Travel to the Land of Illusion

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I visited Universal Studios with a few members of my family. My favorite ‘ride’ was the tour of the studios.

Did I see any stars? Not to my knowledge. But I must tell you that people might look different in the real world than they do on the screen. The sets certainly do!

The truly amazing thing is that we took several pictures of the sets, and they look like they do on the big screen! Our camera is just as fooled as the more expensive, professional cameras. Can I ever again trust what the camera tells me?

Probably not, now that I’ve seen with my own eyes how easily the camera lies (or is fooled).

I particulary liked one of the older sets. The tour guide told how one side of the street has all the windows and doors smaller than normal, while the other side has larger than normal windows and doors.

Why you ask?

They would film the men in front of the smaller than normal doors/windows, so that the men appeared larger and more masculine. The women would be filmed in front of the larger than normal doors/windows so that they would appear more dainty.

Who knew?

Dreaming

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Spiders, everywhere I look there are big, black, long-legged spiders. But none of the people around me, all wearing matching Hawaiian shirts, seem to be the least bothered. They just go about their business, oblivious to the possible dangers that abound.

Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain on the palm of my hand, immediately followed by another. I look at my hand in horror, because there, on my open palm, are two of those horrible creatures injecting me with their venom.

I frantically shake my hand to dislodge the spiders and look to see what damage is done. Already the venom is beginning to take effect. Two large, white bulbs of goo are growing, expanding like balloons on a helium machine. The pain becomes almost unbearable.

What can I do? I know there is an antidote for the venom. I must find it fast. I must find the antidote before…

And I wake up.

But even awake, the anxious feeling stays. For the next few hours, the world is still populated with oblivious people in Hawaiian shirts. The spiders still abound, and I still need to find the antidote.

Anxiety

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My heart is racing, and I have to constantly tell myself to breathe. Because if I don’t take a deep breath every so often I know I’ll faint.

Several times today I have been so distracted that I did very stupid things, like trying to open the wrong car door with my keys, or attempting to walk through a closed door.

Why am I so anxious? What horrible event is occurring in my life that brings me to the edge of unconsciousness?

That’s the sad part! No horrible event, just the natural anxiety I feel when one of my children is fortunate enough to take a trip without me.

I am such a wimp!

Blog changes

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It is time for me to do a little more work to integrate the blog more fully into my website. I don’t think changing the background to black is enough.

So if you visit and things look odd, please have patience. I’ll probably have to try several different versions before I get everything looking exactly how I want it.

Wish me luck!

Serene family life

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Years ago, when I was a child dreaming about my adult life, I had a vision of a life full of peace and serenity.

Oh, the dreams of childhood!

I love my family dearly, but they certainly don’t bring peace and serenity. There is always something going on. Today, my oldest daughter is moving out of her apartment.

I don’t mind helping her, but it sure is hard work!

Maybe I can count it as my daily workout. Lifting couches should be the same as lifting weights, right? And climbing stairs repeatedly is the equivalent of the elliptical trainer, wouldn’t you agree?

High Praise

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Yesterday was the last day of school, and I received one of the nicest compliments that a librarian can get. A mom told me she was so glad that I was their librarian, because I was so hip.

Why is this such high praise?

A moment of thought about that tired old stereotype of the cranky librarian wearing boring clothes, boring glasses, and a boring bun in her hair should make it perfectly obvious why I think it praise.

I mean, doesn’t everyone like to hear that they are not boring? And if I’m not boring, doesn’t that mean that I have a better chance of reaching the kids, and really teaching them?

Yes, it made my day!

And no, I don’t try to be hip. I’m actually rather strict.

Writing has changed how I read

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Writing has opened my eyes in a way I never expected.

I have been known in the past to get so caught up in a book that I could not hear any noises around me. A train could be barrelling down the track, me sitting on the rails, people screaming for me to get out of the way, and I would continue to calmly read. The train, the screaming people, imminent death–all of that would have become the fictional world, and the book in my hand the only reality.

But now I read differently. Now I notice how the plot is structured, how dialog carries the story along in a way that pure text never could, where the author utilizes foreshadowing in just that perfect manner.

But most of all, my eyes have been opened to exactly how much of the author is embedded in the story. How old hurts, joys, thoughts and dreams appear on the pages and become part of the story.

As soon as I began to write seriously, as soon as I realized just exactly how much an author must give up of themself, I knew that there were certain types of stories I would never be capable of writing. Not that my imagination is not rich enough to write a psycho-thriller or a horror story, but my life experiences are fortunately lacking in that arena.

And that is just the way I want to keep it!

Seattle weather

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There are days when I wonder why I’m living in this area. This is one of those days.

Here it is, June, and not only is there no sun, but the clouds are weeping!

What do the clouds have to be so sad about? They have no stress, no worries. All they do is float around all day looking at the view.

Come on clouds, get a grip!

Progress of Cerulea

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I’ve been working hard to get Behold the Eye: Cerulea ready for publication. My oldest daughter is doing the illustrations, and I have no idea how far she has gotten.

Which makes me anxious.

She’s told me many times that she is working on them, so I guess I’ll just have to trust that she’ll get them done on time.

On second thought, I bet if I ask nicely, she’ll let me see what she has done so far. After all, I do have a vested interest in the illustrations. I can’t publish without them.

My plan is to publish late July, early August.

Press Release

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New Book for Young Adults Traversing the Landscape of Dreams

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Braumaru, a new book for young adults by first-time author Veronica Tabares, takes its readers on an expedition through the magical world of dreams.

“A fortunate few get to experience the rarest dream of all,” says Tabares. “This brand of dream has no connection to the imagination and does not occur in the human head. Instead, it happens in a realm of its own – in the baffling, mysterious, and dangerous land of dreams.”

Braumaru, the first book in the Behold the Eye trilogy, follows Micah, a young boy who lives in a world very similar to our own. Micah has completed his Rite of Passage, but he awaits true manhood, when his birth gift reveals itself.

Meanwhile, Vickie, a 6th-grader in our world, wants some excitement in her life. In her attempt to write a ghostly bestseller, she begins to truly observe her world and its mysteries. That is how she crosses paths with an unscrupulous janitor who hopes to travel to Micah’s world and satisfy his quest for power.

“What happens when someone discovers how to travel through the land of dreams, and the lives of our world become entwined with those of the other dimension” says Tabares. “Read Braumaru to make that timeless, magical journey yourself.”

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. For more information, please visit Behold the Eye: Braumaru (https://www.veronicatabares.com).