Superstition

I have more deal "news" soon. Big news. Ecstatic news. But . . . no further hints. Why?

I am superstitious.


I never "announce" until not only have I agreed to a deal, gotten my manuscript due date from the editor, and am working furiously . . . but also that the ink is dry on contracts. Nothing "bad" has ever happened to me wherein I got and agreed to a deal and then it fell through. But you never know. I am convinced writers are a superstitious lot.

To that end, my writing pal JVZ sent me this post over at Nathan Bransford's blog. I think it should be required reading for EVERY aspiring author. Every one. And even established authors.

This deal I don't want to jinx has been . . . 13 or 14 months in the making. It has included one face-to-face meeting in NYC over a year ago (starting this timeline), 1 rejected proposal, a second proposal, requests for absolutely brilliant changes in said proposal (the editor has great instincts), my NOT DOING the revisions as my dad went blind, my Baby Girl got rheumatic fever, and I got strep throat, and six of us got the stomach flu. I don't EVEN need to bring in Demon Baby's Nefarious Syrupy Plot to Take Over the World. Suffice it to say, I was not inspired. Then I was. A new first line came to me, the pieces fell into place. I sent off the new proposal. Then I waited. Not long, actually. Maybe . . . 6 weeks, maybe 8. I don't know. Long enough that I forgot about it. Long enough that I didn't expect a deal.

And in this entire time, I have mentioned this book on this blog ONE TIME. One. Because I am superstitious. Because deals sometimes take that long and I don't want to friggin' jinx it. Because I STILL won't reveal what it's about. Not yet. Not until Publisher's Marketplace--where it won't be listed until the ink is dry. Superstition.

A dear friend, who I won't "out" here unless he wants to say so himself, is "thisclose" to a deal. I won't even say where, but it's HUGE!!!!!! "Thisclose." I think it's safe to say that the thought of discussing it openly would make him vomit. Or maybe that's ME . . . I am THAT superstitious.

I thought about it today. Why? Why so superstitious? And then it dawned on me. There's talent. All right, maybe I have some. There tenacity. I know I have that when I am not completely stressed out--and even then I always bounce back. There's timing. Man, do I know about that. I rode Spanish Disco in at the VERY beginning of the Chick Lit craze. And then . . . there's luck. And anyone who tells you differently is lying. It's the luck that had (true story), Spanish Disco going to Editor #1,who adored it--but knew she could never get the book signed at her publishing house because it was too edgy, but she just so happened to know Editor #2 at a different house was looking for edgy, so Editor #1 called my agent and said, "Love it, can't sign it, send it to Editor #2." How often does that happen? It arrived to Editor #2 on a Friday, when she so happened to not have something to read on the train, and so she grabbed it and brought it with her for the train ride, and finished it that weekend . . . and by Monday, she said she was looking to make an offer. Then my agent waited for four weeks for it to really come through, during which time I breathed not ONE word to ANYONE . . . because I didn't want to jinx it. Because there are black cats and four-leaf clovers and deals that take a long time because everything has to fall into place just so.

So tell me . . . are you superstitious? In what way?