ROMANTASY SUMMIT 2024
In 2024, we brought you the first ever Storybeast conference. Writers from all over the world joined us for this epic, new adventure in collaboration with brilliant storytellers, fighters, and world builders. The conference was a huge success, and with requests from both faculty and attendees to run it again, we'll be back with Romantasy Summit (and other) conferences in the future!
WHAT IS ROMANTASY SUMMIT?
Romantasy Summit is a virtual event for writers at all stages of their careers who are interested in the craft elements of writing excellent romantasy. With courses and panels by experts in the genre, you'll learn how to build rich worlds, construct your own language, write engaging fight scenes, scorching romance, and so much more, all from the comfort of your home.
FACULTY
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KEN LIU
INSTRUCTOR AND PANELIST
COURSE: CRAFT, MAGIC, AND THE MIND MADE TANGIBLE
Ken Liu is an American author of speculative fiction. A winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards, he wrote the Dandelion Dynasty, a silkpunk epic fantasy series (starting with The Grace of Kings), as well as short story collections The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and The Hidden Girl and Other Stories. He also penned the Star Wars novel The Legends of Luke Skywalker.
Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Liu worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. Liu frequently speaks at conferences and universities on a variety of topics, including futurism, cryptocurrency, history of technology, bookmaking, narrative futures, and the mathematics of origami.
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SARAH A. PARKER
INSTRUCTOR AND PANELIST
COURSE: HOW TO CRAFT A RICH WORLD FULL OF WELL FLESHED OUT CHARACTERS
Sarah is an international bestselling author who grew up on a farm in New Zealand, where she spent her days getting lost amongst the rolling pasture, building forts in the hedge, climbing trees, and exploring the forest pathways—making up elaborate stories that never lost their grip on her.
She now lives in Australia with her husband, dog, three children, and countless plants, and spends her days pouring her stories onto paper rather than throwing them to the wind.
Her genre of choice is epic fantasy romance, and she thrives off dreaming up real, complex characters and immersive worlds to get lost amongst.
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STACEY MCEWAN
INSTRUCTOR AND PANELIST
COURSE: HOW TO TORTURE YOUR CHARACTERS
Stacey McEwan is the best-selling author of the Glacian Trilogy. Her debut fantasy romance novel - Ledge, has been translated into three languages. Not to brag, but her high school English teacher once called her writing "above year level standard." Stacey received a bachelor's degree in education in 2012 and remains a school teacher by day. She is a book reviewer and content creator on multiple platforms, including Tiktok and Instagram. Stacey first published after book lovers of the internet encouraged her to share her story ideas. She was born and raised on the Gold Coast, Australia, and still resides in her hometown with her husband, two children and one questionable dog.
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DAVID J. PETERSON
INSTRUCTOR
COURSE: PRACTICAL LANGUAGE: CREATING LANGUAGE SKETCHES FOR A FICTIONAL WORLD
David Peterson is a language creator and author. David is best known for having created the Dothraki and High Valyrian languages for HBO’s Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. Since then, he has gone on to create languages for many television series and films, including Syfy’s Defiance, Netflix’s The Witcher, Legendary’s Dune, and the CW’s The 100. He is the author of Penguin’s The Art of Language Invention, an intensive introduction to language creation, and the creator of Duolingo’s High Valyrian course. He received a bachelor’s degree in linguistics from UC Berkeley, and a master’s degree from UC San Diego.
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JESSIE PETERSON
INSTRUCTOR
COURSE: PRACTICAL LANGUAGE: CREATING LANGUAGE SKETCHES FOR A FICTIONAL WORLD
Jessie Peterson has a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and was a professor of linguistics at Stephen F. Austin State University for 13 years, where she created a conlanging course in which she taught students how to construct a language from the ground up. She is now a full-time professional conlanger and works with her husband, David Peterson. Her work appears in a number of TV shows and films, including Pixar’s Elemental, Legendary’s Dune: Part Two, Peacock's Vampire Academy, Netflix’s Shadow and Bone, and Freeform's Motherland: Fort Salem. With her husband she co-hosts the weekly live stream LangTime Studio on YouTube, where they create new languages from scratch and share the process.
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L. PENELOPE
INSTRUCTOR AND PANELIST
COURSE: CREATING A STORY OR SERIES BIBLE
Leslye Penelope’s debut novel Song of Blood & Stone was chosen as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time. The novel also won the inaugural award for Best Self-Published Fiction from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association before it was picked up for publication by St. Martin’s Press. Her novel The Monsters We Defy won the 2023 Audie Award for Best Fantasy Audiobook.
Equally left and right-brained, she graduated from Howard University, where she studied film production and computer science, and sometimes dreams in HTML. Leslye is also an alumna of VONA/Voices and Hurston/Wright Writers Workshop. She has spoken, taught, and given keynotes at conferences and festivals around the country, including the National Book Festival, PEN/Faulkner Foundation, Writer's Digest Annual & Novel Writing Conferences, and the Historical Novel Society to name a few.
She hosts the My Imaginary Friends podcast, co-hosts the Ink & Magic podcast, and lives in Maryland with her feline dependents. Visit her online at http://www.lpenelope.com.
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HANNAH WHITTEN
INSTRUCTOR AND PANELIST
COURSE: FAFO: THE NO-THOUGHTS HEAD-EMPTY GUIDE TO TWISTY POLITICS IN FANTASY INTRIGUE AND POLITICS IN FANTASY
Hannah Whitten has been writing to amuse herself since she could hold a pen, and sometime in high school, figured out that what amused her might also amuse others. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, making music, or attempting to bake. She lives in an old farmhouse in Tennessee with her husband, children, two cats, a dog, and probably some ghosts.
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CARLA HOCH
INSTRUCTOR
COURSE: FIGHT WRITE: WHAT TO CONSIDER BEFORE WRITING FIGHT SCENES, BATTLES, AND BRAWLS
COURSE: FIGHT SCENES 101
Carla Hoch is the author of the Writer’s Digest book Fight Write: How to Write Believable Fight Scenes as well as Fight Write, Round Two: Crafting Chaos, Combat and Crime. Carla has been teaching the craft of writing fight scenes, action and violence since 2017 and is an instructor for both Writer’s Digest University and Writing Mastery Academy. Her award-winning blog, FightWrite.net, has been named in Writer’s Digest 100 Best Sites for Writers five years in a row.
Carla is a world champion jiujitsu player and has experience in almost a dozen fighting styles. She lives outside Houston, Texas with her family and judgmental cats.
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EMILY RATH
INSTRUCTOR AND PANELIST
COURSE: THE ANATOMY OF A SPICE SCENE: WRITING COMPELLING SPICE IN ROMANTASY
EMILY RATH is a USA Today, Amazon, and international bestselling author of romance and fantasy. Her sex-positive, queer-inclusive books include the Second Sons Regency romance series, the Tuonela fantasy duet, and the Jacksonville Rays hockey romance series. Emily started her career as an indie author, self-publishing books with little more than a hope and prayer. Now, on Amazon alone, she’s had over 500 million pages read of her books. Her works have been translated into twelve languages and counting.
A former university professor, Emily holds PhDs in political science and peace studies from the University of Notre Dame. Now a full-time author, she currently lives in Florida with her husband, son, and cats. They regularly comb the local beaches looking for shark teeth.
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SUMMER ENGLAND
INSTRUCTOR
COURSE: THE MORALLY GREY DILEMMA: HE'S A KILLER...WHY DO I THINK THAT'S HOT?
Summer is a debut author who enjoys writing all things cozy, spicy, and utterly cottagecore. When she's not typing away, you can find her on stage as a professional classical actress or online, where she tells awkward stories of her life and love.
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NOAH SKY
INSTRUCTOR
COURSE: THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF(CARE) EDITING
Noah Sky is a full-time wordsmith with a love of fantasy and fitness, invested in preserving form without sacrificing function.
After one fateful stint in a writing group, Noah has spent the last several years professionally editing romantasy/fantasy. He is passionate about helping writers grow, and continuing to deepen his own understanding of writing in the process. Voted Most Likely to argue that, sometimes, commas are a stylistic choice, and to wish that he was Aragorn, Son of Arathorn.
Noah is often found guessing movie twists, climbing fake rocks, and muttering darkly about dialogue tags in a greenhouse.
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AMBER V. NICOLE
PANELIST
Amber V Nicole is a dark fantasy writer with a touch of horror added into the mix. When she is not writing new and fantastic ways to devastate her readers she is probably playing video games or obsessing over anime. Amber loves morally gray characters with their flaws and all and is always dreaming of far off places with dragons, magic, and swords. She loves a good villain and plans to tell many stories showcasing them in the spotlight.
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SHEENA KAMAL
PANELIST
SHEENA KAMAL holds an HBA in Political Science from the University of Toronto, and was awarded a TD Canada Trust scholarship for community leadership and activism around the issue of homelessness. Her critically acclaimed adult thriller series (The Lost Ones, It All Falls Down and No Going Back) was published internationally by HarperCollins and won her a Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, a Strand Magazine Critics Award and Macavity Award. The Lost Ones has been sold in fifteen countries and was a Globe and MailBestseller, a Time Magazine Recommended Read, an iBooks Best Book, a Bustle Best Book and a Powell's Pick. Fight Like a Girl, her debut YA novel published by Penguin Teen was nominated for the Arthur Ellis and Forest of Reading awards.
Her short fiction has appeared in The Perfect Crime (2022, HarperCollins), Changing the Face of Canadian Literature (Guernica, 2020), and Vancouver Noir (2018, Akashic). Additionally, her essays have been featured in The Guardian, Bustle, The Irish Times, Writer’s Digest, and Entertainment Weekly.
Sheena was born in the Caribbean and immigrated to Canada as a child. Prior to writing novels, she was a researcher and development coordinator for film and television. She has a background in acting and martial arts, and has worked as an actor and stunt double for other South Asian actors, including Rekha Sharma.
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ANGELA MONTOYA
PANELIST
Angela Montoya lives in Northern California with her family. When she isn’t with her partner, two children, goats, chickens, and dogs, you can find Angela co-hosting the podcast, Of the Publishing Persuasion. Her debut novel, Sinner's Isle, has received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly and trade reviews from Booklist and The Bulletin.
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SABINA STORBERG
SPECIAL GUEST: Founder of WeaponUP & sword-yoga fusion instructor
Sabina Storberg is the founder of WeaponUP, an innovative online studio that blends vinyasa yoga and the Kung Fu straight sword. She is a martial artist and yoga teacher with a unique journey that has taken her from the mountains of China, where she studied Kung Fu in a Shaolin and Wudang Tai Chi academy to the mountains of Rishikesh, India, where she became a certified Ashtanga Vinyasa teacher (RYT200). Over the past twelve years she has been combining these disciplines culminating in the creation of the sword yoga practice entitled WeaponUP. This is where she brings together kung fu, yoga, dance and intuitive movement to the modern fitness experience.
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JULIA JACKSON
SPECIAL GUEST: Meditation guide
After a near-fatal car accident, Julia sustained several injuries including post traumatic vision syndrome and a brain injury. Losing the ability to read made her more determined than ever to write. She dedicated herself to learning about the brain and mindfulness as well as her craft through many courses, therapies, and practices. Mindfulness was a game changer for her own writing and recovery, and now she helps others unlock their own mindful writing.
Julia studied fiction at the University of Toronto, teaches mindful writing at Kristin Dwyer's Breaking the Story Retreats and to the online community, and is an alumnus of Adrienne Young's Writing with the Soul. Her writing is featured in international horror anthologies, as well as various municipal publications. She is a Communications Coordinator by day, and lives in a small farming community north of Toronto with her husband, who is a special education teacher, their free spirited seven year old, Nova, and two boston terriers, Nucky and Eli.
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COURTNEY SHACK
INSTRUCTOR AND HOST
COURSE: WRITE TO THE HEART: A HEART-AND-SCIENCE CENTERED APPROACH FOR WRITERS TO CREATE EMOTIONAL RESONANCE IN STORIES
Courtney Shack spends her time reading and writing about darkness, swoon-worthy heroes, scorching kisses, and magical lands. You can hear her gabbing about all of this and more on STORYBEAST, a podcast she co-hosts about the transformative power of story. Currently, she is working on her Empire of Wolves series in the company of her beloved canine, Sweet P, and patient husband in southern Virginia. She loves snacks, a sexy villain, and has likely had too much coffee. She’s represented by Brower Literary Agency.
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GHABIBA WESTON
INSTRUCTOR AND HOST
COURSE: WRITE TO THE HEART: A HEART-AND-SCIENCE CENTERED APPROACH FOR WRITERS TO CREATE EMOTIONAL RESONANCE IN STORIES
Ghabiba Weston is a South African novelist, scriptwriter, and poet. She has a PhD in neuroscience but the most interesting thing she uses her brain for is dreaming up fantastical tales full of wicked characters and invented snacks. You can find her co-hosting the STORYBEAST podcast, hiking with her pup Zuko, or not find her at all because she's probably Hiding From PeopleTM.
COURSES
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Craft, Magic, and the Mind Made Tangible
Ken Liu
In this workshop on secondary worlds, author Ken Liu will lead attendees on a reexamination of the concept of "worldbuilding" to find an alternative to the traditional approach of "objective" worldbuilding. Instead, a character-driven, "subjective" approach can unlock your creativity in crafting a compelling new world. The format of the workshop will consist of a mini-lecture followed by writing exercises (total of 60 minutes).
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How to Torture Your Characters
Stacey McEwan
Conflict is the driving force of every plot. Whether your characters are suffering from heartbreak, mortal wounds, or something between, crafting conflict is essential in the creation of a gripping story. This course will discuss the focus question: "What does my character want most?" and then explore ways to make them work for it, or even better, suffer hideously to the brink of demise.
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Write to the Heart: A Heart-and-Science Centered Approach for Writers to Create Emotional Resonance in Their Stories
Ghabiba Weston and Courtney Shack
In this course, the Storybeast therapist-neuroscientist duo will walk you through the contextual framework of emotion to guide readers into rooting for your characters. You will acquire tools to dig deep into themes and core wounds steering character transformations and relatability. From hook to heart, we'll teach you how to embrace your storybeast.
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The Anatomy of a Spicy Scene: Writing Compelling Spice in Romantasy
Emily Rath
In this course, we’ll focus on exploring the power of writing good spice in romantasy. A little bit of “spice” can be effectively incorporated into all types of romantasy writing. From longing looks to searing kisses, well-written spice has the power to deepen plot and character, reveal information, and hook the emotions of your reader. Together, we’ll learn to craft great spice by breaking scenes down into five key components.
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FAFO: the No-Thoughts Head-Empty Guide to Twisty Politics in Fantasy
Hannah Whitten
Fantasy court intrigue made…well, not easy, but less intimidating, with key things to keep in mind and organizational strategies so your plots stay twisty, not twisted.
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How to Craft a Rich World Full of Well Fleshed Out Characters
Sarah A. Parker
Step between the pages with Sarah A. Parker and learn her tools and tricks for creating a rich world full of tangible characters!
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Fight Scenes 101
Carla Hoch
A quick and bloody guide to writing fight scenes from start to finish.
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Fight Write: What to Consider Before Writing Fight Scenes, Battles and Brawls
Carla Hoch
Fights begin long before the first punch both off and on the page. Learn what to consider before writing a fight scene including the why, the where and the three whos. Learn how a character’s reason for fighting impacts the style, speed and severity of the fight, how a location of a fight is more important than who is fighting, and how to fit the scene to the character’s natural abilities as a fighter and your ability as a writer. Finally, learn how to combine all of these factors in a way that appeals to the most important participant in the fight scene: the reader.
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The Morally Grey Dilemma: He’s A Killer…why do I think that’s hot?
Summer England
Reading morally grey characters can often be a personal, moral dilemma - that we happen to love. But how do we successfully write a morally grey character? What even makes a character morally grey in the first place? And how do we make moral compasses (or the lack thereof) sexy? We’ll discuss all these questions and more in this literary chaos course!
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Creating a Series Bible
L. Penelope
A Story or Series Bible is the canonical documentation of your character, settings, and other elements in your fictional world. Think of it as a personal reference guide, and whether you’re writing a standalone novel or a long series, it’s an incredibly useful tool. Learn how to organize and create your story bible and get an overview of software options like Scrivener and Plottr, which make the task easier.
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Practical Language: Creating language sketches for a fictional world
Jessie and David Peterson
Professional language creators David J. and Jessie Peterson will provide practical advice for creating a language sketch that will support naming characters and places and translating short phrases for a fictional world. The session will also include a guided demonstration that allows participants to begin outlining a language sketch of their own.
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The Importance of Self(Care) Editing
Noah Sky
Self-editing can be difficult, especially when you've spent the better part of eternity knee-deep in your book. This course will explore simple ways you can keep your drafting cleaner, your sanity intact, and your editors happy.
PANELS
DAY 1 PANEL:
Elevating the Familiar: Using Known Elements in Enthralling Ways.
DAY 2 PANEL:
Weaving Wicked Webs: Politics in Epic and Contemporary Fantasy.
DAY 3 PANEL:
Where Did She Put All Those Daggers? Giving Stabby FMCs their HEAs.
GUIDED BREAKS
For a jam packed weekend, we’ve scheduled several breaks to keep your body and mind feeling fresh. We have two special guests ready to guide you through badass movements and powerful meditation.
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Sabina Storberg
In this 30-minute beginner-friendly sword + yoga class, Sabina, Founder at WeaponUP, will guide participants through simple yet empowering yoga movements, incorporating swords or sword-like objects (long umbrellas work great!). The focus will be on fun stretches and basic sword movements, perfect for a fun warrior break between conference sessions.
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Julia JacksonChanneling Story is a method of meditation which allows writers to calm the mind and body in order to tap into their story and their writer self. This session will allow you to get in touch with the part of you that creates Romantasy, while also leaving you feeling inspired, rejuvenated, and ready to write.