GRL Blog Tour - Jaime Samms talks swag
Monday, 22 September 2014
Cons come around every year, like clockwork. They almost seem as inevitable as death and taxes.
Of course, cons are a lot more fun that those, thank goodness, because there's always more than one a year I want to go to. It isn't the con itself that gets to me. It's the lead up. Plane tickets, roommates, extra curricular planning, SWAG. OMG swag, because I can't bring myself to order a bunch of junk with logos and pretty pictures on it that anyone sitting at a computer could order, swag gives me fits.
I'm a planet-hugger. I can't stomach the thought of the mounds of trash that swag becomes. (I know. I've collected enough of it myself) So I always want it to be meaningful, and maybe even useful. And let's be honest, as a starving writer, I can't afford useful.
Things like coffee mugs and flash drives and phone covers might be handy, but they also cost. I still have swag from my first con, a stainless steel coffee mug from Devon Rhodes that I use on a regular basis.
Those types of things are great, but you definitely get what you pay for, and no money=no expensive shinies. So if I don't have money to spend on useful, that leaves meaningful, and so I hope I can make up for the lack of expense in dollars with time spent on effort.
Since I love making things anyway, I try to put a personal touch on everything. So this last week has been spent, pliers and string in hand, hopefully making plain swag into pretty enough swag for people to enjoy and want to keep. I want my readers to enjoy the weekend as much as I hope to, so if I can send them home with a pretty to remember their experience by, cool beans.
If I don't add anything to Illinois' land fills, even better :) Because it's really about getting together and enjoying each other's company, right? Everything else is gravy.
So swag or no swag, here's to meeting up with old friends and making new ones, and getting inspired to go at this thing another year.
See you in Chicago!
Jaime has been writing for various publishers since the fall of 2008, although she's been writing for herself far longer. Often asked why men; what’s so fascinating about writing stories about men falling in love, she's never come up with a clear answer. Just that these are the stories that she loves to read, so it seemed to make sense if she was going to write, they would also be the stories she wrote.
These days, you can find plenty of free reading on her website. She also writes for Freya’s Bower, Jupiter Gardens, and Total E-Bound.
Spare time, when it can be found rolled into a ball at the back of the dryer or cavorting with the dust bunnies in the corners, she's probably spending crocheting, drawing, gardening (weather permitting, of course, since she is Canadian!) or watching movies. She has a day job, as well, which she loves, and two kids, but thankfully, also a wonderful husband who shoulders more than his fair share of household and child care responsibilities.
She graduated some time ago from college with a Fine Arts diploma, and a major in textile arts, which basically qualifies her to draw pictures and create things with string and fabric. One always needs an official slip of paper to fall back on after all....
Website: http://jaime-samms.net/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000982219151&ref=tn_tnmn
Livejournal:http://dontkickmycane.livejournal.com/
Deviantart: http://dontkickmycane.deviantart.com/
Twitter:https://twitter.com/#!/JaimeSamms
Amazon Author page: amazon.com/author/jaimesamms
Of course, cons are a lot more fun that those, thank goodness, because there's always more than one a year I want to go to. It isn't the con itself that gets to me. It's the lead up. Plane tickets, roommates, extra curricular planning, SWAG. OMG swag, because I can't bring myself to order a bunch of junk with logos and pretty pictures on it that anyone sitting at a computer could order, swag gives me fits.
I'm a planet-hugger. I can't stomach the thought of the mounds of trash that swag becomes. (I know. I've collected enough of it myself) So I always want it to be meaningful, and maybe even useful. And let's be honest, as a starving writer, I can't afford useful. Things like coffee mugs and flash drives and phone covers might be handy, but they also cost. I still have swag from my first con, a stainless steel coffee mug from Devon Rhodes that I use on a regular basis.
Those types of things are great, but you definitely get what you pay for, and no money=no expensive shinies. So if I don't have money to spend on useful, that leaves meaningful, and so I hope I can make up for the lack of expense in dollars with time spent on effort.
Since I love making things anyway, I try to put a personal touch on everything. So this last week has been spent, pliers and string in hand, hopefully making plain swag into pretty enough swag for people to enjoy and want to keep. I want my readers to enjoy the weekend as much as I hope to, so if I can send them home with a pretty to remember their experience by, cool beans.
If I don't add anything to Illinois' land fills, even better :) Because it's really about getting together and enjoying each other's company, right? Everything else is gravy.So swag or no swag, here's to meeting up with old friends and making new ones, and getting inspired to go at this thing another year.
See you in Chicago!
Connect with Jaime
Jaime has been writing for various publishers since the fall of 2008, although she's been writing for herself far longer. Often asked why men; what’s so fascinating about writing stories about men falling in love, she's never come up with a clear answer. Just that these are the stories that she loves to read, so it seemed to make sense if she was going to write, they would also be the stories she wrote.
These days, you can find plenty of free reading on her website. She also writes for Freya’s Bower, Jupiter Gardens, and Total E-Bound.
Spare time, when it can be found rolled into a ball at the back of the dryer or cavorting with the dust bunnies in the corners, she's probably spending crocheting, drawing, gardening (weather permitting, of course, since she is Canadian!) or watching movies. She has a day job, as well, which she loves, and two kids, but thankfully, also a wonderful husband who shoulders more than his fair share of household and child care responsibilities.
She graduated some time ago from college with a Fine Arts diploma, and a major in textile arts, which basically qualifies her to draw pictures and create things with string and fabric. One always needs an official slip of paper to fall back on after all....
Website: http://jaime-samms.net/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000982219151&ref=tn_tnmn
Livejournal:http://dontkickmycane.livejournal.com/
Deviantart: http://dontkickmycane.deviantart.com/
Twitter:https://twitter.com/#!/JaimeSamms
Amazon Author page: amazon.com/author/jaimesamms
