Destiny S Journey

Destiny's Journey is a memoir reconstructed partly from notebooks that Döblin kept from the time he worked in the French Ministry of Information in the spring of 1940 and partly written without notes in Los Angeles where he took refuge during the Second World War. It tells the personal and generational story of the flight of Jewish and anti-Nazi intellectuals from Europe to America, their fear and frustration, isolation, and inability to work. Döblin’s story differs from that of other Jewish intellectuals and artists in that his family converts to Catholicism in Los Angeles. Unlike most of them, he returns to Europe as an officer with the French forces and works on denazifying German literature. The conversion narrative bridges the departure from and return to Europe. To critic John Simon, “the latter part of the book often reads like a shrill piece of Christian homiletics. But even this is not without interest, as it traces the transformation of an anarchic outsider into a dogmatic insider.” “The first part of ‘Destiny's Journey’ [about] Döblin's departure from Paris [in] 1940... is magisterial: acidly observed, saturated in telling detail, grimly comic and harrowing... with an exemplary introduction by Peter Demetz... an important, nourishing book” — John Simon, The New York Times

Children and younger adolescents in todays world are bombarded with information from the electronic media and, in particular, the internet. Much of what they see and read has little redeeming social value. Computer games are particularly violent and teach the lesson that, in order to have your way, it is okay to resort to strength and violence. Robert Ruiz, Jr., in writing Destinys Journey, sought to provide children and youth with an imaginative adventure story rooted in the values of family and friendship that stand the test of time: love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, faith and patience. Inculcated in the story are the concepts of a Creator and a plan of life that is greater than any individual or group of individuals on earth. There is, indeed, a divine plan for all living things. The author, in developing the Chiles family, was particularly interested in engaging Mexican and Hispanic American children and youth, many of whom have been raised in the produce fields of Mexico and the United States. Thus, Chiles family characters serve as the vehicle to share values that make any society strong. The interdependence of the characters in this story clearly demonstrates that no man is an island, entire of it self. All of us need each other, regardless of race, age or background in order to not only survive but thrive in todays world. And above all, we must recognize that there is a higher power at work in each of our lives.

Desy was a unique chimera, part Organic, part Genetic. She had been created in a lab, and looked nothing like her family. She grew up listening to her brothers tell a family legend that had been handed down through many generations. A story that she was not part of. The legend promised that someday a brilliant orb of light would appear. And, on that day a mystical transformation would take place. A selected ancestor of the ancient past would find a special person, and together they would travel to a place beyond tomorrow. Now, Desy's world was about to come to an end. It had been abused for too many generations, and there was no longer any hope for a future. As Desy sat and cried under a scraggly tree, she unknowingly wrapped her fingers around a shiny stone fragment. Suddenly, her world spun and disappeared, leaving her swirling inside a purple mist. When she stopped spinning, she found herself somewhere just beyond tomorrow.

At a time when Neal Thomas is preoccupied with the possibility that his newly published book could be made into a movie, he is contacted by close friends in Virginia who want to make him the Project Manager for construction of their newly conceived condominium complex near Virginia Beach. The dilemma that follows is eventually resolved by a phone call that forces him to accept the job in Virginia, and paves the way for a brand new adventure.

Destiny loves words, and her favorite place in the world is Mrs. Wade's bookstore, where words abound.

The second book in the Destiny trilogy, Destiny's Journey: The Adventure Continues explores the coming of age of Destiny Drummond, a 12-year-old girl in a wheelchair who encounters the dreamworld on a significant level, teaching her about life, love, and the sheer joy of being. Having lost her parents in a car crash, Destiny once more hooks up with her dream companions on a great sea adventure ending in an epic sea battle with the evil Maximum Mischief.