual point when we hit True Summer.
My brain relaxes, my lungs expand, the wintery scales slough off my face, shoulders and arms, and I remember that I actually enjoy being alive.
Not that I’ve been unhappy, just busy. My company’s financial year ends this month so it’s been a mad dash to finish strong. I’m pleased with my results even if getting here was often like allowing myself to be punched in the back of the head while trying to perform CPR on someone who doesn’t want to be saved. (I won an award this week, so that’s added ten points to my mental health.)
I’m writing this now on a deck at a house in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. My in-laws rented it for the week and generously invited all family to come and go as they please. So I’ve planted myself here and I’m not leaving until someone makes me.
It’s beautiful, calm, quiet, and certainly what I’ve needed.
I’ve had some moments here in which I’ve been able to fully detach, which is a blessing. For months, I’ve been grappling with just how fragmented our modern world is. Not just fragmented but distracting and brain-melting. The more tools, apps and platforms that pile atop me, the less productive I actually feel.
The best productivity app, I’ve decided, is just a notebook paired with a good pen, used in absolute silence. I’ve had an opportunity to enjoy that here.
I’ve needed this break. I hope you get one too.
What I’ve been writing:
At the time of this publication, my short survival horror novel NORTH DARK is now available in full here.
Here’s the pitch: CALL OF THE WILD meets THE ROAD. A dogsledder travels a desolate tundra in search of the fugitive who destroyed his family. Expect dogsled chases, ghosts, gruesomeness.
I hope you’ll check it out and I hope you enjoy it.
What I’ve been reading, watching and listening to lately:
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
I am slowly sailing through Moby-Dick. I’m only fifteen or so chapters in (of, like, one million) but I’m thoroughly enjoying it. The voice is just voluminous. Every thought, every moment and interaction, just launches pages of prose and it’s all beautiful, funny and packed with care.
Civil War
I love writer-director Alex Garland. His first novel THE BEACH was MY book when I was a kid. 28 DAYS LATER punched my brain in the face (in a good way). And when I saw him speak in Chicago a few years ago, I came away inspired and impressed by his calm, methodical, brilliant mind.
When I first heard about CIVIL WAR, I wasn’t pumped. For many of us in the states, now does NOT feel like a time to be bringing such a premise to life. It’s the first time I ever felt skepticism for something of his, but, I saw it and his genius was reaffirmed. If you’re worried that CIVIL WAR is exactly the kind of thing that’s going to dial the temperature up when we should be doing anything but, let me assure you that Garland is smarter than that.
Disturbing premise aside, this is the best acting I’ve seen in a film this year. The leads are incredible. Absorbing the madness from their tired and professional perspective is the right call. It creates a distance between us and the war itself which never glorifies the violence.
The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
When’s the last time you saw a really fun adventure movie that didn’t insult your intelligence? I did not expect to love this as much as I did but it’s just a joy. Don’t let the silly title prevent you from enjoying a journey that is both spectacular, meaningful and packed with character.
Los Campesinos!
This Welsh indie rock band is smart and funny and their upbeat jams feature all the soaring guitar and clap-alongs an aging pop punk kid like me could ask for. I had no idea about Los Campesinos! but they’ve been around for years which is great because I’m enjoying their new album and their (entirely new to me) back catalogue.
Modest Mouse and The Pixies
And finally, the other night I went with my brother, my future brother-in-law, and his best friends to see a pair of all-time greats perform.
Modest Mouse represents a major step forward in the sophistication of my rock music taste and I’ll always love them. (Spitting Venom is one of my top ten rock songs ever.) The show was a blast and a great reminder for me to spend more time listening to The Pixies. Black Francis is an active volcano of vocal power.
Where to find me…
I hope your summer is off to an amazing start.
I also hope you’ll check out NORTH DARK (available free on my Substack). Do let me know what you think. I’m also on Threads, Notes, and findable everywhere else through my website here.
Abeamus, friends.
What an awesome update! Glad your summer is off to a good start!
Great read and update, Lane. Thank you.
I've been waiting for you to finish North Dark before I plunged in to continue to the finish. That can now be commenced!
Enjoy that True Summer. How I longer for that now in the winter of Melbourne, Australia, where we've had far too many mornings already that have been near to 0C. Nothing compared to Chicago, I'm sure, but Melbourne doesn't believe in house insulation, so it always feels colder than my youth in the UK.
I've been toying with Moby Dick as my next read, but I'm not sure yet. I've always wanted to read it but never gotten to it. I've just finished Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun and my mind is melted. I will reread it at some point, to glean all the many details I missed. One of the best sets of books I've ever read, for sure.
Enjoy the summer and slowdown. How true this is: "For months, I’ve been grappling with just how fragmented our modern world is. Not just fragmented but distracting and brain-melting."