Lucky Charms, Anyone?

For my first blog post, I'm not going to talk about myself and how I got started writing. How boring for anyone reading that. You can check out my website (when I get it up) to see a little bit more about me if you're interested. But I'm really no different from any other writer. I love to read and now I write too. Today, I want to talk about luck--specifically lucky charms.

No, I'm not talking about the cereal. I'm talking about an actual lucky charm. It could be an object you carry with you that happens to bring forth the mojo or maybe it's an odd little habit that seems to make a difference. Once you make the connection, when you need a little luck, you make sure you utilize it. Do you do this?

My brother-in-law used to play professional baseball and he says athletes are notoriously into their lucky charms. One guy hit home runs a lot when he wore a particular pair of socks. However, he noticed when he washed them, the mojo was gone. The guy ended up wearing that same pair of unwashed socks over and over all season long.

Now, I'm normally not a superstitious person or into any of that woo woo stuff, but when I began noticing a pattern of good luck, I had to wonder. Was there a common denominator? Sure, I work hard on my craft and write everyday. Big deal--lots of writers do this. I wasn't any different. There had to be something more. Then it dawned on me. My lucky charm is my mother!

I happened to be visiting her one weekend and decided to check my email from her computer. Normally when I'm down there, I don't go online, but I did this time. The email subject line said "Congratulations, You're a finalist." Spam? Maybe, but the name sounded vaguely familiar. I clicked open the message and discovered I finaled in the Orange Rose contest. Oh my gosh, that's a big one! Geez, I didn't remember entering it, surely it had to be a mistake. I didn't think I had my manuscript out to any contests, other than my chapter contest, and I wasn't at home to check my records. But when I thought further, I did recall making all those copies and mailing my entry several months earlier. Charlotte, the contest coordinator, confirmed it wasn't a mistake! Okay, this was lucky event number one that involved my mom.

Event number two occurred while she visited me a few weeks later. We'd run a few errands, did a little shopping, and now we were back at my house drinking tea in my kitchen when the phone rang. It's a woman from my local RWA chapter and I assume she's calling me about our upcoming conference. Maybe I hadn't filled out my registration form correctly. "Oh, hi, Wendy. How's it going?" My credit card number recently expired--had I used that one and my payment didn't go through? I head for my purse and wallet. But then, in that split second before she spoke, it dawns on me. Wendy didn't have anything to do with the conference--she was one of the contest coordinators. Oh my gosh, a different manuscript finaled and, yes, my mother was right there when the phone rang.

Event number three is a little less concrete, but I'm taking it the same way. Mom was visiting again. We had driven over to the high school to drop off my son's sports equipment and we sat in the car waiting for him. Ring ring--this time it's my cell phone. It's my agent calling. "Laurie, where are you on those changes you were making a couple of days ago?" (I had a revise and resubmit request from an editor that took me about an hour to finish.) I replied, "I'm done, but I was just letting the changes percolate in my brain to make sure I handled them correctly. Why?" She then tells me she happened to be speaking with a different editor (one she was going to submit to the next week) who made a comment that she had nothing to read over the holiday weekend. Ding, ding, ding. It's quarter to five New York time, how soon can I get it to her? "I'm five minutes from home. Let me buzz back, double check that I don't have the word "the" typed twice, and I'll shoot it over to you." I do and she sends it to the editor before she left for the holiday weekend.

See the connection? See the common denominator? Yes, my lucky charm is my mom!!! My manuscript is out on submission right now and I'm thinking I need to invite her back up to spend some time with me. What do you think? If she comes and I get "The Call," maybe I need to think about renting her out.

How about you? Do you have any lucky charms or strange little habits you do that seem to bring good luck?