The 13th

It's Friday the 13th...things are going to get weird.

Now as some of you may know, I'm a rather superstitious soul. So I understand the irrational fear of numbers that fall on certain days. Interestingly enough, it's not one of my superstitions. My parents got married on a Friday the 13th. My little sister was born on a Friday the 13th. It's never been a bad day for me...at least not yet. But that's the thing with superstition, just because it hasn't gotten you yet, doesn't mean it won't. Given that, I take back everything I just said, because I also believe in jinxes. So now...well...things might get a little weird.

Rabbits, Well Said

For the second year in a row, I managed to say rabbits on the first day of the year. Over the past few years, I've come to see this as the ultimate controller of luck. Two of the previous three years were ones where I've said rabbits on the 1st of January, and both brought me luck throughout the year in strange and unpredictable ways. Unlike the the tradition of saying it every first of the month, I only do it on the first of the year, which makes it extremely challenging, and especially potent. I give thanks to all the rabbit gods, those mysterious keepers of time, and wish you all the best of luck in the New Year.   (For More of My Thoughts on the Superstition, check here.)

Another New Year....

Another year has passed us by and another has just begun. Frequent readers of this blog, or my novels, know by now that I have a number of odd superstitions that I obey. One such habit is that of saying rabbits. The superstition centers around the first day of the month, and on that day, the first words one speaks aloud should be "rabbit, rabbit" which will bring you good luck for the entire month. 

The earliest record of this superstition dates back to the late 1800's in England where children, to the bewilderment of parents, started shouting rabbit, rabbit up the chimney. As best as anyone can figure, it was something invented by children, which of course makes me believe there is some magic to it, and that of course it must work. 

I modified the tradition slightly back in 2005, when I remembered to say rabbit, rabbit on January 1st. It was only the second time I ever remembered to do it and I figured if it was done on the first of the year, surely it would bring good luck for the whole year rather than just the month. So now, that is the only time I try to remember to do it. 

I succeeded again at the turn of 2013, and then again this past week when I sat up in bad at three in the morning and spoke, rabbit rabbit. So needless to say, I'm hopeful for a lot of luck this year, brought on by the power of childhood imagination and timekeeper rabbits. I'm wishing all of you the best of luck as well.

Casting Protection Spells

Writers have a habit of working their own personal quirks into their fictional worlds. It's only natural. After all, creative writing is basically just a way in which we try to figure out the world around us while holding the illusion of control. Fiction allows the individual to inflict his or her will on a representative universe. Writers incorporate elements of their own lives not simply to inject a sense of realism into the work, but as a psychological exercise to make sense of their own reality.

I often build story elements around actual details from my life. I will use an encounter, or an action, or conversation as the starting point for my imagination, letting it swell into something important. One such event occurred last week when we got what will most likely be the last snowfall of the year. All winter long I'd wanted to make a Snowtoro (a Totoro made of snow, obviously), but it had consistantly been too cold for proper snow building. Finally the conditions were right, and so I took a break to complete the task. When I was done, it struck me how he seemed like a sentry guarding my home from evil. Within seconds, this translated into an idea that I couldn't wait to build into a manuscript I'm working on.

It struck me that my characters should have some token of protection, more superstitious than magical, that they use to feel safe in the presence of the monsters who terrorize them. It's hard to explain the feeling a writer gets when struck with an idea that seems to fit so perfectly with what they are already trying to do, but this was one of those moments for me. It seems once again my odd personal superstition will effect the fate of my characters...they can thank me for it later.

New Luck for a New Year

(painting by Marc-Antoine)

There are often funny things that happen in the human mind that have no bearing on any sense of reality. One of those is the importance we place on the changing from December into January. It's only another day switching over into the next, but for some reason as the year clicks over, we feel the weight of it as though what had been the present suddenly has become the past.

I won't pretend that I didn't feel thankful that 2011 ended. I didn't even bother staying up to watch it end as a way of showing my disdain. For whatever cosmic reasons, odd numbered years have always been historically bad for me. Of course, in the universal spirit of what-goes-around-comes-around, even numbered years tend to be good in seemingly equal and opposite proportion. If that's the case this year, 2012 is looking to be spectacular.

This year already started off on a good note. Thanks to the Missus, the first words out of my mouth on the morning of the 1st were "Rabbit. Rabbit." Saying that as the first thing on the first of the month brings good luck. As readers here well know, my superstitious nature is quite prominent and this is one of those that I truly believe in. In fact, due to the nearly impossible nature of it, it is perhaps the pinnacle of good omens. I've only remembered to do it twice before in my life, but one of those times was also on January 1st and that year was quite a good one. Here's to looking for a repeat of past luck.

Best of luck in the New Year to all of you as well.

Luck Shines Brightly on a Day Like Today

In my own personal warped religion, 11:11 am or pm is a sacred time when all wishes made will eventually be granted, provided they are made with sincerity. Given the date today, this figures to be one of immense good fortune for all fellow believers.

As readers of my books will know, I'm a firm believer in luck. It's a trait I often pass onto my characters. In my novel Thief, I invented a form of wishing for the main character where she writes her wishes on a piece of paper, drops them in the Hudson River to allow them to float out over the ocean, waiting for the day when seagulls will carry the wish back to her. One of my readers once told me they began practicing this ritual with her daughter. I felt honored to have contributed to the pantheon of good luck.

I'm also a devoted follower of the moon and often direct my concerns to it. Over the course of my life, I've noticed how my dreams are more involved and extremely vivid leading up to the full moon. Last night was a full moon...on 11-11-11. Good omens abound and I wish you all the best on this rare holiday.

Fears & Superstitions

What better day than Friday the 13th to talk about fears and superstitions? I have lots of them. It's never to the point where it interferes with my daily life, but they are certainly a part of my daily life. Just so you know what I'm talking about, here's a airing of grievances I have with reality:

Fears

* Bugs - the flying and the creepy crawly kind. I hate bugs. An ant invasion in the house kept me sleeping poorly for months last year. Palm-sized waterbugs in an apartment kept me restless the entire summer of 1995 in NYC. A see-through mutant gummy-looking spider that I saw in the bathroom of my 89th Street Apartment still gives me the shivers...but that's because spiders are the worst with their spidery way of moving. A close second is Bees. A bee comes near me and I make a fist. Though, I've tried to make peace and we have a tentative truce at the moment. I've negotiated a settlement with the spiders as well during the Ant Wars. We are uneasy allies like France and the UK in the big one.

* Bad Luck - I fear luck changing to misfortune. I'm a firm believer in luck and that luck is not something you can make. I've had incredible runs of good luck in my life and some relatively short stretches of bad luck. More than anything, I fear a long stretch of bad luck. Years of bad luck? *shudder* And there's nothing you can do about it except wish. Which brings me to...

Superstitions

* Wishing - this is sort of like a religion for me, something that developed from my childhood and simply strengthened over time. I make wishes on eyelashes. I wish when the clock strikes 11:11 (I also do 1:11, 2:22, 3:33, 4:44, 5:55, 10:10 and 12:12- but 11:11 has the most magic in it). I will wait by the clock if I see it a minute or two before one of these numbers, simply to make a wish. I throw pennies in fountains. I wish on shooting stars, luckily I live in a place where they are semi-frequent. I try (and mostly fail) to say "Rabbit, Rabbit" the first thing upon waking up on the first of any month. Oh, and I cross my fingers a LOT. I always take notice whenever someone says "Oh that's supposed to be good luck" and usually incorporate it into my religion.

To any reader of my books, either my novels or children's books, none of this will come as a surprise as these traits often find their way into my characters. A writer has to use their own insecurities, fears, and insanity to their advantage. These are your raw materials and you must mine them.