San Diego,, California
Tarabud@gmail.com
619-800-1368
Tarabud
Writer
Poet
Dreamer
Storyteller
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Hello and welcome to my author page!
I created this website to foster a connection with all my readers and I am thrilled to share my first young adult science fiction novel with you.
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My first novel was six years in the making,
I completed "Nadir To Zenith" while living on beautiful Bainbridge island on the Puget Sound of Washington state. The time in isolation allowed me the mental space to complete this novel. "Nadir to Zenith" is an adventure story of the heroine Aurora as she overcomes her teen struggles to be an individual in an alien world. Aurora not only flies squid vessels, travels through wormholes, and has teen crushes, but also dreams of being back on Earth. You won't regret escaping eleven light-years to her world on Domina!
Back Cover Book Summary:
Aurora thought she was living an idyllic life learning to be a squid vessel mechanic while being raised by the alien Torquinox on the distant planet Domina. Now at 16, she feels the Torquinox’s shared mind technology is intrusive and annoying. She longs to feel more human and less alien. Aurora cannot help but question everything about her life, even the story the Torquinox have told her about the rescue from Earth. The year is 2144. Earth is eleven light-years away and uninhabitable, desolate, and dreadfully distant from Aurora's imagination.
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When the great alien alliance falters and the alien Kean attack her once peaceful planet, Aurora doubts her role in the Torquinox society yet dreads all she has to lose. Abruptly she is ushered into a new era of awakening with forbidden dreams of Earth. She can only trust Harvey to plan an escape from Domina. Her escape plan is perfect until it falters. Will she be able to trust Tatum, her Torquinox mentor? Most of all, will Aurora find the courage to live a life she only dreamed of?
Nadir to Zenith
Available in Kindle Book and Paperback format
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NADIR TO ZENITH
Published April 11, 2019
I am extremely proud and honored to share "Nadir to Zenith," my latest page-turner with you. My close friends and family know how much work was put into getting this book ready for release and publication. This is the story of Aurora, a 16-year-old girl living on a distant planet called Domina. She and other humans were rescued from Earth as infants by the Torquinox, an alien species who saved them from uninhabitable Earth. Aurora communicates with the Torquinox through the shared mind with the help of alien technology at the base of her spine. She wants to be free of the shared mind, to have her own thoughts and feel like an individual. This is part of her struggle to find what it means to be truly human. I only hope, the heroine Aurora, will inspire young girls to trust their intuition, intelligence, and self-determination as they move into adulthood, no matter what planet they are inhabiting.
I am excited to finally share "Nadir To Zenith," with a wider audience and hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 1 excerpt below via Youtube
& Inspirations
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Originally, my story was inspired by artist Rodney Sellars and his fantastical squid vessels. I love the art he created, and the worlds it inspired in me! You can see his drawings and paintings and hear me reading the chapter one excerpt above.
Later during the writing process, I scoured the internet for painters of fantasy and science fiction and found this image 'Die Rote' by Thomas Bossert. He paints transportive images with oils, in his studio in Germany. I found this female image very moving and filled with emotion. The mood of the painting, fit the main character of my novel, as she struggled with emotions of being a teenager, and being part of the shared mind. Thankfully, Mr. Bossert permitted me to use his image for my book cover.
Ambient Synth music by
Guest nebula
This single from Guest Nebula album was composed and produced by Dennis Bestafka. The track 'Lyra' features me
reading from my novel: "Nadir to Zenith." The reading is more to be felt than actually heard clearly.
Get transported and soothed by this chill ambient track.
REEP WHAT YOU SEW
A successful life rests upon nurturing, loving relationships along the way. After 20+ years with my life partner, I give him my gratitude. I could have never written a novel without his encouragement and belief in my creativity.
Take heart and honor those that believe in you and love you unconditionally.
They are diamonds in your life.
Galatians 6:7
Previous Release
La Semilla
A Colombian Novella
Over the years I was inspired to write period piece novellas that captured the magic realism of my country of origin, Colombia, South America. When writing these, the landscape and the culture oozed out of my pen with ease. Some of my favorite authors are Isabel Allende and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This novella rests at the feet of the grand literary novels of Latin America. Please find this tragic and beautiful love story set in early Colombian history on Amazon. I look forward to your reviews!
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Previous Release
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Poetry Collection
Words are so precious that sometimes they cannot be spoken. Laying them down on paper like a puzzle, they sing, they prance about, they are captured and drank into the soul. These poems were written over the decade 2000-2010 while living in the biosphere of the Bay Area. I grappled with life amid beautiful nature, deep psychology, interpersonal relating, and the wars of nations and people. It is a must-read if you are a lover of Mary Oliver, Garcia Lorca, E.E. Cummings, Pablo Neruda, Sylvia Plath, William Carlos Williams, Robert Lowell, and Wallace Stevens.
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Find current poetry releases read on: Soundcloud!
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Previous Release
La Botanica
A Colombian Novella
Cecelia is eleven years old, living in a magnificent Colombian coastal town in the 1870s. She is sheltered by her beloved mother and open to the magic of the world she lives in. The innocence of childhood ends quickly as circumstances and betrayals beyond her control test her faith and her sanity. This story weaves the tale of a heroine who must overcome her mind and the challenges of her family. Reality and fiction must be teased out and shaped into something unexpected for her time in history. This novella is loosely based on my grandmother's life story living in Colombia. The novella is in English with some Spanish words included. I look forward to your reviews!
Meet Tarabud
The Author
Storyteller at Heart
Born in Chicago, Illinois, to Colombian immigrants, I quickly returned to Colombia and had the fortune to be raised enfolded in the richness of Latin American culture. Later, I was transplanted to Southern California and developed my bi-cultural identity that still inspires my creative work. I cultivated my love of story at the California State University of Long Beach, where I completed a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature. Afterward, I relocated to San Francisco Bay Area and completed a Master's Degree in Transpersonal/Somatic Psychology from John F. Kennedy University. I practiced as a Marriage and Family Therapist for the Latino community for many years. In the meantime, I self-published three works: La Botanica, La Semilla, and a poetry collection, In Moments Like These. Current poetry published on Poetry Page.
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While living on beautiful Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound, WA. I completed and self-published the young adult science fiction novel "Nadir To Zenith."
Currently, I am located in San Diego with my husband. When not writing you can find me Voice Acting, Singing on multiple music projects, designing leather goods for Prettyhawke Design, or updating my Food blog Foodie Out of the Closet.
Nadir To Zenith
Chapter 1 - Tatum
(excerpt)
Audio Narration by Tarabud
The Writing Process
Takes Patience and Perseverance
I have been a lifelong fan of science-fiction authors like Ursula K.
Le Guin and Robert A. Heinlein. Maybe even as far back as my 7th-grade English class. With Mrs. Thomas at Will Rogers Junior High School encouraging me to continue my science-fiction writing, I have kept this science-fiction story about a girl on another planet. And so the obsession began. I started writing the novel, Nadir to Zenith, in 2013. The characters' names and the setting came to me first, as if they already existed. Aurora as the main protagonist, is a young girl with uncertainty and much to prove, living on a planet with aliens. Then I set out to plot out the chapters. I had multiple versions of the book outline. In 2014, I joined a writing group at the very early stages of the novel, which influenced my book development, and how I presented Aurora in the first few chapters. Thanks to the honest feedback of Louis and Dennis, I learned plenty about what I needed to fix. As I kept writing the novel over the years, often taking month-long breaks, I would return to my original chapter outline and be amazed at how much it had evolved. Finally, in 2017 and 2018, while working with a mentor program through Cornerstone Literary in Bath, England, I did the bulk of the serious re-writes and made the hard editing decisions. I was guided by an editor from Bloomsbury Publishing, one of the great publishing houses in England, to the final version you will be reading today.
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