Ford, Arielle

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FORD, Arielle

PERSONAL:

Born December 29, year unknown, in Miami, FL; daughter of Harvey Ford (an attorney and judge) and Sheila Fuerst (an entrepreneur); married Brian Hilliard (a business manager) June 22, 1998. Education: University of Florida, B.S., 1974.

ADDRESSES:

Office—The Ford Group/Dharma Dreams LLC, 1250 Prospect St., Ste O-5, La Jolla, CA 92037. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Publicist, editor, and author. The Ford Group (public relations firm), La Jolla, CA, founder, 1987—.

WRITINGS:

Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Soul: 101 True Stories of Angels, Miracles, and Healings, Plume Books (New York, NY), 1997.

More Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Soul: 101 True Stories of Angels, Miracles, and Healings, Plume Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Teenage Soul: 101 True Stories of Angels, Miracles, and Healings, Plume Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Lover: 101 True Stories of Soul Mates Brought Together by Divine Intervention, Plume Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Magical Souvenirs: True Spiritual Adventures from around the World, Plume Books (New York, NY), 2002.

(With Beth Goodman) Owner's Manual, Jodere Group (San Diego, CA), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS:

Arielle Ford has been an influential figure in the New Age publishing world since 1987, when she founded the Ford Group. A public relations firm serving authors writing on alternative medicine, spirituality, mysticism, and other New Age topics, the Ford Group boasts a client list with famous names including Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Dr. Dean Ornish, and Kenny Loggins. After ten years publicizing the works of others, Ford began her own series of successful books. Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Soul: 101 True Stories of Angels, Miracles, and Healings, described by Booklist reviewer Ilene Cooper as "a box of spiritual bonbons," soon led to the sequel More Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Soul: 101 True Stories of Angels, Miracles, and Healings, as well as the more specialized books Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Teenage Soul: 101 True Stories of Angels, Miracles, and Healings and Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Lover: 101 True Stories of Angels, Miracles, and Healings. "Even the cynical will find evidence of the divine" in Ford's second book, write a contributor to Publishers Weekly. Describing Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Lover, a writer for Publishers Weekly noted the book's appealing "warmth and frothy sweetness."

The collection Magical Souvenirs: True Mystical Travel Stories from around the World is in the same vein, though it does not bear the "Hot Chocolate" title. Magical Souvenirs compiles stories of chance meetings, strange coincidences, and prophetic dreams inspired by travel. In an interview with Revered Laurie Sue Brockway for the online magazine Soulful Living, Ford said that the stories in her books are often events that happen to most people. "A lot of people are having mystical experiences every day and they just don't see it as that. They just call it coincidence. Or Chance." Ford is also the author, with Beth Goodman, of Owner's Manual, a fill-in-the-blanks journal for romantic partners, addressing topics as diverse as pets, health, favorite foods, and sexual fantasies.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 1998, Ilene Cooper, review of Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Soul: 101 True Stories of Angels, Miracles, and Healings, p. 880.

Publishers Weekly, September 20, 1999, "Wisdom From Home and Hearth," p. 68; November 20, 2000, review of Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Lover, p. 58.