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Happy February!

My year's off to a pleasant, outdoorsy start. A highlight was going on a nature walk in a marsh with my local League of Women Voters (Torrance Area).

Between us, we saw a Say's phoebe, a black phoebe, a grackle, two Cassin's kingbirds, a great egret, an Anna's hummingbird, two kestrels, a few white crowned sparrows and house sparrows, house finches, a northern flicker, and a red-tailed hawk.

Shoutout to Nash for being quick with the camera and taking some lovely nature photos.

My fantasy book, Fire's Ally is a part of this first-in-a-series book promo. Every book on the list is the first book in a fantasy series. Check it out if you're a fantasy reader looking for a new series to try out.

Now that Fire's Ally is in print, I look back on how "eco-friendly" the printing process was. I made a table of how close my book got to "circular" production, and I further analyze it in this 30-minute video. In short, I've made an incremental step, and I hope to keep building on it.

​I was on a podcast! I had a super-fun conversation with Elizabeth Wipperman on her Talking Shit About... podcast. We talked about using the internet (such as it is) for activism, avoiding overwhelm, and the weird worlds of Tumblr and Reddit.

Art & Writing Delivery

"Nature and Outdoors" art from 2024-25 Here's a collection of outdoors sketches and art adventures from 2024-25. Art page

10 Awesome Things That Happened When I Drew Plants for 10 Days in a Row My 10-day digital line art challenge I was craving art time after a particularly busy (and analytical) period, so I decided I’d make digital plant art for 10 days in a row. Read article

Mainstream Environmentalism was Shaped by Corporate Propaganda "Regular people need to cut back on everything while corporations do business as usual." Well, what if we tried something that would actually work instead? Read article

In the Works

I've rebooted a project I've been working on for years: a guide to local climate action. There have been some developments that make a full version of it closer to reality than ever. Hopefully I'll have something less vague to say about it next month.

And now for something weirder: a short film, coming soon to a YouTube channel near you.

The Neighborhood Watch is a gripping tale of four dysfunctional members of a neighborhood watch trying to solve a crime terrorizing their town. Or something.

I co-wrote and co-directed it and it's been a blast to make. You'll hear more about it in a month or two when it goes live.

Okay, that's all! Hope you're having a good February.

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.