The Sword & The Dragonrider

We had another fantastic guest on The Sword & The Ribbon Podcast! Taryn of Bookish Babes Retreat and Etsy Shop PagerTurnersUnited sat down to chat with Sam about her life of adventure, fantasy, and hard times too. Like any good Dragonrider though, she's not one to stay knocked down for long.

Taryn is an Army Vet, Small Business Owner, Texan, and lifelong cosplayer- she's been going to comic cons, cosplay events, fantasy and anime conventions since she was in the sixth grade!

I used to be a firefighter, an MMA fighter, you already said it- I'm retired Army, and I used to be a volunteer coordinator. My whole life was focused around helping other people and empowerment.

Wow, what an incredible resume! And that's not even all of it.

Right off the bat, it's easy to see that those two focuses of hers have not changed. Helping others and Empowerment is just what Taryn is good at.

While her name isn't short forTairneanach, she insists she is a secret Dragonshifter... but don't tell anyone.

She loves SJM, because let's get real who doesn't. But when we asked her which was her favorite, it was the Throne of Glass series.

It was the series that got me out of my reading slump. I remember like giggling and kicking my feet at one point. It [ToG] gave me physical responses, reading that. One of those things that don't always happen.

When asked about who her favorite Archeron sister is, Taryn let us know, it's not always about the sister. Sometimes it's more about her Man.

Does it count if I like their Man? Nesta stole Cassian from me. I just have to say that. She has a decent story arc, and it's beautiful to try and see the depth of the character and how rock bottom can actually look. I like that that was portrayed as a Strong Female Role, who was still willing to be vulnerable and overcome that.... And Cassian.

Needless to say we were all nodding in agreement and cackling over Cassian.

He's the golden retriever goofball, who is the most dependable. And... put your hands on the headboard? Like, yes please.

We all love Cassian, who are we kidding? The way SJM somehow seamlessly melded together the dopey goofball with the dominant warrior has had all of us drooling since ACOMAF. Don't lie.

Taryn has admittedly not done the Night Court Workout, but has sincerely loved the MIcro Squad workouts and Valkyrie Squad workouts she has done.

So we've talked about this before, but I have physical limitations and am 100% physically disabled from the army. And so a lot of what Valkyrie Squad does, is it allows modifications for ALL different types of workouts. So for someone who has been through serious training and worked with fitness instructors in the past- they don't always allow that or provide that level of modification. But you do, and you still make it fun and upbeat and empowering.

Sam brought up a video Taryn made from the very first Valkyrie Training workout she released, before the program launched. I haven't seen it, but apparently it was a great one that involved a lot of laughing and modifying happily.

Yes that was actually my cane. My spine is messed up, my hips are messed up, my knees are messed up. I was literally about to topple over at that point. I've also brought an ax into one of my workouts. Instead of having weights at my side, I'm just going to bring my ax in and pass it back and forth.

We love hearing how creative Valkyries get with their weights during workouts. Taryn happens to be the first to bring an Ax. WIth it's cover on of course, our Mother of Valkyries demands safety first.

Oh heck yeah. Remember me, forever.

Let's talk about Bookish Babes Retreat real quick. Taryn is the head honcho of this fantastic getaway. surrounding you with fellow bibliophiles, meet and greet author events, new friendships, and book-swaps, scores of narrators- Bookish Babes retreats offers you the chance to get up close and personal with your favorite characters from your favorite books. Sam is actually going to be teaching Live Sword Classes at the one coming up!

We mentioned earlier that Taryn is an Army Veteran, and we did ask her about it a bit.

So for people that actually care to listen- I will tell them that I was both running away from something bad and running towards something good by joining the Army.... The army gave me a shot at a different kind of future. It gave me a sense of camaraderie and friends all over the world, that I could never imagine. However it was also a very belittling experience, where when I got injured- people just stopped caring... I became a liability.

The details of all her struggles and injuries compounding them go on, and are rather heartbreaking. And while I've never been in the service-I can relate to feeling like you're not important anymore when you're hurt badly. When my feet were broken and all my great plans were up in the air, it felt like there was a weird expectation to heal and be normal again afterwards- something that never happened. It's very isolating, and I can only imagine how much harder it was for Taryn. But there is no rainbow without rain as they say, and this Dragonrider simply did not quit.

I went through a process called the MedBoard, which is a very long process with a complete doctor examination. I was determined 100% disabled, and my contract was ended within a certain timeframe. And I was released into the wild!

Going from Soldier to Civilian was extra hard for Taryn without having the support and community she needed when she was discharged from the military. Feeling a little lost and stranded, she headed back home to Texas to figure out her next moves. I myself have moved all over the United States, and somehow I always ended up coming back to Michigan, I totally related to hearing her say that she needed to reset and go back home.

While I was on leave, I went to something called Books Gowns and Crowns, which introduced me to the booktok world more, and so much more of life. It helped me want to heal, so that I could do more travels and make more friends at events. I had finally found my people.

The book community as a whole has embraced so many of us, and helped us find ourselves. Sam and I were both in agreement with Taryn and her experience. There's a sense of home, of welcoming and being able to fully be authentic in your weird nerdy ways. Even finding out that your weird isn't really that weird, it can be really comforting.

Taryn found her experience with Books Gowns and Crowns to be so inspiring, that it lead to the starting of her Etsy business: Page Turners United. She got into conversations with some vendors about how to get licensed by an author, and thus her Spicy SJM body pillows were born. Sam demands one from another book series. I'm waiting on the Umbra Mortis myself.

I am in a way ( a conwoman) I've been going to anime events and comic cons and all sorts of different conventions since the 6th grade. That was always my happy space. I have over 100 (events) collectively under my belt. I started cosplaying anime characters in middle school.

I personally have never been to any of those- comic cons, anime events or conventions, or fantasy retreats. I'm big jealous over here for these experiences, because they sound so incredible! I've always admired the ingenuity and dedication that cosplayers across all genres seem to possess. I suppose a big drawback to living in the sticks like I do, is that fun stuff like that is always so far away.

My first cosplay was a cat cosplay. It was Ichigo from Shuga Chara, which is this like wholesome, the power of friendship, good always wins out kind of anime. I was in middle school.

A collective awwww for this young fresh cosplayer.

They did escalate though, like I did get hugged by Jason Momoa as Mirra. And I had a picture with Stan Lee as Mystique and I had made 13 different body prosthetics. The yellow contacts scared me.

There was a period of buffering from all of us with those name drops. Excuse me? Hugged by Jason Momoa? I have some questions. And Stan Lee?! How epic is that?!

I was just star struck of course. Stan Lee looked at me and said "hmmm, I don't know who you are but you look interesting." And like obviously I'm covered in head to toe blue paint and scales, his character.

I cannot imagine meeting Stan Lee, let alone doing so while being covered in blue paint and scales and 13 different body prosthetics. What sensory shenanigans must it be like to be covered in paint head to toe? Plus prosthetics and scales, and those wild yellow contact lenses. I'm flabbergasted.

I don't have a cosplay name. I just go by my real name. I missed that notification when I got into the cosplay world, of like "who do you go by?" Oh... just Taryn. People think it's a fake name, so.. it's fine.

Taryn is a pretty unique name, and she told us it means something in another language.

It means "Little Thunder," in Welsh. Which is part of why I had to cosplay Tairneanach, because that is Scottish Gaelic for Thunder.

Little thunder fits Taryn perfectly, to be honest.

After going to so many different types of events, I became a vendor. Which was kind of the next step. I had done cosplaying and competition, and then I got into the book world and became a licensed vendor.

But as much as she loved going to the events and the evolution of cosplayer to vendor, Taryn wasn't done. She wanted more, craved more from the community and the bond that flourishes when like minds gather.

After 12 or 13 events it started to get a little repetitive. And I thought man, I have prior MMA, firefighting, soldier.. I wanna get more in the dirt and like bonding and doing stuff together that isn't just 500 people in a room where only some of us even know how to dance. I had become cosplay mom, and I was teaching everyone.

... And I was like you know, I can do something like this but different. I wanted that nitty gritty down in the dirt bonding. So that's how bookish babes retreats came to be!

I FREAKING LOVE THIS SO MUCH! I LOVE a woman who can see her skills and say "you know something, I can MAKE a life with this." and just goes for it. FUCK. YES. As a fellow entrepreneur all I can say is BRAVO My Lady!

I wanted to create a space where instead of just talking about the books you love, you get to feel like you're the main character in your own story.

YESSSS! That's what I'm talking about! This is what I mean! Live your Life as the MAIN CHARACTER THAT YOU ARE!!

There are so many other things that I didn't touch on here that we discussed with Taryn in this episode, so please if you haven't listen go hit that play button! Her Cauldron Blessed Wisdom really is fantastic.,

Just like Taryn was searching for community, I'm always and forever grateful to have found mine among Valkyries.