What could be more enjoyable than reading or creating a fantastical story?

Try this: meeting fans and helping them find great Christian-made novels.

That was my experience in March 2019. On behalf of Lorehaven, I aided our friends at Realm Makers Bookstore at a Fort Worth convention. This bookstore travels the country to set up shop at fandom and homeschool conferences, where hosts can showcase the best in Christian-made fantasy, science fiction, and beyond.

In Fort Worth, we met so many amazing people. They were homeschool moms and dads as well as grandparents. Some were teenagers in search of fantastical new books. Many were young children just getting started on their lifetimes of reading.

We heard a lot of people say things like:

• “I had no idea these books were out there!”
• “Oh, (name of fantasy-fan child or friend) needs to see this.”
• “My child reads these kinds of books all the time. I need to know more.”

If people browsed certain books, I could share any Lorehaven magazine review of that book. Sometimes I would say, “We love fantastical stories wherever we find them. But we have a special love for stories created by our brothers and sisters in the Church, if they’re based in biblical truth and made with excellence.”

One grade-school girl, Melissa, proved a big fan of the long-running Christian audio drama Adventures in Odyssey. She and I “geeked out” about the show.

A teenage reader, Jeremy, bought books, subscribed to Lorehaven, and shared with us how he and his friends were writing collaborative stories in many fantasy genres.

Melissa, Jeremy, and thousands of other fans are the future of Christian fantasy.

They will “reboot” Christian fiction, driving new generations of books into fantastical genres, which better reflect the scope and wonder of Christ’s epic true gospel.

They’re discovering Realm Makers—both conference and bookstore.

They’ll find authors who have already spent their lives creating stories with biblical truth and excellence.

And they can also explore biblical articles about fantasy’s purpose, and reviews of the best Christian-made fantastical novels, in Lorehaven magazine.

One year at Lorehaven, complete. Lord wiling, we have many more years to go!