FAQs

The Dual Path is for readers from 10-100

What would you do if your eccentric, possibly magical aunt invited you to learn to “live the world”? Would you accept even if you had no idea what she meant? Twelve-year-old Zelia said, “Yes!” And the magic began.

When twelve-year-old Zelia agrees to spend the summer with her Aunt Joy, she hopes for a peaceful, not-too-boring vacation from her parents. But from the moment she sees her aunt dancing up the road in her kaleidoscopic dress, she realizes she’s in for an adventure.

Soon Zelia abandons everything she thought she knew about herself and the “real world” as she claims a new name of Zemma and dives into a magical book, embarking on the dual path to discover her own surprising powers. They encounter mythical creatures, including a wise power-bestowing unicorn. She meets talking animals and trees, learns to see fairies again, travels from the Earth to the stars right into a magic wand garden based on a star. As they journey, they gather a joyful, wise-cracking band of travelers calling themselves The Crystalline Heart Family.

It’s not just the magical creatures that surprise her, however. She is fascinated to learn the true story about unicorns’ disappearance and discover that “pretend” creatures like Puff the Magic Dragon and the Purple People Eater are based on real interdimensional friendships and is pleased to count them as her friends. Her growing list of friends is a one-man-band, a full-sized woman who turns into a hippo when bullied, a former klutz. Each has specific talents, awareness, challenges, and contributions to make to the group.

It turns out there’s a logical science to the magical world. As Zemma masters its tools, she learns that her mind has no limits. Zelia learns how to fish by simply inviting her dinner into a net. And she flies with the help of an amazing bicycle created only for her. All the while, Aunt Joy offers her guidance as she challenges everything she ever believed – and finds out that becoming a woman means claiming her true gifts, learning to laugh, and embracing the impossible.

As they go on their way, Zelia and Aunt Joy help people and make powerful friends and see signs of a terrible curse stifling the world: the dead-eyed ones, the Unmakers. Clever and dangerous, these entities cast mind-dulling spells on whole towns, replacing delight and passion with drudgery and conformity. I’m sure you may have even felt this at times – that feeling that maybe things that you thought were important just don’t seem enjoyable or possible anymore. That’s the effect of these mind-numbing forces. The first step in fighting their invasive influence is to become aware.

Joy has gifted our quirky, hearty band of light warriors, the Crystalline Heart Family, with powerful gemstone heart pendants designed to enhance and boost their own powers and inner strengths. With these pendants, they’re better armed to live the world, walking the dual path between everyday reality and the realms of magical power, wonder, and love.
Zelia must decide if she will return to the ordinary world or leap into the next with her new friends to join the fight for freedom and creativity.

The Dual Path is the first book in the Earth to the Stars Adventures series
The series is a playful and powerful journey designed to open readers’ hearts and minds aged ten to a hundred. The story is inspired by the author’s years of exploration in transformative communities. Still, it will appeal to anyone with an awakened imagination and a desire to be completely, joyfully themselves.

Stay tuned as future adventures are still being dreamed.