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Akiniwazisaga: A Light Rises in a Dark World
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Apr 16, 2021

58. How Did We Enjoy the Heroic Majesty of ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’?
Podcast | Fantastical Truth on Apr 13, 2021

How Reading Epic Fantasy Helps Me Be Brave
Articles | Josiah DeGraaf on Apr 9, 2021

All the Queen’s Sons
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Apr 9, 2021

Implicit Magic in Fantasy Fiction Can Stir Our Longing for Transcendent Myth
Articles | Elijah David on Apr 7, 2021

57. How Do Stories Help Us Imagine Suffering and the Hope of Resurrection? | Epic Resurrection, part 4
Podcast | Fantastical Truth on Apr 6, 2021

The PRISM Conspiracy
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Apr 2, 2021

To Help Kids Learn Pop Culture Engagement, Parents Must Work Together
Articles | Jason Joyner on Mar 31, 2021

56. Which Biblical Qualities Empower Strong Female Characters? | with Elisabeth Wheatley
Podcast | Fantastical Truth on Mar 30, 2021

Why We Long for Movies to Match Their Books
Articles | L.G. McCary on Mar 25, 2021

Library

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Aelafas, Peco Gaskovski
The Centauri Survivors, Andrew J. Chamberlain
The Father's Tree, Crystal Jencks
The Mermaid's Sister, Carrie Anne Noble
The Watcher, Sara Davison
Etania's Worth, M. H. Elrich
Cinderella Spell, Laurie Lee
When Desperate Measures Are All You Have Left, J. C. Morrows
Fractures, James C. Joyner
Torch, R. J. Anderson
The Terran Summit, Anna Zogg
The Xerxes Factor, Anna Zogg
The Paradise Protocol, Anna Zogg
The Awakened, Richard Spillman
Reviews

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Akiniwazisaga: A Light Rises in a Dark World
“M. D. Boncher’s fantasy novel Akiniwazisaga: A Light Rises in a Dark World is a fascinating blend of history, religion, and sinister folklore.”
—Lorehaven on Apr 16, 2021

All the Queen’s Sons
“All The Queen’s Sons from Elizabeth Kipps will delight both young and old fans of level-headed girls, charming princes, and lovely lands.”
—Lorehaven on Apr 9, 2021

The PRISM Conspiracy
“Mary Schlegel’s gentle sci-fi The PRISM Conspiracy offers an attractive blend of possibility and sweet romance.”
—Lorehaven on Apr 2, 2021

Songflight
“Songflight by Michelle M. Bruhn tells the gripping story of dragon singer Alísa, and is best for lovers of fantasy and dragons.”
—Lorehaven on Mar 19, 2021

Podcast

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58. How Did We Enjoy the Heroic Majesty of ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’?
Fantastical Truth, Apr 13, 2021

57. How Do Stories Help Us Imagine Suffering and the Hope of Resurrection? | Epic Resurrection, part 4
Fantastical Truth, Apr 6, 2021

56. Which Biblical Qualities Empower Strong Female Characters? | with Elisabeth Wheatley
Fantastical Truth, Mar 30, 2021

55. Should Christians Embrace Cultural and Digital Enclaves? | with Austin Gunderson
Fantastical Truth, Mar 16, 2021

Webzine

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SpecFaith

The original SpecFaith: est. 2006

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The Symbolic Nature of Sci-fi Apocalyptic Disaster Films
Parker J. Cole, Apr 14

Introduction: Hunger by Jill Williamson
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Apr 12

The Beauty of Short Horror Films
Parker J. Cole, Mar 31

Banning Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Mar 22

Beyond

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Explore the book The Pop Culture Parent: Helping Kids Engage Their World for Christ

Does ‘Engaging Popular Culture’ Include Right-Wing Talk Radio?
E. Stephen Burnett, Oct 9

Join My Livestream This Thursday: Seven Ways to Find Truth in Fantastic Stories
E. Stephen Burnett, Oct 6

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Mission Report, April 25–27, Realm Makers Bookstore in Cincinnati

Homeschool families need great Christian-made fantastical novels, and resources to find the best ones.
E. Stephen Burnett on Apr 30, 2019 | Series: Lorehaven Mission Reports | 2 comments

Realm Makers Bookstore just wrapped an amazing weekend at Great Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio.

As we mentioned last week, guest stars included novelists Gillian Bronte Adams, S. D. Grimm, Kerry Nietz, and Rebecca P. Minor.

I joined the bookstore to feature Lorehaven magazine for two of the three vendor days. As before, we chatted with homeschool parents and kids. We shared free Realm Makers Bookstore bookmarks with many people, and helped many others find great Christian-made novels in fantasy, science fiction, and similar genres.

From left: novelists S. D. Grimm (Children of the Blood Moon series) and Gillian Bronte Adams (The Songkeeper Chronicles series)

Realm Makers co-founder Scott Minor’s report

The Realm Makers Bookstore contains fiction titles for every age and maturity level by Christian authors, both traditionally and self-published.

With this increasing and ever-broadening selection of books, we have attended twenty-seven events over the last eighteen months.

This includes four secular fantasy cons, four book fairs, two comic cons, seven weekends at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, two Christian conferences, one school book fair, and seven homeschool conventions.

Scott Minor (left) helps Christian homeschool parents explore the Realm Makers Bookstore’s offerings of Christian-authored fantasy, sci-fi, and other books for all ages.

I have learned that most preconceived notions I heard about both markets were not true.

We’ve been welcomed by both secular and Christian events. The negative response we get from each market is about equal.

We are meeting Christians who love fantasy in all of these places. We are also selling the same titles to people who are not Christian.

The Christians who I’ve spoken to appreciate all manner of fiction, not just Christian fiction.

That being said, we’ve sold around 1,400 books at the first four homeschool festivals this spring. We sold around 800 books at all the previous eleven events since August 2018 combined.

From left, foreground: author Kerry Nietz, author S. D. Grimm, and Realm Makers co-founder Scott Minor.

Kerry Nietz signs another copy of A Star Curiously Singing.

Kerry Nietz’s report

I found the conference really encouraging for several reasons.

First, even though fantasy rules the speculative market—largely due to J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis—science fiction did well. Not only did I sell books across my list, from Amish Vampires in Space to The Superlative Stream, science fiction books represented a sizable portion of the overall sales.

Second, most of my sales were to underrepresented fiction readers, meaning boys and their dads. We have a large Frayed poster we use, and buyers told me that that was what drew them in. Face it, robots are cool. Both sexes are intrigued by them, but they especially appeal to the Fortnight / Minecraft / Roblox crowd. I love that. Love that I can us my stories, infused by my technical background, to reach an important demographic. (I was able to sell to other demographics too, though. One memorable sale was to a pair of nuns.)

Third, someone I met at a homeschooling conference last year sought me out at this conference to tell me he bought one of my books and liked it. He’s reading the second book in the series now. That’s the goal of the bookstore (and Lorehaven) realized there. Reaching a new reader with books he can enjoy.

Before the bookstore’s Saturday, April 27 opening, Kerry Nietz and I took a chance to survey the mission field at Great Homeschool Conventions in Cincinnati.

E. Stephen Burnett’s report

Once again, I’m led to conclude: the homeschool market is perhaps the leading frontier to find new fans of Christian-made fantastical novels.1

One homeschool mom told us about her historical studies. She was reading books about genocide and domestic segregation. With this material, she planned to share with her children not some kind of “SJW” propaganda, but a balanced perspective on how humans have behaved in history. In short, she was looking for true-life and fictional narratives that would challenge her kids!

Another parent also helped run libraries in a particular area. She believed some of these books would be perfect for their libraries’ collection.

One mother appreciated my and Kerry Nietz’s Lorehaven t-shirts. They sport the magazine’s logo and the tagline Finding Truth in Fantastic Stories | Lorehaven.com. “I’m intrigued by that,” she told us. We provided a free Lorehaven bookmark (see its design here). I also shared the magazine’s mission to help Christian fans: we review the best Christian-made fantasy books, and provide free resources to help fans better explore these stories for the glory of Jesus Christ.

She lit up. And subscribed to the digital magazine for free, of course!

Yes, Christians in homeschool families, who already love fantastical and challenging books, have these big needs.

They need excellent Christian-made fantastical novels.

They also need resources—like Lorehaven with Speculative Faith!—that help us find and explore the best stories for God’s glory.

  1. For another example, read A Homeschool Mom Discovers Realm Makers Bookstore, after the bookstore’s Fort Worth appearance in March. ↩
E. Stephen Burnett

E. Stephen Burnett creates sci-fi and fantasy as well as nonfiction, such as The Pop Culture Parent: Helping Kids Engage Their World for Christ (coauthored with Ted Turnau and Jared Moore, from New Growth Press). Stephen explores biblical truth and fantastic stories as publisher of Lorehaven.com and cohost of the Fantastical Truth podcast. He and his wife, Lacy, live in the Austin area, help with foster parenting, and serve as members of Southern Hills Baptist Church.

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  1. Ticia Messing says:
    April 30, 2019 at 10:51 pm

    Amish vampires in space? That is crazy talk, must click now.

    Reply
    • Lelia Rose Foreman says:
      May 1, 2019 at 8:49 pm

      Wait until you get to the vampire chicken.

      Reply

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