Need your opinion: Which Blurb Makes You Most Want to Read Neeta Lyffe 2

One of the important things writers learn quickly is that it's not just about the manuscript.

Last Wednesday (after pre-loading a blog about the rotten week I'd had), I got the excellent news that Neeta Lyffe 2: I Left My Brains in San Francisco was accepted by Damnation Books. YAY!  *snoopydance*

I can't believe I found this. 

Well, that wonderful news took two days out of my Gapman writing, as I filled out forms for the cover artist, wrote the dedication and acknowledgements (with a few tears, since this is the last book my friend Walt Staples ever critted for me), cut excerpts down to size and wrote the back-cover blurbs.

Now, I seek your help.  I've got six blurbs from what I hope are four different angles.  I asked some trusted authors to narrow it down to three, and pass these on to you, dear readers for evaluation.

Please vote on the one that would most make you read the book.  I'll do a drawing from the comments and send the winner a copy of Neeta 2 when it's out in September.  To win, you must leave me a way to contact you--even a website with a contact page. (Last contest I did, several "winners" lost out because I had no way to find them.)

To make it more fun, you get one chance for your vote, one chance for your comment about why you'd chose it, and one chance for any critique you offer on your choice.

1. Zombie problem? Call Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator.

But not this weekend. She’s on vacation to an exterminator’s convention with her partner and boyfriend Ted, looking to relax, have fun, and have a little romance. Too bad the zombies at the Give Back Underwater Memorial Gardens and Fish Preserve have a different idea. When they rise from watery graves to take over the City by the Bay, it looks like a working vacation after all.

2. Zombie problem? Call Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator...but not this weekend.

On vacation at an exterminator’s convention, she's looking to relax, have fun, and enjoy a little romance. Too bad the zombies have a different idea. When they rise from their watery graves to take over the City by the Bay, it looks like it'll be a working vacation after all.

Enjoy the thrill of re-kill with Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator.

3. 2047. Zombies are pests, fuel is made from feces, and the rich and famous pay to become fish food.

Zombie exterminators, Neeta Lyffe and Ted Hacker, travel to San Francisco for a zombie convention, a little sightseeing and some romance. But when the fish-food celebrities rise from their watery graves to attack San Francisco, their “working vacation” takes on new meaning.

It’s chainsaws, undead, and romance in this second novel by satirist Karina Fabian.

**Manure-based fuels are important to the plot, but based on feedback, I'm wondering if this helps overcome the repulsive gross factor.

4.  2047. Zombies are pests, cars will soon run on crap, and the rich and famous pay to become fish food.

Zombie exterminators, Neeta Lyffe and Ted Hacker, travel to San Francisco for a zombie convention, a little sightseeing and some romance. But when the fish-food celebrities rise from their watery graves to attack San Francisco, their “working vacation” takes on new meaning.

It’s chainsaws, undead, and romance in this second novel by satirist Karina Fabian.



I'll announce the winner next Thursday.  Thanks!

Help me pick a excerpt!

There are two things I hate about writing a book:  the back-cover blurb and picking an excerpt.  And with Live and Let Fly, I've been asked to pick not one, but two!  Help!

I went through the manuscript and picked three likely candidates for the mini excerpts.  Would you read them and vote in the comments section on your favorite?  I'll sweeten the pot by putting your name in a raffle for one of my books, including Live and Let Fly!

Based on feedback, I'm removing #2 from the race.  It seems to appeal most to Vern fans, and of course, we want to reach readers who don't know him yet.  Thanks guys!  This does help!


Tomorrow, I'll add three possibilities for the long excerpt.

Possible 1-mini

A part of me was thinking this drug was suspiciously well-tuned to dragon physiology. Another part of me was thinking, Duuuuude! What a ride.

"Go wait outside. I'll make the call."

I didn’t notice the police wagon on the curb until Santry called my name.

"Oh, look," I said. "The heat's come to help me up my street cred."

"Funny. Get in. I'm taking you to the station."

"Why should I?" The words popped out of my mouth. They seemed about right.

Santry took three steps forward, then stopped, and folded his arms. "Vern, get in the van. I've had a bad day, and I'm not interested in taking any crap from you."

Suddenly, I was the one who was tired of taking crap: crap from cowards who attacked me with drugged drinks instead of swords and lances, dukes who thought exiling creatures made a great joke, reporters who burned me in effigy and got all the sympathy, and police chiefs who thought their bad day meant they could lord it over the dragon.

I pounced.

Possible 2- mini - REMOVED FROM CONSIDERATION, but here for fun, anyway.

"Keep going. Don't break rhythm. This is an unusual spell. You have to let it get into you."

Eighth...two sixteenths, eighth, quarter, eighth, eighth, eighth. I started tapping with claws on all four limbs.

"You know, I don't really like that idea."

"You don't have to go."

"No. I'm fine. But I don't think it's—ergh!"

Suddenly, my whole body heated up and got all...gooey. Then I felt like I was being forced into a trash compactor, or maybe a mold that was too small.

"Vern?"

I got heavy, boulder heavy, and fell to the ground. I didn't understand how I could make crashing sounds when I was so much flubber. After what seemed an eternity, I started feeling a little more solid, but lighter, which panicked me, or would have if I weren't so distracted by being gelatinous.

Then it ended, and I was on human hands and knees, panting and fighting the urge to throw up on the bathroom floor.

"Vern!" Grace banged on the door.

"I'm fine!"

I rose slowly, dreading what I thought I'd see.

Possible 3- mini

Festival was Friday. We had two days to stop a Nordic demigod evil overlord—overlady, overbeing, whatever—from blowing up a nuclear power plant, possibly destroying half an island full of revelers in the process, and creating an Interdimensional Gap through which she can bring the rest of her giant relatives to set up housekeeping where the Faerie Catholic Church didn't have the power to control them. In other words, two days until Hel broke loose.

I've had worse deadlines. I could afford a long bath in our whirlpool tub and a good meal first.

Advertise the Catholic Writers Conference and Win a Book

The Catholic Writers Conference Live is being held Aug 4-6 in King of Prussia, PA. It's an awesome writers conference, but we're not getting a lot of registrants. We're trying to make one final publicity push and you can help--and win one of my books.

I'm asking folks to post about the conference. Here're the rules:

* You can post anything below on your blog, website, facebook, twitter, Yahoo groups, Linked In, Ning groups, etc.
At minimum, you need to post the conference name, date, location and website to register
* E-mail me with the link to where you posted. karina(at)fabianspace.com
* For each post, I will enter you in a drawing. Aug 1, I will pick a winner. That winner will get their choice of any of my books. Check out my books at Fabianspace.com

You'll be doing a service not only for me and the CWG, but for any writer who happens to be Catholic and is looking for a place that not only will help them hone thier skills but will support their beliefs. If you might have someone like that in your readership, please help us out.

Minimum Post (140 characters): Catholic Writers! The Catholic Writers Conference Live is Aug 4-6 at King of Prussia, PA. Info/Register http://catholicwritersconference.com/

Video link: http://animoto.com/play/QsIiivcmRlI7XsXnDDTDvQ

Conference graphic link: http://www.catholicwritersconference.com/ref/web-ad.png



Most Current Press Release

M E D I A R E L E A S E

CONTACT: Ann Margaret Lewis
e-mail: annlewis(at)joesystems.com
Karina Fabian
E-mail: karina(at)fabianspace.com

For Immediate Release

Catholic Writers to Hold Conference in Valley Forge, PA

World Wide Web--The second annual Catholic Writers’ Conference LIVE will be held August 4-6, 2010, at the Scanticon Hotel Valley Forge in King of Prussia, PA. Sponsored by the Catholic Writer’s Guild and the Catholic Marketing Network (CMN), and held in conjunction with CMN’s annual retailer trade show, the Catholic Writers Conference LIVE provides Catholic authors with a prime opportunity to meet and share their faith with editors, publishers, fellow writers, and bookstore owners from across the globe.

This year's conference will feature presentations on such topics as market tips and time management for busy writers, poetry, creating evil characters, working with an editor, creating winning proposals, journaling and much more. Speakers include Catholic publishing representatives Claudia Volkman - General Manager of Circle Press, Regina Doman - acquisitions editor for Sophia Institute Press, and Tom Wehner - Managing Editor of the National Catholic Register, all of whom will also hear pitches from writers.

Among the other speakers are Mark Shea (Mother of the Son), Michelle Buckman (My Beautiful Disaster), Donna-Marie Cooper-O’Boyle (Mother Teresa and Me), Susie Lloyd (Please Don’t Drink the Holy Water), and Publicist Lisa Wheeler from the Maximus Group.

“Attending this conference has been the best thing I have done for myself professionally,” Carol Bannon, author of the children’s book Handshake from Heaven, said of the 2009 conference. Her fellow writer Melanie Cameron agreed, saying she left the last conference re-energized. “I recommend [this] conference as a resource for any author (or wannabe) at any stage. You will walk away empowered!”

The Catholic Writers Guild, a religious non-profit organization, sponsors both this live conference in August and an online conference in February to further its mission of promoting Catholic literature. “Our conferences are totally focused on encouraging faithful Catholics to share genuine Catholic culture and faith in their writing no matter what genre,” says CWG President Ann Margaret Lewis. “These events are integral to our mission of ‘creating a rebirth of Catholic arts and letters.”

Registration costs $85 for CWG members, $95 for non-members and $42 for students. There's also a discounted combined membership. To register or for more information, go to http://www.catholicwritersconference.com.

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Graphics, interviews and further information available upon request.


Thanks for your help!