When I play two mages for farming, I do pretty much what you describe - long-range nukage, frost nova, run / blink for distance, turn and fire.

To avoid the drone standing there staring you in the face, all you need do is take a couple of steps forward (towards the frost nova'd mob) with your main to turn the drone around.

That's much easier than trying to gauge how long to hold the turn key down, with the added bonus that they continue to follow, reducing the chance they'll be left behind