Hello there!

I started writing this while on my way back from being a part of the Realm Makers Expo in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For anyone who has been to a conference it’s like being in another world—charged with a special kind of energy. At least till it ends. Then you find yourself back in your normal day-to-day life as though it was all a dream. Since this year’s Realm Makers was a good dream, before daily life displaces too much of the residual charge from it, I wanted to capture a few thoughts.

It was a first for my family and I in a lot of ways. None of us had been to Michigan. We’ve done a modest amount of travel and this was by no means the longest trip for us, but it was a trip. More than nine hours of driving each way. Though I met a fellow author and exhibitor, D.E. Carlson and her husband who drove twenty hours from North Dakota. I think there was a gentleman from New Zealand who had us all beat in terms of travel. I mention this, because it was the first time I really considered the degree of effort my fellow writers and I were making to be in this one place for this event and by extension to further our writing. Which is somewhat silly on my part, but talking about distances traveled and knowing how the trip wore on my family just brought the depth of the commitment everyone was making into focus.

It was also the first time I chose to have a booth at Realm Makers and to borrow Tolkien’s words, I “exposed my heart to be shot at” by my fellow authors. I had consigned books to the Realm Makers conference store before, but that was easy. I just dropped them off and left. This time I got to see, in real time, people judging the merit of whether the books I wrote were worth giving a try. For most, the answer was no. Which did not sting as much as I expected. Perhaps because of all the book festivals I’ve attended, Realm Makers was different. The people there were far friendlier than I’d met in other venues. Not to say I’ve never met kind people at the festivals. In fact, a huge highlight of Realm Makers was getting to see the incredibly talented Christy McCulfor and her husband again. I met them a few years ago while they by chance were traveling through West Virginia and stopped at the WV Book Festival while I had a booth. This time, I was in their home state and it was so great seeing them again! I also thoroughly enjoyed seeing and getting to talk to so many people I knew already including Sophia Henson and Scott Thomas who helped me discover Realm Makers years ago. I had the pleasure of meeting the publisher of Clean Fiction Magazine, Amy Lynn McConahy, who is such a cool person. There were still others I had only known through social media like Caylah Coffeen, Jenelle Schmidt, and Gabriella Lee. There’s a degree of wonderment to seeing and hearing someone you had only ever known digitally.

Almost as jarring as trying to get back into “normal” life after a conference. This time, however, it’s something more. I’ve tried for days to pull together my thoughts on the @RealmMakersExpo as a whole (the short of it was it was great, but I’m a writer so I have to be more verbose than that). What was it about the expo that resonated with me, that pushed it beyond the usual conference/festival for me? In combing through the event, there were a few other standout moments added to the reunions and meetings I already mentioned.

The first goes with the opening picture. I got my copy of Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura from when I was ten-years-old signed by Kathy Tyers! I looked forward to that moment since I found out she would be doing a signing at the expo. Standing in line I went over all the clever and grateful things I would say. Then I got up to her and she was so kind and warm and….I COULDN’T SAY ANYTHING. I just stood there like a goof. I mean I should be living at Disney Studios and practicing saying, “Hyuck” and “Gawrsh” after that. The worst part –I could tell she was looking at me like I was missing a few bolts. So, if you had an embarrassing moment at the expo, I empathize, deeply. DEEPLY.

There were two other significant signings that went markedly better. I was privileged to get to speak with the fantastic SD Smith and humbled to have him sign a set of the four main Green Ember books for my son. That was so incredibly cool and a treasured part of the expo for me. And there were only bearable amounts of Goofy-me peeking through during that encounter… I hope.

One of my favorite memories of the expo was when my friends Eric Landfried and CM Button gave me a draft copy of their children’s book they were planning to pitch and they each signed it. The art, the story, all of it is SO good! Its coolness was sufficient to drown out any silliness I could have brought to the moment. I can’t wait to see what the Lord does through and with their book.

Each picture represents other moments to talk about and great people to mention, but even being a long-winded author, I know I can’t tell about all of them. Though I am tagging all of the authors and 100% think you should go and check out their work and follow them if you haven’t.

I met fellow Scrivenings Press and Expanse Book authors Erin Howard, Amber Gabriel, and Brent Golembiewski. I had great booth neighbors: AG Bjornstedt, Joe Bragg of the CGDC, LE Richmond, and Ezra Kessler. Along with a host of fellow lovers of story, but even more importantly those who love the Lord. I had several people pray with and for me during the event and listened to stories that revealed the beautiful faith of those with whom I spoke. Which is where the greatest treasure of the expo lies. Between the worship service on the Sunday of the expo and the vibrant faith of those attending the event, it deeply touched my heart and if all else of the event was stripped away that would have been worth the trip with its costs innumerable times over.

In mentioning costs though, there were some in both time and money. They were significant and I cannot bear those without my family doing it with me. My incredible wife did so with smiles and grace. My son, even young as he is, not only supported me but ecstatically contributed his own items to the booth—3D printed crosses for anyone who got my historical fiction book, Destitutio Quod Remissio.

As a writer, words are supposed to be my provenance, but I’m struggling to articulate what all of these things mean to me. I tried to convey them to my co-workers as I still attempt to find the familiar rhythm I left on the Wednesday before the trip to the expo. I failed miserably at capturing it then. I’m failing now. I think the most crystalline of comments I can make that most fully encompasses the expo is that it stirred my faith and encouraged me as a writer. And I don’t want to relinquish hold on either, no matter how much time and “normalcy” wear at either.

So, I owe many thanks to my family, those who came to speak with me at my booth, my writer friends, the Realm Makers team who put the expo together, and above all the Lord. We take for granted those moments when we feel Him working in our hearts, or at least I have, but He truly is a magnificent God, Who, as one conversation I had at the expo brought up: He is the same God Whose fiery presence thundered from Sinai and rendered that mountain untouchably holy and the very God Who sent His Son longing to gather Jerusalem like a hen her chicks. CS Lewis was well in saying of his Narnian Christ figure Aslan: “…he isn’t safe, but he is good. He’s the King I tell you!” And that appropriately enough is the most precious piece of the Realm Makers Expo I carry with me.