All in the spirit of Jewel [photo caption: Author of best-selling poems, star of a Hollywood movie and singer/songwriter of Spirit, the follow-up CD to her successful 1995 debut Pieces Of You.] Toronto debut turned life around for singer By Betsy Powell Toronto Star Pop Music Critic She's a multi-artist for our times, able to crank it out in every format: CDs, videos, books, now a movie. Her name is Jewel Kilcher, but just Jewel will suffice, author of a best-selling book of poems, star of a Hollywood motion picture and singer/songwriter of Spirit, the follow-up CD to her massively successful 1995 debut Pieces Of You. "I went right from touring to the movie and the book to the album with no break," she says over the phone from New York earlier this week. "I have wanted to have a break but I keep having things I want to do." Her activity level has picked up significantly since the 24-year-old re-located from Homer, Alaska, to San Diego, where she earned a coffeehouse following before recording the folk-tinged Pieces Of You. Expectations for the record were modest, maybe 50,000 copies. But relentless touring, TV appearances and shrewd marketing led to the breakthrough, starting here in Toronto during a month of Monday appearances at C'est What in early 1995. "That was one of the first places for me," she says. Sales of Pieces skyrocketed to 10 million worldwide, including more than 800,000 in Canada alone, and turned the singer into a household name. Like Ottawa pop sensation Alanis Morissette, following up her multi-platinum Jagged Little Pill (with Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie), Jewel plays down any suggestion that she might be under some pressure. "If you're going to be dependent on record sales and radio you're pretty f. . .d, because as soon as you don't have a hit you're obsolete," she says sounding chippy. "But if you have a fan base and real writing you always can be Neil Young, writing songs because he believes in them, not `will they be liked and popular.' To me that's the only strength you have in this business." Diversifying, however, is not a bad way of keeping a career alive at a time when so many artists seem unable to sustain a loyal fan base. Last summer Jewel released a book of poems, A Night Without Armour. It didn't set the literary world afire, but it reaped the benefits of an appearance on Oprah Winfrey by shooting to the Top 10 of the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list. She has also followed a parade of pop sensations (including Morissette, Whitney Houston and Brandy) into the movies. Her film debut in a Civil War drama, tentatively titled Absence Of Fear, is due out next June. That's around the time she expects to publish a book of short stories. But right now there's the new record coming out Tuesday. Many of the songs touch on the individual's ability to make a difference and reflect the songwriter's desire to turn her back on cynicism. "The record doesn't say there aren't problems but just says what are responsible ways to handle problems. I think blind optimism is like denial, it does nothing . . . It's not what I'm saying at all," she says. "Informed optimism is a whole other thing."