Paraskavedekatriaphobia Anybody?

"Superstitions are habits rather than beliefs." - Marlene Dietrich

Are you paraskavedekatriaphobic? If so, you are not alone. It has been reported that more than 60 million people worldwide suffer from the morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13. Convincing these sufferers that their superstition is a habit may be impossible. Some of these people are unable to get out of bed on this day, much less drive a car or work.

Every year has at least one and at most three Friday the 13ths. A month that begins with a Sunday will always have a Friday the 13th in it. There will be three in 2009—February, March and November.

The cost of absenteeism, travel cancellations for planes and trains, and reduced shopping on this day is around a billion dollars in America. A British study concluded that even though there were less cars on the road on Friday the 13th (as compared with other Fridays) more accidents were reported.

Do you alter your schedule on Friday the 13th? Or do you have any superstitious habits like the following writers?

Isabel Allende began writing her first published book on January 8, so that’s the day she has started all subsequent books.

Alexandre Dumas, the elder, ate an apple at 7 a.m. each morning under the Arc de Triomphe.

Bharati Mukherjee will not leave the house if someone sneezes just as she's getting ready to leave and she doesn't cut her nails on certain days of the week.

Stephen King goes through these motions when he sits down to write; "I have a glass of water or I have a cup of tea. I have my vitamin pill I have my music; I have my same seat; and the papers are all arranged in the same places."

Charles Dickens walked twenty to thirty miles a day. He also placed objects on his desk in exactly the same position, always set his bed in north/south directions, and touched certain objects three times for luck.

To read more about the origins and legends of Friday the 13th visit About.com.

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Tags: Dietrich, Roosevelt, Allende, Dumas, Mukherjee, Stephen King, Dickens, Friday 13, Paraskavedekatriaphobia ,

Rejection Letters

“No rejection is fatal until the writer walks away from the battle leaving dreams and goals behind.” - Jeff Herman

I don’t know of any writer that has not received a number of rejections before finding a publisher for their manuscript. I received plenty of rejections before finding a home for The Ride with ArcheBooks. Sometimes the ‘reject’ was a form letter, sometimes a short hand written note and many times receiving nothing at all was my only clue that my submission had not been accepted.

It’s hard not to take rejection personally but as an author it’s important to develop a thick hide. Otherwise, you may become so discouraged that you quit submitting. Though disappointed by my rejections, it helped me to remember I was not alone.
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Rudyard Kipling received the following note from the editor of the San Francisco Examiner: “I’m sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just don’t know how to use the English language.”

The Time Machine author H.G. Wells, was told, “It is not interesting enough for the general reader and not thorough enough for the scientific reader.”

Dr. Seuss was told, “…too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling.”

George Orwell was told, “It is impossible to sell animal stories in the U.S.A.”

One of Mary Higgins Clark’s rejections for Journey Back to Love stated, “We found the heroine as boring as her husband had.”

One rejection of Carrie that Stephen King received said, “We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell.”

Each of these authors had the last laugh.

How do you handle rejection letters?

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Tags: The Ride, ArcheBooks, Jeff Herman, Kipling, H. G. Wells, Dr. Seuss, Orwell, Mary Higgins Clark, Stephen King, rejections,