Linda O. Johnston | Superstitions

Are you superstitious? My fingers are crossed that you are, and that you admit it to yourself. And that you'd like to learn more about superstitions--and have fun doing it. Why? Because my new mystery series that launched this month is the Superstition Mysteries! It's an appropriate month, of course, since October is Halloween month, and Halloween is a holiday based on lots of old legends...and some superstitions, too. For example, if you happen to go to a crossroads on Halloween and listen to the wind, you may hear about what will happen to you during the coming year. I didn't consider myself particularly superstitious before starting to write the first in the series, LOST UNDER A LADDER. Oh, sure, I crossed my fingers and knocked on wood now and then, just in case they could provide me with some good luck. I didn't open umbrellas in the house--although living in the Los Angeles drought I hardly even know I have umbrellas in the house right now. I picked up heads-up pennies if I happened to see any lying on the ground. Now, I do all of those superstitious things even more! Not that I try to hit readers over the head with the validity of superstitions. Or their invalidity. My protagonist Rory Chasen is trying to figure that out because she and her black and white dog Pluckie have gone to the town of Destiny, California, which is all about superstitions, to try to figure out if they're real. Why? Because Rory's fiancé died soon after walking under a ladder, and she's seeking closure. She needs to know if the superstition had anything to do with it. But does the truth immediately show itself to Rory? Not at all--not any more than it's absolutely clear to the rest of us. Did you know that superstitions are all around us? Of course a lot of people try to avoid allowing black cats to cross their paths. We're used to seeing ball players and others in sports following some kind of ritual before they bat a ball or otherwise participate because we know they're superstitious. But have you ever had a bird fly into your house? Do you pay attention to which foot you use to step into a house? Do you know that the superstitions applicable to when you slip on a staircase--going up, or going down--theoretically have very different meanings? Do you know there's a way that you can supposedly keep breaking a mirror from turning into seven years' bad luck? Rory learns a lot of that after arriving in Destiny. She's even confronted by the superstition relating to black and white dogs almost immediately, when Pluckie helps to save the life of Martha Jallopia, owner of the Lucky Dog Boutique, by finding her when she's ill, and Martha's sure she'll be fine since she sees Pluckie, too, and knows that black and white dogs are lucky. I'm having a lot of fun with the Superstition Mysteries, and I'm a lot more conscious of superstitions around me, too. For one thing, I was lucky enough to be invited to a tour of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory recently, and while there I learned how superstitious scientists can be! In one of their control rooms, they keep a supply of peanuts for those there to eat, since only during the space missions when peanuts weren't being passed around had those missions failed--or so their legend goes, at least. I'm also trying to circulate good luck by giving away lucky items when I send books to contest winners. And when I'm at meetings of writers' organizations the strangest thing happens. Heads-up pennies sometimes appear on the floor for people to pick up for good luck. So how about you? Are you superstitious? Do you believe in good luck--or bad--based on things you do or don't do? Have you even considered it before? I won't be surprised if you do now!