What's Happening in Fabianspace

Let's talk 2023 goals and plans.

It's been a year since I had cancer surgery. You'd think I'd have slowed down, but the only thing I cut was my paying work. It's nice not to stress as much about deadlines and to be able to give each article better attention, but now I stress a little more about money. It's always a trade-off-isn't it?

I had planned on exercising more, but then I got hit with horrible plantar fasciitis, which has put a cramp on everything. I do stretch more, but this year's goal is to find exercise I can do without killing my feet or breaking the bank.

Last year, we did a pilgrimage to the Marian Shrines in France, Spain, and Portugal. So inspiring! This year, though, I think we'll be staying closer to home. My third-born is getting stationed in Tyndall AFB, FL, so we'll probably be heading there.

I will be attending the Catholic Writers Conference Live in May. I'd also like to plan a small writers' retreat here in Florida, maybe in Orlando. I have access to a suite that sleeps 10, so I'm thinking nine writers, but we could also have an online presence as well if I can figure out the tech for it. Message me if interested.

Some of you know, I took a standup comedy class last year. Our graduation show will probably be in February. It's been fun, but I'm not sure it's something I want to do. However, I have resolved to do at least 3 open mic nights and maybe a gig before I decide. Anyone want to hire me?

I have Space Traipse 6 ready for publishing in May. I'm working on Vern vs Godzilla (no title yet, just the fun). If I can, I'd like to start Gapman, although if the muse hits, I may do something completely different.

Attention: Catholic Writers

If you are a Catholic and a writer, this is for you. (If not, scroll down to meet Corinna Turner). Every year, I help organize the Catholic Writers Conference Online. CWCO2023 has a great list of speakers on all aspects of writing and faith, networking sessions, and even a chance to pitch your fiction or nonfiction books to reputable publishers. It’s Feb 24-26, with pitches happening the following week. Learn more at https://catholicwritersguild.org/online-conference. Cost: $60 for non-CWG members, CWG members - email me for a coupon code.

Sign Me Up for CWCO

Author Highlight: Corinna Turner

Corinna is a friend from the Catholic Writers Guild who, like me, has an overactive imagination and a drive to write! She is the author of over thirty published works, including the Carnegie Medal Nominated I Am Margaret series, and her work has been translated into four languages. She was awarded the St. Katherine Drexel award in 2022.

She writes a lot of fun science fiction. I loved Mandy Lamb - so cute! If you love dinosaurs, then unSPARKED is a great series, especially if you liked Primeval. Her award-winning I Am Margaret series is a dystopian, kind of like Hunger Games with a more Catholic/Christian slant.

Her Newsletter:

Her newsletters usually include information about either a new book or a new trailer or a sale, plus a writing update, a reminder of recent releases, and a few jokes. Unlike me, she only sends out a newsletter when she has something to tell subscribers about. She does try to send at least one free short story to her subscribers every year, usually at Christmas.

New subscribers can download an Exclusive Content pack which currently contains three I Am Margaret short stories, a standalone short story, and an extended Sneak Peek of Tomorrow’s Dead, the sequel to Someday.

Sign up in the top right-hand corner of this page, then download your exclusive content below:

Sign up for Corinna's Newsletter

Interview with Corinna:

What do you write and what makes it unique?

I write fiction and most of my fiction has greater or lesser Christian elements, usually quite Catholic in nature. Most of my books count as Young Adult, but I also have a few tween or adult books. My three main series are the Carnegie-Medal-nominated I Am Margaret series, the unSPARKed series, and the Friends in High Places series. I also have a number of standalone works/nascent series, including two fantasy novels, and two short spiritual thrillers.

My I Am Margaret series takes a look at the natural end-point of ‘the culture of death’ and is grittier than most Christian fiction. I Am Margaret was my first published book and my goal was to write it exactly as I would write a secular novel, but with faith allowed into it, an approach I have carried on with all my subsequent books.

My unSPARKed series is a blend of dinosaur dystopian adventure with Christian fiction and may truly be unique! This is the series for which I most often hear “When’s the next book coming out?”

My Friends in High Places series, which has particular appeal to Catholic readers, blends highly accessible biographies of saints with fictional stories that show modern teens tackling genuine tough issues in their lives—with the help of a saint. Saints covered so far are Blessed Carlo Acutis, the millennial internet geek, Saint Joseph, foster-father of Jesus, and Saint Margaret of Castello, a great saint of the disabled and unborn. Issues tackled so far are a serious health crisis, sexting, abusive relationships, foster care, abortion, and living with a disability. All issues are handled in an age-appropriate manner.

Elfling is an award-winning historical fantasy about a teen girl and her dragonet trying to survive long enough on the streets of old London to find her father—a man she has never met.

Mandy Lamb and the Full Moon is a unique rural fantasy about a half-sheep girl whose best friend is a vampire. When she starts senior school, she meets a strange orphan boy who smells rather like a dog and who runs away every full moon. Can they also be friends, or will things end in disaster?

Three Last Things: Or the Hounding of Carl Jarrold, Soulless Assassin. Set on the execution day of an unrepentant killer, this short novella is a race against time for the highest possible stakes: eternal life.

Someday is a retelling of the kidnapping of the 176 schoolgirls in Nigeria in 2014, but with the action moved to the West so that readers truly get a taste of what it would be like if such things were happening in their own environment. All proceeds go to Aid to the Church in Need.

What drives you to write?

A so-far endless supply of ideas from the Holy Spirit, all of which I want to read (which I can’t do without writing them first!) and the hope that they provide similar enjoyment to others in ways that build up the soul rather than drag it down.

What is the best compliment you've gotten about your books or writing?

I was highly honored to be nominated for The Carnegie Medal Award and to receive the St. Katherine Drexel Award, but the ‘compliment’ I remember most is how the Lord used the second book in the I Am Margaret series, THE THREE MOST WANTED, one time. A priest-friend told me how he how couldn’t stop reading the book, with the result that he was still awake very late at night and picked up a phone call he would otherwise have missed. It was the hospital looking for a priest to give Last Rites to someone, which he was only able to do because he’d been glued to my book!

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