This is the last opportunity to celebrate April as National Poetry Month with Hofsas House Hotel in Carmel – at least with some of the old if-walls-could-talk paint and fixtures.
In reminiscing about her childhood by the sea, Kirsten Tarman, a mother of twin daughters, now grown, and married to military officer Jean-Paul Tarman, who had returned to her hometown after years abroad, carried a vision of a children's story she felt compelled to write. Basing the book on her own dogs, “Olly,” a Poodle-Schnauzer mix, and “Lucille,” also a Schnauzer mix, she developed her storyline. She collaborated with Paws 'n Prints Photography. She discovered Michigan-based illustrator Scott Zelazny online, who could soften the photographs into illustrations. And she worked with Patricia Hamilton of Park Place Publications in Pacific Grove, to turn the elements of her vision into a book, "Olly and Lucille's Adventure in Carmel-by-the-Sea."