Lucky Charms
Are you a superstitious person? I was recently reading an article about what students were doing to increase their chances for high SAT scores. One aspiring doctor from Phoenix considered himself a logical thinker, yet he’s been using the same #2 pencil for all his tests since his freshman year of high school, when he first got it and started doing well in school. Now a senior at the University of Arizona, he says the pencil still has a “good amount of length,” considering its lifespan.
Others confess such lucky charms as eating Alaskan salmon for breakfast before every test, watching back to back episodes of ER the night before, or wearing Superman underwear on test day. Jackie Figliulo, a twenty-two year old senior at the University of Illinois watched the beginning of Legally Blonde four times (because she views the Reese Witherspoon character as a role model) and reported that she’d raised her LSAT score 11 points over earlier tests.
Students, of course, aren’t the only people with lucky charms. Michelle Kwan always wears a golden-dragon pendant that was a gift from her grandmother. I have certain rituals that revolve around Yankee baseball games. When the Yankees are up at bat, my Yankee Barbie is on the couch beside me, holding her tiny Louisville slugger. When they’re in the field, she dons her tiny Wilson glove. For years I’ve worn a Yankee baskeball cap during games, with the brim facing toward either the front or back depending on whether my beloved Yankees need help with a rally.
In October, 2004, I was at our vacation place in South Carolina during the Yankee/Boston ALCS. (Which, for those non baseball fans, is the American League Championship Series.) When it came time to walk on the beach before the game, I wavered about whether or not to wear my cap out to show my support for the team I’ve loved since I was seven-years-old. The cap had only ever been worn while watching games. But the Yankees were already up three games to zero in the series. No team had ever lost a seven game series after winning the first three.
And, of course, my boys in pinstripes had something else going for them. They had The Curse of the Bambino. For those who’ve been living on another planet for the last eighty-six years, this came into being in 1920 when Boston sent George Herman Ruth to New York for a fistful of dollars. New York went on to win 26 championships; Boston hadn’t won one since. This curse was sports’ ultimate urban legend. It was cult-like and fans of both teams had defined themselves by it.
So, hey, what could it hurt to wear my cap outside? I did. And, unsurprisingly, drew a lot of negative comments from people who mistakenly consider the Yankees the Evil Empire.
Four hours later, three outs from extinction, the Red Soxs (aka Satan’s minions:evil:) won Game 4.
Okay. It was just one game. Even without the curse, the numbers proved that they couldn’t win the series. And baseball is, of course, all about numbers. This did present a slight dilemma, though. What about my cap? Had I jinxed my team by wearing it outside? Should I go bareheaded in public the evening of game 5? But wouldn’t all those people who’d ragged me the night before think I was a fair-weather fan if I didn’t wear it? Still, the deed had been done. It was no longer a virgin indoor cap. Besides, a little voice of reason whispered from the far reaches of my mind, a CAP CANNOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
I wore my cap.
Boston won Game 5.
By now, even Yankee Barbie was beginning to sweat. I wore my cap on the beach the next night. All the Red Sox fans admitted that they’d probably lose. Because, of course, we all knew of The Curse.
And then Boston won Game 6.
And suddenly, the series was tied 3-3!
The Yankee spirit had left the ballpark, allowing Boston to take the field for Game 7 unopposed. They won 10-3.  I retired my cap that night. Four games too late. And Boston went on to become world champions.
Along the same lines, several years ago, my sweetie gave me a special pen for booksignings. After using that pen to sign a contract, the first book of that contract took off and gave a nice boost to my career. From then on, anytime I needed to sign something important — a book contract, a sales contract for a house, a car, whatever — I used my lucky pen.
Until I lost it on a book tour Pocket had sent me on. When I signed my next contract, I felt doomed. Which, all logic aside, had me really nervous about my new book, IMPULSE. After all, it hadn’t started out well, when, because of Katrina, I’d had to shelve my New Orleans story (which featured a major hurricane hitting the city!) and come up with an entirely new book set in Wyoming. I kept thinking how much better I’d feel if only I’d signed that contract with my lucky pen.
Then last week, its first full week on sale, IMPULSE hit the Waldenbooks bestseller list, the USA Today list, and the New York Times bestseller list. This was, quite honestly, an amazing surprise. I also now have a new lucky pen. 
So, are you superstitious? And if so, what items or rituals do you believe bring good luck? Share your lucky charm (or your disbelief in such things) and you just may win an autographed hardcover copy of IMPULSE guaranteed to bring you good luck! Or your money back.
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I’m a big Mets fans and I have my lucky T-shirt that I sleep in, I didn’t wear it last night and they lost 8 to 5.:( Don’t hold it against me that I’m not a Yankee fan!:wink:
by Susan
on June 7th, 2006 at 11:55 am
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I am not really superstitious, but my husband is (which I attribute to his being raised by a momma and daddy with very traditional deep roots in the rural South!) He does the whole black cat, turning the cap backwards, walking under the ladder, exiting a house through the same door you entered, salt spilling, saying \”scat\” when someone sneezes rituals. 
But I did have a pair of opal earrings that my husband (at that time boyfriend!) gave me for my birthday that I always wore on exam days when I was in college. I called them my lucky earrings because I lost the right earring to the pair 5 times and always found it (usually in my bra!!) I still have those earrings 20 years later….. 
And my younger son, the Jr. Thespian, always wears his \”lucky shirt\” the day of a performance.
by Angie
on June 7th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
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Hi, I too am a baseball fan - the Dodgers. If I am sitting in a certain position, I would not change til the inning is over if something good is happening. Not much for lucky charms but that is what I do. I also put a hex on the other team.
by Pat
on June 7th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
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I am suspicious of going under ladders but have done it on occasion and nothing happened.
I wait till outside to open up an umbrella.
When a bird flies into a window and dies I wonder if the saying is true that
someone is going to die.
by Robyn
on June 7th, 2006 at 2:07 pm
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i try not to break mirrors and always say my prayers before i go to bed:?
by KIM H
on June 7th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
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I think I’m too much of a sceptic to have lucky charms or such.
by Minna
on June 7th, 2006 at 3:07 pm
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I don’t walk under ladders or open umbrellas indoors because it is considered back luck. I also try to avoid breaking a mirror.
by Crystal B.
on June 7th, 2006 at 3:21 pm
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I’m not to superstitious, but I try not to break any mirrors. I love black cats and #13 seem to be luck for me even on Fridays.
by Tammy G.
on June 7th, 2006 at 3:44 pm
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I never call my characters by their real name until the real name appears in the manuscript. I just don’t.
I’m not sure why, and this may not even be a superstition, but I just don’t. 
by May
on June 7th, 2006 at 3:46 pm
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I really am not superstitous and have opened an umbrella inside on several occasions and everything was ok. Am just boring I guess. LOL.
by Karen T.
on June 7th, 2006 at 4:24 pm
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I am a Seattle Mariners fan( I know, I know, they aren’t very good) and I always wear my Mariners t-shirt—-of course it makes no difference– they lose anyway.
by Estella Kissell
on June 7th, 2006 at 5:07 pm
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I’m a yankee fan too.
When my oldest went off to college, I got a school key chain. I started a part time job as a bank teller. Even after it broke I kept the key chain in my pocketbook. Had it in any purse I had for 8.5 years. 
by Joyce
on June 7th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
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I’m not superstitous at all and I love black cats. My mittens was a black cat and I still miss him.
I’m just about done with Blaze and I’m enjoying it very much! Thanks again, JoAnn!
by Carol
on June 7th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
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:lol:I am not really superstitous so there are no lucky charms for me. But would love to LUCKY enuf to win Impulse.
by Helen
on June 7th, 2006 at 7:18 pm
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I also am not that superstitous…although if I see a ladder in a store I stear clear away from it and seeing someone open an umbrella inside always reminds me of bad luck..oh and also a black cat.
Although, I will take up a luck charm if it helps me to win IMPULSE 
by Kathleen
on June 7th, 2006 at 7:46 pm
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I am not that superstitious really….I don’t really have any lucky charms or rituals or anything. I guess I follow the whole no open umbrellas in houses thing and I try not to break mirrors. However, I don’t stress about it if I do.
by Jennifer Y.
on June 7th, 2006 at 8:58 pm
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Congratulations on being on all those bestseller lists. I’m a big fan of baseball and enjoy watching the games. I use to have a rabbits foot hanging from the mirror in my car. Every new car I bought the first thing I did was move that rabbits foot to the newn one. I always felt it gave me luck on the road.
by Karen G
on June 7th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
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I don’t have any lucky charms or rituals. I am not really superstitious.
by Cherie Japp
on June 7th, 2006 at 9:50 pm
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I’m not superstitious (boring, I know), so it’s good that I already own a copy of Impulse–although, I could always use TWO. 
My MIL has taught my kids to fear walking around the house with one shoe on, as well as opening umbrellas in the house. Also, my MIL’s grandma told HER that if your right palm itches, you’re going to shake hands with someone. If your left palm itches, you’re going to come into some money.
Fun topic!
by Ellen Peters
on June 7th, 2006 at 10:02 pm
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I am not very superstitious though I think that it bodes ill for a happy year if I have an argument on New Year’s Day.
by little lamb lost
on June 7th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
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No lucky charms for me. Although I too have heard about the left palm itching you are supposed to get money. I have had the left palm itch a few times but no money.
by Helen L.
on June 7th, 2006 at 10:41 pm
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I do believe that what goes around comes around. So I’m very careful and honest. If a cashier forgets to charge me for something, I’ll let her know. If I find money on the ground, I turn it in at the nearest location. My husband laughs at me, but I am convinced that something bad will happen if I don’t!
I also believe bad things happen in threes. This has happened a few times to me!
I’ll have three bad things happen in a row, and then nothing but good luck for awhile.
by Sandra
on June 7th, 2006 at 11:46 pm
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Oh, and in regards to baseball…Go Cards!! I have to support my home team
by Kathleen
on June 8th, 2006 at 12:39 am
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Oh, and in regards to baseball GO CARDS!! I have to support my home team:)
by Kathleen
on June 8th, 2006 at 12:42 am
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I am actually pretty neutral on the topic. The closest thing I have to a good luck charm I would have to say is my favorite jeans or the shirt that gets me the most compliments. I tend to be tight roped when it comes to the common superstitions like walking under a ladder, breaking a mirror, or opening an umbrella indoors. I mean, honestly, my life is hectic enough without creating an extra run of bad luck for myself.
by Billie Langston
on June 8th, 2006 at 1:29 am
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My husband and son are big Yankee fans also so I remember well those losses. My son did not take those losses well when he was so sure they would win the series. I’ve never found anything that seemed to give me good luck but if I did I would hold onto it.
by Maureen
on June 8th, 2006 at 5:40 am
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I don’t think you have to worry about losing your pen. I’m convinced you would have made those bestseller lists even if you had signed the contract with a crayon. haha! Congratulations! That’s something to be proud of. I’m so happy for you.
I don’t think I’m a superstitious person. I do carry a rock in my coat pocket that my niece gave me from a playground about 15 years ago. I think it’s more for sentimental reasons than for luck. Although…life has been good…hmmmm..makes you wonder. I plan to keep it for another 15 years.
by KimW
on June 8th, 2006 at 6:12 am
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Not much into baseball. Same goes for lucky charms. But would love a copy of the book.
by Joanne V.
on June 8th, 2006 at 7:59 am
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What fun answers! And, for all those baseball fans supporting other teams, even Susan, the Mets fan, hey, I forgive you.
May, interesting how your characters tell you their names. I have that happen, but a little differently. Usually if I’ve named someone wrong, he or she will balk along the way and refuse to cooperate and all writing stops until I figure out the “real” name.
I’ve never believed in the broken mirrors, partly because I’ve broken so many over the years, I’d be in real trouble. Not walking under ladders, of course, probably came from common sense and my one of my dearest kitties was a black cat named Fang. It amazes me every year when I read in the paper that the Humane Society is urging people to keep black cats indoors on Halloween because people will hurt them!
Ellen, why would anyone WANT to walk around with one shoe on? And Estella, if the Mariners lose all the time, perhaps you ought to think about NOT wearing that T-shirt. Sandra, I fully believe in the what goes around comes around karma thing, but don’t consider it so much a superstition as a universal fact.
As I said, they were all interesting answers, and it was equally intriguing to see the people who weren’t at all superstitious (though I’ll bet we could find one instance where you’d been! :)). It’d especially be cool if a Yankees fan won, but since cheating isn’t good for karma, I had my sweetie do his dart throwing thing again and he hit — ta dah! –Angie, wife to the Southern salt-spilling, backwards cap wearing guy, mom of the Jr. Thespian, and owner of those magical lucky earrings!
So, Angie, just send me your mailing address and we’ll get your copy of IMPULSE out to you!
by JoAnn Ross
on June 8th, 2006 at 6:13 pm
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Congrats Angie:D
by Kathleen
on June 8th, 2006 at 9:40 pm
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Congrats Angie!
by Carol
on June 9th, 2006 at 7:40 am
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Wow!! Thanks JoAnn…and thanks to your dart-throwing hubby, too!
That is so cool! Email is on the way!
by Angie
on June 9th, 2006 at 9:14 am
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wtg angie
by KIM H
on June 9th, 2006 at 12:31 pm
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I don’t consider myself superstitious with two exceptions: whenever I come across a penny or any other coin on the street, I pick it up and invariably think that the universe is telling me something–probably that I’m a penny richer, but hey! I didn’t have that penny before, did I?
The second is a pair of amber and silver earrings my mother gave me almost twenty years ago. I’ve worn them for job interviews–and gotten the job each time. Whenever I need to feel self confident, I wear them–and I do.
PS I love black cats–the most recent addition to the zoo is a 17lbs black cat. Shadow, as my kids immediately named her, was most certainly abandoned–she was spayed and her front paws declawed. She ignores the other two cats and plays with our dogs, a yellow Lab and a German Shepherd mix, but is afraid to death of the ferret [which weights all of 2lbs soaking wet]. Go figure!
by azteclady
on June 11th, 2006 at 12:40 pm
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