#RealmMakers2017

SO REALM MAKERS HAPPENED. And peeps, IT WAS AWESOME.

If you don't know what Realm Makers is, here's a brief definition by yours truly:

Complete and utter awesomesauce.

...Oh, sorry. I guess that wasn't coherent enough. *shrugs* 😉

Realm Makers is a Thursday-through-Saturday writing conference, tailored for writers of speculative Christian fiction. What is speculative Christian fiction, you ask? Christian fantasy and sci-fi. Think C.S. Lewis and Tolkien. 🙂 (Or Liv K. Fisher. Ya know, I mean, if you want. 😉)

I questioned whether or not to do a Realm Makers wrap-up post, but then I decided that Realm Makers is just way too awesome, I met way too many awesome people, and simply... why not? So here it is. Be jealous. I'll consider it a crime if you don't attend this conference sometime in the near future. 😉

{Source.}

FIRST AWESOME THING:

MY ROOMMATES

Tracey, Lisa, me, and Brianna, all locked and loaded for the Nerf War.
{Image stolen from Brianna.}

My roommates are seriously the best, guys! I'm so thankful I got to know and spend time with them! 💙

I bunked with Tracey (from Adventure Awaits), Brianna (from StoryPort), and Lisa (from Lisa Pickle).

Tracey is such a sweetheart, both online and in person! AND SHE GOT TO PITCH HER SLEEPING BEAUTY RETELLING AT REALM MAKERS, GUYS. *cheers* I can't wait to see the day The Brightest Thread hits the shelves!

Lisa is a terrific human being, and so much fun to talk to! She's so sweet and friendly, and such a joy to be around! 💜 Fun fact: Lisa, Tracey, and I are all INFJs!

Brianna is so knowledgeable and kind, and a great walking buddy! We walked pretty much everywhere together, whether it be to breakfast at eight in the morning or to our hotel room at two AM. 😄

Tracey as Emma Swan, me as a Halayda-inspired fairy,
Lisa as Arwen, and Brianna as a medieval peasant.
{Photo stolen from Brianna, yet again. 😉}

SECOND AWESOME THING:

JILL WILLIAMSON

The full crew from the Teen Track!
(Minus Brad (a.k.a. Casey Oswald), who was taking the picture.) 🙂
{Photo from Jill Williamson.}

We got to meet Jill Williamson, guys!!!! She's one of the Go Teen Writers bloggers, and she knows SO MUCH about her craft. She's so wonderful and selfless and all-inclusive! Jill = life goals.

THIRD AWESOME THING:

MEETING FELLOW BLOGGERS / G.T.W. MEMBERS

I got to meet more teen authors and GTWers! Jonathan Trout, Audrey Caylin, Keturah Lamb, Mary Horton, Hann Remraf, and several others. 😁

Me and Keturah!
{Photo credit to Keturah.}

FOURTH AWESOME THING:

MEETING ALL THE AUTHORS

I don't even know where to start, so get ready for a picture dump. 😁

Kara Swanson, Bethany A. Jennings, and me. Kara and Bethany are both such talented writers, and are both kind, courageous, and inspiring young women! 💗
{Photo credit to Kara.}

DEANNA FUGETT!!!! This woman is seriously wonderful. 💜 I'm certain that it'll be no time at all before her novel Ending Fear is a New York Times bestseller (it's an Amazon bestseller, already!) and is turned into a movie!

Brianna and I met Laura VAB! If you ever have the chance to meet Laura and talk to her... GO DO SO. She's such an amazing person, inside and out!
{Photo stolen from Brianna.}

Brianna, Audrey, and me with TED DEKKER. *is still starstruck*
{Photo from Brianna.}

Another picture with Ted Dekker! Thanks to Brianna for taking all my book signing pictures. 😄

I MET MARY WEBER, FOLKS. This woman is such an inspiration!

Carla Hoch! She gave a class Thursday night on how to fight properly! She even taught us how to break people's arms...

...which may or may not have been a good thing. 😜

I met Catherine Jones Payne, too! Her novel Breakwater looks like such a fantastic read, and I loved listening to her on the agents/editors and self-pub panel!

FIFTH AWESOME THING:

BOOK HAUL

I GOT SO MANY BOOKS SIGNED, Y'ALL. And I got to buy so many books, too! *madly throws confetti*

Replication: the Jason Experiment by Jill Williamson. Jill was so kind as to provide all the Teen Track members with free copies! Which was totally awesome, and had she not surprised us all with that, I totally would've bought it at the bookstore later, anyway. 😄

Threadbare by Bethany A. Jennings. I'm SO excited to read this! I adored Dragon Lyric and Bethany's faerie story I beta-read, so I can't wait to dive into yet another one of her stories!

Breakwater by Catherine Jones Payne! This was one of the many books on my list of fifty-one books I can't wait to read, and I'm so excited to finally dive into it! 🐬

Secrets Kept by J.L. Mbewe. This book's opening line... Gaah! I can't wait to read this!

Illusionary by Desiree Williams. I L-O-V-E-D Sun & Moon, so
I absolutely cannot wait to get a start on this beauty!

Kitsune-Tsuki by Laura VanArendonk Baugh.
KITSUNES. SHAPESHIFTERS. FOXES. Need I say more?

SIXTH AWESOME THING:

LEARNING

I learned SSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much from Realm Makers! Like, seriously. SO, SO MUCH. Expect a trillion blog posts full of all the things I learned. 😁

~

Realm Makers was such an inspiring and uplifting experience. And basically the best weekend ever. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. 💖

Are you going to #RealmMakers2018?

(Answer: yes.)

❤,