Karina announces Zombie Idol singing contest

Before we get to the "meat" of the interview with Karina Fabian and her Three-Meal Crock Pot Roast recipe, I'd like to ask, “Are You the Next Zombie Idol?”

Karina and Damnation Books are looking for someone to sing the theme song she wrote for her book, I LEFT MY BRAINS IN SAN FRANCISCO.  She has the words and the tune, but needs a singer. They're offering prizes for the best singer, the most creative audition video, and are giving one in ten entries a copy of the e-book. The details are at http://fabianspace.blogspot.com/p/are-you-next-zombie-idol.html

Now, a little about Karina, a friend I met on Broad Universe: Winner of the 2010 INDIE for best Fantasy (Magic, Mensa and Mayhem) and a Global eBook Award for Best Horror (Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator), Karina Fabian’s writing takes quirky twists that keep her--and her fans--amused. Nuns working in space, a down-and-out Faerie dragon working off a geas from St. George, zombie exterminators—there’s always a surprise in Fabian’s worlds. Karina teaches writing and book marketing seminars online.

If you were marooned on an island, and Pots & Pens granted your wish for only one book and one food, what would you choose? A survival guide and zucchini, because I could plant the seeds and they are near impossible to kill.  I’d get thoroughly sick of zucchini, but at least I would not starve.

It’s stretching your boundaries time. Is there a food you’d love to learn how to cook or a different genre or type of book you’d love to try to write? I want to take some gourmet cooking classes at some point in my life, maybe when the kids are grown.  I’d like to learn French and Italian.  And sushi!  How awesome it would be to learn to make sushi.

Please share one cheesy “writing is like cooking” thought. The best stories are like my best cooking creations: I take a little of this from here, some of that from there, toss them together, put them under heat, and voila!  But just like my stories, my best meals are never the same twice!

Hot out of the oven: What inspired your latest book, and what ingredients do you hope make it a tasty treat for readers? I Left My Brains in San Francisco is the second in the Zombie Exterminator Series.  Neeta (the heroine from Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator) and her partner and boyfriend, Ted, head to San Francisco for a zombie exterminator’s convention.  She’s hoping to relax, meet up with friends, and maybe further her romance with Ted.  However, the zombies have a different idea.  When they rise from their watery graves to invade the Bay Area, she and her friends will have their hands full!

This book is two parts situational humor, one part political/social satire, one part action, and one part romance—sprinkled liberally with zombies.

Leftovers can be great, especially when the same ingredients are retasked into another magical meal. Name a book that you wish had a sequel (or another sequel) and what kind of story you think that literary remix would tell. Of my books, the ones I wish had sequels, do. I write a lot of second novels, often at the behest of my publishers or readers, but also because I love the characters; and once they set up shop in my head, they refuse to leave. 

Of other authors, I dearly wish Madeleine L’Engle had written a book about Charles Wallace as an adult.  The last mention of him was in one of her Poly O’Keefe novels where “Uncle Charles was on a secret mission somewhere. We don’t know where.” It still drives me nuts!  I actually have dreamed up a story about Charles Wallace as an adult having to save multiple universes from a mistake he did in an alternate universe. Sadly, I’ll never get to write it with him, but someday, I plan to change the protagonist and tech the “withining,” and write it myself.

Recipe Row: What favorite recipe do you have for us today?

Three-Meal Crock Pot Roast

I am a lazy cook by nature, but my family always loves the 3-meal roast, and it takes care of three dinners, unless my crew is really hungry one day and eats more of the meat than expected.  I don’t have an exact recipe for this, so experiment and have fun.

The night before you want to have it, place one large roast in the crock pot—the bigger, the better.  Add at least one can of beef broth, plus enough water to cover it.  Add spices and condiments to taste.  I usually toss in pepper, garlic powder and onion salt, then pour in a little white wine, barb-be-que or steak sauce, and soy sauce.

Cook on low overnight

In the early afternoon, if you like carrots, onions or potatoes with your roast, add more water and cut the veggies and add them.  I usually give them 2-4 hours to cook.

Your first meal will be ready—fall-apart roast and veggies.  If you have a big enough roast, you’ll have left-over meat. 

Second meal:  Cut up the leftover meat, and save half of it for a beef pot pie or shepherd’s pie—there are plenty of recipes online—or reheat it in taco flavoring, or shred it for sandwiches.

Third meal: Put the rest back into the broth in the crock pot. Add cut-up veggies, frozen veggies, canned tomatoes…whatever you like in soup.  Add more water if needed, along with more spices. My mom used to toss in a can of Alphabet Soup. Put the crock-pot in the fridge until soup day, then put it back out and cook on low for a couple of hours. (The extra time gives the flavors a chance to combine.) Serve with rolls.

I LEFT MY BRAINS IN SAN FRANCISO: 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.

Find Karina at:

Website: http://fabianspace.com, http://dragoneyepi.net, http://zombiedeathextreme.com

Blog:  http://fabianspace.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karina.fabian

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/KarinaFabian

Google +:  https://plus.google.com/103660024891826015212

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10981939-karina-fabian

 

Find I Left My Brains in San Francisco at:

Damnation Books: http://www.damnationbooks.com/book.php?isbn=9781615727643

Amazon: http://amzn.to/Nzm01L (paper) http://amzn.to/OBBmkL (Kindle)

More about it at http://zombiedeathextreme.com