Dear Readers,

When I first released Desert and Sea, I was sharing a story I had carried for decades—a story shaped by silence, memory, and the slow work of healing. Your responses, reflections, and shared stories have meant more to me than I can express. Thank you for walking with me through the desert and across the sea.

Now, I’m honored to share that Adrift: Family and the Sea, the second book in the Desert and Sea series, is scheduled for publication in 2026.

Where Desert and Sea was a memoir of emergence—of naming the fracture and honoring the journey—Adrift is a memoir of reclamation. It’s not about survival. It’s about return. About re-seeing the past with new eyes, reclaiming agency, and learning how to hold the silence without being held by it.

In Adrift, I revisit the stories I wasn’t yet ready to tell. I don’t rewrite them—I reframe them. I explore the cost of service, the ache of distance, and the quiet strength of family. I reflect on leadership, identity, and the sea—not as an escape, but as a mirror.

If Desert and Sea was the cracked vessel, Adrift is my attempt at kintsugi—mending with gold, not to hide the damage, but to honor it.

Until then, I invite you to revisit Desert and Sea, to sit with its silences, and to listen for the echoes that may now sound different. And if you’re new to this journey, welcome. There’s space for you here.

With gratitude and anticipation,

Stay tuned.

Tshombe Sekou