The Realm Makers Conference is coming! Mark your calendars now - May 30-31 at Villanova University, PA. I have an interview with the founder, Becky Minor. For even more information, see the website: http://www.realmmakers.com/
Where did the idea for Realm Makers come from?
Realm Makers grew out of the rising sentiment among Christian speculative fiction authors that we don’t quite fit on either side of the religious market or secular market fence. We needed a place of our own to relax and be ourselves, whether that involves geeking out over the latest season of Doctor Who or working out the nuances of a costume. The idea of offering a full two days where every class applied to the speculative fiction writer grabbed me by the throat a couple years ago and insisted to be brought to life.
How did you develop this from an idea into a full-fledged conference?
Mostly by doing the thing in life that terrifies me most . . . asking other people to jump on board. Having faculty people want to hear is a huge part of enticing attendees to join us, so making connections was the first step. Splickety Magazine editor Ben Erlichman is the king of networking, so his help has been invaluable in initiating those conversations. From there, it was just a matter of analyzing other conferences I’ve been to and figuring out the most efficient way to imitate those events.
Realm Makers strives to provide a faith-friendly symposium for writers and artists who focus their creative efforts on science fiction, fantasy, and all their sub-genres. Whether artists wish to gear their content for the inspirational or secular marketplace, they have a place at Realm Makers.
The full-conference focus on speculative fiction as a genre is the key factor that differentiates Realm Makers from other Christian conferences. While we do offer some classes on general writing craft, I’m convinced that nowhere else could you spend two days drinking in content that embraces geekdom with one arm and a walk of faith with the other. Realm Makers is a place where an author can talk about his work and about his faith, and the folks at his lunch table will “get” what he loves. (Because let’s face it, many of us have sat at that “mixed genre” conference lunch table and gotten some wide-eyed looks when we explain what we write.)
The 2014 schedule will include workshops and panel discussions on
- the use of science in fantasy
- what it’s like to be wounded or to have to wound someone else
- the process of developing graphic novels
- flash fiction
- horror
- networking
- the role of an agent
- the inner workings of a publishing house
- creating story-world languages
- and more still in development!
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