I just spent the last few days with a lot of fun people! The Realm Makers conference was held on the Villianova University campus in Philadelphia with nearly 200 in attendance.
I had the honor of teaching nearly six hours in a continuing session on the spiritual life of the writer. It is truly great when many like-minded people gather to explore the Word together.
The costume banquet on Friday night was a sight to behold. I suspect you can find a number of wild photos on Facebook. I got to sit with Commander Riker from Star Trek: the Next Generation. Stood in the serving line with The Last Unicorn. And the Weeping Angel from Dr. Who made threatening gestures at me. Also there was Hagrid (almost the same size!), Mrs. Weasley, an Amish Zombie, Monsters, fairies, warriors, animals, creatures from nightmares…and even a literary agent – the scariest of all.
It was stunning to have two Enclave titles win special awards for Excellence in Editing. Waking Beauty by Sarah E. Morin and A Time to Speak by Nadine Brandes won both awards. Fun to have Nadine sitting next to me when her book was announced as winner!
And then John Otte’s The Hive won the Genre Award for Science Fiction!
In some ways Realm Makers is a mini-ComicCon but where all those in attendance want to write books! That is really exciting.
They announced that next year’s event will be held in Reno, Nevada. July 27-29, 2017 with Ted Dekker as the main speaker. See you there!
I just looked into the realm makers conference and it sounds incredible! Do you happen to know if they offer mp3 downloads of the classes afterwards? I would be very interested in purchasing them…and this is definitely on my radar for next year 🙂
Ahhh….just looked a bit deeper and answered my own question 😉 the 2015 mp3s are available now….so I’m sure given a bit of time, the rest will come. Thanks for bring this to light for me Steve!
Lisa, the mp3s of the classes are indeed forthcoming. Check out our website (www.realmmakers.com) for more info. Also, if you want to be directly notified, sign up for our e-newsletter (which I believe you can also do on the website).
Hello Steve. This sounds very interesting. I’ve been reading everything on your website. Remarkable. Can we have a few tips on what you shared about the spiritual life of a writer or will that come in a book or article? Thanks for sharing. Is the Realm Maker 2017 an open event? Can anyone who wishes to, register?
Realm Makers is an open event. Anyone can attend. Check out http://www.realmmakers.com/ for information.
The audios will be available at some point in the future.
Though I don’t write fantasy, I am pleased to know there are conferences that promote dealing with the spiritual side of writing from a Christian perspective. Too many fantasy books deal with the dark side and promote anything but a Christian world view. Glad to hear you were a part of it.
Christine,
Your observation is one of the reasons why I remain so involved with Enclave (www.enclavepublishing.com). To give voice to great stories of imagination written from author’s who have a Christian world-view.
That would have been an interesting series to prepare for and teach. What a great subject…and foundational to Christian-based writing. Sounds like a fun event!
I’ve heard great things about Realm Makers. I’m glad you were able to teach about the spiritual aspect of writing. I bet that was a great continuing ed session!
I agree with what’s been said above. It’s so good to have a place to encourage fantasy and sci-fi authors who write from a Christian worldview. This seems to be an under-supported area of Christian fiction.
Yikes.
Wow! Six hours of teaching brings a picture of sitting at the desk to write for half a day. Draining, and rewarding in its way(s)…
Ted Dekker next year is making me consider this. Aware he’s a keynote speaker at ACFW’s conference this year. If I won’t meet him this year, next should work out…
It sounds like you had a superb time. I am looking forward to Nashville later this month!
What a time it was! Thanks for sharing your time and heart with us in your continuing ed session. For those considering getting the audio…stop considering. Do it! 🙂