One young writer enters the Gila National Wilderness to bring her characters -- and life -- to life. Author Cristina Salat was researching the first nation novel THE SKIN OF WATER/DEFENDING THE DREAMCATCHERS when she encountered her Time of the Bear...and since she lived to tell about it, both this tale and the novel were born. A Green Flame Omnimedia Slim: Life's Defining Moments in Slender Volumes. We exist at a time when every choice matters.