Author Karina Fabian Takes Readers Out of This World!

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.

With the final book of your "Mind Over" trilogy out, do you have a new series in mind?

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 21^st 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!

Check out Karina's latest books and find out more about the author at the following links:

Karina's Website , Zombie Death Extreme Official Site , Facebook , Twitter , Google + and Goodreads