Friday
Dec042009
Jinxes?
Friday, December 4, 2009 at 11:18AM
So something I've been thinking about a lot lately is "jinxing it". Fall is always a potential-laden time for me; I send out applications, I tend to have better luck and a greater sense of excitement, and this fall is no different. I've been sending out applications for fellowships that I don't want to talk to anyone about and I've been getting some positive responses from agents, but I'm not mentioning it to anyone (except, you know, on the blog...out on the web....).
So whats up with that? I have a few theories:
1. Older, Wiser, More Hesitant?
I look back, and a year ago I was getting the first serious interest from agents on Tarian, and I was over the moon, thinking it was going to be so fast and so easy and then it just dissolved (actually that one dissolved in the worst possible way, with the agent telling me over and over how excited he was about the novel, and then he said that he'd get in touch with me after the weekend, and the day before Christmas Eve he told me he was passing). And since then, I've worked with an agent on revisions, and she passed, and other agents have been almost there and passed. It's gutwrenching to know how close you can get before they pass. It's the worst part. So yes, I'm hesitant to put my emotion into it.
2. There's a recession.
Which shouldn't matter to luck, but it does, because like it or not, in a very visceral way we've all been reminded how things really might not work out. Luck seems to be turning sour a lot faster these days. Besides which, everyone else has tough luck, so a) it's tough to believe you'll have better luck, or b) that you should even be talking about it because it's got an element of cruelty to it.
3. Superstition is back with a vengeance.
I don't know whether its the cultural prevalence of supernatural elements being all over the place (vampires, werewolves) but I knock on wood, I beware black cats, I look for heads up pennies. And part of me remembers that whole, "don't talk about it or it won't come true" superstition.
So, if anyone has either magical charms to counteract jinxes, or words of wisdom to remind me how silly superstitions can be, I'd love to hear either.
So whats up with that? I have a few theories:
1. Older, Wiser, More Hesitant?
I look back, and a year ago I was getting the first serious interest from agents on Tarian, and I was over the moon, thinking it was going to be so fast and so easy and then it just dissolved (actually that one dissolved in the worst possible way, with the agent telling me over and over how excited he was about the novel, and then he said that he'd get in touch with me after the weekend, and the day before Christmas Eve he told me he was passing). And since then, I've worked with an agent on revisions, and she passed, and other agents have been almost there and passed. It's gutwrenching to know how close you can get before they pass. It's the worst part. So yes, I'm hesitant to put my emotion into it.
2. There's a recession.
Which shouldn't matter to luck, but it does, because like it or not, in a very visceral way we've all been reminded how things really might not work out. Luck seems to be turning sour a lot faster these days. Besides which, everyone else has tough luck, so a) it's tough to believe you'll have better luck, or b) that you should even be talking about it because it's got an element of cruelty to it.
3. Superstition is back with a vengeance.
I don't know whether its the cultural prevalence of supernatural elements being all over the place (vampires, werewolves) but I knock on wood, I beware black cats, I look for heads up pennies. And part of me remembers that whole, "don't talk about it or it won't come true" superstition.
So, if anyone has either magical charms to counteract jinxes, or words of wisdom to remind me how silly superstitions can be, I'd love to hear either.
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