Vivid Sentiments: Interview: Mind Over Psyche by Karina Fabian

Karina Fabian is no stranger to this blog and I'm happy to welcome her again to promote her latest paranormal/fantasy release, Mind Over Psyche, book Two of the Mind Over trilogy. Please join me in welcoming her and wishing her all the best.
But before we begin the interview, here's a small intro to the book through its blurb.

Don't you just love this cover?

Blurb:

Deryl isn’t crazy; he’s psychic. Desperate to escape the insane asylum, Deryl teleports to Kanaan, a world of telepaths who regard him as an oracle. But freedom comes at a price. The Kanaan expect their oracle to teach them to use their powers to wage war. Meanwhile, he’s falling in love, but to be with her means to share his psyche, which could drive her insane. Most dangerous of all, he hasn’t escaped the Call of the Master, enemy of the Kanaan, whose telepathic manipulations were why Deryl was committed in the first place. Now, the Master will forge Deryl’s powers into a weapon to kill all he loves or destroy his mind trying.

Following is the interview (Psst: There's a trailer and excerpt as well)

1. In Mind Over Mind, you had a romance between Joshua and Sachiko. Will we see more of that in Mind Over Psyche?

No. It’s Deryl’s turn to fall in love, and it will be a very different experience from Joshua’s. For one, Tasmae is an alien. Kanaan mate for life and when they meet their soul mate, it’s usually a compulsion. They know, on a biological and telepathic level, that this is their soul mate, and they figure out the rest later. Of course, Deryl being human makes things a little confusing for both him and Tasmae. There’s more danger involved, as one or the other could drive each other insane in the literal sense. Kanaan bonding is more than joining hearts or bodies. They link minds. Readers of Mind Over Mind know that’s traumatic enough for Deryl even with limited human contact. What’s worse, however, is that Tasmae is under the psychic influence of her ancestor’s memories—her ancestor who had gone mad. Add to that the fact that some of the Kanaan close to Tasmae see Deryl as a threat, not an oracle, and you can understand why Joshua is really worried about Deryl and Tasmae ever having the chance to be alone together.

2. Joshua practices a form of psychiatry called neuro linguistic programming. He used it extensively in Mind Over Mind. Will he use it in Mind Over Psyche?

Some, but it really doesn’t work with aliens. He will, however, save a child’s life with it, and will use some techniques to help Deryl and Tasmae out of danger. In this book, he also gets to exercise his musical talents.

3. What is your favorite scene?

Tasmae is deeply under the influence of her ancestor’s memories and the pain and confusion have made her violent. They’re causing Deryl pain a well, and he begs Joshua to help her. He’s a psychiatric prodigy, right? Never mind that he’s 19, an intern, has no drugs or orderlies as backup and oh, yeah, is dealing with aliens. I loved imagining what Joshua, Deryl, and especially Tasmae were thinking and doing. Crazy can be a lot of fun…when it’s not real.

4. What’s the challenge about writing about a psychic people?

They don’t communicate just in words, but also images, emotions, and simple knowing. For example, why have a name for a person when you can pass on the knowledge of who that person is? Ditto for places. However, to reach a reader, I have to use words. No one wants to read “the captain of the Kanaan guard” ten times a page, so some characters needed names, and I needed a reason for them to have one. In the end, humans and the Barin (who also have verbal language) name certain things. This will be fun in Mind Over All, because Joshua will joking name a young boy who clings to him, “Axel,” and it sticks, to Sachiko’s ire.

Also, with no written language, there needs to be a way to preserve history. This is vital in Mind Over Psyche, as memories are stored in psychic plants. You experience things as the person experienced them—no sanitizing, no skimming, no skipping the yucky parts (unless the plant allows it.)

5. Tell us about the everyn. They’re more than just small dragons, right?

Oh, yes. The everyn are part of the sentient animals species called Bondfriends. They have a symbiotic psychic relationship with certain Kanaan (also called Bondfriends). Without this psychic bonding, an everyn reverts to a fully animal state, while a Kanaan will ignore their physical state until they die before they reach puberty. Bondfriends life separate from “regular” Kanaan, who don’t’ really understand their psychic relationship. Also, because they are an animal/person mind, so to speak, they are a bit wilder than the Kanaan.

Excerpt:

Joshua returned to consciousness fully expecting to be in a hospital bed, his slashed throat swathed in bandages, his singing career over before it had started. His hands moved to his throat, found it bare and intact and breathed a prayer of thanks before opening his eyes.

He found himself on his back in a small, tree-lined meadow, but he didn’t recognize the trees.

He sat up slowly, more disoriented than dizzy. Had he had amnesia? “Sachiko?” he called. “Mom? Dad? Anyone?”

He saw Deryl lying on his side, unconscious. Not far from him, near a break in the treeline, stood—

Joshua gulped.

A unicorn!

…or something like a unicorn. Its rhinoceros-like horn and thick neck and shoulders made it a far scarier version than any Joshua had read about in fantasy novels. It stared straight at them.

Joshua licked dry lips. “Easy fella,” he soothed, and reached over to shake his friend. “Deryl, time to wake up.”

Part of Joshua’s mind gibbered that Deryl was really psychic, that he’d teleported them to an alien planet. Another part argued that he was dreaming or had gone insane himself. He told them both to shut up, but he couldn’t stop his breathing from accelerating or his hands from trembling as he shook his friend.

Deryl’s eyelids fluttered, then closed.

He’s drugged. Malachai’s zombiefied him again, and we’re stuck on another world!

He shook his friend harder. “Come on, man! Don’t do this to me. Wake up!”

Joshua heard hoof beats and turned in time to see several unicorns with red-clad riders approach from the trail. He vaguely noted they looked human, before his eyes focused on the swords they drew.

He did the only thing he could think of. He raised his arms, palms open, and said, “We come in peace!”

The warrior he faced, a scowling man with a narrow head, wide-set eyes, and a pocked and scarred face, didn’t understand him or didn’t care. He arched his sword toward Joshua.

Joshua covered his head with his arms and ducked.

About Karina Fabian:

Winner of the 2010 INDIE for best Fantasy (Magic, Mensa and Mayhem), Karina Fabian has plenty of voices in her head without being psychic. Fortunately, they fuel her many stories, like the Mind Over trilogy. Mrs. Fabian teaches writing and book marketing seminars, but mostly is concerned with supporting her husband, Rob Fabian as he makes the exciting leap from military officer to civilian executive, getting her kids through high school and college, and surviving daily circuit torture…er, circuit training. Read about her adventures at http://fabianspace.com.

Find Karina at: