Karina Fabian
genre
Whatever interests me at the time, but mostly fantasy, science fiction, and horror (comedic). I’ve also written a devotional and craft books, and I’m open to whatever catches my interest or I get asked to do. (I get into some of the most fun projects because someone asks.)
home town 
Pueblo, Colorado
home on the web
Website: http://fabianspace.com, http://dragoneyepi.net
Blog: http://fabianspace.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karina.fabian
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/KarinaFabian
Google +: https://plus.google.com/103660024891826015212
past material
I have dozens of books and scores of stories out in multiple genres: fantasy, science fiction, horror, book marketing, devotionals, and crafts. Instead of listing them, folks can go to http://fabianspace.com, pick a genre and check them out. However, there is one that applies to my current project:
Magic, Mensa and Mayhem: From the Case Files of DragonEye, PI: It should have been a cushy job: Vern, the dragon detective, and his partner, the mage Sister Grace, are given an all-expense paid trip to Florida to chaperone a group of Magicals at a Mensa convention. Then the pixies start pranking, the Valkyrie starts vamping and a dwarf goes to Billy Beaver’s Fantasyland hoping to be “discovered.” Environmentalists protest Vern’s “disrupting the ecosystem,” while clueless tourists think he’s animatronic. When the elves get high on artificial flavorings and declare war on Florida, it turns into the toughest case they aren’t getting paid for. (2010 INDIE winner-Best Fantasy)
current projects:
Coming in April 20, 2012: Live and Let Fly: From the Case Files of DragonEye, PI —When a dragon and a nun have to save the world from Armageddon, all Hel breaks loose.
Editing: Neeta Lyffe 2: I Left My Brains in San Francisco—When Neeta and Ted attend a zombie exterminators’ convention, Ted wants a vacation, Neeta wants a commitment, and the zombies want revenge.
Written: The Old Man and the Void—Dex Hollister hunts the relics of a destroyed civilization along the periphery of a black hole. When one powers up and drags him across the event horizon, he and his ship, Santiago are in a fight for their lives.
Writing: Gapman: From the Case Files of DragonEye, PI—a mild-mannered entertainment reporter gets superpowers and wrecks havoc on Los Lagos trying to do good. Can Vern train him in time to stop a very real plot that will tear the town apart?
places where books are available for purchases
At the individual publishers, Amazon, B&N online, etc. It depends on the publishers where they are. Sometimes, I get in indie bookstores, esp. my Catholic books, but mostly online. My website has links for every book for the publisher and Amazon, so it’s easiest to start there. http://fabianspace.com
Interview questions
How did you get your start in writing?
I’ve always been writing, but I got my start writing professionally as a Lenten vow. I’m Catholic, and a tradition in the 40 days before Easter is to give up something, and often people take up something good in its place. I gave up reading fiction and took up writing, and I placed the direction in God’s hands. By Easter, I was writing regularly for the diocese magazine and doing interviews for several local magazines. Around 2005, I stopped doing the magazine work to concentrate on fiction, which is my real love.
who are your biggest influences:
That’s tough to define. Do I say my husband, who supports me and is my idea man? Do I list authors I enjoy? What about the publishers who have stood behind me and often encourage me to write a second book or attempt something else? Then there’s the Catholic Writers’ Guild, which has brought me such friendship with other authors of my faith. I don’t have a particular big influence, like a mentor (though I sometimes wish I did). I have a wonderful web of influences coming from many angles and supporting me in many ways.
What is your biggest inspiration when creating?
Usually the characters. Even when I outline, as I did with The Old Man and the Void, the characters drive the story. Some of them are very real and can’t be contained in a single book. The most notable of these is Vern, my dragon who works as a detective in our world. He has such a fun noir voice and a cynical attitude of a being who is legitimately superior to all other worldly beings, but who is coerced into service by the Faerie Church thanks to St. George. Vern inspires some very serious stories and some really funny ones, and I can write him in flash (1000 words or less) as well as novels.
Could you give us the details of your current project?
Right now, I’m promoting Live and Let Fly, which comes out April 20.
For a dragon detective with a magic-slinging nun as a partner, saving the worlds gets routine. So, when the US government hires Vern and Sister Grace to recover stolen secrets for creating a new Interdimensional Gap–secrets the US would like to keep to itself, thank you—Vern sees a chance to play Dragon-Oh-Seven.
No human spy, however, ever went up against a Norse goddess determined to exploit those secrets to rescue her husband. Sigyn will move heaven and earth to get Loki—and use the best and worst of our world against anyone who tries to stop her.
It’s super-spy spoofing at its best with exotic locations (Idaho–exotic?), maniacal middle-managers, secret agent men, teen rock stars in trouble, man-eating animatronics, evil overlords and more!
Here’s an excerpt:
Charlie started to close the door behind us, his other hand gripping the handle of his dagger so tightly I could hear the leather wrap on the handle strain, as we listened to the footsteps coming our way, slow, bored. My predator’s instincts rose; then I had a great idea. I shook my head at Charlie and winked, and he shuffled out of my way, leaving the door ajar. I settled myself with my back to the door, just inside the shadows and let the script play itself out:
CLUELESS MINION enters Stage Left. He pauses, hearing a noise, but does not report it. Instead, he fondles the stars on his nametag and moves toward the empty hallway, his mind on adding another. (Probably saying, “I was proactive today!”)
CLUELESS pauses at door, hesitating. He stands and, back to the door, reaches for his walkie-talkie.
Suddenly, a well-muscled and gorgeously scaled tail whips out from the crack in the door and wraps itself around his neck. He only has time to grab ineffectively at the tail before he’s drawn into the darkness. The door shuts behind him.
Pan shot of the empty hallway.
FADE TO BLACK
I slammed my victim on the floor and pinned him with my forelegs, then I leaned my face in nice and slow, making sure he got a good look at my fangs before he saw my eyes. “Where’s the girl?” I growled low and menacingly.
“Wh-What g-g-girl?”
Charlie crouched down by Stutterboy and glanced at his nametag. “Look, Philip, we’re in a bit of a hurry. We know Rhoda Dakota’s being held captive somewhere nearby. Now you can be a good survivor and tell us where…or you can be dinner.”
“I-I don’t—”
“Phil A. Minion.” I mused and drooled a bit for effect. I live for these moments, I really do. I licked his cheek and asked Charlie, “Can I have fries with that?”
“Why not? This is Idaho.”
What is the next goal you would like to achieve with your writing?
My regular goal is to write three books a year. I know some people balk at that, but this is my full time work, and I manage a steady daily count. I plan on submitting The Old Man and the Void to the bigger presses like Baen and Tor. Then I want to write Gapman, the next DragonEye, PI novel, which introduces an unlikely superhero that Vern will have to take under his wing. Then I will either write the third book in the Miscria Trilogy or the first Damsels and Knights book. I’m not sure yet.
Of course, all this assumes someone doesn’t give me a fantastic opportunity, like in 2010, when I was asked to write a small devotional, Why God Matters. It’s still one of my favorite books, so I’m always eager to follow what falls into my lap.
Final four (questions we ask all interviewees)
When the zombies take over the world where will you be?
I’d like to be out there blasting them with a shotgun and being generally kickass, but more likely, I’ll be packing my van and heading to the hills with my kids. I’d probably have to stop at a gun store and buy/take some firearms. That is, if I’m not dead or gibbering. It would depend on when the zombies take over the world and whether I have children to protect, or if they’re all grown.
Jedi, Ninja, vampire, were-wolf, pirate, fairy or Spartan?
Ninja, or maybe Samurai. My husband take hiadong gumbdo, which is Korean sword martial arts. I have my blue belt. I recently mastered rolling over my sword. (I was never a tumbler even as a child.) So I will be testing for the next belt soon.
What one piece of art, be it music, book, film or picture, do you think people must experience before they die?
Sistine Chapel—or any of the many beautiful churches in Italy with fantastic art. My favorite was the church in Assissi with the paintings of St. Francis by Giotto. They are so gentle and peaceful.
Give one fact that most people would not believe about you?
That I can’t think of a single snarky reply to this question.
Thanks for hosting me today!