How’s Braumaru doing?

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I was so happy yesterday! I ran a report to see which books have been checked out most in the last 30 days in my library, and was totally shocked to see Behold the Eye: Braumaru listed as #1! I ran another report, but this time for most checked out in 1 year. Braumaru was #4. Not bad for a book that has only been published about 8 months!

Then I got home, and waiting for me was a rejection letter from a contest I had entered Braumaru. Not only had I not won, but the reviewer thought that the book was too complicated for kids in Middle School, so they would become frustrated and not finish it.

Listen, I know that not everyone who reads my books are going to like them. This is a fact. I can live with it. I expect it.

But I would much prefer for the reviewer to state that s/he did not like my book rather than say that the middle school/young adult crowd are not smart enough to understand my books. That they would not be able to follow the storyline.

It makes me wonder if the reviewer actually reads fiction written for this age group. Does s/he not understand that books that have been dumbed down are quite often mundane and boring? Is it possible that s/he is not aware that the young mind is perfectly capable of handling and detangling complicated plots? Could it be that s/he does not know that a book that challenges while it entertains is a powerful encouragement to continued reading? Books need to be fun!

I am a mother, a librarian, and a writer.

As a mother, I’ve watched the reaction my children have had to various stimuli. And after watching, I made a conscious decision to be involved in what they were exposed to. Yes, I will admit it. I made careful selections (aka censoring) of my children’s computer use, television viewing, and book choices. But my choices were never to dumb things down, only to keep out the inappropriate.

As a librarian, my job is to choose reading material that will encourage the love of reading and learning. I spend hours every day evaluating books to that end. What age group do I evaluate for you ask? Kindergarten through 12th grade. And to do this I ask a lot of questions of the kids, about what they like in a book, what keeps their interest, what makes them think!

As the writer of the Behold the Eye trilogy my goal was to write a story that I, as an adult, would enjoy reading, and that I could read aloud to my child.

Which is why I know some people will not like my books. The Behold the Eye trilogy has no vulgarity, no vampires, and no scenes that would make a person blush.

They are complex, interesting, and fun!

ThanksGiving

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I am thankful for the many blessings I enjoy, and the most important blessing to me is my family.

Therefore, I am thankful for that first awkward, but strangely magical, blind date with my husband almost 25 years ago. Everything that could have gone wrong did. Which makes it important to remember that an uneventful date is a forgetable date.

Aren’t I lucky that that first date was very like our marriage has been? Unforgetable, eventful, and full of surprises…surprises that my husband and I have learned we can always handle, as long as we handle them together.

I am thankful for my four wonderful daughters, who have all grown into beautiful, witty, intelligent, strong young women. I radiated pride yesterday at the family dinner when aunts, uncles, a grandmother, and cousins were able to partake of the numerous dishes my children had cooked, packed up, and transported to the get-together. To know that my children have grown to be so giving, so hard-working…it does make a mother’s heart glow with joy.

I am also thankful for…what? You want me to let everyone know what you are thankful for? Why certainly, I’ll read your prepared speech for you, though I am a little surprised. I didn’t know Jupiterians celebrated Thanksgiving Day.

Let’s see…it says, “We like to thank our fellow Jupiterians who have always given us support. We would like to show our gratitude to the Foundation, without whom we would not be here today. We would also like to thank the Saturnians for clearing a path through their moons so that we could make the great strides we have in space exploration. Without their help, it may have taken an extra millenium…”

Wait a minute, this speech isn’t about Thanksgiving!

Yes, I know you are giving thanks, but it is not the same. Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for blessings, not giving thanks to people. Okay, okay, so officially they aren’t “people”. Still, I don’t think you get it!

What? You are positive you know all about it because you watched it on TV? You saw a show about Thanksgiving on TV?

Oh, I see. You saw the Academy Awards.

I think I’ll just let it go. Some things are just too hard to explain!

Maybe I should find a way to limit their TV time!

Jupiterians unite!

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Jupiterians,

Word has been sent from your homeland that you are desperately needed there. You must drop any and all projects you have here, and zip back to your planet before it is too late. Quickly. Right away.

What is that? You think your project to slow down Viridia is too important for you to put aside?

But you must obey the call of your fellow Jupiterians. You cannot let them handle this crisis alone. They need your help. Now. Right now. This minute.

What is the crisis? Well…I think is is best that you get the details directly from those that are living the tragedy in your homeland. So you must hurry back.

Why did I get the message instead of you? Ummmm…well…there is a very good reason they sent the messge to me instead of you. They…they…they tried you reach you, but you didn’t answer. They couldn’t wait so they gave me the message to pass along to you.

The message? You must return at once before all the trees on your planet are destroyed. Your help is immediately and urgently needed.

Why are you looking at each other like that? This is serious! All the trees on your planet have developed a rare and deadly form of the Dutch Elm disease, and you must take a few of our trees back immediately so that you can start to replenish your forests right away.

Why are you laughing so hard?

Your planet doesn’t have trees? It is made of gas?

I knew I should have paid closer attention in Astronomy!

Generational theories

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In my youth, I had a theory that people could easily be placed in generations based on their place in a family. If you were a parent, you belonged in the parent group, you were the parent generation. All parents were the “parent age”, and should willingly hang out with the other parents. It worked the same with grandparents, who enjoyed the company of others of “grandparent age”.

But then, people started talking about Baby Boomers. I was shocked to learn the long span of years that were included in a “generation”. Around 20!

Okay, so here’s something to think about.

A generation is defined as approximately 20 years. If I was born at the beginning of my generation and I had a child at the age of 18, my child and I would be a part of the same generation.

Totally destroys my theory!

Pepper

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Rrrrrrip, scratch, scratch, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle.

The strange noises broke through to my consciousness. But I’m tough. I shook my head to clear it, refocused on my computer screen, and resumed my writing. Whatever was making that noise could wait until I reached the end of the chapter.

Rrrrrrip.

Scratch, rip, shuffle.

The noises continued, but for me they were only background static. I was in my story, fully focused, totally oblivious to the world around me.

Until I heard the high-pitched squeal of a puppy in pain. The sound of a creature in pain is unmistakeable, and impossible to ignore.

But where was she? I knew she was in the house, somewhere.

The squeal alerted my daughter to possible trouble, and she began to search for her pup.

Rrrrrip, scratch, scatch, shuffle, rrrrrrrrip.

There was that annoying noise again! But now my daughter was on the trail and she had discovered that it was coming from under the stairs, the same place she suspected the puppy was hiding.

My daughter investigated, and reported her discovery. Now there is yet another fact my family can add to the “things I didn’t know about puppies” list.

Did you know that puppies can chew holes through walls?

My run-in with a politician in the making

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I will be so glad when Tuesday is done and gone. It’s impossible to get away from all the political ads, and my mind needs a break from all the nastiness and confusion.

But I have a secret. It’s not a big, humongous secret. It is a little, annoying secret, one that I’ve already shared with my family and close friends.

You see, there is a candidate for Congress that I know one tiny little thing about. A tiny thing that shows what her character is made of, and that she doesn’t know the meaning of ethics.

You see, several years ago I was laid off from my job, and my family was struggling to make ends meet. Times were tough, and I was frantically trying to get myself re-employed so that my family’s financial stability could be restored.

I was estatic to have the opportunity to interview at Microsoft, and I was fully confident that I was a good fit for the job.

I met with the hiring manager, and the interview began. She seemed to be a nice woman, she described to me exactly what the job entailed, and I explained how I could accomplish each task, and how I could add value.

She explained that in order for her to make a decision, she needed to know my working methods and ability. Therefore, she wanted me to tell her my ideas about how she could restructure her site to make the information flow more easily.

After I had completed the task, she suddenly jumped up and said she had to go check on something.

About 5-10 minutes later, a young woman came into the office, and said she had been sent to escort me out of the building. I asked if it would be possible to thank the hiring manager for her time, and the young woman said that the manager was unavailable. She said I shouldn’t worry about the abrupt departure, that the manager was “just like that.”

A couple weeks later I was chatting with a friend of mine about her job search, and was surprised to discover that we had both interviewed for the same position at Microsoft. (It was easy to remember the name of this hiring manager, because really, how many women at Microsoft have the first name Darcy?)

My friend had left her interview with the task of creating a mock-up of a redesign of the site, to make it more esthetically pleasing. She had done the requested work.

A month later, both of us consoled with each other that neither of us had heard back from the hiring manager, which must mean neither of us were going to get the job.

Out of curiosity, we visited the site I had been asked to restructure, and my friend to redesign.

Shock! Total shock! There, replacing the old site, was a combination of our work. She had interviewed each of us, requested work from us, and combined our work without any recompense, without a “thank you”, and even without a polite “sorry, but you are not hired.”

And this woman is running for Congress? She claims to be ethical, looking out for the interest for others?

Hardly!

Jupiterians strike again!

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Okay, you Jupiterians. I know you’re out there. Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?

What do you mean, you are tiny compared to humans? Did I ever say you were bigger than humans? Or even than my dog, Pepper? Do you think that your small size makes it okay to not play fair?

Besides, where did you get the idea that “pick on someone your own size” only applies if the tormentor is bigger than the victim. Germs are tiny, and most humans would prefer if germs picked on someone their own size, like maybe other germs.

What? Of course I know it was you! Don’t be silly.

Prove it? No, I can’t prove it, but I know your style. You like to be sneaky.

Why do I believe you are the culprit? Come on! Why else would Pepper come running and screaming through the door like she did. I looked outside, and there was nothing out there that could have scared her, and she didn’t have a scratch on her.

Ah ha! So you admit it, do you? That’s good. That’s a start.

But let’s get this straight. If you want to slow down my writing, pick on me. Leave my dog alone!

Press Release for Cerulea

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The following is the press release put out by the publisher.


A moving story of love and friendship

Seattle, WA: Cerulea, the newly released second installment of Veronica Tabares’ Behold the Eye trilogy, takes readers into ever more fantastic depths, daring to lift the veils between reality and illusion.

“Cerulea’s overwhelming message is clear – that hope is never lost,” says Tabares. “As with the first book of this trilogy, Braumaru, Cerulea is fantasy adventure that will appeal to readers of every age.”

Awaking in a strange world, Vickie struggles to understand what has happened to the world she once knew. Confused and lost, she is befriended by three companions who journey with her to the land of Cerulea, to find the secrets to help her return home.

Meanwhile, in the normal world, Vickie’s friends slowly piece together the evidence pointing to her vanishing and to the strange characters that may have some hand in her disappearance. But the power-hungry Roland, bent on using Vickie for his own sinister purposes, has other plans. Vickie must race to find her answers before Roland can realize his sinister scheme.

“Though the haze of sleep, dreams and imagination blur the boundaries between worlds, those with the ability to dream travel, armed with the secret knowledge, can move within those worlds,” says Tabares. “But they may often get lost – or worse. Cerulea is a chronicle of that amazing journey. ”

About Veronica Tabares

Raised in Memphis, Veronica Tabares has traveled across many states and career fields. She has sold artwork to businesses, produced web content for a tech company, performed story time as a children’s librarian, and taught 6th graders how to be safe on the Internet. Tabares has a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and a Master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of Washington. She currently lives in Seattle with her husband and four lovely daughters.

Writing process

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Writers are often asked what process they go through when writing.

Me, I rely on multiple rewrites, which each change the text quite a bit.

For example, this morning these paragraphs:

     I opened my eyes and looked at my husband lying beside me. Memories of wonderful times we have had together flooded my mind, and tears began to stream down my face.
What in the world had happened to me yesterday? What tragic event had occurred to make me forget the most important people in my life? There were no humans on this earth who were more valuable to me than my family.
And I forgot their existence for an entire day.

Became these paragraphs:

     As the light of morning sun hits my eyelids I decide it must be time to leave the land of slumber and start a new day.
If I could convince my eyes to open, that is. They really don’t like that transition period when they are forced to leave the relaxing darkness of night to be assaulted by that bright orb which sometimes shows itself in the morning sky.
My eyes tell me that they find the whole process extremely unfair!
I convince them to open a slit, and both my eyes and I (or should I say the three of us?) are pleased to discover that there is no pain waiting to sneak in with the sun’s rays.
A little at a time I persuade my eyes to open, until they are finally fully open and ready for a new day. Now all I have to do is roll over, sit up, and get out of bed.
But my movements are arrested as my eyes decide to focus on the man sleeping beside me.
As if someone had started playing 20 different movies in my head at the same time, memories flooded my brain, engulfing me with a kaleidoscope of images made up of the wonderful times I’ve shared with this man. Interspersed among the picnics, movies, berry picking and long walks were discussions about everything under the sun. Discussions I have enjoyed very much.
My heart swells with love as the realization hits me that I truly enjoy being with this man who is my husband. It swells even more as I think about how amazing it is that I can talk to him about absolutely everything.
Tears pour down my cheeks as my heart becomes overfull with emotion. This man is not simply my husband—he is my best friend!
I’m such a sap.
What in the world had happened to me yesterday? What tragic event had occurred to make me forget the most important people in my life? There were no humans on this earth who were more valuable to me than my family.
And I forgot their existence for an entire day.

And who knows what the final text will be after a few more rewrites!

By the way, it feels really good to be writing again. I’ve been so busy that I’ve barely written for about a month and a half. I think I was having withdrawal pains.

I told you those Jupiterians would find a way to slow me down!