Foreword

1 Week Until Launch

Update #6

A Word From the Editor, Subscriber Chat, and a Shiny New ISBN.

Foreword

Bryant’s written to you about the Loop for the last few weeks – only in suggestion, not in detail. For specifics, you’ll have to dive into the novel. For the foreword, I want to tell you about a different sort of loop, one from our reality: a little background about the author, himself; how I came to work on this project; and the way the love for the craft works like glue. 

I met Bryant in college. I think the year was 2012, but I was drinking a lot back then and wet memory is unreliable, even in hindsight. We were the non-traditional students (in many more ways than just age) at a wealthy, Jesuit university in Kansas City. In a very Breakfast Club way, Bryant and I sat on opposite sides of a stereotype spectrum and, if not for our love of wordslinging, likely would not have been friends. Bryant was a Marine veteran and full-fledged Christian. I was a tiny lesbian with a typewriter and big unresolved trauma. He rarely missed a class; I finished essays in the elevator on the way to class. 

It was writing that brought us together. Bryant recounts that, in addition to using a typewriter, instead of a computer, I showed up on the first day of class with a stack of sentence diagramming and grammar books. He thought, “Finally someone who is serious about writing!” Our differences didn’t matter. We both loved words, and we both loved story—craved it, hungered for it—and we saw it everywhere. In 2014, when he introduced me to Vastland, his would-be novel, I immediately jumped at the chance to edit for him. It’s rare to meet another human who sees the world in story. I wanted to see the world he was making with his story. 

I read the first draft of Vastland during my smoke breaks, at a law firm we called “The Death Star.” I think, originally, there were even dragons in that early version. It has been a major honor of my literary life to walk through so many drafts of Vastland, especially as we edited ourselves alongside it. As Vastland grew up, so did we: Bryant de-constructed his Christianity, embraced his queerness, and currently lives with his two brilliant partners in Seattle. I transitioned, escaped my difficult upbringing, and now live safely in San Diego. 

This is a quick and dirty overview—in suggestion, not in detail—of where we’ve both been and how Vastland has kept us looping back toward each other and back to the craft; it has stoked the fire of our friendship, as well as our love of writing, for over a decade. Bryant carried it along in his mind all these years, and I’ve had the privilege of being the polisher and editor. A few weeks ago, we were putting some finishing touches on chapters for you all and he texted me, “Damn, I love how you can polish my writing. What a gift to have someone who knows me so well.”

This is a gift for both of us. It has been a joy beyond my wildest dreams to know and be known by another writer, who also finds themself embroiled in story, and desires to share it with the world.

It is my deep honor to announce: He’s ready to share it now.

-Alex

Foreword, Redux

A note from (another) editor.

Or, a journey through a vast land.

Is a sword a weapon? A tool? An instrument of peace or of war? In the hands of the experienced, perhaps it is all of these things at different times, and that is what the keyboard is when wielded by someone like Bryant.

The core of our brotherhood is a potent mix of creativity and brain chemistry, holding a half a dozen conversations at once and wondering why everyone else around the circle is wearing the look of missing their train at the station. Of the countless conversations we’ve been lost in, I will always recall those pertaining to the formation of the truly amazing Vastland. From immortal gunslinging bounty hunters to drug-running techno-zombies, there has never been a dilution of the creative. In fact, Bryant’s first time painting the hopeless, corporate-controlled wasteland for me led to a short story I wrote within that world, one that I was unable to free myself from until it was on the page and in his hands.

Ever since then, Vastland has periodically occupied my life. Different drafts. Countless calls to discuss ideas and creation. As the first full manuscript I have been exceptionally privileged to work on as the developmental editor. And now, as a completed work for others, such as yourself, to engage with and enjoy.

And you know what? I hope you will never be able to see all of that work.

Such a statement may sound absurd, but it is my desire that all of Bryant’s ideas and effort and growth keep the hard work hidden, allowing you to see a fully realized, living world of violence and science and chaos. There are plenty of moments for you to shout, “What?!” without the need for you to ask, “I wonder how many hours he spent trimming and refining that chapter?”

Because in the hands of the experienced, you never see the sword. Only the master remains.

See you on your next trip through the Loop.

-Chris

ISBN & Book Tracking

Bryant here. If you use a digital bookshelf to track your current reads, Vastland now has an ISBN, opening up (potential) options!

For Storygraph users, you can view the catalog listing here.

For Goodreads users, the listing is pending. I’ll update this post with the link once the listing is live in their catalog.

Subscriber Perks

As this concludes our normal weekly updates, I’d like to introduce a few new formats for future updates that won’t interfere with our regular posting schedule. The first of these is Substack Chat, which is available to all subscribers (free or paid). I’ll open the chat shortly after this update goes live, so if you have the Substack App, keep an eye out for it. Once live, it will be available for all subscribers moving forward. Chat also solidifies the two-way communication I’d love to foster as the story progresses. Feel free to leave a comment, question, or meme.

I’ll go first.

Memes are my love language. I once wrote a paper for a cognitive neuroscience class arguing the importance of memes as containers for cultural transfer, where a single low-resolution image may stand in for multiple ideas, spread organically (i.e., is it funny or not), and if popular enough, loop back on itself as an absurd, self-referential icon. So, fire away.

Finally, for those of you who elected to support Vastland as paid subscribers, I have something special, just for you. Following regular chapter content, paid subscribers will find, from time to time, an additional section at the end of the chapter content, labeled like so:

// CLASSIFIED MATERIAL: DAO OPERATIVES ONLY

This content is highly speculative, anomalous, and may lack coherence or known referential markers. Consume at your own risk. Potential drops may include, but are not limited to: cut material, insight into the construction of Vastland and the world in which it takes place, and the occasional behind-the-scenes image or diagram. 

That’s it from the Editorial team. I’ll see you next week on the other side of the page. ⭕️