Business Cards and Bower Birds

I'm heading to the USA soon, to attend two writers conferences and apparently, when you attend writers conferences in the States, you are supposed to bring business cards.
I've had business cards before. A few different variations. But apparently, according to the gurus of business cards and conferences (who knew there was such a thing?) it's good to have a card with a few features. For one thing, you are encouraged to include a head shot. This is so people can remember what you look like when they get home and are sorting through their stash of accumulated cards. I understand the reasons, but still...

Putting my head shot on a card is always a bit confronting.
For one thing, my author photo is the polished version of what I look like. 'Real-me' doesn't look like that all the time. Especially as these days, I'm going for the 'natural' look which inevitably means my well-earned grey is more apparent.
It also feels a bit silly to hand someone a card with my face on it, as if to say, "Hi, this is 'professional author' me!" 
But, after wrestling with all of the above for a little while, I realised I just needed to do it. If my mug shot is going to help people make the connection between my card and my work, then I can put my face on the card.

The other thing writers are encouraged to do with their business cards, is to leave the back blank. This too, has logical reasons: people can take notes on a blank back. For example, "This is the lady I met in the breakfast line who told me she writes great kids books. Follow her up!" And I think that's a perfectly fine idea. 
But here's where I bumped into my next problem: I'd just commissioned a new logo/mascot for my writing and I wanted to include its image on my card.  You see, my new logo is a satin bowerbird, drawn by the talented Zac Reeve. 

If you haven't already met one, the satin bowerbird is a local of the bushlands around where I live in the Blue Mountains of Australia. The male bird builds a bower of sticks to attract its mate. Hopping through the undergrowth, across suburban yards and parks, he searches for beautiful things. Blue, white and silver. His goal? To create a treasure laden bower worth pausing for. A bower full of promise. 
I've always loved the bowerbird. And I believe we need stories like that bower. Stories that invite us to pause, teach us to wonder and help us believe. This is why I write and why I was delighted to see Zac had included a blue pen lid in the beak of the bird he drew.
 
So, you can see why I wanted this image on my business card! But with my head shot taking up half of the front there was only one place to put it: on the back. And despite the advice to keep the back blank, that's where it will stay.
Small, and to the side, so there's still enough room to take notes. But perched proudly in the corner, keeping an eye out for treasure... And the stories that invite our hope to grow.