Mahem in the Air

The next few days, I have a real treat for you, Karina Fabian is on tour with her book, Magic, Mensa & Mayhem, and it is a wondrous tour indeed. I'll post the entire schedule in a bit, but let me tell you what is in store over the next couple of days.


You will get to meet Karina Fabian and learn about Magic, Mensa & Mayhem. Three characters from this book will stop in and talk with us-and I'll pass on information for other interviews you may have missed-did you know, Vern the PI Dragon was running (er...not running) for President? I'm hoping Karina will stop in and tell us a bit about what a "Twitter tour" is. I can't promise that, but if she doesn't have a chance (When you see her schedule, you'll see what I mean!) I'll try and find out and let everyone know. You will also get to hear about a course Karina is conducting on blog touring and finally, I will be giving my review of Magic, Mensa & Mayhem :-) Oh, and Karina is running a contest! Please don't forget to check in each day to see what is new-I think you will enjoy the next few days :-)




The lady to your left is Karina Fabian. Karina is a prime example of the cliche "more than just a pretty face". Mother, author, editor, instructor-and smart to boot! This woman is constantly involved in one project or another--yet, I have never known her to be too busy to stop and answer a question or help out someone in need.


After being a straight-A student, Karina now cultivates Fs: Family, Faith, Fiction and Fun. Winner of an EPPIE award for best sci-fi (Infinite Space, Infinite God) and a Mensa Owl for best fiction (World Gathering), Karina’s writing takes quirky twists that keep her--and her fans--amused. From and order of nuns working in space to a down-and-out faerie dragon working off a geas from St. George, she juggles the stories from at least three different universes. Mrs. Fabian is President of the Catholic Writer’s Guild and also teaches writing and book marketing seminars online. Visit her website at http://www.fabianspace.com/.



10 Things About Karina Fabian

1. Born in Glennwood Springs, CO; grew up in Pueblo, CO.

2. Former Air Force officer (active and reserves)

3. Mother of four--former homeschooler.

4. Former freelance writer specializing in pregnancy and home births, home education, and people features.

5. Never intended to write fiction that incorporated religion so extensively, but those are the stories that ask to be written.

6. A seat-of-the-pants writer, she usually knows the beginning of a story and the end of a story, and a few events in the middle. Her characters lead her through the rest.

7. A notorious punster, she and her husband fell in love while trading puns while out to dinner with a friend.

8. As an editor, her pet peeves are logical disconnects and characters that act outside their characterizations.

9. Has lived in Japan and Italy as well as in five different states.

10. Loves hats--wears a Santa cap to December book signings and a fedora when writing DragonEye, PI. (No space helmet for sci-fi, however.)


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Magic, Mensa and Mayhem: (Swimming Kangaroo Press, March 2009): Vern is a cynical dragon living on the wrong side of the Interdimensional Gap and working off a geas by St. George as a professional problem solver and agent of the Faerie Catholic Church. In this case, he and his partner, Sister Grace, a High Mage of the Faerie Catholic Church, have been asked by the Church to chaperone a few dozen Faerie citizens at a Mensa convention. Should be a cushy job, right? Not when pixies start pranking, Valkyries start vamping and a dwarf goes to the equivalent of Disneyworld 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'd not get paid for. Based loosely on the award-winning serial "mystery" in the North Dakota Prairie Dawg.



Look what Publisher's Weekly had to say about this book:

Publisher's Weekly: Religion and humor suffuse this well-imagined and densely plotted comedic mystery, based on a short story of the same title. Cursed by St. George to serve the Faerie Catholic Church, dragon detective Vern now sleuths in the mundane world. His latest (unpaid) assignment is to babysit a group of faeries attending a Mensa meeting. Vern quickly has his claws full juggling crises, from invisible brownies to two elves whose rivalry threatens to become interdimensional war. Distinctly memorable and occasionally silly supporting characters, from Brunhilde the Valkyrie to Native American trickster Coyote, steer the action. While the conclusion sticks perilously close to genre formula and the narrative is jumpy throughout, most readers will forgive the clichés (and Vern’s groan-worthy puns) and chuckle all the way through. (Mar.) http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6631453.html?industryid=47159

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Here are a couple of websites where you can read more on Karina and her writing:

http://www.dragoneyepi.net/: The home of DragonEye, PI, website. If folks register on the website, they get a free story ("Amateurs," an Honorable Mention in Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, 2008), and subscription to "A Dragon's Eye View," with special offers on stories and products.

http://www.fabianspace.com/: Where you can learn more about Karina and her other books. I also have a lot of resources for writers including free e-books, and classes and programs on Marketing.

http://www.northdakota.us.mensa.org/karina.htm To read the serial story. Be warned--the book is quite different!

If you are ready to get your own copy of this book, please visit one of these places:

http://tinyurl.com/mmmamazon - for Amazon

http://tinyurl.com/mmmkindle - for Kindle

http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/mensa.html - to order direct from the publisher (note: the publisher can beat Amazon on International shipping.)

If you buy a copy and would like an autographed book plate, contact Karina through her website, http://www.fabianspace.com/

Contest info from Karina:

I am having a trivia contest for people who have read Magic, Mensa and Mayhem. On April 30, I'll post 10 questions whose answers can be found in the book. I'll accept answers until May 15. The winner gets a free copy of Live and Let Fly, the next DragonEye, PI, novel. Folks can find the details on http://www.dragoneyepi.net/.

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That's it for today, folks! Please stop by tomorrow for a visit with Vern, Sister Grace and some of their associates!