Journey of Enlightenment

The Spirituality of Journey Publications

Discovering one’s calling in life often comes unexpectedly.
Diagnosed in 1996 with congestive heart failure and advised to
avoid stress, Jolinda Pizzirani chose to make the best of the
situation. Instead of knitting, she picked up a slightly more
ambitious hobby: book publishing. Since then, the Summerland home
the Santa Barbara native shares with her husband Patrizio on Ortega
Hill has become a hub of inspiration spreading far and wide.

Years earlier, the tragic death of a friend’s husband caused her
to explore metaphysical literature for the first time. Devouring
one book after another, she soon asked herself the inevitable
question, “Why are we here and what is life all about?” Before she
knew it, Pizzirani had a book called Soul Survivor flowing freely
from her fingertips. Though the writing came easy, she soon
discovered the challenges of finding a publisher. After searching
high and low, she decided it would be easier to start her own
publishing company.

More than 20 books later, Journey Publications celebrated its
third anniversary last month. Pizzirani explained, “It wasn’t meant
to be as big as it is. I started out just for my own purposes and
then people found me. I really am drawn to people who have written
a book that’s going to make the world a better place or help in
some way.”

Pizzirani now has 15 writers publishing with Journey. “I just
have to meet the person and I almost always get a feeling right
away,” she explained. A majority of the books are either children’s
stories or have metaphysical themes. But there are wildcards, such
as James C. Boyce’s Falling in Love with the Fiddle, Jorgen
Andersson’s Practical Theories & Formulas for Engineering,
Physics & Math, and the hottest seller, Deborah Lee Davis’s The
Nature of Woman. She is currently working with renowned Santa
Barbara sculptor, Bud Bottoms, on his book about ethics for
kids.

Journey’s authors are of a different breed. “First of all, I say
to people, ‘Do you want to make money? If that’s the reason you’re
doing this, then don’t come to me,’” said Pizzirani. One author,
Leanna Burns, represents the extreme. She won’t allow any of them
to be sold via Journey’s typical distributors — Amazon, Barnes
& Noble, and Borders — because she wants 100 percent of the
profits directed to Dylan Hartung, a young boy fighting cancer.
Another author, Nancy Lee, “supports her elderly mother by working
in a liquor store. She sells hundreds and hundreds of books at the
liquor store. They’re all cute little stories about chipmunks,”
explained Pizzirani.

In between helping other people publish their work, Pizzirani
writes her own books in creative bursts. In addition to Soul
Survivor, she has also published a collection of metaphysical poems
called Inspirations and a mystery novel called Psychic Princess.
Her latest book, Angel Words, is unlike anything she’s done before.
It is full of wisdom and practical advice provided directly, she
said, from the angelic world. Pizzirani denies having special
powers and prefers not to use the term “channeling.” Nevertheless,
she opened herself up to another realm of consciousness in bringing
this book through. She declared, “This was really easy for me
because I was just the typist. I really believe we’re all capable
of this kind of intuition.” Pizzirani actually did meet with a true
channeler, who convincingly told her she and Patrizio were dolphins
together in a previous life. That’s yet another reason to be happy
in their cozy Summerland office, gazing over the Pacific while
making the world a better place.

4•1•1 For more info, visit journeypublications.com.