TL:DR

• Gapman: a superhero for the Vernverse
• Snippet from Idol Speculations
• Idol Speculations coloring pages
• Webinar on how to load a book on Amazon Sept 23 ($10)
• Webinar on developing character voice September 29 ($20)

What’s New in FabianSpace

Way too many years ago, I came up with a superhero for the Vernverse: Gapman. Mild-mannered entertainment reporter Ronnie Engleson accidentally gets bit by a radioactive pixie while falling into a vat of magically created toxic waste and is struck by lightning while crossing the Gap. He wakes up with superpowers. With the help of his mom (and later Vern and Sister Grace), he learns to use his newfound powers for Good--and without annoying the local chief of police.

I've played with scenes for this book for nearly a decade, but it was never the right time to actually put it all together into a novel. Finally, I'm there. This one is a different Vern book because it alternates from Ron's and Vern's POVs. Plus, at first, no one knows about Ron, not even Vern, and that's leading to a lot of fun as Vern gets blamed for Ron's mistakes. Ron's mom is a hoot, too.

I'm about 25,000 words into the book. I'm hoping to publish in February. In the meantime, Space Traipse 7 comes out in a couple of weeks, and then the Impulsive is going Mirror-Universe!

Idol Speculations: Meet Clara

A man walks into the office claiming he was sold a defective goose...

“Are you sure it wasn’t a trick?” I asked. Meanwhile, Grace had moved on to a diagnostic spell.

He sighed. For all his bravado and wishful thinking, he had considered that. “I don’t see how. He set it on the table, it let out a screech like a son- er…”

He paused searching for a word that he could say in front of a nun.

“Banshee,” I suggested.

“Yeah. One of those,” he agreed. “And then I lifted Clara—that’s its name—up, and there was the egg, plain as anything. Besides, I took it home, and it laid a couple more before it just stopped.”

In response to my skeptical tilt of the head, he pulled out a bag from his pocket. I reared back at the smell, though neither he nor Grace seemed to notice it. The items in the bag were gold—at least on the outside—and were roughly oval but elongated. I guessed that the most recent ones were the most misshapen. They might have been gold, but they were not clean all the way through. I had a good guess concerning their eventual shape and composition.

“Those are not eggs,” I told him, “and I’d bet they aren’t solid gold, either.”

“Like I told you—the goose is broken or sick or something. I can’t find the…jerk…that sold it to me to ask, either.”

“Did you expect to? Why would someone sell a goose that lays gold?”

He shifted uncomfortably in the prim new chair.

“He said he stole her from a giant, didn’t he?” I asked. I’ve written articles about Faerie scams. Maybe I needed to go on social media.

“Yeah, and his mom threw a fit, what with being Catholic and all. And I didn’t give him no money, anyway. I gave him my PocketGamey. I figured I’d be getting a new one, anyhow.”

“Wow,” I said. “Perpetual wealth for the price of a handheld gaming toy. Shrewd.”

He missed my sarcastic tone. “Except the goose is defective. Can you fix it?”

Purchase Idol Speculations

Idol Speculations Coloring Pages

Originally, I only intended to have a line drawing of Shogzallie for the book, but it was so cool, I couldn't stop! Brent Donoho drew some great pictures of Shogzallie and Vern and I made a little coloring book. Download it here! Then share with me when you color them in!

How to Publish on Amazon – class and demo

The last couple of times I’ve published a book on Amazon, I held a webinar to show folks how it’s done. I’ve had a great response and decided to formalize it into a class. I’ll cover what you need to prepare, some of the basics, and then walk you through a demo, using Idol Speculations as the guinea pig! You’ll leave with an understanding of how to publish using KDP (Amazon’s platform) and a worksheet to help you prepare.

The class is on Saturday, Sept 23, 8-9 PM, Eastern.

$10 (CWG members contact me for a coupon code.)

Learn how to publish on Amazon

Character Voice

I'm enjoying teaching my writing classes, and this month, we're moving to one of my favorite things--character voice. I've broken down the process to help students learn how to create character voices that reveal who the character is, from attitudes to how they see the world. This is a fun class with examples, process breakdowns, and exercises. If you feel like your characters all sound alike or if you want to make your characters stand out, this is the class for you!

Friday, Sept 29, 8-9:30 PM

$20 (CWG members contact me for a coupon code.)

Lets Develop Character Voice!