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Now that Zack and Stephen have returned from their separate summer road trips, we need to catch up on all the big news from the Realm Makers conference. This tenth annual gathering, from July 21–23, brought together fantastical creators and publishing pros at an Atlantic City hotel. Lorehaven was there too, sharing with new and existing fans how we explore fantastical stories for God’s glory. We also got to see the winners of the 2022 Realm Awards for best Christian-made fantasy in books, audio, short stories and beyond.

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Episode sponsors

1. The Wonderland Trials by Sara Ella from Enclave Publishing
2. P. S. Patton’s The Withering (releasing July 26)

Explore more at the complete Podcast Sponsors page.

Chapter 1: What is the 2022 Realm Makers conference?

• Tenth Realm Makers Conference Will Celebrate the Best Christian-Made Fantastical Fiction, media release, July 20, 2022

Chapter 2: Whom did we meet at the Lorehaven booth?

Chapter 3: Who won the 2022 Realm Awards in best book categories?

• Realm Makers Announces Winners of 2022 Realm Awards for Best Christian-Made Fantasy, media release, July 22, 2022
• Fantastical Truth ep. 78: What If You Discovered Fairy Dust and Peter Pan Were Real? | The Heirs of Neverland series with Kara Swanson
• Fantastical Truth ep. 91: What If You Fought Astride Elemental Horses to Unify Your Kingdom? | Of Fire and Ash with Gillian Bronte Adams
• Fantastical Truth ep. 105: What If Planet Earth Was Invaded By Hostile Corporate Aliens? | Maxine Justice: Galactic Attorney with Daniel Schwabauer

Com station

Lucas Kitchen cooked up some encouragement about episode 121:

I loved this episode! I listened to it on the flight back from Realm Makers. […] I’ve noticed that a lot of the “Christian” Sci-Fi and Fantasy is only subtly Christian, or maybe even, not at all in content. That was my impression, leaving Realm Makers as well. There was a lot …. A LOT… of talk about writing for the “mass market.” […] I listened to your podcast, and it raised my spirits. Seriously, it was right at the right time that I listened. I then found your multiple articles about what makes Christian Spec-Fic “Christian.” I wished I had spent more time at the conference talking to you. (I’m the guy that asked you what you and your co-host debate about, and then sat and talked to you about UFO’s and aliens in the cosmos).

(Our response references Fantastical Truth ep. 2: What Do We Mean By Saying ‘It’s A Christian Story’?.)

Another listener shared this reply to episode 122:

Personally, I stopped keeping up with [Star Wars] and Marvel after Disney acquired them and started churning out multiple movies a year + multiple tv/streamed series. Those franchises tie everything to everything else, and if you miss a single thing, suddenly the references and interactions in the next movie don’t make sense or leave a sense of being excluded from an inside joke. (Marvel especially is guilty of this.) I don’t have the time or energy to devote to every series and movie. Consequently, I lost interest in the franchises as a whole.

Meanwhile at Lorehaven

• We’ve just started our most August book quest for N. D. Wilson’s 100 Cupboards!
• Watch for Elijah David’s article on The Horse and His Boy and God’s sovereignty
• Subscribe free to Lorehaven for access to the Guild and custom updates.

Next on Fantastical Truth

At each Realm Makers conference and beyond, you will find Christian authors trying to do a thing that’s evaded all but the most elite cultural spies and celebrities: crossing over from evangelical markets to secular markets. That’s the goal, not just for many Christian fantastical fiction creators, but also Christian musicians and artists and influencers. But should these stories try to evangelize secular readers? And if so, what’s the best way to do this, not just according to results, but according to the Bible?