A Wild Horse, a Desert and a Girl

With Fox & Butterfly now released, a new story is starting to take shape.

In fact, Desert Boy has been waiting for me for a long time.

The story begins in Nevada’s Great Basin in the 1600s, where a young wild horse with a restless heart is searching for something he doesn’t yet understand—a place to belong.

His journey leads him to Doretta Quiet Deer and her wise mare, Sunset, and into a story about friendship, courage, and finding home in unexpected places.

"One late spring day, as Desert Boy crossed the ridge into Monitor Valley, he caught a scent — a scent unknown to him. It was that of lavender, sage and honey with an earthen, smoky edge. His head whirled, nostrils flared, and eyes fixed as he focused on an unfamiliar, colorful creature sitting motionless atop a granite rock outcropping. The bright sun caught the crystalline mica just right, creating a shimmering aura around this strange, new thing."

Desert Boy is different from Fox & Butterfly.

Written for older readers, it’s a larger story, rich in the history, geology and research of the Nevada desert I love so much.

Its journey crosses real landscapes and reaches into the past, weaving in the lives and traditions of the Indigenous people who have called the Great Basin home for countless generations, while still holding onto the things I find myself returning to in my stories: nature, connection, belonging and the ways we find our place in the world.

Desert Boy himself isn’t completely new to me.

He first appeared in a painting I created more than a decade ago. I didn't know then that someday I would give him a story.

There is still a lot to write, paint, and discover as I go.

But with Fox and Butterfly now out in the world, it feels like it’s Desert Boy’s turn to run.