REALM MAKERS 2018

Well, this post is late in coming.

But I'm here now! Finally! I have showed up to join the masses and post a conference recap. So...who wants to read yet another Realm Makers 2018 recap post?;D

 
A PRE-WARNING: this post is as much for myself as it is you guys, to give myself a journal-like entry to come back to. That being said, IT. IS. LONG. Really long. Embrassingly long. Please feel from to skim ;D. (also, the pictures are not in order of what days they were taken) And with all THAT out of the way, let us carry onto the recap:  

Before The Conference...

Okay. So. A thing you should know -

I AM A VERY LAST MINUTE PERSON.

So the week before the conference was filled with last-minute scrambling to get my one-sheets done,  last-minute packing, last-minute printing out the first ten pages of my manuscript, and last-minute WHICH BOOKS DO I BRING??

And my sisters gave me a surprise the day before my dad and I left for Missouri - a massive box filled with enough snacks to last me for DAAAAAAYS. My food-loving heart was happy ;D.

Wednesday

We left around 2-ish, Wednesday afternoon - after downloading multiple movies because hey, I'm not saying no to watching my first Marvel movies while driving to a place where I CAN TOTALLY GEEK OUT.

(Oh, on that note - I managed to watch seven Marvel movies with my dad between going to Missouri, being there, and coming back. AND I AM OFFICIALLY ADDICTED. Why did I wait so long to watch these movies? What is wrong with me? ACK. They are AMAZING.)

Okay okay, rave over, this is supposed to be about Realm Makers xD. ANYways.

The trip to St. Louis was supposed to take six hours....but we miscalculated, and it was actually eight (YAY MORE MOVIE TIME). It was epic fun to text with some of the Realmies on the way there ("We're almost there!" "Two hours away!" "I'll see you soon!") and video chat with my siblings, but I was so wiped out I was practically stumbling as we walked into the hotel xD. (I was wearing a LotR shirt, and the MINUTE I walk inside someone says "I like your shirt!" and I'm immediately thinking "MY PEOPLE! HERE ARE MY PEOPLE!" xD) 

Then Stephanie Warner (one of my Camp NaNo girls and seriously the sweetest human) appeared behind me as my dad and I were checking in, and I ran off to hug her and say hi. Hopefully I wasn't too embarrassing in my half-alive state, but I HAD TO GO HUG HER xD. It was epic to run into one of the Mitchtam girls right when I got to the hotel <3. (and it was my first stay at a hotel - my family aren't travelers - so that was a great way to kick it off)

Stephanie with the smol Funko Pop fren that followed her around the conference ;D

And then lo and behold, as I'm dragging my suitcases down the hallway to my room, these two girls are walking in front of me, and they turn out to be the lovely Mary Liz and Hann Remraf! Through my sleep-deprived haze I remember squealing and dropping all my bags and running to hug them...and then finding out that we had rooms right across from each other! If there's a better way to end a first night someone better tell me, because I don't know of it xD.

myself and the lovely Mary - NOT on Wednesday night ;D

Thursday  

Got up early (really early...*yawns*) to meet up with Mary (seriously, I'm SO GLAD we roomed right across from each other because she is epic and it was so great walking to classes together) and go register.(and she also made the cutest gifts for so many of us! I love the hand-lettered bookmark she made for me <3)

registration stuff and Mary's gift - LOOK AT THE GORGEOUS CALLIGRAPHY <3

And then as we're walking down the hall to get to the pre-conference class, I hear someone scream "SAVANNAH GRACE!" and before I can blink someone comes flying down the hallway and I'm being ambushed in a hug by the amazing Rosalie (she is the sunniest person in THE WHOLE UNIVERSE). I vaguely remember screaming and hugging her back and it was just the bestest xD.

I LOVE HER SO MUCH <3

The pre-conference class was AMAZING. I honest-to-goodness cannot stress how amazing it was, I'm so glad I signed up for it. Tosca Lee made us introduce ourselves to strangers MANY TIMES (*the sound of the introvert in me dying many deaths*), which was actually quite fun because I GOT TO MEET SO MANY OF MY TRIBE. (I even got to meet one of my blog readers who I didn't know before! *waves to Jessie Rae* <3) And then the workshop itself was beyond stellar, I can't even with how amazing it was <3 <3 <3. I came out of it so encouraged and happy, and I learned so very, very much. Loved it <3. And Tosca Lee is the sweetest person! I loved getting to hear her talk about the writing life.

chatting before the pre-conference - photo credit Tracey

sitting down for the second half of the per-conference workshop - photo credit Tracey

also Tosca Lee and I are both Asian and it's epic - photo credit Mary

And then I went out with some of the gals from the pre-conference (Tracey! Deborah! Claire! Mary! Sasha! *hugs you all*) to eat at Fuzzy Tacos (AN AMAZING PLACE THAT I AM DEATHLY ADDICTED TO NOW), and as we're going out I hear this bright, pixie-like voice say "Savannah Grace??". And I turn around to see Katie Grace standing there and of course I tackled her in a hug xD. (LEGIT SHE IS THE BESTEST). Jeneca Zody was there as well, and it was SO GOOD to meet her after stalking her blog since she started it ;D. 

Mary, Tracey, Deborah, and Claire <3

Okay, to restate my point - FUZZY TACOS = <3 <3. So, so good, you guys. I think I ate there literally ever day we were in Missouri xD. And this specific time, we were getting up to leave when Mary and Tracey spot this person eating by himself. I didn't recognize him at first, but after one of them whispered to me that it was Wayne Thomas Batson, I marched right over with the rest of them to say hi ;D. It was really great running into him there, that was so fun. 

walk back from Fuzzy Tacos

And THEN, as we're walking back through the hotel to hit up the next class, I find this crowd of the people I know in the middle of the bookstore. I walked over to see what was up, and all of a sudden THE WONDERFUL CHRISTINE comes bursting out screaming "MY SAVANNAH!!" to grab me in a hug xD. I squealed so loud, it was so epic. There was so many epic meet-ups at RM, you guys. 

SO MANY FRENS - photo credit Mary Liz

Look at the darling selfie <3 <3 <3 - photo credit Ashley

We trooped off to the conference opening together, and Scott and Becky Minor sang A Million Dreams during the slideshow, which was super fun (FAVORITE MOVIE ALERT). Mr. Minor's costume was amazing - he made a super realistic P.T. Barnum.

And then after the opening was over, I realized that almost my entire Camp NaNo cabin had been sitting in the row behind me! I went scrambling back to hug Nadine (I am SO TOTALLY a hugger, if you guys haven't figured that out - legit I would hug the same person multiple times in one day xD) and swap magazines with Rosalie. We'd both had pieces published in Splickety's Dystopian Disasters, and it was EPIC to get her signature on her page of that magazine - and to sign my first ANYTHING. Ashley Townsend (who is the most fun extroverted bundle of sunshine) immediately declared that I am now "THEE Savannah!" ;D.  

The last workshop for that day was the Splickety Flash Fiction critique, which I was INCREDIBLY hyped about. Splickety had a call for submission a month prior, saying that they would live-critique the best ten at RM. So I went into it with fingers crossed, hoping that maybe mine was good enough?

I sat with Rosalie, who'd also entered, and we were both on pins and needles - UNTIL HER ENTRY CAME UP ON THE SCREEN! I had to fight to stay quiet after that happened because oh my gracious, was I excited or WHAT. And then, a few entries later, a very familiar name popped up on the screen - mine xD. I gave a small squeak of surprise while Rosalie hugged me and squealed ;D. Mr. Minor was reading all the pieces aloud, and he has an epic story telling voice, so that was really neat.

The critique itself was really great, too ("burning scones", for any of you who were there xD)! It was especially encouraging to have one of the people who did the critique come up to me afterwards and say that he really liked my entry, and that I should expand upon it. Was totally an awesome way to close out Thursday night. Also, I knew every single person (save one) who was in the top ten! Iron sharpens iron, and all that? ;)  

Friday

Woke up early again, but the workshops started slightly later than they did on Thursday, so my dad and I ate breakfast in the hotel room and watched Winter Soldier (<3 <3) until it was time for me to head out.

sitting with these lovelies during the opening announcements for day 2

A far LESS blurry pic of the same time - credit goes to Christine ;D

The announcements opened with an epic Red Riding Hood skit, which I loved - it made me laugh multiple times ;D. Kudos to the two who acted it out and managed to NOT burst into laughter!

Red Riding hood!

Then a cluster of us (so glad to be able to be in teen track with Audrey, Mary Liz, and Madeline!) went to the first part of the teen track, and LET ME TELL YOU - in was the most amazing class. Daniel Schuabaner was an amazing teacher, and I learned so much just in that first class.

the teen track gals <3 <3 - photo credit Audrey

And I was totally on learning overload that day, because after the teen track was the lovely Nadine's pitching class! I'm SO GLAD I scheduled my pitches to go after her class, because she taught us some awesome stuff. By the end of it, I had a pretty solid pitch for my story and was feeling much more confident! And then I snagged her after the class and grabbed a selfie...

(I'm bad at taking selfie's, y'all, THEY'RE SO BLURRY ;D)

...(because I had forgotten to the night before, ha) and told her that I was feeling a lot better about surviving my pitching sessions xD. She said that YES THE SESSIONS WOULD GO AMAZINGLY and to find her after they were done.

Lunchtime was pizza-filled. A ton of the Silmaril hosts were at RM this year, so we all headed to the pizza place (*cough* and ordered way too much pizza *cough* ;D) and had a ton of fun. And then the girls and I found the cutest little stairwell area on our walk back, and we took SO MANY pics and videos up there ;D. It was the coolest place!

lunch with the Silmaril people and many frens <3 - photo credit Deborah

it was so fun to hang out with everyone! - photo credit Christine

Stairwell selfies with Christine and Tracey! - photo credit Christine and Tracey

And then - and THEN - came the pitching O.O

I won't tell you too much about the appointments themselves, but they both went incredibly well and both the agent and the editor I pitched to were interested in seeing my manuscript (I pitched Forgotten for those of you who are curious)! So I'm currently diving head-long into the edits of that story, which has been really fun.

The pitching appointments were made all the more epic by the fact that I was friends with (or became friends with!) everyone in the waiting area! It was so great getting to talk to them beforehand, really calmed me down. Everyone was super sweet and encouraging <3 <3 <3. (and it was so fun to celebrate with them when both appointments went well! It was especially amusing to find Nadine in the hallway RIGHT after I finished pitching - I ran up to her and screamed something along the lines of "I PITCHED AND I DIDN'T DIE" and we both squealed about it for awhile ;D.)  

chatting with Mary, Christine, and Tracey before a class - photo credit Mary

The Award banquet was also incredibly fun! I ended up sitting at a table that Steve Laube was also at, which was cool - turns out, he's a pretty fun guy! His Dream Crusher "costume" was quite amusing, we all got a kick out of that ;D. All of the cosplays at the banquet were AMAZING, I was stunned by everyone's creativity! I missed so many epic photo opportunities - but I was rather wrapped up in talking to frens xD. But when Ashley told me that there was a really realistic Flynn Ryder (she said something along the lines of "OH MY GOSH, SAVANNAH, HAVE YOU SEEN FLYNN RYDER? YOU'VE GOT TO GET A PICTURE WITH HIM. DO YOU WANT TO GET A PICTURE WITH FLYNN RYDER??" - see, I told you she's the best ;D.), I knew my sisters would pass out if I got a pic with him...so I did. And they passed out. It was great fun ;D.

Brandon as Flynn

Christine, Madeline, and Mary

Jeneca and Rosalie 

WONDER OF WONDERS I had just finished Winter Soldier and then found Jeneca DRESSED AS BUCKY BARNES. It was epic. I squealed. ;D

Nadine, Ashley, and Katie (MY NANO GIRLS GIVE GOOD HUGS) 

And it was super great hanging out with my Mitchtam/Camp NaNo girls that night. They're legit the best, you guys <3 <3 <3.  And their costumes! Their costumes were marvelous!

*whispers* sometimes we got weird ;D

Hanging out <3

Kara and Heidi <3

 
It was epic getting to meet the amazing Heidi! I didn't realize that I knew her (virtually ;D) until we had been talking for like 15 minutes ;D. But it was super fun to realize who she was! AND SHE IS THE MOST FUN, BUBBLY PERSON <3 <3 <3. I met Mary Weber shortly after that (I knew her virtually, too, being in her book club and things), and it was super fun to hear her scream "OH MY GOSH YOU'RE SAVANNAH GRACE" and grab me in a hug when she realized who I was ;D. Legit, y'all, Mary Weber is one of the sweetest people in the whole wide universe, I love her so much <3. I stayed up so late that night, talking to friends. Completely crashed with exhaustion afterwards, but IT WAS WORTH IT ;D.  

Mary and Heidi <3 <3 <3

hugging Audrey after she won the scholarship raffle - photo credit Tracey

Another highlight of the banquet was AUDREY CAYLIN winning the scholarship raffle! I almost passed out when I heard her name called ;D. So, so happy about that! <3 <3

Saturday

More teen track was the first thing on the agenda for Saturday morning, and it was also the LAST of the teen track sessions (we had two on Friday, one on Saturday) and OH MY. Right when I thought that track couldn't get any better, IT DID. A lot of us were talking about just how much we learned in those sessions, and how very different it was from anything else we'd ever heard. It was epic. 

Lunch was a whole bunch of us girls getting together, splitting up to run to our favorite places to eat around the hotel, and then all meeting back up on the back patio of the hotel to eat together. We had to drag together so many tables to fit all of us, it was awesome to get to hang out and chat with everyone.  

SO MANY TABLES ;D

And then I hung out in the hotel room for a bit (because I needed to regenerate for like AT LEAST TEN MINUTES) and watched a little more Marvel (<3) before going down to the class Wayne Thomas Batson was teaching about building suspense in novels. And it was such a fun class! He has a great story telling voice, and it was fun hearing him read aloud the different pieces he was using as examples. And ALSO he had us do a really fun exercise that involved us having ten minutes to write the most suspenseful story beginning that we could. That was INCREDIBLY HARD but OH I loved it ;D. So glad I decided last-minute to go to that class.

And then - and THEN - there was the closing keynote. I can't even tell you how killer beautiful the closing keynote was, Mary did an amazing job with it. (also she did the closing keynote in a My Little Pony sweater? Can I reinstate how awesome this woman is?? ;D). It was the best way to end Realm Makers 2018 <3 <3 <3.

A very blurry picture of Mary giving the closing keynote ;D

So of course I immediately went up to her and hugged her after the keynote. And then had both her and Nadine sign my dragon pic that I doodled between classes, because they were introduced as "the dragon and the unicorn" during their shared YA workshop ;D.

THEY ARE THE LOVELIEST PEOPLE <3

And then Mary Weber invited us all to dinner at Fuzzy Tacos and how could I say no (FUZZY TACOS WITH ALL MY FRENS <3)? That was a total highlight of the trip. I ended up sitting mostly with Mary Weber, Elizabeth Van Tassel, Kara Swanson, and Jeneca Zody, which was amazing. It was great getting to chat with those lovely ladies and talk about ALL the things <3. 

We brought along too many people to fit in the restaurant! ;D

Christine and Ashley <3

SO MANY FRENS <3 <3 <3

BURRITO, YUM

me being a dork ;D - photo credit Mary Weber

ALL. THE. FRENS. - photo credit Mary Weber

I'm not TECHNICALLY in this pic (I'm the knee right between Mary Weber and Jenece Zody ;D) but I STILL LOVE IT - photo credit Tracey

And then there was the book signing! The book signings happened that night, and it was SO. MUCH. FUN. I tracked down Lindsay Franklin first, because I absolutely had to get my copy of The Story Peddler signed. I mean, have you guys read that book? It is a MASTERPIECE. And Lindsay was using a great big blue sharpie, so ALL THE LOVE TO HER ;D.  

The line for Mary Weber's signing was spilling all over the room, so I got in line close to 8-ish (with some frens because who's waiting in line that long BY THEMSELVES? ;D), thinking for SURE I would have time to get my books signed before I had to join the Mad Hatter team and Nadine's Ninjas for pictures at a quarter before 9.

waiting in line with the lovely Ruth and Andi <3

Turns out, I was sorely mistaken ;D.

By the time 8:45 rolled around, I was only halfway through the line! So I ended up stepping out to go find Mary And Nadine (way, WAY up at the front of their lines ;D) for the street team pics - which were INCREDIBLY fun! ;D

Mary's Mad Hatters - photo credit Mary Weber

Nadine's Ninjas - photo credit Nadine

And then the two lovely ladies signed my books with notes that made my heart full <3 <3 <3.

the five beautimous books I had signed <3

I had to run after that (because I was DEAD TIRED and it was getting late) and so I had to say goodbye to the people I wouldn't be seeing in the morning D;. IT WAS THE SADDEST FAREWELL EVER. But my NaNo girls and me got a group picture before I had to skedaddle, because we needed pictoral proof that THIS HAD HAPPENED.

My wonderful, wonderful Camp NaNo girls <3 <3 <3

Sunday

I woke up the next morning DEAD WIPED OUT (my dad and I were supposed to go to Six Flags with some of the Realmies that day, but my gracious, I was just too tired ;D).

But I scrambled to get up so that I could spend a last hour with the Realmies before everyone disbanded or went to the post-conference workshop. It was great to hang out a little longer, and to be able to hug everyone goodbye one last time <3 <3 <3. (and it was only GOODBYE FOR NOW because most of us were determined to be back the next year ;D)

 Blue (who I didn't recognize for an embarrassingly long time, but she's so sweet!), the incredible Kendra, and the epic-est Katie.

I spent half the trip home in a tired daze (and still feeling a lot of DID THAT JUST HAPPENING?? feelings ;D), but it was super fun to watch a couple more Marvel movies (even though I slept through half of Age of Ultron xD) and eat out (at my favorite food place!) one more time on the way back to Nebraska. A good end to a great trip <3.

So THAT post got to out-of-control lengths REALLY fast ;D.

Hopefully I didn't bore you TOO much ;). I'll try and get a "what I learned at RM 2018" post up soon, because my notebook is chock-full with the wonderful things I learned while in Missouri <3.

OKAY I better pull this thing together before I go one for another mile or two ;D. Realm Makers was one of the best experiences I've ever had, and I'm incredibly thankful for all my amazing friends (and the incredible faculty!) that made it so. It was so impossibly great to finally find my tribe of incredible, amazing people who love the same thing I do ;). I really hope to go again next year ... I guess we'll see what happens! ;D

Keep being epic, my frens. <3 <3 <3

~ Savannah Grace 

have you ever been to a writing conference??

will you be coming to Realm Makers next year?