2013…Ah, that unlucky (or is it?) number 13!  Our mini-Historical Fiction Mystery Challenge will allow you to determine if you have good luck or bad luck—or a bit of both—this coming year! With any kind of luck, we will all be able to eliminate books from our TBR towers!!

There are Bad Luck categories, and Good Luck categories. Read six books and your name will go into a drawing for one credit. You may choose all Bad Luck, all Good Luck, or a combination of both.   Over-achievers may read any 12, plus a bonus 13^th book to be put into a drawing for 2 credits. 

The key words or Letter after each superstition are what you must use.  They may reflect the author’s name, the title, the plot, the characters, even the name of the series. For instance, the new India Black book would be perfect for Bad Luck Category #1.  Or say your character is working undercover; that would fit Bad Luck Category #2.  I have no wet noodle—you can be as creative as possible in making your book fit the category. Just have fun, and whittle away at your TBR pile!  This challenge runs from Jan. 1^st through Dec. 31^st, 2013.

BAD LUCK

1.  Watch out for any black cats that may run across your path.  Black, cat, witch, dark, moon, the Letter B.

2.  Don’t walk under a ladder!  Under, ladder, building, construction, moving to a new place, the Letter L.

3.  Never open an umbrella indoors.  Umbrella, rain, storms, water, the Letter I.

4.  Did you break that mirror? Seven years of bad luck.  Break, mirror, queen, twins, beauty, 1^st person narration.

5.  You shouldn’t have started that trip on a Friday!  Any day of the week, travel, journeys, the Letter F.

6.  You know 13 is the worst number you could pick.  Any number, the 13^th book of a series, or a book that has at least 13 others in the series.

7.  If a dog howls at night, death is near!  Dogs, night, death, dying, execution, grave or graveyard, the Letter D.

8.  Please don’t tell me that was an owl in broad daylight!  Owls, forests, trees, sun, day, the Letter O.

GOOD LUCK

1.  Cross your fingers for good luck.  Cross, religion, religious people, fingers or other body parts, medicine, the Letter C.

2.  Look high and low for a four-leaf clover.  Ireland, any island, plants, gardens, the Letter V.

3.  If you see a rainbow in the sky, things can only get better.  Any color of the rainbow, black, white, color.

4.  Toss a little salt over your left shoulder, just in case. Cooking, food, party, baking, cooks, housekeepers, butlers, the letter S.

5.  Luck be a Lady tonight!  Luck, lady, gentleman, gambler, cheater, rogue, prostitute, the Letter G.

 6.  Throw rice at the happy couple for good luck.  Bride, groom, wedding, marriage, children, mistress, the Letter R.

7.  If you dream about a white cat, you’ll have good luck.  White, cat, moon, dream, stars, the Letter W.

8.  Finding a lost horseshoe is always a good sign!  Horses, racing, any sport, competition, the letter H.

BONUS BOOK

*Millard Fillmore was our 13^th President.  I don’t know if he had good luck or bad, but read a book that is set during President Fillmore’s lifetime: 1800-1874.

*13 years is a long time, but some of us have books that have easily been on Mount TBR that long.  Read a book that’s been on your TBR pile the longest.

*Read a book that has one of these words in the title:  Good, Bad, Luck, Thirteen.

*War is definitely unlucky!  Read a book set during any war, in any country.

Vicky, this is BRILLIANT!!!  I love it!  boy this will be a tough act to follow for the main challenge...off to think...and grumble

Wow Vicky this is AMAZING!!!

Hey Christa, can you just steal all these and use them for the main challenge?   I was getting so excited about how many books I could clear off the shelves, and then I realized this was just for Historical Mysteries. 

I love it Vicky.  Brilliant!

Yep! You did good here Vicky!!!

Vicky --- GREAT JOB!!!!!  Are you going to create a thread for lists only???

Is it obvious that we have a word-a-phile amongst us? A librarian, perhaps ?!?

Super job, Vicky ... so clever!

Kelly

Thanks ladies!  You are all very generous, you know.  

Becky, yes, I will start a thread for lists only...thanks for the reminder! 

Aw, hro, don't you read HF mysteries?  Maybe we can give you a special dispensation or something...

I love hro's idea, and I may be shamelessly stealing from Vicky or tieing the two challenges together a little. What Vicky has done here accomplishes the same goal as my brilliant idea, there will definitely be some synergies, and books that you can count for both challenges. Two for the effort of one! Yay!

Nice job, Vicky!  

Is it really bad that I'm already compiling my list of books? 

OOh, Christa, that would be fun!  Here's another thought:  What if we had geographic categories and time categories, and then readers had Good Luck or Bad Luck in each place or time?

So if you had Bad Luck in Europe, you could pick any one of the Bad Luck categories, but your book had to be set in Europe, or in the 1200's, etc.

Just another thought--I'm sure Christa has some brilliance up her sleeve!  

And yes, I'm thinking about my list already too!

Ahhh....many possibilities there, Vicky.  I will ponder these things during my long flight to India this week and be ready to post the 2013 Challenge when I return the first week of October.  I know three months worth of challenge planning time is no where near enough for this group!

Christa - did you really understand what the heck Vicky is talking about???? lol! My head is spinning already.......

Oh yeah, and 3 months worth of challenge planning????? Just put Vicky on it - she'll have it figured out in ohhhh, about 30 minutes!

I like it!

Well, Jeanne, I pretty much got the concept.  I'm leaning towards stripped down and kinda simple, with a few twists for the main challenge.  Tie ins to the mystery challenge will make some interesting twists!

Go wth It Christa! it will be fun to see how it all works out!!!

Christa - did you really understand what the heck Vicky is talking about????

LOL...now would be a good time to admit that 'Convoluted' is my middle name!  

I'm anxious to see what Christa comes up with too.  It should be fun!!

Well Vicky --- I was just checking out our list thread and you have quite a few takers already!!!!  You really created a fun list for this one.

Vicky - I was looking at the list of topics and the possible options and I've decided that between my DTBs and my Kindle, I'm just going to have to stumble upon something here and there that I think fits - no sense in planning this ahead of time - lol. I'll just be putting books in there as I read them - phew!

Jeanne, that's what I've been doing this year.  It has worked for me, for the most part.  I'm almost done with the challenge here, and the Mystery challenge.  It's fun to plan ahead, but I always end up changing my plans! LOL

Well, I am really determined to manage this Challenge from my TBR and NOT obtain any new books to fill categories.  All that said, I have a few blanks.  If I would only concede to read books OUT OF ORDER for series I could get it all filled out in no time.  BUT reading out of order is simply out of the question!!!!

I must say the "read what I want and slot them in" approach has merit --- perhaps I will do a bit of that as well!!!

Oh by the way, our dear friend "Geri" from the "mysterious" group has signed up for this Challenge.  Some of us have been working on her for a while!!!

Becky, I"m determined to use as many books in the house as I possibly can.  I'm even tempted to also do a Kindle version!  I don't need any more books right now...

I saw Geri saved a spot in the other thread.  Yay!

Well, I have my list all complete now with all but maybe 3 (or 4) from my TBR.  One I even did in Kindle since it was only $2.99.  I was torn whether to buy the book for Kiindle at $2.99 or buy it from Abe's for $4.00.  Since the particular book is not even LISTED on PBS, figured it would just sit here forever and I would never get it traded, so went for the Kindle edition.  If I pay $4.00 or less for a paper copy of a book and it is listed, or even blessedly, wishlisted on PBS I go with paper and figure someone else can enjoy it after me.  But, I must admit I am liking reading the electronic books more than I ever thought I would.  I know I am a weirdo, as I like to read them on my laptop.  BUT, we are going on a two-week cruise in January and I think the Kindle may be nice to have, although the laptop will be there as well. 

I am just so happy that most of the books could come off the TBR!!!  Thanks Vicky for the great job.