Did You Write on Friday the 13th?

By Annette Cole Mastron, Communications Director for Southern Writers Magazine

This past week, the first Friday the 13th of 2017 occurred. Do you avoid writing on the 13th, if it falls on a Friday? Does it matter? Are you superstitious? Do you get great ideas on a Friday the 13th?

A fear of Friday the 13th is called Paraskevidekatriaphobia, derived from the from the Greek words paraskeví meaning Friday, and dekatria meaning thirteen. Additionally, the number 666 is the number associated with the devil in many superstitions.

On January 13, 2017, Finnair created the quadfecta of superstitions. Flight 666 flew from Copenhagen to Helsinki. Helsinki airport's code is HEL, and the airplane was 13 years old. Flight tracker Twitter account Flightradar24 poked fun at the coincidence, saying: 'Would you dare to sit in row 13, on board Finnair flight 666 en route to Hel on Friday the 13th?' It's a crazy world, and we as writers get to craft stories that intrigue. As I've often blogged, real life events with a twist make for great fiction. 

All this hoopla about Friday the 13th made me think about a car tag we once had. The vehicle was a new-to-us used car. A baby blue Suburban with wood panels and a hunting dog sun screen on the back window. My husband waited in the long line to get our car tags and pay the taxes. When it was finally his turn, he paid the fees and was handed the tag. He looked at the tag and then at the clerk and said, "really?" A conversation ensued and to get a different tag it would require going to the end of the line. So the tag "HRH666" went on the truck, and for years we kept coming up with acronyms for the "HRH." Driving a vehicle with a "666" tag was empowering, but I'm not superstitious. 

What did I do on 1-13-17? I wrote this blog and a short story full of superstitious nonsense. It was fun. What did you write about on the first, Friday 13th, 2017?