The first Realm Makers conference is wrapped up (well, mostly–we’re still settling the books to see how the budgets compared to the “actual”) and the general consensus among attendees is that it was a success. If you’ve been browsing the blogosphere of late, you may have seen some of Kat Heckenbach’s posts about the event, or maybe Elizabeth Lewis’s, or perhaps Morgan Busse’s guest post at Speculative Faith. On the more controversial side, maybe you’ve read what Mike Duran has to say after browsing the post-conference buzz. Sadly, Mike wasn’t with us for the conference (we would have loved to have him) and he raises some pertinent questions.

From the Lost Genre Guild to Facebook to blog comments, people are brimming over with ideas and suggestions, and I want to assure you, I am perusing those, assimilating the needs of the posters, and working toward some concrete thoughts for future conferences. I am grateful for any input you might have, and I always invite you to send suggestions or inquiries to info[at]faithandfantasyalliance[dot]com.

As the year wanes, expect to see more talk here about the “other” arm of The Faith and Fantasy Alliance–the part that strives to take books to where readers are. We’re concocting ideas on that, so stay tuned. (Hint: were batting words around like Comic Con, Dragon*Con, etc.) Once we hit the new year, expect some concrete details about the next Realm Makers.

Thanks to all of you who have begun following this endeavor, and for those of you who stepped out and joined us this first year. I continue to be humbled by your enthusiasm and energy for what we’ve begun.