Find Me at MegaCon Tampa Bay This Weekend!

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Tara Lynne

I was lucky enough to be a guest at MegaCon Orlando earlier this year, and I’m super excited to have the opportunity to attend MegaCon Tampa Bay this coming weekend as a guest, as well! I’m still tossing around cosplay ideas, but I’m pretty sure I’ve finalized my daytime schedule with Pearl from Steven Universe, Cersei Lannister in mourning from Game of Thrones, and Ellie Sattler from Jurassic Park. I may end up switching which days I wear what, but keep an eye out for me nonetheless!

I’ll also be on a panel Saturday at 2 PM – “Cosplay for Beginners” in Room 18. But I have to be honest, I’m most excited about the official MegaCon afterparty on Saturday night. It’s being held at Orpheum in Tampa’s Ybor district, and yes, there will be a cosplay contest! Tickets are only $15 in advance so I highly suggest purchasing yours soon if you plan to attend. I know I’ll be there, along with some of the other cosplay guests…and who knows what celebrities might show up 😉

(Of course, now I’m trying to decide what cosplay I want to wear for the afterparty…if I can dig up Playboy Bunny Effie Trinket, that’s a possibility…though I also have Katya from Archer laying around, or I can always go more comfy with Starbuck from BSG or Wendy from Gravity Falls…I’m not sure if I have too many options or not enough of them!)

Meanwhile, if you’re wandering the convention floor and want to stop by and say hello, you can find me at booth #535, which is on the aisle where the Community Zone abuts Artist Alley. I’ll be selling copies of my novel and promoting some of the conventions on my 2017 schedule – including Ice & Fire Con and Beach City Con, of course.

Are you attending MegaCon Tampa Bay? What about the afterparty? (Which is bound to be the best Halloween party in Tampa, let’s be honest.) If so, I hope to see you there!

My Fifth Dragon Con (And the Best One Ever)

Posted on September 18, 2016 by Tara Lynne

I’ve had some good Dragon Cons, I’ve had some great Dragon Cons, and I’ve had some horrible Dragon Cons…but until this year, I’d never experienced a perfect Dragon Con.

More than anything else, this is because I have absolutely found MY PEOPLE. Throughout the past five years, I’ve made friends and lost friends (never by choice, mind you), and among all of that, I’ve grown closer to some people and pushed others away. I’m only human, after all.

But it was this year that I finally realized that I was surrounded by an absolutely amazing group of friends. Some were old, some were new. Some I saw every day, some I saw only twice. What mattered is that we were there, we hung out, and we had fun.

Thursday was my “no way am I going to cosplay” day, and yet we ended up with a roving group of Pokemon Go Team Valor members with a Pokestop and lure. We didn’t get a lot of pictures, but we did get a lot of shout outs…although it was hard to keep our mouths shut when people got insistent about being on Team Instinct or, more especially, Team Mystic 😉

Thursday night was Bunny Hutch, and the first time I’ve participated in the Playboy Bunny costume…thing. We had a group of Hunger Games characters, and though we never did find our Katniss, I had a blast as Bunny Hutch Effie Trinkett!

Honestly, I expected Friday to be an easy day. It was the one day I wasn’t on any panels, and I was just wearing another Cersei cosplay…but I had more people take my picture than the previous two times I wore Cersei cosplays at Dragon Con. I have to be honest…I completely credit my awesome wig 😉

Friday night was something of a mess, if only because Brian and I cosplayed Charlie and Dee from the “The Gang Beats Wade Boggs” episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Yes, we started with the tallies from the beginning of that episode, but thirteen beers later, it was obvious that I was doing my Dee Reynolds best to try to keep up.

Saturday was the day I finally debuted my original Disney Princess Kylo Ren at a convention. Thankfully, my lovely friend Tanya also made a Disney Princess Leia cosplay, and even though my gown was hot as hell and I was on a panel at 2:30 – meaning I couldn’t just hang out and get pictures taken of me all afternoon – I thoroughly enjoyed portraying this original character and can’t wait to do so again!

My first panel was “Game of Thrones: Concepts of Honor” and despite some hiccups I really enjoyed most of my fellow panelists and the discussions that ensued. As soon as it was finished, I was ready to change out of the heavy, hot Disney Princess Kylo Ren cosplay I was sporting, and after a bit of rest Brian and I donned some silly Thor costumes, put together a bunch of signs, and lugged a trash bag full of mini Mjolnirs to the Westin in order to campaign against our friend Scott, who was cosplaying Loki…

Despite the fact that we never met up with Scott at the Heroes & Villains Ball at the Westin (we got in almost right away but alas, he arrived too late and got stuck in line), we did camp out at the Pulse bar in the Marriott and mock several other Lokis…and eventually Scott, as well, who was a very good sport and even had an “I <3 TS” tank top under his Loki cosplay!

Saturday was supposed to be my “take it easy, go to bed at a decent time” night, but as Dragon Con would have it, that didn’t happen. This meant that getting up for my 11:30 AM panel on Sunday was a bit rough, but thankfully I rallied and that panel – “Netflix, Cable, and the Mainstream” – was my favorite of the three I was on that weekend 🙂

When I finally got back to the room, it was time to get into cosplay. I was wearing a tuxedo and a borrowed wig as Pearl from Mr. Greg (thanks again to my friend Carly for lending me her wig!), so it wasn’t a time-consuming cosplay…I was just too lazy to get out of bed and wear it to my panel.

Honestly, I was again surprised at how many people loved my Pearl cosplay. I’m pretty tall, and not particularly slim (not like Pearl, I mean)…and although my friend Bekah did a great job with my makeup, I certainly didn’t go all out like some Pearl cosplayers did. I did, however, get to sing “It’s Over, Isn’t It” several times, which kind of made may day. (Someone even snapchatted me doing it. I wish I could have seen that…)

Also, I got to meet Will Friedle! He was very interested in my current state of affairs (it’s apparently a thing he does, asking what he calls ‘somewhat uncomfortable questions’) and it was overall a fun five minute conversation 😉

Sunday evening I was on another panel – the American Sci-Fi Fantasy Media track’s “The Expanse: Politics and Power” discussion. While I enjoyed the panel, I was previously unaware that The Expanse was based on books – completely my bad, but as someone who watched and loved and knew the show on its own, I suddenly understand how Game of Thrones fans feel when they go to a show panel and people can’t stop bringing up the novels.

I have to admit, that tuxedo ended up being very hot (not generally uncomfortable, just hot), and I was ready to change out of it and into my “Party Hufflepuff” outfit. At this point I was all play and no work, after all, and despite claiming yet again that I would go to bed at a decent time, of course that didn’t happen. This was, after all, the last night of Dragon Con.

In fact, we had an afterparty in our hotel room, and not surprisingly, had security called on us. What can I say? I invited three friends, and each of those friends brought a half dozen or more people with them. I’m not going to say I regret it, though I do understand that at least one of our neighbors was pissed, and I am sorry for that.

We were up and out of the room on time Monday, though I’m seriously considering adding Monday night to our room reservation next year. I love the Hyatt, and I try to use the elevators as little as possible, but when it’s necessary – such as that one thing you can’t carry up or down the stairs during mass checkout time – man is it a pain in the ass. The best part was that we were still able to take our time visiting the vendor hall (finally, the first time I’d done so all weekend), eating a decent sit-down meal, and then still being able to get our car and get home by dinnertime. I even got to leave some Thor signs behind not far from where they were created…

Except for the fact that the Hyatt valet *lost* our car for a good thirty minutes. Don’t even get me started on that.

Were there some snags at Dragon Con 2016? Of course. I ran into one person i didn’t need to see far too many times. I missed a couple of panels because I couldn’t bring myself to walk all the way to the Sheraton to visit disability services (as press, I pick up my pass in the Hyatt). I absolutely ate pizza that was not fully cooked at one point (and that’s why that pizza place in the food court didn’t have a line; lesson learned).

The thing is, I’ve finally found my Dragon Con niche. I enjoyed wandering through the Walk of Fame. I loved being able to participate in three panels. But above all, my friends made this Dragon Con great. I could never name them all, but they know who they are. Thank you. Thank you for reminding me how amazing and fun and drama-free people can be. Thank you for the cosplays, and the drinks. Thank you for the laid back hangouts, and the crazy nights. This Dragon Con was my best Dragon Con because of all of you.

Two Weeks ‘Til Dragon Con 2016!

Posted on August 19, 2016 by Tara Lynne

I’ll be honest – this year, it’s been really hard for me to “get into” Dragon Con. I’ve been out straight with traveling in general as well as being a Guest at MegaCon over Memorial Day weekend and a Pro at SDCC last month, not to mention some major personal changes that I’ve made (so far they’ve all turned out fairly well, so yay to that!). But now there’s just two weeks until DCon – and less than that before I actually arrive in Atlanta – and needless to say, I’m feeling the crunch. Before I get into all of that, though, here are the panels where you’ll be able to find me!

Game of Thrones: Concepts of Honor – Saturday 9/3 at 2:30 PM
Netflix, Cable, and the Mainstream – Sunday 9/4 at 11:30 AM
The Expanse: Politics and Priorities – Sunday 9/4 at 5:30 PM

All of these panels are with Dragon Con’s American Sci-Fi & Fantasy Media track and if they’re in the same place as the past couple of years, the panels will be in an M300 room at the Marriott 🙂

As for cosplay, while about half of my costumes are ones I’ve worn before and the new ones don’t involve much work, several of them are still only listed as “possible” costumes because I’m just not sure I’ll have the time or money to finish them all properly.

For instance, why can’t I button up the tuxedo jacket that I have? I don’t know, and I’m afraid to do too much to mess with it because it seems that’s not what it’s made for, even though that makes no sense to me. I mean, I’ve never worn a tuxedo jacket before, but I assumed they are all meant to be buttoned up if you want to wear them that way, and apparently I was wrong about that. I suppose I can always just pin it shut…because cosplay, ha.

(Really though, don’t even ask me how I’m going to pull off Bunny Hutch Effie, because I’m not at all certain about that, either.)

So here is my tentative cosplay list so far, as it were:

SDCC 2016 Highlights

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Tara Lynne

This year I attended my third San Diego Comic-Con, and it was by far the best yet. I experienced a few great moments at SDCC 2014, and last year was definitely a lot of fun – but 2016 bested both of those years.

Due to work schedules and money, I had to arrive late Thursday night and depart Sunday night, but despite not being there for Preview night or anything on Thursday, and despite missing the Friends of Comic-Con dinner Sunday night, I can’t imagine having had a better time. And that also includes the fact that I, err, shut off my alarm on Saturday morning and missed the couple of things I wanted to attend earlier that day. The thing is, all of the things that I *did* get to do more than made up for that 😉

I was lucky enough to room with my good friend Ashley, and our mutual friend Amin helped us with the rooming situation by setting us up in USA Hostels on 5th Ave in the Gaslamp. It was about half a mile from the convention center, surrounded by restaurants and bars (and Pokestops!), and actually within my budget. I’d never stayed in a hostel before, but honestly, the bathrooms were extremely clean and my only complaint is that we got one of the rooms that didn’t have an air conditioner or a proper window. But the people were friendly, there was free breakfast, and again…it was in my budget. I’m sure having a great roommate helped, as well.

Friday we got up early and headed down to pick up my badge and get in line for the Steven Universe singalong/panel combo. It was an hour and a half long and worth the hour and a half that we spent in line – especially considering that Kevin Smith and Greg Runberg delivered donuts! That said, my boss and close friend Angel from The Geekiary got there much earlier than we did and I still owe her a coffee for that.

The singalong and panel were of course amazing. I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed every second that I was there. I just wish that so many people hadn’t asked questions that couldn’t be answered…but then, I guess that’s kind of a staple of Comic-Con. (At least in my experience.)

Ashley and I also checked out the Nerdist and Geek & Sundry Camp Conival for a bit, where I got to interview Zachary Tyler Linville, author of Welcome to Deadland. It was awesome meeting him and great to talk to a fellow former Orlando resident!

Later that day I met up with Diamond Select Toys Marketing Supervisor Zach Oat to check out some of DST’s Comic-Con exclusives and new reveals…so many awesome toys! I even came home with their SDCC 2016 exclusive Spider-Gwen PVC statue…

Now, while I had an awesome time all three-ish days that I was there, I have to say that Friday was probably my favorite overall. Not only because of what I’ve already mentioned, but because later that evening Ashley and I met up with my fellow Geekiary staff member Erin and went out to a couple of different bars. We met new people, saw some celebrities, and other than one problematic situation, had an amazing time.

But before I get into the good parts of that night, let me remind any man who is reading this that buying a woman a drink and offering her food – when she hasn’t asked for either and even tries to decline both – does not entitle you to anything. A woman starting a conversation with you doesn’t entitle you to anything, either. I have to praise the men who apologized to me when they saw their friend freak out on me for choosing to go somewhere with my ladies rather than going anywhere with him, though here’s another reminder – being drunk isn’t an excuse to treat a woman that way.

Okay, that said, we did get to meet Aly Michalka (Peyton from iZombie), and when we ended up at the Hilton we had drinks and wonderful conversation with a gentleman who essentially works on the set of American Gods. Sadly, all this out-and-aboutness and the fact that none of it included food after about 2 PM caused me to ignore my alarm on Saturday and sleep until 12:30…and then I couldn’t do anything other than shower (no air conditioning means at least one shower a day) and finally get some food. My bad, my bad.

But once I had some food in me and was walking around in the [much cooler] outside air, I eventually felt better, and it helped that we also had an amazing time with our panel, the “A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones Fan Discussion” featuring three Podcast of Ice and Fire hosts and yours truly 🙂 You can check out the full audio from our panel – along with an intro about mine, Ashley’s, Amin’s, and Kyle’s SDCC 2016 experiences, on the Podcast of Ice and Fire website.

After the panel a big group of us – panelists, attendees, and local friends – went to Basic for pizza and drinks. It was a good time and we hung out for quite a while before finally going our own ways (for the most part). This included Ashley and I going back to our room to freshen up for the last big night of Comic-Con, including a trip to The Pool Club at the Hilton for drinks with Admin Angel and Erin from the Geekiary, as well as a few other friends (both ‘old’ and new). I even got to meet Bear McCreary. I’m a huge fan of his music on The Walking Dead and Battlestar Galactica, but he’s also known for the music on shows like Outlander, Black Sails, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and more.

Soon enough we had an invite to a Geek and Sundry pop-up party, so Angel, Ashley, and I headed to Fluxx for that, and it was a BLAST. I even ended up dancing with Matt Mercer from Geek and Sundry’s Critical Role, though I had no idea that’s who he was until someone told me. (I’m really bad at recognizing celebrities, okay?) Seriously though, I just thought I was dancing with a fun dude, and that’s exactly what I was doing. I’d love to actually sit down and talk to him sometime!

SDCC 2016 Geek and Sundry Critical Role Matt Mercer

Yes, it’s a bit blurry, we were dancing in a club! 🙂

I’ll be honest, it was a late and messy night and it was worth every minute, even if having to roll out of bed and get out of our room before 10 AM the next day was a bit rough 😉 I blame Angel and Ashley. Not myself at all, no no no… (Yes, I’m kidding.)

Thankfully I still got to do a few fun things and attend some great panels on Sunday before heading to the airport for a rough red-eye flight home. My absolute favorite moment that day was meeting author Pierce Brown, who wrote the Red Rising trilogy (which I’m completely obsessed with at the moment – SEVROOOO! RAGNARRRR!). I got my copy of Morning Star signed, and was even able to get a copy of Red Rising signed for my bf Bekah. Oh, plus he complimented my hair (hopefully it was an actual compliment, anyway) and took a picture with me 🙂

I also attended Nerd HQ’s Sherlock panel and it was amazing. I’ve attended one Nerd HQ panel each year (The Walking Dead in 2014 and Bad-Ass Women last year) and the Sherlock one this year did not disappoint. After that Ashley and I also went to the Bisexuality and Beyond panel run by BiNetUSA.org, which was wonderful.

And that was basically the end of my SDCC weekend, though we did a bit of wandering around after that last panel and I got a few more awesome pictures. So I’ll leave you with those, and – for the first time – with hope that I will absolutely be able to attend SDCC next year!

Ice and Fire Con: A Goal, A Reality, A Lifestyle

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Tara Lynne

Nearly four years ago (in September 2012), I sat down with two other A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones fans and put together a track proposal for Dragon Con – one that would entirely center around George R.R. Martin’s works, both television and writing, as well as HBO’s hit new series Game of Thrones.

Unfortunately, Dragon Con wasn’t accepting new tracks – in fact they were (understandably) combining a few things. Even as we submitted our proposal, we knew deep down that we had no chance. And so, while we were waiting, we started making plans for the first-ever Ice and Fire Con. We wanted a beautiful location, but we needed a place that would work with us in regards to money, because we were basing our future on possible ticket sales.

Thankfully, Ravenwood Castle in New Plymouth, Ohio went out of their way to accommodate us. The new owner (at the time, remember, this is 2012) was (and still is) an ASOIAF fan, and he was very excited to host Ice & Fire Con. That’s not to say that creating this convention wasn’t difficult at all – I even wrote an article about the 5 [not so] easy steps to organizing a convention after our first event – but from the moment we started selling tickets, it was like I’d said “Friend” and the doors of Durin opened for me.

Only, you know, without all the orcs and the cave troll and the Balrog. Just feasts and ale and treasure.

Wait, we’re not-for-profit, so no treasure. But hey, feasts and ale!

Seriously though, since that first year my life has been consumed by this event. Not every hour of every day, but enough that it has become part of my very being. Though there have been times when I’ve thought perhaps it would be better for me to step down as an organizer, in the end I never could do that, and so here I am – preparing for Ice & Fire Con 2017, which will be our 5th year anniversary. And this time I’m organizing this event with one of my closest, most trustworthy, and hardest-working friends.

But it’s not just that. As always, we have an amazing team of volunteers – people who started as friends and became volunteers, people who started as attendees and became friends and then volunteers. Regardless, now more than ever we are all a team, and the next ten months of planning are going to be amazing…but also too long.

The Ice and Fire Con Small Council

Because when I am at Ice & Fire Con, I am home. Whether it’s Ravenwood or Mountain Lake, whether I see certain people several times a year or only at this one event, I am home.

And of course, the fact that we’re all ASOIAF/Game of Thrones fans, the reunion itself, the discussions, the games, the parties, and more…they all make everything that much better.

I love this convention. I love what it has done for my life. I love the people I’ve been able to spend time with, the people I’ve met, and I can’t imagine not loving the people I’ve yet to meet.

I’ll leave you with some of my *personal* highlights from Ice & Fire Con 2016…and the hope that you’ll check out our website, Facebook page, Facebook group, Twitter, Tumblr, or Instagram…and consider joining us for our 5th anniversary in 2017!