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Happy July!
Hope you're having a good summer (or winter for Southern Hemisphere readers), and staying hydrated. Hence the dewdrops illustration above: a reminder to me as much as anyone.
I'm feeling the usual seasonal call to go out and make some nature art, so I plan to do another of my illustration series soon. I'll be sifting through my collections of photo references and planning it out over the next few days.
Meanwhile, I've been doing a lot of reading, and a bit of writing.
Book Stuff
Free Books I Personally Recommend
I sometimes participate in co-promotions with fellow authors.
I'm running this one myself, so that I can curate the stories for quality, and truthfully say that I have personally read and enjoyed each of these novellas. (And one of them is by me.)
They are all free, and possible to read in an afternoon or so! I found them thought-provoking and heartfelt in different ways, with attention given to craft and worldbuilding. These are the books:
- An academic grapples with a magical mystery and faces a smug rival with a fraught past. (A Kiss Among Ashes by L. M. Sanders)
- A dragon's coming of age story, making difficult decisions to protect nature. (Dragon's Calling by Rachel Simpson)
- A high-tech space journey as a young courier chooses her trajectory in life. (Finding Tiggly by Lawrence M. Schoen)
- A free-spirited woman seeks escape from a repressive future, and into the fairy world. (A Water Horse by D. M. De Alwis)
- Royal intrigue, a portal, and a desperate plot to save the baby princess. (Guardian of Fahrowen by Leslie J. Parsons)
- Rival wagonmakers help a nomad on a nostalgic journey into the desert, and return changed. (Aseb Faces the Sand by D. M. Kannapan)
- A woman undertakes a perilous journey to after a mysterious cataclysm rips her world apart. (Dawn of Mourning by J. E. Zarnofsky)
All of these are FREE and available at the promo page (download them before July 31st).
Aseb Faces the Sand
Did you know my book Aseb Faces the Sand originated in a game we played at the Fire's Ally launch party?
(Big thank you to everyone at that launch party. If you want to see the one-page mad-lib version of the story, check it out here. It's a lot sillier than the final version!)
Two rival wagon-makers journey into the desert, to prove their mastery of their craft and help a nomad on his nostalgic quest.
Aseb is the top apprentice wagon-maker in their village, and is terrified of losing their perfect track record.
Fellow-apprentice Lecip is determined to best Aseb at wagon-making one day, and she won't stop challenging Aseb to contests till she does.
Their rivalry and dedication to their craft will take them on a journey with a group of kindly nomads, deep into a desert where they will learn why they cared so much about wagon-making in the first place.
The book is free for subscribers!
Download a copy here.
Want to leave a review? There is now a Storygraph Page (Goodreads etc. coming soon).
Check out my other books
Art & Writing Delivery
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A Watercolor Travelogue, of Sorts
These are some paintings I did from vacation photos a few years ago, along the lines of what I'm planning to do this year. Looking carefully at photos and reliving old hikes is half the fun.
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About Social Tipping Points and Climate Action
Social tipping points are the mechanism by which social change spreads and sparks transformation. Creating them should be our goal.
(This one is a bit dense/technical, so feel free to skim the middle sections.)
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In the Works
I have finally made some progress on the YouTube video essays I mentioned in previous updates! I scripted three of them and recorded one. Now, hard at work video editing.
I will continue to be vague about them a little longer, but hopefully I'll have something to share soon.
That's about all. Hope you're having a fun, creative time too!
Best wishes,
-Deepti
P.S. I'm starting to send these round-ups more regularly. You can find all recent newsletters here, so feel free to delete them from your inbox if the file sizes get big.
