Connecting at Kokomo-Con
One hundred years is a mere blink in the life of an elf, and Saturday was a mere blink for me. I’m so sad Kokomo-Con is over. If you follow my blog, my sister’s blog, her twitter account or my twitter account, you know we’re a little crazy about The Hobbit. If you saw us at Kokomo-Con, you might just think we’re plain crazy.
How do you like my Pace face?
This was our first, and hopefully not our last, cosplay. I was the King of Mirkwood, Thranduil; my sister was Tauriel; and my son was Legolas. In preparation for this event, we ordered costumes, painted latex ears, watched makeup tutorials, and made a crown out of wire and hot glue–it was actually very simple to make believe it or not.
My sister getting into character
I think we looked a lot like the characters from Peter Jackson’s adaptation–good enough to be stunt doubles perhaps. Personally, not only was I a convincing Thranduil, but I think I was a rather convincing man. I had a few people tell me I looked like Lee Pace. What do you think? And kudos to my sister, working that red hair. Not to mention my son who was the cutest little Legolas ever!
Kokomo-Con was a lot of fun, which is a gross understatement. There were some great vendors, artist, special guest, events, and, of course, excellent costumes. We were the only ones from Middle Earth, but there were plenty of people from the Star Wars and Marvel universe. Not to mention a few Disney Princesses.
The King of Mirkwood with the Queen of Ice and Snow
For those of you who follow my blog for writing content, you might ask, what does this have to do with writing? To be honest, part of the reason we went to the con was to check it out as a possible marketing opportunity. Several of the vendors were selling comic books, paintings, and other media comparable to novels. Booth rental at this event is surprisingly affordable, and with more than 1,500 people walking through the doors, this seems like a great opportunity to make a few sales or at least gain some exposure with our target audience.
I think a comic-con is a great place for fantasy writers to connect with potential readers. Fantasy fans travel for miles to shop the booths or dress up as their favorite characters. I think it’s safe to assume someone dressed as Harry Potter or Legolas would be a possible reader. Check to see if you have a local con in your hometown. My sister and I gained several twitter followers from the event. Who knows, they could be future readers. Her book is scheduled to debut this January, so we’ll probably rent a booth at Kokomo-Con 2015. I can’t wait.
Captain of the Guard with Captain Jack
So who did we meet at Kokomo-Con? Well, I bumped into a surprising number of people I already knew–that I recognized anyway. I met a few fans of The Hobbit trilogy. Apparently they do exist. I met Darth Vader, Obi wan, Elsa, Merida, Beast (two of them), and Gambit.
Winners of Best Group
Aside from gaining some twitter followers, we walked away with a monetary reward as well. First place for Best Group Costume went to the Mirkwood Elves. Not too bad for our first cosplay. I’ll use my share of the winnings to have my costume dry-cleaned and fix my broken zipper.
It was so much fun getting to be the Elf King.I have to say, I miss my long, blond hair–and my crown. Now that Kokomo-Con is over, it’s back to selling insurance and writing.
Write of Passage 