Beyond Elves and Dwarves: Creating Unique Fantasy Species – June 4, 2022 at 2:30-3:30pm EST
Fantasy has endless possibilities, but many fantasy worlds seem stuck on the same handful of species: elves, dwarves, maybe a goblin or an orc. This panel will encourage you to go beyond these fantasy staples by looking at under-utilized mythological species and how to create whole new species of your own to populate your fantasy worlds!
This panel is part of Storycrafting Sessions: Fantasy, a 100% FREE virtual conference happening on Jun 4th!
Sign up for this panel or look at the full event schedule!
The Moderator
Dianna Gunn
Dianna Gunn is a freelance writer by day and a fantasy author by night. Her sword and sorcery novel, Moonshadow’s Guardian, was released in November 2018.
When she’s not writing, Gunn can be found working to develop the indie author community. She hosts the #WeeknightWriters Twitter chat at 7PM EST and runs the Author Marketing Club.
The Guests
Raquel Miotto E.
Raquel Miotto E. was born and raised in Brazil, eventually moving to the U.S. to play college volleyball on scholarship where she met and fell in love with her husband. Now residing in the mountains of North Carolina, Raquel spends her days working in visual design, flying all over the world spontaneously, and writing her heart out.
Her novel, Sun of the New World is loosely based on Afro-Brazilian culture she was raised in and loved as a child, as well as her mother’s own struggles through life. Her debut novel is a #RevPit winner which has garnered interest across the globe and continues to inspire and push Raquel’s own boundaries of what is really possible in life and love.
Priya Sridhar
A 2016 MBA graduate and published author, Priya Sridhar has been writing fantasy and science fiction for fifteen years, and counting. Capstone published the Powered series, and Alban Lake published her works Carousel and Neo-Mecha Mayhem. Priya lives in Miami, Florida with her family. Find her on Twitter @SFF_Sridhar.
Andrew Slinde
Andrew Slinde is a screenwriter, novelist, and consummate cynic. He lives in Des Moines, Iowa, and cohabits with 3 apex predators. He’s definitely not a dozen squirrels in a raincoat.
C.M. Caplan
C.M. Caplan is the author of The Sword in the Street. He’s a quadruplet (yes, really), mentally disabled, and he spent two years as the Senior Fiction Editor on a national magazine – while he was still an undergrad in college. He has a degree in creative writing from Salem State University and was the recipient of the university’s highest honor in the arts. His short fiction also won an Honorable Mention in the 2019 Writers of the Future Contest.
Caplan’s introduction to fantasy came through J. R. R. Tolkien and George R. R. Martin. He has a tattoo that roughly translates to Valar Morghulis, as written in Tolkien’s Elvish script, in an acknowledgment of that fact. He currently lives in New England, where he works remotely for a social justice theater company.
Find the full schedule for all our event panels here! Beyond Elves and Dwarves: Creating Unique Fantasy Species is a part of the Storycrafting Sessions: Fantasy virtual conference.
This event is hosted by the Weeknight Writers group and sponsored by Renaissance Press.