Guest blog: Writing Non-Fiction, with Jo Linsdell

In the usual tradition of this blog, when things get tight, the pressure builds, and I can't find time to write anything.... that's when it's time for a guest blog. :)   See, easy ... unless you can hand out ipods, Virgin Media TV packages, or free books ... this is easier.



Today, we'll be hosting Jo Linsdell.  If you're a writer on Facebook, you've run into madam Linsdell before. I even had a Facebook interview with her not too long ago. Jo Linsdell is a best selling author and illustrator, award winning blogger, and freelance writer. She is also the founder and organiser of the annual online event Promo Day (www.PromoDay.info). Her latest release Virtual Book Tours: Effective Online Book Promotion From the Comfort of Your Own Home is now available from Amazon. Find out more about her at her website www.JoLinsdell.com

Writing
Non-Fiction

By
Jo Linsdell

I'm
a multi genre author and also an illustrator so my writing process
tends to differ depending on the project I'm working on. For my
non-fiction books the first two steps are always the same though 1)
make the cover art 2) write up the table of contents.

By
making the cover art I get a feel for the book and set the tone. It
also becomes "real". This is a great motivator for me and
helps me focus on finishing it. Another benefit to making the cover
early on is that it means I can do some pre-release promotion even
before I've finished writing the book.

The
table of contents is basically the structure for my book. I start by
brainstorming the topic I'm writing about. For my latest book Virtual
Book Tours: Effective Online Book Promotion From the Comfort of Your
Own Home the
topic was virtual book tours. I made a list of the questions I get
asked most related to virtual book tours and they essentially became
the chapters of my book. All I needed to do was put them into a
logical order. With a clear plan for the book I knew exactly what to
write for each chapter and book quickly came to life.

The
idea was to break it down into 3 main sections; pre-tour,
during-tour, and post-tour, covering everything a person would need
to know to be able to set up and carry out a successful virtual book
tour. I then added a forth section packed full of useful resources.
The book pretty much wrote itself.

I
think the main reason I found it so easy to write this book was that
I already had a lot of experience and knowledge of my topic (I've
carried out numerous successful virtual book tours for my own books
and have been hosting others on my blogs for years. Some times
working directly with the author, some times with book tour
companies). Virtual book tours are also my favourite, and most
effective, marketing method for promoting my books. I'm therefore
passionate about the topic and enjoy talking about it. These two
factors are the essentials for writing a good non-fiction. You need
to know your topic and be passionate about it.

As
the reader goes through your book it will be obvious whether you're
an expert in your topic or not. Your excitement and enthusiasm about
your topic should shine through from start to finish. If it does,
you'll have them excited about the topic too and eager to use their
new found knowledge.

What
are the first steps you take when writing a non-fiction book? As
a reader, what do you look for it a non-fiction book?

Guest post: Karina Fabian of Mind Over Psyche.

Guest blogs: the lazy blogger's best friend ... well, it's either that or Darren Brown Tickets. This week features the return of Karina Fabian, author of Mind Over Mind, Mind Over Psyche, Neeta Lyffe: Zombie Exterminator, and creator of zombie killers, interstellar rescue nuns, and dragon private investigators.

The Joy of Having
Written

By Karina Fabian

Every now and then, we have Tabata week at the gym I
attend.  If you don’t know Tabata, think
of it as being in labor:  20 seconds of
hard pushing and pain, followed by ten seconds of rest.  Of course, drugs are discouraged and your
trainer might not appreciate it if you snarl, “This is your fault!” but it only
lasts an hour, and then you’re done until the next day.  Sometimes, I enjoy going to the gym, but it
had been a crazy week, anyway, and my motivation was low, even less so for
Tabata, but I went. 

Why?  Even though I
didn't look forward to going, I enjoyed having
gone.

That’s how it goes with writing sometimes.  There are plenty of times when I don’t feel
like writing.  Sometimes, other things in
life seem much more important, whether planning a surprise for my husband’s
retirement or doing dishes.  Sometimes,
it’s looking at my Amazon sales and realizing that, should something horrible
happen to Rob, I would not be able to support my family on my writing.  Rarely, but on occasion, a bad review or
comment from someone will make me wonder why I bother.

But why I bother in those moments is the same reason I
bother to go to the gym:  Even if I don’t
want to write, I invariably enjoy having written.

There’s a definite satisfaction in a scene well crafted, a
character who comes alive on the keyboard, or a sentence that makes your eyes
sting with its poignancy.  (Just wrote
one of those today, in fact.)   There’s
getting that message out of the blue from a reader saying they loved my book,
or from an editor asking when the next story is coming.  There’s that hope that this story, this
novel, will be the one to break through—but of course, that will never happen
if I don’t write it.  I know, too, that
I’m in this for the long term.  I love
writing.  I love having written, and I
love going back over my own stories and marveling anew at the adventures I
lived without ever leaving my chair.

After eight months at the gym, including four or five weeks
of Tabata, I've lost 25 pounds.  That
puts me at just under 145.  One of the
ladies asked me what my ultimate goal was.
I suppose I could go for 120 or 125, which is what my weight from my
teens to my early thirties, but I realize that it doesn't matter as much to me,
any longer.  Maybe I’ll get there, but if
I can stay around 140 and keep going with my exercising, then I’m satisfied.

You know, I have to keep that same attitude with my
writing.  Someday, I may make the NYT
best-seller list.  I may find my Amazon
sales grow enough to let my husband quit his day job.  But if that never happens, then if I can keep
writing and producing and find readers who love my work, then I’m
satisfied.  Even when my motivation is
low, and things around me discourage me from my craft, I keep pounding away at
those words, the same way I pound away at the weights (minus the labor-like
groaning, of course.)

After all, the real satisfaction is in having written.

Big:  Winner of the 2010 INDIE for
best Fantasy (Magic, Mensa and Mayhem),
Karina Fabian has plenty of voices in her head without being psychic.  Fortunately, they fuel her many stories, like
the Mind Over trilogy. Mrs. Fabian teaches writing and book marketing seminars,
but mostly is concerned with supporting her husband, Rob Fabian as he makes the
exciting leap from military officer to civilian executive, getting her kids
through high school and college, and surviving daily circuit torture…er,
circuit training.  Read about her adventures at http://fabianspace.com.   

Redemption in Death -- Christianity in fiction action.

Yes, I stole the title theme from a JD Robb series, if not a straight title rip-off.

Today isn't really a blog post, but a notification or two.  More like a blog posting board.



First of all -- you can get A Pius Man on Kindle for free every Friday this month.  No, free.  Honest.  Just do me a favor, and please pound out a quick, 5-star review on my Amazon.com page, here.  4 stars are also nice. I'll even take 3.



Yes, I'm desperate.  I'm at the part of a media blitz where I'm the one who's blitzed.



Next, Karina Fabian is still doing her blog tour for her latest Dragon Eye novella. So, go take a look at the lat two days.



Third and finally: I've written a guest post for the blog Catholic Once Again.  Which sounds like an Irish rebel song I heard once or a hundred times.  It's about redemption in fiction -- and not just for bad guys.



Because when my heroes go bad, they go really, really bad.



I'm going to go back to editing A Pius Legacy.  Enjoy.

Guest post: Karina Fabian on Zombies

So, when Karina Fabian offered to write a guest post for the blog, I figured I'd take her up on it. After all, I was slowing down after all of the DragonCon posts.

The topic I gave her? I wanted to know why the heck anyone wanted to be bothered with zombies.

She sent me the following.

Keep in mind, I think the following includes the best scene in her latest novel, Neeta Lyffe 2: I Left My Brains In San Francisco.

Why Zombies? Using the absurd in  fiction to show the absurd in life.

Survival Hardware
hadn’t seen such a rush of customers since the last Armageddon
prediction coincided with Black Friday.

Manager Clint
Sanders rubbed his hands with glee. Oh, Marley, if only you
hadn’t gotten drunk and decided to go zombie hunting. Was it only
last Christmas?
He hurried to
Customer Service, crafting an announcement in his mind. “You want
to live! We want to live! That’s why you are going to file calmly
to the back if you need a suit.”

Yeah. Sense of
urgency, plus that “We’re in this together” crap.

He got to the
counter and nodded at Bitsy, who had rung up a chainsaw and a
half-crate of bleach.

God bless
survivors. Clint continued to the back. Out of habit, he checked
the exit door, even though it was always locked from the outside. He
needed to delete Marley's old code from it.

He cleared his
throat. “Listen up! You want to live! We want to live!”

The exit door
clicked.

“That’s
impossible!” he declared. The store fell silent.

“Boss?” Bitsy’s
voice ended in a squeak.

“That’s not
what I meant! Security team to customer service!”

He reached under
the counter for a shotgun. Bitsy grabbed the chainsaw. They had
filled them that morning—another example of the excellent service
at Survival Hardware.

The door swung
open, and the zombiefied remains of his late business partner,
Marley, staggered through.

Clint to blasted
him with the shotgun. The impact knocked the Marley out the door.

Clint used the
gunsight to scan the parking lot. “He brought friends! Call
Nine-One-One. I’m putting this place on shutdown.”

“Screw that!
I’ve been prepping all my life for this!” With a howl of
challenge, Bitsy dashed out the door. She swung low and decapitated
her former boss before moving on.

Thundering
footsteps signaled the customers following in her wake.

He gaped at the
carnage while Dirk called 9-1-1. It’d be too late by the time they
got there. All that’d be left was to clean up the zombie parts and
get the customers back in to pay.

God bless
survivors.

---From I Left My Brains in San
Francisco, by Karina Fabian

In the 2040s, zombies have become a
reality. They rise from the grave, intent on eating brains or
sometimes completing something that they didn't finish in life--even
if it's a beer and a TV show. And, true to so many phenomenon in
life, we are caught unprepared and unaware. That's how I started the
world premise, and I let the story take me from there: People want to
understand them, defend them, study them, use them--but above all,
they want those vermin out of their yard! Thus, the hero of the
story--Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator.

It's an age-old science fiction
writers' trick--use the future to discuss an issue of today. In my
case, the zombies are just part of a world gone a little loopier than
it is now. You’ll find a great example of government waste and
bureaucratic infighting in the Broken Bridge, started as a
cooperative effort and halted with 120 feet to finish—and one side
60 feet lower than the other—because neither side communicated with
the other. Video blog sites have exclusives on banned videos of a
gruesome carnage—but only for members. California has subsidized
protesting; and everyone gets an Adult Starter Allowance until
they’re 25, as long as they aren’t working, of course. The
newest environmental theory is Global Fattening, and the hot new
protestors, the undead!

All of this makes a delightful mishmash
of insanity into which to drop one woman who just wants to protect
people by rekilling the undead--and hopefully making a little money
and having some kind of social life while she's at it.

I hope you’ll enjoy I Left My Brains
in San Francisco. It’s all in good fun, but if any of it comes
true, I’ll be back in 30 years to say “I told you so!”

Bio On The Author

If there’s such a thing as ADD of the imagination, Karina Fabian has it—in spades. Craft books, devotionals, serious science fiction, comedic horror and chilling fantasy—she follows her interests and the characters that tell her their stories. 

Even before she could write, Karina strung tall tales about everything from making human pyramids in Kindergarten to visiting alien worlds. Her first attempt at novel writing was in fourth grade; she completed her first novel in college. However, her first published work was an anthology of Christian science fiction, Leaps of Faith, an EPPIE finalist for best anthology in 2006. Her next anthology, Infinite Space, Infinite God, featured Catholic characters and themes and won the EPPIE for science fiction. The second Infinite Space, Infinite God anthology came out in 2010. 

Watching the comedy improv show, Whose Line Is It, Anyway, inspired her noir-style dragon detective, Vern. Vern and his partner, Sister Grace, have solved mysteries and saved the Faerie and Mundane worlds numerous numerous times in the DragonEye, PI stories and novels. Their serial story, World Gathering, won a Mensa Owl; and the novel, Magic, Mensa and Mayhem (Fabian’s first published novel), won the INDIE for best fantasy in 2010. The second DragonEye book, Live and Let Fly, came out in April 2012. 

At a friend’s request, Karina wrote a funny story about a zombie exterminator, which grew into the Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator novels. The first, Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, won the 2011 Global E-Book award for best horror, and was runner-up in the eFestival of Words for best YA. 

She also writes serious science fiction. Her SF novels, Discovery and The Old Man and the Void, are currently under consideration, and she’s working on the next DragonEye novel, a superhero spoof, Gapman. 

Karina has a strong faith, which she explored in her devotional, Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life, which she wrote with her father Steve Lumbert, and which won the 2011 Christian Small Press Publisher Award. She also writes Catholic school calendars and has written three craft books for the Little Flowers/Blue Knights clubs. 

Fabian is married to Colonel Robert A. Fabian of the USAF, and they are currently enjoying a long distance relationship while he’s stationed in Iraq. They have four children, an overgrown pup, and a harried cat. When not writing, teaching writing, or chatting about writing, she’s hanging out with her kids or swinging a sword in haidong gumbdo. 

The Singing in the Wood: Guest Blogger: John Konecsni on Catholic Humor

So, I have a guest blog in .... for someone else.

I suppose you're an internet celebrity when you can do guest blogs for other people.

Karl Erickson, who I met through the Catholic Writer's Guild, let me write a guest blog. When I asked for a topic, he said Catholic writing.

This is what he got. Enjoy my blogging from the hip.

The Singing in the Wood: Guest Blogger: John Konecsni on Catholic Humor

The Singing in the Wood: Guest Blogger: John Konecsni on Catholic Humor

So, some things are happening today.



Number one, I have a little job out in Brooklyn. Since I live in the back end of Queens, I will essentially be driving over the hill and far away.



However, that doesn't mean I will be doing nothing.  I have already written a blog .... for someone else.



I suppose you're an internet celebrity when you can do guest blogs for other people.



Karl Erickson, who I met through the Catholic Writer's Guild, let me write a guest blog. When I asked for a topic, he said Catholic writing.



This is what he got. Enjoy my blogging from the hip.



The Singing in the Wood: Guest Blogger: John Konecsni on Catholic Humor

Review: Mind Over Mind, by Karina Fabian

For those of you who missed yesterday's interview with guest Karina Fabian, the author of Mind Over Mind, a little recap.



Deryl (the name is NOT mispelled) Stephen is a teenager with a few issues. He has great powers of empathy .... so great, that he will occasionally experience other people's feeling exactly as they if they were his own.  The butler to his rich aunt and uncle is a drunk, so Deryl smashes the liquor before he goes on a binge. Deryl finds and stops a rape, and has to knock himself out before he exchanges one rapist for another.



And, oh, yeah, he's being contacted by space aliens.



So, one or two people have considered him more than a little insane, which is why his address at the start of Mind Over Mind is the local insane asylum.



Enter one Joshua Lawson, who's just there for the summer, a quick job before moving on to other things.  His method of therapy: accept the delusion, and teach patients to work within their own little world.



Which is a good thing, because it looks like some of Deryl Stephen's delusions are actively trying to kill him.



If I read the book correctly, it looks like Deryl's father came for a one-night stand from another galaxy, and Deryl had inherited a sacred position -- he is the all-knowing, all seeing Ydrel (I said the name wasn't misspelled), of the planet Kanaan.  The job of the Ydrel is to provide answers to anything asked of him.

Anthony Ainley from the
original Doctor Who

However, Kanaan is in the middle of an interplanetary war.



The people who ask Deryl for information think he's an angel to help them against their enemies – an alien race who thinks that their world is the promised land.



On the other side, there is "The Master," an alien who seems quite interested in training Deryl as a weapon ... and may get him killed doing it ....



However, every time I read about "The Master," I immediately saw Anthony Ainley from the original Doctor Who.



One would think that this would make for more than enough of a science fiction epic, and move on.  It's certainly a great foundation for it.



However, the book is mostly told from the perspective of Joshua Lawson, who has enough trouble with his new job. His boss hates him, especially when Joshua is right; and Joshua seems to be developing feelings for one of the nurses, Sachiko Luchese ...



Yes, the nurse is named like a cross between a General in the Japanese Imperial Army, and a mafia godfather -- something I suspect may have been done for the express purpose of one bad pun in the middle of the novel. But that's neither here nor there.



In fact, Joshua and Sachiko's romance takes up a good chunk of the plot, though it really doesn't mention "romance" on the back of the book.

Enough of the summary, time for the review (below the break).

Overall, I liked this book. The characters have great chemistry.
The three main characters click together like the pieces of a puzzle. The main cast effortlessly operates
like a well-oiled machine.  Even when the novel crosses over from
“mere” telepathy, and into aliens, the book works well, and
slides back and forth from one to the other with ease. Even the
dialogue with Deryl's  alien “handlers” is interesting. 

Mind Over Mind has a nice, complex plot. It's not
convoluted, and it's easy to follow, even after the introduction of
the two alien species, interoffice politics and personality clashes, and a bit of hospital soap opera.

These are the compliments, honest.

There's even a good, solid romantic
subplot that, miraculously, does not make me want to acid wash my
brain … and that's hard, even on a good day.  It was easy and
gentle, and there were little to no cliche's … I give a range
because that depends greatly on what you may consider a cliché. After all, there
are common traits to any bit of developing romance, and if that makes them cliché, well, they are cliché because they're true.

The interesting part is that the most evil character in the entire novel seems to be .... the hospital administrator, who not only believes Deryl's psychic powers, but tries to manipulate Deryl anyway he can. The Master and the ones who ask him for information are antagonists (neither are certainly helpful to Deryl's sanity), but the guy who runs the asylum is an evil little bastard.  I'd read the rest of the trilogy just to see if he gets thrown down a mine shaft or something.

Overall, I liked this book.  It's a good start for a trilogy, and I suspect the story will only get better when it's complete.  Right now, it feels like The Hobbit just waiting for The Lord of the Rings.

The only problem I foresee with the book is ... the description on the back of the book.  Mind Over Mind is less about two alien races at war, and more about three people on Earth. There's a love story, and (more or less) a coming of age story ... granted, most coming of age stories means coming to grips with the world around you, and coming into one's own.  In this case, Deryl's world has two alien powers in his head vying for control of his life as he tries to come into his own.



If your focus is more on epic science fiction war novels, this may not be the book for you ... yet.  I'll let you know when I read book two.

Basically, by the time everything is said and done, I want to read more about these characters and where they're going. 

I suspect you might too.

Interview with "Mind Over Mind" Author Karina Fabian

Yesterday, we had guest blogger Karina Fabian, author of Mind over Mind (editor of Infinite Space, Infinite God II, etc, etc) give us her views on writing science fiction.



Today, we get another shot at Madam Fabian, were we get to ask about her latest novel Mind Over Mind.  Because, apparently, she seemed to enjoy the last interview we had with her.

I'll see if I can do better this time .... muwhahahahaha....

Sorry, I had the switch jammed on "evil" for a moment....

Before we begin, the back cover of the book reads as follows:

Deryl
Stephen’s uncontrollable telepathic abilities have landed him in a
mental health institution, where no one believes in his powers.

But
when Joshua Lawson, a student of neuro linguistic programming, takes
part in a summer internship, he takes the unique step of accepting
Deryl’s reality and teaches him to work with it. As Deryl learns
control, he finds his next challenge is to face the aliens who have
been contacting him psychically for years—aliens who would use him
to further their cause in an interplanetary war.

On the one side of said war, there is Tasmae, the Miscria, of the planet Kanaan, who seeks out and contacts Deryl (not a misspelling, but the way) for information on everything from growing crops to making explosives (which goes over well in an insane asylum). On the other side is a being known simply as "The Master," who trains Deryl for combat, whether he wants it or not.

On with the interview .... (below the break)

1.This
novel has quite a history, doesn't it?

I started this in college as a short story for a science fiction class. I wrote it more out of spite than anything; my midterm paper got a B because the professor didn't like my analysis of some story I've long since forgotten. He loved the story and thought I should make it into a novel.

I spent the next year working on that novel, and even sent it out to several publishers, who all sent me very nice form rejections. So I gave it up, finished college, became an officer in the military, got married and had kids, then started a writing career.

In 2001, I was homeschooling two kids and had a toddler and a baby at home, so I decided to brush off the old novel and try again. I thought it'd be easy until I saw how, well, shallow it was. The character was a cool college Mary Sue with psychic powers, and Joshua was a hick sidekick. TRIPE! Ten years of living had given me some perspective, and I realized I needed to rethink the whole thing. I did love the premise, though, and Kanaan and Tasmae (known as the Miscria.) So I rethought poor Deryl until he ended up with a tortured history and was living in an asylum. Joshua became a protégée intern (and went from country hick to Black kid from the suburbs--don’t ask how; I don't question these things.) The book then had enough meat to become a trilogy. It took another ten years to find it a home, but I'm pleased as punch to have DragonMoon publishing it.

2.
What are the major differences between your original draft and the
current one .... the quality of writing aside, that is?

Characters are more complex, as is the plot. There are some important issues the characters are dealing with, from mental illness to abortions to attempted suicide. Frankly, it's just overall more fun to read, too.

3.
What would you say your inspirations were for Mind over Mind? If any.

To get read--by a lot of people. Thousands. Tens of thousands. (Help me out here, folks and buy it?)


To have the trilogy out in the next few years. DragonMoon has the second book, and I need to write the third next year.

4.
How much work did you put into the story itself before you started
writing? Was this outlined before the computer was even warm, or did
you just start writing?

I tend to be a seat-of-the-pants writer. I know the beginning, the end, and some of the stops on the way, but the characters lead me through the story. This one, of course, had the general idea written out with the college draft; but I am discovering so much great stuff as I write. I often imagine scenes for days or even weeks before starting, but because I'm writing another project at the time rather than because I'm waiting for it to gel in my mind. I sometimes write scenes or snippets in a file for safekeeping.

5.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming is a psychological concept you use in
the book as a way for Joshua to help Ydrel [Deryl] with his “issues.” How
much research into it did you have to do for the book?

Most of it came from a very interesting book called, Frogs into Princes, which I'd had to read in college and fortunately kept all those years. I also had an NLP therapist read the book to make sure I had accurately portrayed the use of NLP (at least within allowance for the fantasy setting.)

6. Back when you were interviewed for ISIG2, you mentioned how you were
more into fantasy than science fiction. Yet, you made this one a work
of science fiction, even using fantasy novels as a template in some
rather scientific uses. What made you decide to do this as SF, and
not fantasy?

That's funny; I've always thought of this one as fantasy, since Deryl has psychic powers. Sometimes the lines between fantasy and science fiction blur; this must be one of those times.

7
How much work went into designing the various alien cultures?

As much as has been needed for the story. I know that sounds like a snarky answer, but it's the truth. I spend a wonderful lunch hour with my astronomy professor in college playing with the orbits of the planets, but otherwise, the characters teach me their worlds as I write them. Barin came as a particular surprise as I neared the end of Mind Over Psyche. I had not imagined an underground world whose civilization collapses on a regular basis by an unknown natural disaster (which is really the Miscria of Kanaan using her telekinetic powers to push the planets apart from each other.)

8
So far, you edit Catholic SF anthologies, write novels on Zombie
exterminators and Rescue nuns, what are you going to write next?

Don't forget my dragon private detective! Live and Let Fly, the second DragonEye, PI novel, comes out April 2012 from MuseItUp books. I also have some children's books to revise and a spinoff form DragonEye about the Los Lagos police chief who will fall in love with a Faerie griffin who has been turned human to catch a murderer.

9
What, if anything, surprised you while writing Mind
over Mind?

How vicious I can be to my characters? I've seriously messed with Deryl's mind, literally and figuratively. But he's so much more interesting this way!

10.
Do you have any advice to blog readers who are thinking about writing
their own novel?

If you don't sit down and write it, it won't get written. Start there.

11.
Last chance: What do you think is the one thing we should all
remember about Mind
over Mind?

That there will be a second book! In Mind Over Psyche, Deryl escapes the asylum, inadvertently taking Joshua with him. Deryl will meet Tasmae; Joshua will learn his has an ability of his own; Tasmae gets to go fabulously insane; and Deryl will at last confront The Master.

Bio
of Karina Fabian: 

Unlike her characters, Karina Fabian lives a comfortably ordinary life. Wife to Air Force Colonel Robert Fabian and mother of four, her adventures usually involve packing and moving, attending conventions, or giving writing and marketing advice in one of her many workshops. She's always had an overactive imagination, however, and started writing in order to quell the voices in her head--characters who insisted on living lives in her mind and telling her their stories. Winner of the 2010 INDIE award, winner and finalist for the EPPIE and finalist for the Global e-book awards, she's glad people enjoy reading the tales her characters tell.

Guest Blog: Karina Fabian on Writing Science Fiction.

Once upon a time, very long ago (okay, back in April), we had a guest blogger -- Karina Fabian, author of .... a whole lot of novels, and editor of Infinite Space, Infinite God II.



Guess what: she's back, with a new book, Mind Over Mind, a science fiction / fantasy piece (and there are reasons it's a bit of both), so I decided to keep her blog topic simple.

I asked her to blog "On the joys and wonders of writing SF."

She gave me a top ten list.



Here we go.....

Top Ten Reasons to Love Reading or
Writing Science Fiction

From the Home Office in FabianSpace

1. Explore Strange New Worlds.
Whether it's traveling to another planet, exploring the future, or
even seeing how the past would change if you altered some aspect
like, say sticking a small West Virginia town in the middle of the
Black Forest in 1632, you will find something completely new.

2. To seek out new life. This doesn't
have to mean alien life, either. A science fiction setting can give
new life to an old plot, or a new way at looking at our own society.
Recently, I revisited an old favorite, ALIEN NATION. A sci-fi cop
show from the 90s, it was really more about racial issues in a big
city.

3. To boldly go! It's sometimes
easier as a writer to explore a controversial issue in a way that
will make people think when you put it in a setting that's removed
from the present day society. Science fiction also gives you a means
to take chances. Nichelle Nicols (Uhura from Star Trek) was one of
the first black women on television to have a substantial role, and
was as a result a role model for thousands of women and Blacks.

4. Because it's part of our culture.
How many of you recognized the lines from the first three reasons?
We know without an explanation what someone means by warp speed. Ray
guns, transporters, aliens, time travel--none of these are unknown
concepts, even when they aren't everyday objects.

5. To explore the impossible. Or at
least the impossible right now. Did you know a lot of technology we
take for granted and are developing right now was first suggested in
science fiction? We have 3-D faxes--replicators! Arthur C. Clark
first talked about satellite communications years before we launched
our satellites. NASA is working on VASIMR drives for spaceships, and
Japan recently launched its first solar sail craft--ideas made known
in science fiction stories while still far-off theories in scientific
journals.

6. To explore ideas. How would humans
act if a plague knocked out 90 percent of the population? What if we
always fought wars through computers? What if humans could live
forever? What if you could go back in time--but only for eleven
minutes a shot? Some ideas can only be examined in a science fiction
setting.

7. You can learn a lot while enjoying
the adventure. Science fiction writers often have to do a lot of
research into everything from physics to genetics to animal sciences
in order to craft convincing stories. Writing is a great way to
learn things--but many times, much of that information comes out in
the text, too, and not in a boring "just the facts" manner
of a textbook.

8. We are a technological,
forward-thinking society. Why shouldn't our literature reflect that?

9. Resistance is futile. You will be
assimilated. Science fiction and fantasy are a big genre. Eighty
percent of the top grossing movies in the US are science fiction or
fantasy (source: http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10131),
and the number of books--and readers-continues to grow.

10. It's sheer escapist fun. 'Nuff
said! 

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About the Author: Karina Fabian

After being a straight-A student, Karina now cultivates Fs: Family, Faith, Fiction and Fun. From an order of nuns working in space to a down-and-out faerie dragon working off a geas from St. George, her stories surprise with their twists of clichés and incorporation of modern day foibles in an otherworld setting. Her quirky twists and crazy characters have won awards, including the INDIE book award for best fantasy (Magic, Mensa and Mayhem), and a Mensa Owl for best fiction (World Gathering). In May 2010, her writing took a right turn with a devotional, Why God Matters, which she co-wrote with her father. Mrs. Fabian is former President of the Catholic Writer’s Guild and also teaches writing and book marketing seminars online.