Author Spotlight - Ehris Urban & Velya Jancz-Urban
As Grounded Goodlife, mother/daughter duo Velya Jancz-Urban and Ehris Urban explore censored women’s history and encourage readers to cultivate holistic confidence. They’re offbeat New Englanders who, for 26 years, lived in tiny white-bread Bridgewater, Connecticut. Very early on, Velya wanted her kids to know there was much to see and learn outside New England and so they travelled all over the world on school vacations. Motivated by an 11-year friendship with a charming Brazilian named Jose Geraldo, they spent four years preparing for their move to rural Brazil where they would run a dairy farm and open an English school. When they follow their hearts to Ponte Nova, an explosion of betrayal leaves them dazed and grieving. Broke and broken, they are forced to return to the United States, and navigate their rebirth in a foreclosed 1770 New England farmhouse. An already strong mother/daughter relationship becomes indestructible when no one else is emotionally available for them. Velya wrote, “Betrayal makes you feel dead inside. Betrayal gets stuck in your throat and makes it hard to swallow. Betrayal makes you question everything about yourself. Betrayal changes everything.” That experience resulted in their first book, How to Survive a Brazilian Betrayal: A Mother/Daughter Memoir.
Licking their wounds in their possibly-haunted farmhouse and living there for ten years launched their “herstory unsanitized” and holistic public speaking careers and their second book – Dare to be a Green Witch: The Grounded Goodwife’s Guide to Wellness and Holistic Healing. They write, “Many people are very interested in holistic living, but they’re overwhelmed with how to start, and think they’re going to harm themselves and their families without guidance. They stare longingly at the bulk herb bins in health food stores, but since the bins only list the SKU, price per pound, and the herb’s Latin name, it’s hard to know how much to buy, and what to do with them.” Dare to be a Green Witch provides everything you need to get started, including dozens of recipes and remedies, entertaining stories from the authors, and the history of these practices. You'll explore herbal infusions, fermentation techniques, pantry essentials, natural body and facial care, and more. You'll also learn the many uses of fire cider, tonics, essential oils, collagen, and bone broth. From creating an herbal sleep pillow to energy cleansing, Dare to be a Green Witch shows you how to use nature's gifts and enjoy holistic wellness.
Ehris and Velya moved to the Yucatán in August 2021. Currently, the family owns Casona Limon in Chuminopolis and a ranch in Yobain. But they all live by the adage, “there’s no growth without change,” and understand that some of the best chapters in your life won’t happen until you’re halfway into the book. They urge everyone to live boldly, uncertainly, imperfectly, magically, and beautifully!
Dare to be a Green Witch is part of the library’s permanent lending collection and for sale at Between The Lines.
