Today, I have the pleasure of featuring the talented author Karina Fabian as part of her virtual book tour for Mind Over Mind.
Karina has graciously prepared a guest post for us:
I Like Ideas
By Karina Fabian
I like ideas.
That's the best part of writing for me--messing with ideas, whether they be about people (which includes mythical creatures) or about situations. "What if" is a better plaything for me than Xbox or a soccer field or any game Matel ever made.
The wilder the "what if," the better. What if zombies were just another household pest? What if exterminators specialized in the undead? What if they made a reality TV show out of training them? (Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, (http://zombiedeathextreme.com).
Sometimes, the what if centers around a character: What if someone in our time really did get telepathic powers--but he couldn't control them? What if he was just a kid and no one believed him? (Poor Deryl is my main character in Mind Over Mind, a fantasy about how he claws his way back to sanity with an intern who at least pretends to believe him.)
Sometimes, "what if" isn't enough; then I go find new toys: established legends and clichés, scientific articles and current events. I pile them like blocks, mash them together like play-dough, and generally fiddle with them until something new emerges. Most of my DragonEye, PI stories star a dragon detective and his magic-slinging nun partner and the crimes they solve are usually based in some kind of legend or legends that collide with reality in our world. The next book, Live and Let Fly, is a hodge-podge of super-spy stories and clichés from movies and books. In fact, when it comes out in April, I'm going to have a contest to see who can name the most.
If you're not seeing ideas all around, you, then you aren't looking--or you aren't looking with a sense of fun. Don't be afraid to play with the mundane. And don't be afraid so "stealing" someone else's idea. In my workshops, I can present three elements to a room of ten people and each will come up with a unique spin or approach.
So go on--run wild. Be free! The playground of ideas is immense and there are enough toys for everyone!
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Great post, Karina, and I agree with you - ideas are all around us, we just have to pay attention!
Okay, now let's learn a bit about Karina's new book, Mind Over Mind and about Karina herself:
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 su
2 Comments on I Like Ideas by Karina Fabian, Author of Mind Over Mind, last added: 9/16/2011
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I apologize for the delay in this posting - for some reason it saved to Draft rather than Publish.
Karina, It's a pleasure to host you today!
Thanks, Karen for hosting me!