Wise Women Friday: Christina Schwarz

Words of wisdom from best-selling novelist Christina Schwarz:

Even the desert is packed with shapes and colors.

In college, I had a friend who was like the desert: a surface of monochromes.  She had sand-colored hair that matched her trademark beige shorts and off-white tees.  She could barely look strangers in the eye; she was that shy.

Beneath the surface, however, she was packed with shapes and colors.  She was wild and eccentric.  She was addicted Pepsi, which she hid in the trunk of her Mercedes so that she wouldn't have to share.  She had a trust fund, but she was always borrowing money.  In four years, she never turned one assignment in on time -- or even close to on time.  She only finished her senior art project because a large group of friends spent hours helping her rubber band popcorn kernals into strips of raw silk which she then dyed and shaped into a chinese dragon.  Really, she was an undependable bit of a sponge, but once you got past the monochrome she was also a lot of fun and strangely hard to dislike.

Christina Schwarz, this week's wise woman, does not seem anything like a desert.  She is vivacious and witty, smart and stylish.  She is also unfairly pretty (note to God: in the future, please ration out the gifts a bit more equitably).  

How do I know?

You must remember that I am very important.  In fact, I had Ms. Schwarz to dinner last night.  I made her soup and a pear tart.  We talked about her insightful and gorgeously written new novel So Long at the Fair, her other books, and we even got to hear about Oprah.  She was lovely and elegant and down to earth.  

How -- you're wondering -- did I get so lucky?  Aren't I simple, humble Margaret Finnegan, raiser of Mangalitsa pigs and defender of bacon and goddesses?  Aren't I more at home with a good bowl of flan than bestselling novelists?  Yes I am!  But what you don't know is that I do have a credit card and do know how to use it.  So when my daughter's school held a silent auction and I was allowed to bid on multiply copies of So Long at the Fair and a book club night with the author I staked out that bid sheet.  A few parents managed to get past me, but I am fast with my pen and even faster with my elbows.  When the night was over, the Christina Schwarz night was mine.  

Which is all a roundabout way of saying that the desert may be packed with shapes and colors, but dessert with a smart novelist packs you with calories and conversation, and that is always a good choice.