Santa Cruz Author’s Visually Stunning yet Practical ‘Posy Book’ the Perfect Holiday Stocking Stuffer

Gifting flowers conveys emotions and messages that can’t always be articulated in words.

Santa Cruz, CA, October 17, 2019 - Gifting flowers conveys emotions and messages that can’t always be articulated in words. Santa Cruz author Teresa Sabankaya helps translate those feelings for us in “The Posy Book: Garden-Inspired Bouquets that Tell a Story.”

Just in time for the holidays, this inspiring book — a perfect hostess gift or stocking stuffer — shows readers how to communicate exactly the right sentiment with exactly the right flower.

Inspired by the Victorian-era language of flowers, a posy is a small circular gathering of flowers, plants and herbs chosen to communicate a particular emotion or sentiment.

Sabankaya provides detailed recipes for posies for a variety of sentiments. Thanks to her step-by-step instructions, you’ll have the confidence to make your own personalized arrangement. Make someone feel like a queen for a day with a posy made with calla lily and gardenias (which convey magnificent beauty and feminine charm). Or let that certain bestie know that you’ll be friends to the end with oak-leaf geraniums and mint. The sentiments are endless.

In the book’s foreword, New York Times best-selling author Amy Stewart writes: “Teresa has woven her wisdom, spirit, and artistry into this beautiful book. In these pages you’ll see that anyone can make a posy. Like a favorite recipe, it’s meant to be savored and shared.”

Purchase the book directly through the author’s website at www.teresasabankaya.com, or find it at local bookstores or online through Amazon.

About the author
A pioneer of the slow flower movement, Teresa Sabankaya runs the Bonny Doon Garden Company in Santa Cruz. She was featured in Michael Pollan’s PBS documentary “The Botany of Desire,” and has appeared on CBS News Sunday Morning. Her work has been featured in Elle magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, and many bridal magazines.

Contact:
Marci Bracco Cain
Chatterbox PR
Salinas, CA 93901
(831) 747-7455
http://www.teresasabankaya.com

Tickets On Sale Now! Join Us On January 24th 2019... For a Presentation by Renowned Journalist and Author Steve Lopez - Mr. Lopez Meets Mr. Ayers: Exploring Mental Illness and Homelessness

Interim is bringing renowned author and Los Angeles Times journalist Steve Lopez to the Monterey Bay.

Monterey, CA, December 13, 2018 - Interim is bringing renowned author and Los Angeles Times journalist Steve Lopez to the Monterey Bay. Join us for this engaging community presentation - Mr. Lopez Meets Mr. Ayers: Exploring Mental Illness and Homelessness.

Get Your Tickets NOW!

Steve has won more than a dozen national journalism awards for his reporting and column writing at seven newspapers and four news magazines, and is a three-time Pulitzer finalist for commentary.

Steve is also famous for his popular novel, The Soloist, which was turned into a movie starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. The Soloist is a true story of the unlikely friendship between Nathaniel Ayers and Steve Lopez, which began when he spotted Ayers, who he learned was homeless and living with schizophrenia, playing a two-string violin on skid row in Los Angeles.

About the Event:
Steve Lopez will talk about his experiences and insights, with an emphasis on homelessness and the mental health system of care. Steve will also talk about his friendship with Nathaniel Ayers. A casual reception for all event attendees will follow the presentation. Includes light refreshments. Steve will be signing copies of his book, The Soloist!

When: January 24, 2019, 7-9 PM
Where: Hyatt Regency, 1 Old Golf Course Rd, Monterey, CA 93940
General Admission: $30
Sponsorships (see details below): $250-$2500
Online Tickets or Sponsorships: Eventbrite

Get Your Tickets NOW!

Phone Registration, Sponsorships or Other Questions: contact Our Development Officer, (831) 649-4522, ext 205

Event Sponsors

A big THANK YOU to all of our generous sponsors!

Platinum:
Wald Ruhnke and Dost Architects
Suhr Risk Services

Gold:
Alexander and Maryn Ljubimow
Bill Pardue and Barbara Mitchell
MidPen Housing
John Stafsnes and Iathan Annand
Fenton & Keller
Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Weisshahn
Each Mind Matters

Silver:
The Nunez Company
Fran Baca
Wayne and Maureen Lavengood
Renee and Richard Kezirian
Suzanne Taunt
Sheila Holmes

Bronze:
Philip Bhaskar, D.MD. Monterey Oral Surgery
Mr. & Mrs. Fred Cohn
Anastacia Wyatt
Jocelyn Brady
Judith Ritchey

About Interim, Inc.
Interim, Inc. is the only agency in Monterey County that provides affordable housing, residential treatment, social support, homeless outreach and support, family outreach, and supported education and employment services for adults who have serious mental illnesses.

Our mission is to provide services and affordable housing supporting members of our community with mental illness in building productive and satisfying lives.

We believe that housing, healing, and hope are a path to mental health.

Contact:
Marci Bracco Cain
Chatterbox PR
Salinas, CA 93901
(831) 747-7455
http://www.interiminc.org

Author, Letter-Writer and Mayor of Chualar Veni Releases Follow-Up Book to Popular Debut ‘Veni, Vidi, Vici: I Came, I Saw, I Conquered’

The Mayor of Chualar, author and advice columnist Veni, has released the follow-up to her popular first book “Veni, Vidi, Vici: I Came, I Saw, I Conquered,” with the new “Born to Lead.”

Chular, CA, September 20, 2018 — The Mayor of Chualar, author and advice columnist Veni, has released the follow-up to her popular first book “Veni, Vidi, Vici: I Came, I Saw, I Conquered,” with the new “Born to Lead.”

Veni, a Pumi Hungarian herding breed now 6 years old, continues to recount her adventures in America with “Born to Lead,” including her stint in county jail, running for President of the United States, starting a “Dear Veni” advice service for dogs, suing her dad’s surgeon, and finally, getting voted mayor of the small community of Chualar, California, where she lives with her parents Pam and JJ Jackson.

Veni was elected mayor of Chualar on Jan. 14, 2017, which she called the “best day a doggie could ever have.” She quickly assembled a cabinet that included Johnnie Collieran as Attorney General, Tippy the terrier as chief of police, Princess was named cabinet advisor and chauffer, Harley, a Yorkie, was named secretary of defense, and Louie became secretary of agriculture.

“I like it better than the first book,” says Veni's parent and ghostwriter Pam Jackson. “I like this story, it's really a storybook. It's a fun book.”

After a rough first year that Veni describes in “Veni, Vidi, Vici,” in which her housemates Levi, another Pumi, would tease her mercilessly, and Demi, a standard poodle, who hated her from the start, as well as getting used to a new home and new parents in a foreign land — rural Chualar — Veni has settled into her new life and then some. She's become a star in her own right.

“Veni, Vidi, Vici” also features a collection of letters from Veni to her Aunt Aurora back home in Hungary as well as letters to and from admirers and pen pals, including a few “boyfriends.”

Veni also recently attained an achievement award from AKC in which she won titles in herding, tricks (in which she had to do 10 different tricks), and canine good citizen.

“We are very proud of her. Canine good citizen was difficult for her because she is shy, but she did it!” says Jackson.

Jackson has been a dog trainer for more than 30 years, which gives her unique insight into how Veni thinks and acts.

“I love dogs and I love people, I become their psychologists,” she says about her profession as a dog trainer. “I've met a lot of interesting people in my life working with dogs. I work with 12-15 dogs per week, I have a good reputation and lots of referrals. It's fun.”

She has trained several thousand dogs, including two different dogs who starred in the productions of the play “Annie”, and her own standard poodle, Charley, who played “Charley” in John Steinbeck's “Travels With Charley.”

She and her husband adopted nine-week-old Veni on a trip to Venice Italy in 2012, thus the name Veni, short for Venice.

Born in Seattle and raised in Tule Lake, California, Jackson and her husband (who is from Klamath Falls, Oregon) have two grown sons in addition to the furry children. Her husband is a produce broker in Salinas and have lived in Chualar for 31 years.

One Amazon customer gave “Born to Lead” a 5-star review: “Very nice book. If you enjoyed her first book. This book is written from a dog’s point of view, a very nice book. If you enjoyed her first book, this one will not disappoint you.”

“Veni, Vidi, Vici” has received 4.5 out of five stars (80% five-star) in reviews on Amazon.com. Kirkus Reviews writes, “Veni is larger than life, and her voice makes for fun reading,” while a five-star review on Amazon says, “Such a fun book! I loved the part about her ‘mother’ being a dog trainer and had to hire a trainer for Veni. Veni is obviously very strong-willed. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and hope Veni will share more of her adventures in the future.”

Well, the future is now. “Born to Lead” is available in both hardcover and paperback, and “Veni, Vidi, Vici” is available in paperback only, all are autographed, on Jackson’s website, http://pamjacksondogtraining.com (it is also available on Amazon.com). And Veni and Jackson are already hard at work on a third book, which will be about her adventures as a private detective. Veni and her doggie friends travel all over the world solving problems.

Contact:
Marci Bracco Cain
Chatterbox PR
Salinas, CA 93901
(831) 747-7455
http://www.pamjacksondogtraining.com