Realm Makers: it's a big name, with big ambitions. I wanted to attend this conference last year, and was prevented at the last minute by work. But this year I vowed nothing would stop me. Good thing, too, considering all the car trouble I had getting there. Even though I had to replace all of a tire to make it there, the conference was completely worth it.
Vilanhova is a beautiful campus, and it was very easy to walk from the dorms to the dining hall and classroom area. Some might have balked at ducking under train tracks, but we found it appropriate to journey through a steampunk tunnel. The advantage of the con's small size at the moment is the ability for everyone to mingle together in one space. It's not hard to figure out where to go next since there are only two classes at a time. Meals are a wonderful time to meet and get to know fellow conference attendees.
The greatest joy I anticipated from Realm Makers was the opportunity to meet people I'd only ever known virtually. It was difficult to recognize people sometimes: after all, if you've only ever seen a small avatar, you might not realize that guy you just spoke to is one and the same. That confusion changed quickly as I got to know author Kerry Nietz, blogger/editor Kristen Stieffel, and of course, our fearless leader Becky Minor, all of whom were just as fun in "real life" as they are on screen.
The sessions themselves were informative and often entertaining. Very few cons in the world will attempt to teach people how to balance out magic and science in your writing, or the value of not letting your ichthys become a shark. Currently Realm Makers is built around writers who want to hone their craft in speculative fiction and small publishers looking to get started in these genres. But it's got the potential to be a portal for all things Christian spec, not just for content creators but the fans as well.
The panels where multiple authors answered questions certainly has the potential to offer more than writing advice, and the costume banquet Friday night is just the start of what could become a serious cosplay event for the actual stories in this niche. Rather than go the standard LOTR, Star Trek, or superhero route, I chose to create my own costume based on a series by Kathryn Mackel. She unfortunately never wrote the last book, much to the dismay of my sister and I, but that didn't stop me from "evangelizing" on her behalf. Who knows? Maybe a few book sells could change her mind.
Perhaps the best part of Realm Makers, though, was making new friends. Crosshair Press is a brand new publisher in the genre, and I got to know some of the founders. There were also people who've created new media entertainment like the mistress of steampunk, Lisa Walker England and screenwriter/actor Torry Martin. Then there were the people you'd never meet anywhere else, like the dinosaur hunter who told us about his search for a living creature in Africa over lunch. Grace Bridges, owner and editor of Splashdown Books, was especially kind to invite me to discuss my creative journey in a talk. I also have to give a shoutout to Lauren H. Brandenburg, who did not attend the conference, but faithfully followed, retweeted, and favorited nearly everything I broadcast on Twitter over the weekend. I hope we can meet in person next year.
Realm Makers as it currently exists is a great, fun place to hang out and learn. But I hope it will grow and expand. The seeds are there. It will take all of us working together to help it grow.
