Hello, Reader

I wanted to take a moment to share what I've been up to recently in my creative life and in the classroom. It's been a busy season, and while my time has been limited, I've still been diving into some exciting projects!

Playtesting Iron Wilds

As I mentioned in my last email, I’ve been playtesting my board game, Iron Wilds--a game set in the same world of my novel, Angel from the Rust.

The game lets you explore the same future Earth Medieval, navigating Ancient ruins and facing off with terrible beasts. It’s been incredibly fulfilling to watch this world come to life in a new format—though it’s meant a lot of hours fine-tuning game mechanics and tweaking the player experience. I can’t wait to share it with you all!

Between raising little kids and teaching, my time for creative endeavors has been limited, so I've been focusing mostly on developing the game. I look forward to putting all my creative focus on my book once this project is finished.

The Human Towers of Catalonia

Speaking of teaching, there is a strange but beautiful sport in Spain that inspires me while I'm in the classroom: the human towers of Catalonia, Spain. (Castellers as they're called in Spanish.)

In this centuries-old tradition, people build towers several stories high—made entirely of human beings!

Check it out for yourself.

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Many years ago, a fellow youth worker showed me a video of this strange and intriguing practice. He pointed out how the community comes together to lift up a single child, giving them a view of the world they couldn’t reach alone.

This image has stuck with me ever since.

What really gets my attention are the people who stand at the center of the tower's base, men and women hidden beneath (and enduring the weight of) all the people stacked above. They can't see what's going on above, and they remain unseen when the tower is finished. And yet without them, the tower would fall.

To me, this a powerful metaphor for the work teachers do. You don't always get to see the fruit of your labor, and sometimes the work feels like a impossible weight on your shoulders. But when a child reaches those heights, it's all worth it.

This is the sort of image that inspires me to keep going when the work gets tough.

What keeps you going in your work? Please hit reply and tell me what motivates you. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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Thank you all for your continued support and patience as I balance work and these creative projects. I'll keep you updated on both Iron Wilds and my next book-to-be, and I hope to share more news soon.

Until next time,
Jason Link

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