The June bug looks a lot like an Egyptian scarab, which symbolized good luck and rebirth. Wickeds, do your characters have a good luck talisman? How about you?
Edith/Maddie: What a great question, Julie. We should know our characters’ talisman’s, right? I can’t think of any for my current protags. But as I am RIGHT NOW starting a new series and understanding Cece Barton’s background and motivations, you can bet she’s going to have a good luck something-or-other. I brought home a little Good Luck in Driving charm from Japan forty-five years ago. It kept me safe for a long time, until I think it got traded in along with my previous car in 2009. Yesterday I made a body shop appointment to fix damage caused – at very slow speed – by a car backing into mine while I was parked and in it. (Yeah, buddy – use your eyeballs as well as the the backup camera!) I definitely need a new safety-in-the car talisman.
Barb: I would swear to you that I don’t have any good luck charms, because I don’t think of stuff that way, but the truth is I have hundreds of “comfort objects” around this house–small things and artwork from my late parents’ and grandparents’ houses, things I’ve picked up in my travels, gifts from family and friends, etc. Similarly, Julia runs the clambake from her late father’s office. She derives great comfort, confidence, and strength from sitting at his desk, looking at the paintings of ships on the walls and the old-fashioned metal file cabinets. The whole room is her good luck charm.
Jessie: Like Barb, I don’t have any objects that I associate with luck, at least not in an overarching way. I think I may be a bit superstitious about things that I know work in various situations. I have favorite items for specific tasks, like certain pens that I use for particular activities and an exact sort of notebook in which I start all of my novels. My characters don’t have talismans either. My sleuth Beryl believes she makes her own luck and Edwina is far too sensible to credit luck at all. WPC Billie Harkness is the daughter of a rector and was raised to put faith in religion rather than luck. She tends to be a “trust in God, but tie up your camel” sort of woman.
Sherry: I am so superstitious, but I usually hide it. My husband gave me a necklace two months after our daughter was born. I wear it a lot and while it’s utterly ridiculous, I feel less stressed when I have it on. I lost it once briefly when the chain broke. I was so upset. Fortunately, my daughter found it between the seats of our car. Whew.
Julie: Edith, you definitely need to find a new talisman. So glad it was a slow speed accident, but yeesh. Barb, like you I have dozens of things around my house from people I love, or passed down to people I loved who passed them down to me. I also wear a ring my parents gave me for a birthday that means the world to me. For the Garden Squad, Lilly has sculptures in her garden that remind her of her late husband, parents and others.
Readers, do you have an object that brings you good luck?