Karina Fabian Virtual Book Tour

Today I am pleased to welcome Karina Fabian for a stop on her Virtual Book Tour promoting "Infinite Space, Infinite God," a new science-fiction anthology.

PFM: What is Infinite Space, Infinite God?

KF: For me or for the readers? For readers, ISIG is great character-driven SF with a Catholic theme that makes you think. You want advanced technology? It's got clones, genetically engineered humans and human/animal hybrids; interplanetary and interstellar civilizations and time travel.



You want adventure? It's got murder mysteries, battles big and small, covert operations, alien abductions, explorers lost in space and daring rescues.



You want faith?It's got miracles, Marian apparitions, Church politics, and ordinary people at all levels of faith growing in their understanding of God and what it means to be Catholic. And--if you like to learn along with your fun--in addition to the stories, it has introductions that discuss different aspects of Catholic faith and practice--from saints to religious orders--and of course, the Church's participation in science over the centuries.



For my husband Rob and me, it was a chance to play in the genre we love and to share our faith. Just like creating our children, creating stories and books is a romantic venture for us. We'd go out to dinner at a fancy restaurant and discuss stories or hammer out introductions over candlelight and soft music. Beats a noisy movie and stale popcorn any day!



Finally, for me personally, it was a chance to learn more about my faith. As a cradle Catholic, there were things I took for granted that I just knew. As I read and edited the stories in this anthology, however, I had to really examine some issues--from the ban on female priests to the nature of Confession. Even now, I'm still asking and learning. You know what? That's what really excites me about this book, and what drives me to get it out there for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

PFM: What prompted you to write this book?

KF: We'd edited a Christian SF anthology, Leaps of Faith, for FrancisIsidore E-Press, and had a lot of fun with it. Unfortunately, the publisher, Kathryn Lively (a great Catholic writer, btw) went on to other things and FrancisIsidore went out of business, so there was no chance for a Leaps II. We'd had a Catholic publisher interested in Leaps, but who wanted all Catholic stories, so we took a chance and started compiling ISIG. Sadly, he couldn't convince his company to take a chance on genre fiction, but luckily for us and readers, Twilight Times Books has picked it up.

What do you hope to accomplish with this book? Highest hopes: "What's Pope Benedict XVI reading? Infinite Space, Infinite God--the surprise #1 New York Times' best seller, which combines all the best of science fiction with deeply seeded elements of the Catholic faith."

Realistic hopes:

#1 People enjoy the book. That's what fiction is about--losing yourself in fantastic worlds crafted by skillful writers.

#2 People learn from the book: When a reader comes away with something more than just a fun time, you've snagged the gold ring as a writer. We just got a review from "Chewing the Bone" in which the reviewer (a Christian) said that she'd learned a lot about Catholicism. It made my day to read that. I hope, too, that Catholics will learn more about themselves from it.

Along those lines, I'm hoping to bust the myths that the Catholic Church is anti-science and that religion and science are at natural odds with each other. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

#3 The book makes people think. One of the great traditions of science fiction is to present today's and tomorrow's problems in a venue that allows people to consider the issue. We've tackled a lot of current issues in ISIG, especially in the area of genetics and cloning, as well as some age-old issues like "Why did Jesus die for us?" We'd love to have some high schools or universities pick up ISIG for a literature or theology-in-practice course.

Who do you think might enjoy this book? Catholics who like science fiction or who are interested in imagining the future of the Church and its followers. However, if you like science fiction, you'll like ISIG, regardless of your faith denomination. Even though the theme of Catholicism runs through every story, none are "preachy" or purposely evangelical in nature. We wanted to express the faith through the actions of the characters as they struggle with overwhelming challenges, fantastic adventures, or problems both probable and improbable.

Infinite Space, Infinite God is not just for Catholics. It's for anyone who wonders "What if?"

PFM: Is there anything else that you would like to tell our readers?

KF: Infinite Space, Infinite God is out now in electronic format, and should be coming out in print in August. To learn more about the stories in ISIG and its intrepid crew of contributors, check out http://isigsf.tripod.com. We have some top-notch talent. If you enjoy the stories in ISIG, please go to our website, http://isigsf.tripod.com/id1.html and meet the authors. Many are accomplished novelists or story writers and you can find links to their websites there. Oh, and please come visit my website at www.fabianspace.com. I blog about writing, faith, and homeschooling and there's a list of my other writings and news as well.

PFM: Thanks for stopping by! I wish you the best of luck with "Infinite Space, Infinite God!"