How Writing about a Cursed Object brought me Bad Luck

Do you believe an object can be cursed? In my latest title, DREIDELS AND DEAD ENDS, hairstylist sleuth Marla Vail sets on the trail of a thief who stole a diamond-studded hairbrush from the local history museum. This antique item is purported to be cursed after a tragic incident in the past.

I’d seen a cursed object myself when I visited the Fort East Martello Museum in Key West that houses Robert the Doll. Anyone who disrespects this sailor doll has bad luck follow them home. People have even written letters to the doll begging for his forgiveness. 📩

I never thought that writing about a curse would bring one upon myself. That is, until my computer started freezing up and messages said the hard drive was out of storage space. My only valid option was to get a new computer. This started me on a project to clear out old files and photos, an endless and time-consuming task.

🌩️ Then during a thunderstorm—the only rain we’d had in weeks—I was working on my backup computer, when a startling clap of thunder sounded right outside the window. The computer screen blacked out and then blinked back on, thanks to a battery-backup surge protector. The Internet was still connected, so I considered myself lucky.

Wrong.

I went upstairs and noticed the thermostat on the a/c unit up there read “No Power.” The unit had shut off as a precaution.

😲 What? This couldn’t be due to a blockage in the pipes. I’d just had maintenance service three weeks ago.

I notified my a/c company and they promised to send out a technician in the morning.

Meanwhile, at dinner time, I turned on the family TV to listen to the news. Uh-oh. No sound!

📺 I reset the cable box, tried troubleshooting tips for the soundbar, and changed the batteries in the remotes. Nada.

In my bedroom, the TV worked, but the volume controls on my remote did nothing. What was going on? Had the lightning knocked out the sensors on both televisions?

The a/c guy arrived the next morning. No problems with the system, he said, but the power level was abnormally low. The circuits would need to be fixed by an electrician. 😧

I scheduled an electrician and the cable guy for the next day. Maybe the latter could at least bypass my TV soundbar to see if he could get sound from the TV.

🔥 It seemed the soundbar was fried, but it was old anyway. We bypassed it and I was able to control the volume from the Sony remote. Fortunately, in the bedroom, the volume control worked on the TV remote but not on my Firestick one. Something had definitely messed up these sensors.

Then another warning bleeped on my phone. Something was wrong with my wired smoke and carbon monoxide detector in the hallway outside my bedroom. I had to call the alarm company to send a technician. Thankfully, he replaced the faulty device and that fixed the problem.

Coincidence or not?

I won’t even mention the health issues that popped up during this time, since that’s another story.

And all because I wrote about a curse… or not, depending on what you believe. 😞

🕎🕎🕎

Read about the cursed hairbrush in Dreidels and Dead Ends and follow Marla as she solves a heist at the local history museum while juggling holiday preparations for her interfaith family.

Do you believe an object can create bad luck, or is it all coincidence?