Highlights from Fandomfest 2014

This past weekend, I attended Fandomfest at the Kentucky International Convention Center. It rocked! Attendance was down from last year, but it was still a fabulous show. Several factors were in our favor. For one, the whole shebang was in one building and one floor. Not TOO many big name celebrities were in attendance. Last year, both William Shatner AND Stan Lee were there. Both of those guys brought in thousands of fans each and resulted in an over-capacity crowd.

This year, we still had a great showing of celebs like Karl Urban:

They didn't have an LOTR background, darn it!

And Mark Ryan, the voice of Bumblebee and many of the other Transformers:

And there was a costume contest hosted by Ville TV. I won for best female--even had my pic and a quote in the Courier Journal!

(Photo: Jessica Ebelhar/The Courier-Journal)

Click HERE to read the article ---> http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2014/08/02/costumed-fans-gather-fandom-fest/13523491/

I had a ton of pics made with attendees, most of them in front of my banner, which made a great background:

The literary track was a huge success this year, thanks to the hard work of Stephen Zimmer, Robin Blankenship, Ken Daniels, and many more. I sold out of books for the first time at a show, as did several other authors. The panels were well-attended and active, especially the Hobbit: Book vs. Movie panel, which I moderated:

Panelists from left to right: Stephen Zimmer, Mysti Parker,
Robert Midgett, & Tony Acree

My costume was the best I've ever worn, thanks to the super-talented Kelsey King for the custom made corset and to my hubby Bryan for making the arm guard. A BIG thank you to my hubby's coworker Gus Datillo for letting me borrow his grandfather's 100+ year old longbow, which made an awesome prop! The very BEST part of the show was having Bryan there with me. He manned the table so I could do panels and walk the show floor. He did a great job in handing out our swag:

Sizzling cinnamon Jelly Belly jelly beans, with a QR code
to download a free copy of A Ranger's Tale.

He also made for a fine-looking Tony Stark:

Sci-fi and fantasy collide!

I'm still recovering and playing catch-up with emails and posts, but it's a good kind of tired. We're already gearing up for Imaginarium in September. In the meantime, I'm busy working, writing, and doing the mama thing until I can put my ears on again. 

For more pics of Fandomfest fun, visit my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mysti-Parker/103786449704221