When Pigs Fly

by Allison Pang

When I was in 5th grade I had a rabbit's foot - one of those mass produced jobs that probably came out of a quarter prize machine. (Do they even have those anymore??)

It was dyed red and had a chain on it and for much of that year it was my good luck charm against bullies. Not that it helped much, really - but squeezing it in my pocket when I was in a bad way did at least give me some odd sort of comfort.

And then I moved and ended up at another school. The rabbit's foot disappeared in the interim, but when I got to the new school I discovered I didn't need it anyway.

When it comes to writing, I don't know if I have a "lucky" item. I think I did this on purpose because I didn't want to be dependent on having a specific set up to get my writing done.

I do, however, have a lucky garden pig.

He's not specific to writing, though I did buy him the spring that I finished up my first manuscript. He came from one of those farm/children't parks - they had a whole series of animals made up of rusted scrap metal. I was still in the "can I do this for real?" writing stage when I came across the pig - and I figured I probably had a snowball's chance of ever actually getting pubbed - but the old adage of "when pigs fly" seemed to fit here.

So I bought it as an example of what could be done, given the proper motivation - and he sits on my front porch. (Sometimes he is moved to the garden just below. He's a funny pig like that.) And that was the summer when things started to happen - contest wins, agents...and eventually the sale.

I don't know if I can truly attribute it to the pig, but I don't take any chances. I get mighty testy if anyone moves him and he's got to be facing out. (Don't ask me why. Call it a feeling.)

Luck is a funny word. While I do think that random bits of chance can certainly influence how things turn out, I also believe we make our own luck. It's easy to say "hey, the pig is lucky!" - but buying the pig didn't negate the fact that I'd written a novel, that I'd entered contests, written query letters, etc.

Luck may tip the scales in our favor...but only if we put ourselves in a position to have it do so. :)