8.01.2016

Realm Makers 2016 Recap (A.K.A. The best weekend of my life)

I WENT TO MY FIRST WRITER'S CONFERENCE!

For one weekend, I was surrounded by writers and learned about my craft.  It.  Was.  Incredible.


I pitched my book.


It was terrifying the first time. (I do apologize if you were the one who had to listen to me stumble over my words.  I did practice, I promise.)  The second time, it was easier and I sounded like I actually knew what I was talking about.

I learned a ton about world-building from the fabulous Kathy Tyers!


She is one of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to building realistic worlds.  She even printed each person 20 pages of notes.  I can't wait to read her book!


I learned about character development from Tosca Lee.


Oh. My.  Goodness.  I learned so much from her.  She took us through exercises and different things to help us learn as much about ourselves as about our characters.

I'm reading Demon now, and it's awesome.


I learned some cover design from the Master, Kirk DouPonce.


He is kind of my book cover designer hero, so I was thrilled to meet him and learn more about graphic design stuff.  And he signed my copy of a book he designed?!

I learned stuff about hand to hand combat.


Ben Wolf looked terrified the entire time.

This workshop was one of my favorites.  My fellow Realmies agree it should have gone on all night long.


I MET OTHER NINJAS.  (AND OUR FABULOUS NINJA LEADER)


Nadine Brandes is one of the sweetest people I know.  I
miss her a ton.



We had a costume dinner!

I cosplayed as Agent Carter.

Photo Credit: Hannah


I have a bunch of new best friends.


Photo Credit: Ashley Townsend (Right to left: Hannah, Zac, Katie, Ashley, Me)
This isn't all of by new friends, but it's some.

And this happened.

Moral of the story: Go to a writer's conference.  It is worth every penny.


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Have you ever been to a writer's conference?  What were your experiences?  Did you come to Realm Makers this year?  What was your favorite part?






23 comments:

  1. Aleaaaaaaa oh my goodness I love this post.
    Ben did look terrified and i can't wait for Lillian to send to video!!!!!!!

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    1. And my favorite part was ugh the whole thing.......
      and the dolphin banana

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    2. Thanks, Hannah! The video is going to be awesome!

      I haven't picked a favorite part either. The dolphin banana is still hilarious. LOL. (And banana corpses)

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  2. Oh I wish I could come to America to go to all those writers conferences you have especially Realm makers! I have just been sitting here seeing everything all my American friends are posting about it, looks like it was amazing!

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    1. I hope you can come one year! We would love to have you!

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  3. I went to one and MET NADINE AND SHE'S AMAZING@!

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  4. I really want to go to Realm Makers! I seriously had some writer's conference envy going on last weekend because my Twitter and Facebook feed were full of updates. :P Can't wait to go! If things work out next year, I might try and go.

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    1. Yes! Yes! Come! It was one of the best experiences of my life. :D

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  5. Ahhh this sounds awesome! Especially the hand-to-hand combat one, wow. SO EXCITING.

    Also, your Agent Carter cosplay is 100% amazing and I approve wholeheartedly.

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    1. Words don't even describe how awesome it was.

      Thank you! Agent Carter is an awesome character! I'm so sad they cancelled the 3rd season, even if I haven't seen all of the 1st and 2nd yet.

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  6. That's so awesome!!! Wish I could've been there, but I'll dream of next year.

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  7. It looks like you had incredible amounts of fun! I hope I can come some day. I want to meet all these people and be in the atmosphere!!
    Jeneca @ Jeniqua Writes

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    1. It was amazing. You should come next year! I would love to meet you too!

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  8. EEK YOU WENT TO REALM MAKERS. *is totally not jealous* *is totally lying*
    I WANT TO GO TO REALM MAKERS SO BAD. Someday. *nods* If I get more serious about writing - who knows. :P BUT IT LOOKS LIKE SO MUCH FUN.

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    1. *hugs you and gives you cookies* COME NEXT YEAR! Even if you aren't super serious about writing, there are a ton of geeks there to hang out with. And, you can learn more about writing!

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  9. I've wanted to go to Realm Makers for a couple of years now, it sounds SO interesting! Love your photos and glad to see you got so much out of it :)

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    1. You should definitely come sometime! It is life changing.

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  10. It looks like it was so much fun! I've heard multiple writers say you should go to a conference, and NaNoWriMo recommends it as well. I've heard of Realm Makers from a few other writers' posts, including Nadine Brandes. Is it a Christian writers conference? And where do they have it? Thanks! It looks like so much fun! It would be so fun to go in the future! :) Good day to you!

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    1. Realm Makers is a Christian speculative fiction conference. They have it at different places ever year. Next year, it will be in Reno, Nevada. You should come! Here's their website for more information: http://www.realmmakers.com/

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  11. Wow, thanks for letting me know! I would love to go in the future! :) And thanks for the website!

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  12. (*flails*) I WANT TO GO SO BAD!!!! I feel like Nevado is the closest it'll ever get to California, so I'm *dreaming* of making it, next year... I really want to... Really, REALLY bad. :D

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