Today I am pleased to introduce a fantastic writer, blogger, friend, and mom on the run, author Karina Fabian. Karina has been on tour all this month to celebrate the release of her latest novel Live & Let Fly, now available from MuseItUp Publishing. 
A full-time mom of 4, wife to an Air Force colonel, full-time writer of both fiction and nonfiction, Karina has over 20 books in print and shows no sign of stopping. Yay! Her latest is another story in the DragonEye, PI universe.
From the official Fabian page
Live and Let Fly: From the Case Files of DragonEye, PI: It’s super-spy spoofing as only the Faerie can do it! When a simple mugging points to international intrigue, Vern and Sister Grace are pushed to the limits as they pit magic and heart against technology and evil genius. Saving the world isn’t so easy–especially when Vern goes undercover as a human!
Let’s get straight to the good stuff!
BB: What was your inspiration for L&LF?
KF: I have to start with Vern. He’s my cynical dragon living on the wrong side of the interdimensional Gap, eeking out a living as a private investigator. I wrote him originally as a short story, but his noir voice and superior attitude made for the most fun narration! Also the Faerie/Mundane world, where magic and technology don’t mix, provided a rich universe for making up unique cases. At first, the stories were serious, but I was asked to do a serial story, and thought I’d have a little fun with Vern. Most embarrassing case he’d ever done—and it was a hit. So now, I bounce between comedy and traditional noir style mystery.
Live and Let Fly came about because I had so much fun with the first comedic novel, Magic, Mensa and Mayhem, that I wanted to do another. This time, though, I wanted more adventure and a grander scale. Somehow, “Live and Let Die” was in my head. (Which it would be again if I weren’t listening to the B-52s at this moment.) The rest was just a really fun trip!
BB: Give us a time frame from concept to release date?
KF: It took about six months to write, I believe. I had a publisher for it at the time, Swimming Kangaroo, but as happens with many small presses, the publishers were a family with full time jobs and family concerns, and they decided not to produce any further books. After that, it was almost two years of seeking another publisher before I decided on MuseItUp. I think it will be a good home for DragonEye, PI.
BB: Tell us about your editing process?
KF: I have a five step editing process. First is just using the spell/grammar feature on Word. Second, print and read for content. Third, read aloud for flow. Fourth, read it backward, last sentence to first, to make sure each individual sentence is good. Finally, a general copy-edit. It works pretty well, but I have found that being on online chats and twitter, etc. has made me less observant and I have to watch more carefully for typos.
BB: Are you an outliner or a pantster?
KF: For this book, about 20 percent plotter, 80 percent pantster. I needed to have a general idea of what I was doing and where the clues laid out, but the characters didn’t much care for the outline itself. I had a really rough time writing until I let my rock star/actress, Rhoda Dakota, play Damsel in Distress instead of Plucky Sidekick. It made for a better book, too. My characters inevitably know better than I do.
BB: Do you prefer writing fiction or nonfiction?
KF: Fiction is definitely more fun!
BB: When did you start writing?
KF: I started writing seriously in 1996, after I’d gotten out of the Air Force, and we moved back to the US from Japan. I was doing mostly non-fiction then, trying to earn a little extra money. Now I do mostly fiction because I love telling stories.
BB: Any advice for new writers?
KF: Write. Get crits & revise. Submit. Repeat. And don’t take rejection personally. It’s business.
BB: Do you prefer online groups over face/face? Groups just for support or critique as well?
KF: When presenting, I love them both, but I’m an introvert at heart, so I prefer online groups. For critique, I’ve not had much luck with groups, but I have a core of great writing friends who know they don’t need to hold back with me.
BB: Who or what inspires you to write?
KF: The characters. They move into my head and their stories clutter my brain until I write them. I’d be an even more distracted person if I didn’t write.
BB: If you could meet any writer and pick his/her brain, who would it be?
KF: I’m terrible at picking brains. Chopsticks or salad forks? I’d love to meet Terry Pratchett in person, but I don’t really have a driving desire to meet a particular writer.
Thank you, Karina, for a great interview. Check out Fabian Space, Karina’s web page for all her 
fiction and nonfiction work. I’m convinced she never sleeps, there’s so much great stuff on her site. Also, you can find Vern on his very own page, Dragon Eye, PI. I hope everyone will be sure to check out the rest of the blog tour. Here is where to find Karina today and the rest of the month:
April 23
April 24
April 25
April 26
April 27
April 28
April 29
April 30
May 15
scarred. Even if we look in the mirror and everything looks smooth and clear, once you get a little closer to the glass you can see the chinks in the armor.
Changes don’t stick unless you want them to work. So until you realize you’re not invincible, I’ll keep the band-aids handy.
BeccaCallowayButcher's Blog 