Okay. Tell us about
your trademark hat, which I almost never see you without in pictures. Is there
a story behind it?
Karina in Fedora with Pope Francis. (At least his cut out.) |
My hair is not always dependable, but usually, the bottom
half looks pretty good, so a bad hair day means a good hat day.
I’ve had that black fedora for decades, and I wear it to all
my events. I started wearing it to conventions as a way to stand out and
because my dragon is a noir-style detective, and it’s stuck. Once upon a time
it wasn’t as floppy, but we got caught in a deluge in an outdoor book fair in
Chicago, and it was drenched.
I have other hats, but the black one is my fave. My gray
one, which I bought because I’d forgotten my black one, is loaded with buttons
from different conventions. I usually wear it when I’m being a fan rather than
an author.
Zombie exterminators.
Faerie nuns. Vanquished dragons that have to earn their powers back through
faith and good deeds. I can't even imagine what Halloween was like at your
house. What's the first step to coming up with a character from an alternate
universe that readers will be able to relate to?
Actually, Halloween is kind of boring at our house. The wild
creatures tend to stay in my books, alas.
The characters may be from alternate universes, but they
aren’t completely alien. I’d say the first step is coming up with the basic
make-up. Then you change it up, add conflict, attitudes, and issues suited to
the world. The character will become a person of that universe, but still keep
the core. If the core is good, relatable, and sympathetic, so will the
character be. The rest makes them interesting as well.
In the case of Neeta and Ted, zombie exterminators, they’re
just regular people with an unusual job. If they were alive today, they’d work
for Orkin spraying for termites, having barbeques in the backyard with the
neighbors, and raising a couple of kids. But since there are zombies in their
world, they behead reanimated corpses, have barbeques with fellow exterminators
where they trade close call stories, and still raise kids. And they spray for
termites.
I’m actually slowing down on my writing for a few years
until the kids are grown and out of the house. With three boys at home, a full time
job, a freelance career and an active role in the Catholic Writers’ Guild, I’m
stretched too thin.
Once I’m ready to go again, I want to reboot the DragonEye
series and do Vern’s story right. I took the advice “start in the middle,” but
now I want to go back to the beginning. I also have some single novels I’d like
to write.
You offer online
classes that include a wide range of topics, from "Editing: Not for Wimps"
to "Virtual Book Tours", but two of the most attractive to me are "Housekeeping
for Writers" and "Time Management Myths for Writers". What makes these classes specifically geared
toward writers?
The housekeeping class is always a hit at conferences. I
approach cleaning house like writing a book. There are plotters and panststers.
Plotters like a regular routine and a well-established list, and I give them
that. Plotters want to attack the room and see what happens, but just like in
writing a novel, there are tips and guidelines, so I give them those.
Time Management for Writers is geared especially for people
trying to find time in their busy schedule to write, so in addition to some
time management principles, I address ways to get writing in that keeps you
moving forward in your book.
After a year's
hiatus, the Catholic Writer's Guild Online Conference is back! You've been involved with the CWG for many
years. Can you give us a peek into what to expect at the upcoming conference in
March 2016? And will you be teaching a class?
We’re excited about this conference because we are finally
ready to enter the 21st century! We will be presenting all the
workshops via live webinar. I’m using the webinar software for my own classes
right now and it’s very easy to participate. Registrants can find all the
information and the registration link at http://catholicwritersconference.com.
The conference will run March 4-6, 8:30 am – 10:30 pm. Each
class lasts an hour, with 30 minutes in between to allow for Q&A or
socializing. That’s over 20 classes from leading writers of Catholic and
secular fiction and nonfiction, plus editors. We’ll be arranging pitch sessions
as well. There will be a charge this year to pay for the software and the
speakers. $40 for non-members, $32 for CWG members.
We’re just starting to gather presenters, so we don’t have
the list of workshops yet, but we do know that several will be done on two
levels – beginner and intermediate. I’m waiting to see what speakers and topics
we get and then create a workshop fill any gaps we may have.
What's next on your
busy schedule?
Shambling in a Winter
Wonderland (the next Neeta Lyffe book) and Discovery (a SF novel featuring the sisters of Our Lady of the
Rescue) both come out in 2016. I’m also helping launch a wonderful new website
called SaintConnection, which combines religious education with social media to
create a new way of bringing the rich tradition of the Catholic Church to GenY.
I’m also working on a Catholic geek devotional.
And yeah, this is me slowing down. (shrug)
Karina's audiobook for I
Left My Brains in San Francisco has just been released! You can find an interview with Karina and
narrator Becky Parker at Writers in Residence.
Don't forget that I Left My Brains in San Francisco is now available on audiobook! Check it out!
Don't forget that I Left My Brains in San Francisco is now available on audiobook! Check it out!
Check out Karina's latest books and find out more about the author at the following links:
Thanks for hosting me.
ReplyDeleteAfter a nearly 2-week delay, I Left My Brains in San Francisco is up on Audible. Check it out at http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/I-Left-My-Brains-in-San-Francisco-Audiobook/B016CF3U80/
It was great having you. I love your books. :)
ReplyDeleteKarina, you are definitely a very energetic person, good inspiration reading your post, and the shot in the arm I needed this morning. Much and continued success! (PS At first I didn't realize the Pope was a cutout, and wondered why he was so stiff looking!)
ReplyDelete