I have mentioned Twin Cities Geek throughout my blog posts. Twin Cities Geek is an online magazine that’s local to the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and Saint Paul), along with the suburbs surrounding the cities. I started writing for Twin Cities Geek in 2015, and my first article was published on July 15th, 2015. I have written a few articles since then and have tabled at the Twin Cities Geek booth at a variety of different local conventions. I wanted to share how I started my journey writing for Twin Cities Geek and what writing for this online magazine has meant to me.

I found out about Twin Cities Geek through a random Facebook post. The post indicated that the website was looking for contributors. This wasn’t a paid gig, but volunteer writing experience. At this time, I had just launched Bizarre Brunette, and I was specifically looking for more ways to get my writing out there. The process was simple; I had to send a piece of my writing, so they could see what my style was. When remembering back to this moment, I can’t remember any more specific details. Once I sent everything in, I was given clearance to start picking what I wanted to write about.

When I initially became a contributor, I was going to write for the Fit Geek section. The Fit Geek Section is how fitness, exercise, and health can intertwine with geeky topics. I wrote for this section for a bit, but fell out of love with it. It’s hard to pinpoint an exact reason, but to summarize, I found a lot of toxicity within the health and wellness space, so writing for this section brought a lot of that up on my end. I moved into other categories, and now find myself writing about local businesses, reviewing books, and coming up with topics on a whim. Twin Cities Geek has opened my horizons as to what I like to write about, which is one thing I have learned from the last decade.

When I first started writing articles for Twin Cities Geek, they had to go through a ton of editing. I’m not even kidding, I had to rewrite whole sections. The editors were kind, but honest, and had a lot of good feedback for what I submitted. Throughout the years, my articles would take a lot of time to write with all the back and forth between the editors. Now, I can write an article, and maybe have to change one thing before it gets posted. It shows how my writing has gotten better over time. It’s funny, I’m going through and editing my older posts on Bizarre Brunette, and some of the posts are cringy. The way I wrote did not flow well, especially when I read the posts out loud to myself. I noticed how much better my writing is, and that’s because of Twin Cities Geek.

Reflecting on these past ten years with Twin Cities Geek, there’s a lot I want to say. Besides improving my writing, Twin Cities Geek has allowed me to table at conventions. I love tabling at conventions! It’s high energy, and a two-hour shift flies by. I enjoy talking to people who may be new to the Twin Cities area or are curious about geeky events that are happening. Another benefit of writing for Twin Cities Geek is that it’s a great resume builder. I have had job interviews ask me about Twin Cities Geek, and it has led to interesting conversations.

Writing for Twin Cities Geek is something I enjoy. It’s become a hobby of mine, and I continue to learn so much about writing and editing. Here’s to another ten years of writing!

When I go to CONvergence, I almost rarely spend money on merchandise. I’m usually busy throughout the con, whether that be listening to a panel, going to a live show, or walking around. I forgot that the Dealers’ Room is there, except for this year. I wandered around the Dealer’s Room, not looking for anything in particular, and ended up finding something I wanted to purchase. I wanted to share my haul from the con.

Distilled

Distilled was the game I won from the raffle. I had no idea I was going to win and entered only because someone stopped by to hand us board game raffle tickets. Distilled was one of three games you could enter to win, and the only one I recognized. It’s funny how things work out, since I demoed this game at Gen Con a few years ago. It was like it was meant to be.

CONvergence T-Shirt and D20

Out of all the times I have been to CONvergence, I have never bought any CONvergence t-shirts. I noticed that I have a ton of t-shirts that are more form-fitting, which works if I want to wear a t-shirt out or if I want to wear a t-shirt to work under a blazer or a cardigan. With that said, I wanted to have more comfy, oversized t-shirts on hand for those times that I’m around the house cleaning, reading, or playing video games. I bought this shirt because I liked the design, and playing TTRPGs is something I love, so this shirt fits into that. This shirt has an oversized fit, which is exactly what I was going for. They were also selling D20s for only $7, which I thought seemed cheap, so I added that to my purchase.

Lotions and Fragrance Sprays

I walked by Moxie + Babs‘s booth several times. All the products were displayed in an organized way and there were several tester bottles with strips, so you could spray the fragrances and smell them. I like how there are a variety of different scents, from something sweet or floral to something a little more neutral. With lotion, I always find that lotion comes in such big bottles. I like having smaller bottles of lotion, so I can switch up the lotions I use. After talking with Babs, the owner, I found out that we live near each other. She told me that she has a local pickup option, so I could order online and pick up my order without having to pay for shipping. That’s so convenient! I linked her website for those who are curious, but I can’t wait to use what I purchased.

It’s not a big haul by any means, but more than I spent other times I went to CONvergence. I’m wearing my CONvergence t-shirt now, and it’s comfy. I might start purchasing more t-shirts, so I can have oversized, comfy shirts to wear as I write out my blog posts for the week.

My friend sent me a TikTok about a book convention that happened in Baltimore, MD, called A Million Lives Book Festival. According to this website, the book convention had a vendor hall, cosplay, and a ball. This ball was titled the Lavender Romance Ball. Tickets for being able to attend the ball were $250 (as listed on the website). In the TikTok I watched, people dressed lavishly showed up to the ball. The ball was hosted in the convention center, more likely in the basement. The event space was not only not decorated, but it was clearly a convention center still. Fans were disappointed, wanting refunds, and authors lost their credibility in recommending the event to attend. We must hold conventions accountable for providing what was paid for and respecting the attendees.

I want to make one thing clear. I could never be an events planner. I think back to when I was planning our wedding several years ago. I was stressed, and felt a wash of relief when our wedding was over. I couldn’t imagine planning a convention. When discussing this, there needs to be decorum in this conversation. Fans have a right to be upset, but also, I wouldn’t wish ill will to the person who put on the A Million Lives Book Festival.

I feel empathetic to all convention goers for what they paid for, but also for authors specifically. There is a cost to table at a convention. Authors and creators rely on conventions being organized, so they can make back what they spent on a table. Authors advertised going to this convention, so, relating to something I said earlier, authors felt duped. If the convention tries to put on a second event, now there’s a trust issue where people may not attend because they don’t trust the event staff to put on a successful event. I hope that something was learned from this experience, and that when you advertise a Fantasy Ball, it shouldn’t be a non-decorated warehouse room.

Besides this event, there was another convention in the Twin Cities that came under hot water. This was a gaming convention that happened in April. While I won’t name the event, if you do some investigating, I’m sure you can figure out which event I’m referring to. After the convention, someone had posted on Facebook about their negative experience with the convention runner. I read through their post, and immediately, I was revolted. This person was misgendered, didn’t have a table they paid for, and struggled to get an immediate refund because they didn’t have said table. Instead of addressing this head-on, the convention runner tried to get their post pulled from Facebook. GROSS. It’s not your place to censor what someone says about your event. The public has every right to know how a convention is run. I have no empathy for this person because if you treat people disrespectfully, it will come out. I will not be attending or supporting this event because of the above.

Conventions are my happy place. I love being around geeks like myself and meeting new people. With that said, conventions need to be held accountable. For the book convention, I hope Baltimore gets the event that it deserves. For the gaming convention I referenced, it might be best if the convention doesn’t get renewed. There are so many conventions in the Twin Cities and while it sucks that this one wasn’t great, there are so many others to support.

I visited Tropes & Trifles for the first time during Independent Bookstore Day in April. This shop was packed! I’m glad to see so many people turn out and support local businesses. I didn’t end up buying anything because I like to take my time and shop. I knew I wanted to visit Tropes & Trifles again during a quieter time. I took a few of my girlfriends to Tropes and Trifles for a girl’s day and I definitely want to stop in again soon.

For the most part, Tropes and Trifles is a Romance book store. There is one shelf with books from other genres, but the rest of the shelves are organized based on sub-genre. There’s a Paranormal section along with a section for Dark and Historical Romance. I like how this was organized because I could gravitate to sections I was the most interested in. Some of the books had rainbow hearts on them meaning they featured LGBTQIA+ couple or representation. This was lovely!

Tropes & Trifles was such a cute shop! The furniture, the aesthetic, it all fit perfectly together. As I mentioned, all of the shelves were labeled and there was a section with recommendations from the employees at the shop. I like this because it brings my attention to books I may not have known about earlier. The shop was spacious and I felt I could meander around without bumping into anyone.

I purchased three books, a sticker, and a coffee mug by the end of my visit. I joined their frequent readers program, so for every $100 I spend, I get $5 in store credit. For someone like me, this will add up quickly much to my husband’s chagrin. I can absolutely see myself reading more Romance and Smut going forward.

I will never get tired of saying this; Captain Phasma as a character deserved better. When Phasma was introduced, I immediately gravitated toward her as a character. Her appearance is next level with the chromatic armor that she wears. The fact that she has such a strong presence in Finn’s backstory and could tell that his programming was wearing off shows how intuitive Phasma was. Captain Phasma should have lived into Rise of Skywalker, so Finn could have an epic showdown with Phasma, but I digress. When I heard about the Phasma novelization, I knew I wanted to read it eventually. The Star Wars novelizations have been a hit or a miss for me, but I’m happy to say that Star Wars Phasma was a hit.

Captain Phasma is a ruthless and formidable opponent. She uses her expertise to train Stormtroopers to fight for The First Order. Vi Moradi, a Resistance Spy, is sent to Phasma’s home world of Parnassos to gather useful intel about her. While heading to the rebel base, she’s captured by The First Order. She’s interrogated by Cardinal, a high-level guard who wants to take Phasma down as he sees her as competition. Vi relays everything she learned about Phasma to Cardinal in the hopes of buying her freedom and helping Cardinal eliminate Phasma.

If The Mummy and Mad Max were combined into a Star Wars story, that’s what I felt Phasma was. I think this book gives Phasma an extra edge that I don’t think the movies really did justice. Phasma is a warrior and was seen as a leader by her tribe on Parnassos. She leads a group of people to Brendol Hux’s crashed ship and the group has to fight their way off Parnassos to live a better life. An interesting scene involving a fighting arena shows Phasma’s capability of being a brutal leader. In Star Wars novelizations like this, it’s easy for the side characters to be forgettable. This book created characters that all served a purpose in the group. There was Siv who’s a warrior, but also the healer. Torben is the brute, and Gosta is the younger woman who doesn’t have Phasma’s edge but is still not someone to mess with. Brendol Hux was irritating and fit every stereotype about First Order officers. The Stormtroopers even had personalities and were given names by Phasma’s group. It was easy to keep everyone straight and care for everyone in the group.

The reason I read the Star Wars novelizations is to become more enriched with Star Wars as a franchise. I felt Phasma as a book had essential backstories for some of the characters in the sequels. I can’t reveal much without spoiling the book, but now that I have read Phasma, I feel like I could rewatch the sequels in a new light knowing what I know from this book.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with Phasma, but I enjoyed this book. This might be one of my favorite Star Wars novelizations that’s been published since Disney bought Star Wars. I was waffling between rating Phasma four or five stars. The only thing I’d add is this book was a little slow at times, however, once I dedicated time to read multiple sections at once, I ended up reading 250 pages in one sitting. For now, I’m rating this four stars, but I could see myself changing this rating in the future.

Minnesota has a huge geek community. As a writer for Twin Cities Geek, I have been fortunate to write about various conventions throughout the state. At the beginning of November, I attended Twin Cities Con at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Twin Cities Con is similar to C2E2 or Planet Comic Con except that I don’t have to travel far to attend. It’s been notoriously difficult for Minnesota to host a bigger convention and there are many reasons for that. If you’re interested in “the tea”, trust me, I have it.

The first bigger convention that I remember was Wizard World which apparently was rebranded to Fan Expo. Wizard World was held in the 2010s at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Wizard World struggled with attendance and part of that was due to the event coinciding with another local convention. This angered fans (including myself) because I would rather go to a local convention that’s run by volunteers who care for the community than an event that cares about profit. Wizard World died out after a few events.

After Wizard World was Fan Fest and/or Fan Fusion. This is a convention hosted in Phoenix, but the company wanted to host a convention in Minnesota. Fan Fest / Fan Fusion hosted two conventions, one in 2017 (branded as Fan Fest) and one in 2018 (branded as Fan Fusion). Both conventions did not do very well. There are many reasons for this. First of all, the conventions were held at the Saint Paul River Centre. For those who have never been to Minnesota, Saint Paul is a “sleepy city”. Don’t get me wrong, Saint Paul is a beautiful city, but there aren’t a whole lot of events going on whereas Minneapolis is a lot more busy. The second issue with Fan Fest / Fan Fusion was the cosplay policy. The cosplay policy was one of the strictest cosplay policies that I have ever seen. The way the cosplay policy was written was targeted towards women and went into detail about how women’s bodies needed to be covered up. Many thought that it was sexist because it focused so heavily on women specifically. Additionally, many props were banned. For example, I couldn’t bring the bright orange plastic toy guns that I use in my Lara Croft cosplay because they resemble guns even though they are very clearly a toy. To Fan Fusion’s credit, there was an incident at their Phoenix event where someone did bring a gun into the building to try and kill an actor. It’s completely valid to feel protective over your event and want to keep people safe, however, it wasn’t communicated that way in their cosplay policy. If it was, I don’t think it would have been an issue. Finally, if that wasn’t enough, the event was scheduled for August. No one in Minnesota will want to attend an indoor event in August. Our Summers are so pretty and everyone is outside, soaking up the sun or going to a cabin up north. It showed that the company putting on Fan Fest / Fan Fusion didn’t know anything about Minnesota.

After Fan Fest / Fan Fusion, Galaxy Con took a chance to plan a convention in Minnesota. However, they ended up getting the short end of the stick because of the Covid pandemic. There were battles with the city of Minneapolis and I don’t think they made their money back after they had to cancel their event. I could be wrong about that, but I know the reason Galaxy Con didn’t come back was due to the pandemic.

This brings us to Twin Cities Con. Twin Cities Con and the organizers were smart. They took feedback from the local community and figured out which local conventions were being held on what dates. This way, they could plan Twin Cities Con on a weekend without any other competing event happening. Twin Cities Con is held in November which is perfect! The weather is colder and more people are trying to find indoor events to get out of the cold. It’s before the holidays, but not too close to the holidays. I consider Twin Cities Con the con to end the year since there are no other conventions that I attend after it. Additionally, this gave Twin Cities Con time to market their event at local conventions earlier in the year.

I’m so glad that Twin Cities Con has found success in Minnesota. It’s nice to have a bigger convention here because traveling to cons out of state can be taxing. Twin Cities Con was a blast this year and I can’t wait for next year.

It’s a little shocking, but I haven’t been to a single convention this year. I had plans on the weekends when the conventions were occurring, or I had to rethink my travel plans due to airfare price increases. In the past few years, I have found several out-of-state conventions that I love to attend. However, traveling for a convention has its downsides. I wanted to share my experience with traveling to conventions out of state along with the pros and cons of both.

Pros

Exploring a New City

Indianapolis (Gen Con), Chicago (C2E2), and Kansas City (Planet Comic Con) are all cities I have visited because there was a convention that I was able to attend. I have been to Chicago and Kansas City so many times and yet I always find something new. It could be a new restaurant or brewery or a tourist attraction that I didn’t have time for on my prior trips.

Traveling + Conventions = My Two Favorite Things

Being able to combine my love of traveling with the thrill of attending a convention has been a blast. I like being able to be a tourist while also taking a day off and cosplaying or browsing the artists who are tabling at the event. I still have Emerald City Comic Con on my list to visit along with New York Comic Con.

Cons

Travel related expenses

I’m fortunate because I have friends and family in various parts of the US. However, that only goes so far. I need to decide how I’m getting to the convention (flying, driving, or taking a train). Once I figure out my method of transportation, I have to weigh out the costs and the PTO I have to take off of work. While I love road trips, I wouldn’t consider driving to Seattle for example because of how time-consuming that would be. It gets to the point of contemplating if I have money to travel especially now that I’m a homeowner.

Time Consuming

Traveling for a convention is time-consuming. It’s kind of nice to attend a convention within 2-3 hours of driving and be able to get home and relax. Waiting around at an airport, or spending 6+ hours in the car is a huge chunk of time out of my day.

In general, I do think it’s worth it to travel for a convention if you like the city the convention is held or the convention itself. I don’t think I would ever travel on a whim to a convention unless I researched the con beforehand. How far have you traveled for a convention? Let me know in the comments below.

Last Fall, I felt like I didn’t get to enjoy the season. Wedding planning took all of my time and our weekends were busy with other weddings and obligations. I’m so looking forward to enjoying Fall and what the season has to offer. I wanted to share my bucket list of events, activities, or things to look forward to this season.

Fall Themed Candle Melts

For my birthday, one of my best friends gifted me an “Open Road Candles Sample Set” with fall-themed scents. OpenRoadCandles sells candle melts to use in a Candle Warmer. There are ten different scents including Apple Butter, Pumpkin Pecan Waffles, and Autumn Leaves to name a few. I’m thrilled to use them and have our entire apartment smelling like an apple orchard. My husband will either be happy or annoyed, we shall see.

Trip to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival

I love the Renaissance Festival! I usually go at least once every year except last year. This year, I have set aside two September weekends to devote to a Renaissance Festival trip. Each weekend has a different theme, so I wanted to have two weekends free to pick which weekend I wanted to go to. There are a few food options I always look forward to such as the soup in a bread bowl or the apple cider float with cinnamon ice cream.

Wearing my Spooky Clothes

Last year, I bought a Nightmare Before Christmas jersey sweater at Disneyland along with a witchy graphic t-shirt that I didn’t get to wear. I have a black bats cardigan that’s one of my favorite cardigans to wear. I look forward to pulling out my Halloween-themed clothes to wear throughout the season.

Visit an Apple Orchard

Another Fall activity that I didn’t get to do last year. Apple Orchards are often crowded, but well worth the visit. I usually like to try some apple-themed treat or if the orchard serves hard apple cider, that’s another Fall themed drink I enjoy. I like being outside in the cooler weather and seeing families bringing their kids to the orchard.

It will be so nice to truly enjoy Fall this year. Let me know what your plans are for the season in the comments down below.

One of the mini-projects that I’m working on is reviewing all my past posts on Bizarre Brunette. Now that I use Grammarly, I have been editing previous posts along with making sure the images I used are covered under Fair Use. When I re-read some of my older posts, I realized that there were certain topics I wrote in the past that I got away from. I wanted to share what I used to write about and whether I plan on bringing this up in future posts.

Health & Fitness

I started writing Bizarre Brunette back in 2014. I was still in college at the time, so a lot of my posts were centered around Health & Fitness. I talked about my personal journey into Exercise, why I chose this major, and any personal health goals I had for myself.

Once I found my niche with Bizarre Brunette, I got away from writing about exercise. At this time, I don’t have any plans to write about health & fitness. My health goals are personal to me and something I don’t want to share. Additionally, I think the health & wellness industry is over-saturated and I don’t want to contribute to that. There’s still a lot of misinformation and toxicity being promoted and I’m not a fan of that. This is a topic that I do intend to leave in the past.

Fashion

I used to write “OOTD” or “Outfit of the Day” posts centered around geek fashion. One of my favorite posts I wrote was centered around my Batman leggings that I had. Unfortunately, I had to throw them away because they had holes in them.

This is a topic I do want to write more about. The one barrier I have is trying to take pictures of the outfits I’m wearing. I don’t want to force my husband into being my photographer. This might be something I do every now and then versus on a regular basis. I’m passionate about fashion, especially incorporating my geeky interests into my sense of style.

Doctor Who

I started watching Doctor Who in 2015 and quickly became a full-time Whovian. I was surprised at how many Doctor Who-centered posts I wrote. I haven’t watched Doctor Who in years due to developing other interests. I’m all for a Doctor Who re-watch. I would love to come up with an associated blog prompt to help keep me on track. This is something I need to think about as it’s been on my radar to do a Doctor Who re-watch and write about it.

Going through my old blog posts has been an eye-opening experience. My writing has gotten a lot better over time and it’s intriguing to see how much I have accomplished. I’m looking forward to what the future holds for Bizarre Brunette.

A Geek Girl’s Guide is at it again with the blog tags. This blog tag is the Horror Tag. I never used to be into anything horror. Now, I’m finding myself watching scary movies and reading horror books. These are my answers to the Horror Tag. You can find A Geek Girl’s Guide’s original Horror Tag here

How old were you when you saw your first horror movie?

I can’t remember a specific age at which I watched my first horror movie. Growing up, my brother watched a little bit of Chucky and had nightmares for weeks. I would say this is my first horror movie I remember, despite the fact that I never watched any of it.

What was the first horror movie you saw?

Scream is the horror slasher film I distinctly remember watching for the first time. I also remember watching One Missed Call at a sleepover with girlfriends during middle school.

What is your favorite horror movie?

I’m a fan of slashers. The Scream franchise is my favorite horror movie franchise of all time. I like the fact that the movies make fun of slasher movie horror tropes. Sidney Prescott is my favorite “Final Girl”.

Do you prefer gore or thrillers?

Thrillers. I can’t stand gore. It’s why I will never watch The Walking Dead. I get why gore exists, but it grosses me out.

If you got trapped in one scary movie, which would you choose?

NONE. Who wants to be trapped in a horror film? If I have to pick, I would say Scream. It’s a bunch of high schoolers in the 90s partying and having a good time, so that’s more fun than anything, I suppose.

If you were in a horror movie, would you be the final girl, the first to die, the comic relief, the smart one, or the killer?

Everyone wants to answer this question as the Final Girl because I think no one wants to say they would be killed off. If I were to answer this question accurately, I would say the smart one who may not live to the end of the movie. I make rational choices most of the time, and I am aware of my surroundings when I’m alone.

While watching a horror movie, are you the person who yells at the characters, the person covering their eyes the whole time, or the person who falls asleep?

Covering my eyes! I hate jump scares.

Have you ever played a horror game? What is your favorite horror game?

I don’t play horror games much because I hate jump scares in a game. Is Resident Evil a horror game? If so, I would pick the franchise in general.

If you got trapped in one horror game, what would you want it to be?

NONE. I would say Dead by Daylight because at least you’re not alone, and you’re working together to escape the killer.

Here are all the questions:

How old were you when you saw your first horror movie?

What was the first horror movie you saw?

What is your favorite horror movie?

Do you prefer gore or thrillers?

If you got trapped in one scary movie, which would you choose?

If you were in a horror movie, would you be the final girl, the first to die, the comic relief, the smart one, or the killer?

While watching a horror movie, are you the person who yells at the characters, the person covering their eyes the whole time, or the person who falls asleep?

Have you ever played a horror game? What is your favorite horror game?

If you got trapped in one horror game, what would you want it to be?