A Smugglivus Message from SB Sarah Wendell

Welcome to Smugglivus 2012! Throughout this month, we will have daily guests – authors and bloggers alike – looking back at their favorite reads of 2012, and looking forward to events and upcoming books in 2013.

Who: Smart Bitch Sarah Wendell of the amazetastic Smart Bitches Trashy Books, one of the smartest, snarkiest, best bitches we know.

Please give it up for SB Sarah, folks!

Greetings and Happy Smugglivus!

I have an absolutely terrible concept of time, by which I mean that I never know what time it is, how much time has gone by since I started doing whatever, or how long it will take me to do complete something. Most of the time this is a problem, especially when it comes up against my desire to not be late for appointments or deadlines.

But sometimes it’s lovely to exist in a state of timeless befuddlement. During BEA, which was probably in May, but I am not sure, I met Thea and Ana while they were attending the convention. Fortunately we didn’t meet at the Javits, because the Javits is where lonely concrete goes to die, but not before charging you $10 for a hot dog first.

We met at a Cuban restaurant with Jane from DearAuthor, and despite my being late (which was NOT my fault as I left plenty of time, I swear, darn stupid Manhattan traffic), we ate piles of food, including these plantain chips that were very long and twisty and terribly delicious. (Here have a recipe though I haven’t yet exactly duplicated the Victor’s Cafe chips. YET.)

I’m reasonably sure this was in May, or possibly early June (I finally checked – it was June 4) but I’m fuzzy with the date and distance from the present because it was so fun to talk with them both, it might as well have been yesterday. I know if we were back at a table with plantain chips and drinks, we’d pick up probably at about the same volume and rapid conversation pace where we left off, and keep going for another few hours.

That’s the awesome thing about meeting readers, especially book blogging readers: we speak a common language of books and stories so that even if we don’t have every genre in common, we have plenty to talk about. That afternoon was definitely a highlight of this year for me. Blogging is an understandably solitary experience, so being at the same table with other book reviewers, let alone a table with chips and drinks (yay!) was tremendous terrible fun.

So, I propose that for 2013, we send Thea and Ana on tour. A WORLD TOUR. THE BOOK SMUGGLER WORLD TOUR! Does this not sound like a brilliant idea? They have to both roam around the US and Canada, and then South America, and onwards. I will volunteer to carry one of their suitcases (the small one — the big one would hold too many books for me to carry easily) and we’d have a traveling bar as they wandered through the US. And chips. This would be most fun. Let’s do it, yes?

And if the world tour isn’t possible, we can always try for more bloggers and Cuban food in May. Or June. Whichever. But this time I’ll bring a videocamera so you can hear the hilarity first hand, because Ana and Thea, they are some funny smugglers.

Happy Smugglivus, ladies, and high fives and congrats on five years!

Thanks for the high fives, Sarah!