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​Happy May!

My big update is that I wrote another (tiny) book, called Aseb Faces the Sand. It's a prequel to my other novel, and the story is based on a game we played at the Fire's Ally launch party.

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.​

Big thank you to everyone at the launch party who co-created the story with me!

Also, I was on a podcast: I had a super in-depth and engaging conversation with Troy Swank of the Surface Exposure podcast, about climate activism, human nature, and finding what we can do and feel good about. (Check out the podcast's other episodes, too! They are about conservation and nature.)

Art & Writing Delivery

Worldbuilding for Fire's Ally I wrote a guest blog post for Joyfully Jay's blog: "My characters are scientists, innovators, and discoverers in their world. I needed to give them some runway where they could do their innovating and discovering." Read article

Individual Climate Action Does Work… If It Has These Three C’s. How to take action that does more than just make you feel better. Read article

Inksplosion I’ve always loved working in botanical inks. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I thought it would be a good idea to shake the ink bottle before opening it. And it was not! The indigo ink foamed like the most appetizing cappuccino ... Read article

In the Works

I'm working on the YouTube video essays I last mentioned in my last update. But I haven't made much progress, since I got diverted by young Aseb.

That's what I've been up to. Hope you're having a good late-spring!

Best wishes,

-Deepti

P.S. There's an election on June 2nd. If you can vote, this bird wants you to.

P.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.