Upcoming book
Stories, Tales, and Legends
Short stories and folkloric poetry that encompass the Clashing Realms universe.
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Instagram
Follow along
Artwork, readings, works in progress and days on the land.
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Earth Guardians
Indigenous Youth Initiative
Earth Guardians' IYI brings Indigenous youth together for story, ceremony and community organizing.
Visit the blog
Novel series
Clashing Realms
A fantasy universe in progress, mapped realm by realm.
About the series
Map making
Hand-drawn worlds
Every realm begins as a map. Deanna's map of Galacil hung at the Denver Art Museum.
See the maps
Take action
Protect Roots to Sky
The land where Earth Guardians holds IYI trainings is under threat of deforestation by corporate clean energy projects.
Learn more
Poet, artist and novelist whose work draws on Indigenous and Chicana storytelling.
About
Deanna Alcala is a Rarámuri descendant and Chicana poet, artist and novelist who combines her passion for fantasy and map making in her upcoming book, Stories, Tales, and Legends. Her art includes pieces exhibited at the Denver Art Museum's Indomitably Indigenous 2026 gallery. Alongside her writing she is a film mentor at Earth Guardians' Indigenous Youth Initiative, helping bring young people together through storytelling and restorative justice.
Two books in the making
Mockups shown. Final cover art is coming soon.
Writing
Final cover coming soonUpcoming book
A collection of writings that will immerse you deep into the lore of Clashing Realms. Walk the path of great warriors, learn the ways of celestial beings, and uncover the sacred texts that begin and end the universe.
Pre-order
Final cover coming soonFantasy series in progress
The first of a series of novels, mapped realm by realm. The journey you will embark on in this epic fantasy will be revealed closer to its completion.
Pre-order Book One
Map making
Before a story is written, Deanna draws the land it lives on. Each realm of the Clashing Realms universe starts as a hand-drawn map: coastlines, mountain ranges, plains and seas, inked by hand and named one at a time.
Her map of Galacil was exhibited in the Denver Art Museum's Indomitably Indigenous 2026 gallery. More maps from the series will be shared here as the realms take shape.
See the exhibit on InstagramEarth Guardians
Earth Guardians funds and runs the Indigenous Youth Initiative (IYI). IYI brings Indigenous youth together from across Turtle Island and Abya Yala (North and South America) for story, ceremony, and community organizing. Youth trainings are held at Roots to Sky, which is currently under threat of deforestation by corporate clean energy projects.
Roots to Sky
Roots to Sky is 125 acres of fields, mature forest and mineral springs on Backbone Mountain, where Western Maryland meets West Virginia, on the ancestral lands of the Shawandassee Tula and Massawomeck peoples. It sits near the headwaters of the Potomac, bordered by national forest, and it is where Earth Guardians holds its IYI youth trainings.
The ridges around it are being leased and cleared for utility-scale energy. Wind companies hold leases along Backbone Mountain, hundreds of forested acres in the county were approved for clearing to build a corporate solar farm, and a 2025 Maryland law now overrides local zoning for large solar projects. Forest that falls for these projects will not return in our lifetimes.
Read the full story of the land, the projects around it, and how to help on the blog.
Stand with Roots to Sky