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Fantasy, Sci-fi, Spec Fiction … Huh?

Fantasy, Sci-fi, Spec Fiction … Huh?

fantasy panorama

by Lindsey Franklin

I tell people Mount Hermon is my home conference. It’s not an exaggeration to say Mount Hermon helped launch my career. I met my agent, many of my editing clients, several critique partners/heart friends, and both of the editors with whom I would go on to contract a total of six books (so far). Needless to say, I’m a huge fan of the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference.

I’m honored to be on faculty for the first time this year, and in one of my favorite teaching roles—small group mentoring. Mentorship clinics and groups are amazing opportunities for one-on-one instruction with authors who have traveled the path before you, as well as those writers traveling alongside you. Their feedback and insights are invaluable. If you’re ready for a major growth spurt in your writing, please check out the pre-conference clinics and the main conference morning mentoring groups. Group size is limited so you’re guaranteed deep, personal attention, and there’s a group for every genre and every writing focus.

Since I’m leading both a pre-conference clinic and a mentoring clinic for speculative fiction writers this year, I thought I’d briefly explain the difference in focus for my two groups. Maybe one is right for you. I’d sure love to have you.

Pre-Conference Boost

Have you thought about tiptoeing into the speculative fiction world but don’t have any idea how to write in those strange genres? (It’s okay…spec fic writers know we’re kind of strange.) Maybe you’re a historical fiction author who has a time-travel idea. Or you might write Victorian romance and you have an awesome new plot with some steampunk technology and you’re not sure what to do with it. Perhaps you write contemporary fiction and you have that one crazy urban fantasy idea that won’t quiet down. Perhaps you usually write thrillers and your next story has some tech that doesn’t actually exist yet.

In the pre-con clinic, I’d like to help writers of all skill levels wade into speculative waters, maybe for the first time. This is a “no dumb questions” space for all your brainstorming needs. We’ll discuss different genres that fall under the speculative umbrella, tropes readers love, clichés they hate, and what’s the same and what’s different about building a speculative story. I write fantasy, contemporary fiction, and even nonfiction (what!), so I understand both sides of this coin. I love bridging the gap and helping writers explore the uncharted and get in touch with their wild sides. Join me?

This group would also be excellent for someone who knows they want to write speculative fiction (fantasy, science fiction, and all the glorious sub-genres) but is perhaps just getting serious about their writing. I will address the writing craft problems I tend to see over and over in speculative manuscripts. You’ll leave equipped with practical tools to make all your imaginings come to life.

Morning Mentoring Clinic

During the main conference, the mentoring clinic will focus on serious spec writers who know their genres and want focused feedback on their works-in-progress. This group is designed for writers with intermediate writing/publishing experience. We’ll dive deep into story here, addressing characters, plot, tension, voice, and premise, while also addressing specific craft issues in each manuscript. This group is perfect for writers wanting in-depth critique with their fellow “weirds” who won’t bat an eyelash at their urban fantasy manuscript about gremlins who have infected the books at the local library, or their high fantasy detailing an epic struggle between good and evil, or that hard sci-fi story about extracting dinosaur DNA from mosquitoes trapped in amber and using it to create a theme park with real dinos. Except I think someone already wrote that last one.

Any of this sound tempting? Hope to see you in March, fellow wordsmiths.

Pre-conference Boost details

Morning Mentoring Clinics

Register for Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference.

Lindsey FranklinLindsay A. Franklin is an award-winning author, award-winning freelance editor, and homeschooling mom of three. She would wear pajama pants all the time if it were socially acceptable. She spends a lot of time in made-up worlds, and she’s passionate about sparking imagination through stories of infinite possibility. Her debut fantasy novel, The Story Peddler, releases in May. When she’s not exploring the fantastical, she’s exploring the Bible and encouraging young women through her devotional books, Adored and Beloved. Lindsay lives in her native San Diego with her husband (master of the dad joke), their awesomely nerdy kids (Star Wars super-fans, all three), two thunder pillows (AKA cats), and a stuffed wombat with his own Instagram following (@therealwombatman). You can find Lindsay on social media, too, if Wombatman hasn’t hijacked all her accounts. www.facebook.com/LindsayAFranklin.

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