A nonprofit director grapples with reality and illusion in this Dickensian story based on real events.
IRVINE, CA, UNITED STATES, March 25, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Green Dreams: My Twisted Holiday Season, the latest book by Pepper Pro, has all the trappings of a Dickensian Christmas tale. Except that this is a true story (with one caveat: “names are distorted, senses altered, colors adjusted”).
We are introduced to “Green Dreams,” a program committed to urban forestry that is suffering in the wake of the 2008 financial collapse. Things turn dire to the point where Pepper has to fire staff or fold his green dreams altogether.
Just before the holidays, he is invited to a night of revelry by his next-door neighbor, Marc, and a suave, wealthy attorney, Wes, who sounds like Scrooge. Wes is skeptical, no fan of the cause; only the bottom line. Pepper deflects his sarcasm as they enjoy the choicest wine and the most exquisite meal at the swank, local Paris Bistro. All is well for “three on the town” until they run into Holly Skye Innis, a super-wealthy donor to whose foundation Pepper had applied earlier.
And that is where everything goes south.
The next day, he awakens to learn that he blacked out. All he remembers from the night before is Holly departing the bistro in a fit of rage and shouting expletives. He also recalls having oysters and “the Green Hour of absinthe,” a potent, 140-proof liquor made from distilled herbs like wormwood and green anise that he and his friends consumed. Only recently legalized, it was a drink of choice among Belle Époque artists such as Van Gogh, Lautrec, Rimbaud, and Baudelaire, and its reputation came from its strength and the thujone in wormwood, believed to trigger seizures or hallucinations.
Which begs the question: Were the events of last night hallucinations? In any case, Pepper is sure that he will not receive a dime in support from Holly or even his friends. All he needs now is a Christmas miracle.
This is the third book by former journalist and author Pepper Pro, who is the founder of TreeUtah and the creator of TreeLink, an early digital platform that helped expand urban forestry nationwide and overseas. He also worked for twenty years as a news editor and has written on human rights, diversity, and environmental issues. His previous books include Essays, Op-Eds, Eulogies and a Toast and Pipe Dreams: Poems, Psalms and Songs.
Here are the details about this book:
Title: Green Dreams: My Twisted Holiday Season
Author: Pepper Pro
Publisher: USA Book Author
Availability: Now available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats.
Get your copy today!
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