GAILIA - HEALING FROM GRIEF BY TONI JOHNSON, ILLUSTRATED BY UNA GRAF, CD BY JOHN RICHARDS, PUBLISHED BY TRAFFORD PUBLISHING

Move over, there's a new kid on the book block or should I say a, "new fairy." Her name is Gailia. She is the latest creation of new children's book author, Toni Johnson. Gailia is no ordinary "fly around the woodsy forest fairy." Gailia is a delightful, rainbow colored, pixie faced, fairy sprite who finds a way to heal herself from grief after loosing her best friend, a little frog called Croackie.

Gailia is a beautiful book with gorgeous characters illustrated by Una Graf and a lyrical CD by John Richards with the voice of Ms. Johnson. In fact, Ms. Johnson pulls together this talented team to produce a whimsical story with a tough message, "How to help a child understand loss, sadness and the death of a loved one."

Children of any age will identify with Gailia as she learns from her forest friends what Ms. Johnson says is, "letting go of fear is not forgetting our love but rather celebrating and remembering the souls that we have cherished." This is a huge concept for both children and adults to understand. However Ms. Johnson and her illustrator Ms. Graf use an interesting story line, perky characters like Takoda the Turtle and Godmother Willow, and a memorable CD. This whole package is created to show the readers and audiences that healing from death and loss is possible when we can grasp the tool of understanding our emotions.

As with all novice writers, there is room to grow in terms of writing, character development, and story continuity. Overall, Ms. Johnson deserves congratulations, acceptance and admiration for an achievement well deserving of attention and support. This is truly only a beginning, and soon, I am certain we will see Gailia and all her whimsical and woodsy friends again. They will surely continue to take us on their wonderful adventures of learning, growing, and sharing the beautiful world of fairies, emotions, and love.

Gailia - Healing From Grief is available at www.willowwisdom.com or www.oncewritten.com. To contact Ms. Johnson for more information just email - toni@willowwisdom.com

All of the above is copyrighted by Amber Silverstar 2006. Gailia - Healing From Grief is copyrighted by Toni Johnson - all rights to reproduction are reserved.

Halloween - Time To Face The Demons And Become An Earth Angel

The monster disguises, the ghost energies, and the demon stories roar forward into our midst every October when Autumn sunsets bring the night skies early and the chill of cooler days remind us of a winter soon approaching. We call this event "Halloween." This all sounds fun, romantic, and adventurous. But lately not for me ... a few years ago I started not liking "All Hallows Eve" or Halloween. It seemed the greater the spiritual work I did, the scarier the pumpkin celebrations got - including: more intense horror films, more gory and dark costumes, and "trick or treat" episodes holding more danger.

This year I decided to change my attitude and see Halloween as an opportunity to face my own demons. I decided to let the ghost come forward and see what I needed to review in my own life. "Just what might be haunting me?" - I asked myself. Maybe negative emotions are coming up from the past. Or perhaps there are ghost energies I am hanging onto out of my own fear and mistrusts. I certainly know through spiritual experiences that holding onto the fears of the future or the anger from the past can really turn my well being into dreaded monsters. These monster emotions and thoughts are then empowered to intrude upon and into my life's pathway into the light.

So now I am going to use this Halloween to review what ghost I need to let go of, what monsters I need to meet with courage, and what demons I can transform into an angelic self. Then Halloween can become an opportunity for change and choice - a time for reflections into the future of the winter months to come.

The blog picture is called "Ghosts In The Bedroom" which I took with a "toy" digital camera. I will take another after Halloween to see if they are gone. If you have pictures you believe to be of a supernatural twist, send them to me and I will see if I can post them. Send them to ambersilverstar11@yahoo.com with the code - Ghost Pictures. If you are in need of clearing your own energy of ghostly intrusions, you can call me for more insights and information. The number for leaving a message is 1-626-796-8605. I usually return my calls within the day. You can see more information on a web card at http://www.destinybydesigncom.com.

Happy Halloween And Keep Your Destiny Bright!
With light and love,
Amber Silverstar

Bob Newhart
We had an opportunity to go see Bob Newhart at a recent book signing for his new book, I SHOULDN'T BE DOING THIS! - but we missed it do to other demanding events. We plan to catch Mr. Newhart at one of his many performances in the L.A. area in the near future. In the process of researching Mr. Newhart's upcoming schedule www.bobnewhart.com - I came across information about Suzanne Pleshette and her work.

After reading about both stars, I couldn't help thinking of "Bob and Emily. " They are of course American icons who still hold their own popularity on current replay television. I only wish even now we had a chance to see in current media our psychologists as witty, warm and compassionate as the part played by Bob or our teachers as strong, sexy, smart and beautiful as the part played by Suzanne. I don't think this was type casting - just a time when we used T.V. to show roles in America in their best light even if it were comic. "Bob and Emily" inspired us to be real, vulnerable, and non-apologetic for our places in the dynamics of living the good life. In the Los Angeles area there are countless high rise apartments and condos but I never pass one that I do not think, "somewhere on one the building's many floors, Bob Newhart and Suzanne Pleshette are still living and doing their thing as the funny, devoted, creative and talented Bob and Emily." Now I just need to go and buy Mr. Newhart's book and do a little review.