Product Description
Daphne Dilbeck's life is ruled by little rituals. She doesn't remember when or how she invented them; she doesn't always rationally believe they work. (Like blowing a kiss for luck when she sees a black cat.) When everything starts going wrong, Daphne is at a loss until her superstitious friend Snow suggests that she has somehow hexed herself by botching one of her lucky rituals. She's had at least one hallucination (from discontinuing a mood-elevating drug--or so she hopes); her boyfriend has dumped her, and she has just lost an important document. Could Snow be right about the jinx or hex? If she is, how can Daphne fix it?
As Daphne attempts to restore her luck by chanting incantations she finds on the Internet, burning candles as advised by a New Age store, and even visiting a Mexican witch's "circle," things worsen. Her ex swears out a restraining order against her, and opportunities evaporate like soap bubbles. Events snowball until even Daphne's best ritual can't extricate her.
Are there such things as hexes, or can one make one's own luck? Is her mother right when she says Daphne just has mild OCD, and most of this is in her imagination? Daphne's investigation into the nature of luck runs parallel to her personal search for meaning and her journey from being someone who blames "bad luck" for her problems to being someone who takes responsibility for what happens to her, even if the only thing she can do is bend her head against the ill wind and trim the sails to change course. The romantic subplot steams up a few pages, but this isn't strictly a romance; it's a sort of "coming-of-age" novel for a grown-up--although it isn't about an initiation into sex. It's all about growing up at age thirty, with a little help from true friends.
The novel is not exclusively a paranormal, because it is left up to the reader as to whether the events that seem "magical" or mystical are "real" (for certain values of "real") or simply coincidences colored by the main character's compulsions, superstitions, and beliefs. It is more properly literary women's fiction, like Alice Hoffman's _PRACTICAL MAGIC_ or _CHARMS FOR THE EASY LIFE_ by Kaye Gibbons. Fans of TV's "Monk" will appreciate the portrayal of a compulsive, superstitious personality. Others may enjoy the wacky attempts Daphne makes to take off the hex (if it's there). And anyone who wants a happy ending has come to the right novel.
As Daphne attempts to restore her luck by chanting incantations she finds on the Internet, burning candles as advised by a New Age store, and even visiting a Mexican witch's "circle," things worsen. Her ex swears out a restraining order against her, and opportunities evaporate like soap bubbles. Events snowball until even Daphne's best ritual can't extricate her.
Are there such things as hexes, or can one make one's own luck? Is her mother right when she says Daphne just has mild OCD, and most of this is in her imagination? Daphne's investigation into the nature of luck runs parallel to her personal search for meaning and her journey from being someone who blames "bad luck" for her problems to being someone who takes responsibility for what happens to her, even if the only thing she can do is bend her head against the ill wind and trim the sails to change course. The romantic subplot steams up a few pages, but this isn't strictly a romance; it's a sort of "coming-of-age" novel for a grown-up--although it isn't about an initiation into sex. It's all about growing up at age thirty, with a little help from true friends.
The novel is not exclusively a paranormal, because it is left up to the reader as to whether the events that seem "magical" or mystical are "real" (for certain values of "real") or simply coincidences colored by the main character's compulsions, superstitions, and beliefs. It is more properly literary women's fiction, like Alice Hoffman's _PRACTICAL MAGIC_ or _CHARMS FOR THE EASY LIFE_ by Kaye Gibbons. Fans of TV's "Monk" will appreciate the portrayal of a compulsive, superstitious personality. Others may enjoy the wacky attempts Daphne makes to take off the hex (if it's there). And anyone who wants a happy ending has come to the right novel.
About the Author
Denise Weeks has been writing since she could hold a crayon. She has been writing novels since she had chicken pox at age six and her father sat by her bedside and told her that books didn't drop from the sky fully formed, but were written by mortals. She graduated from Southern Methodist University with bachelor's degrees in computer science and in mathematics (with a minor in English); she worked as a software engineer for several years. All the while she was scribbling, scribbling. Like many homegrown Texas humorists, she isn't funny. Novelist, pianist, belly dancer, baton twirler (but no fire batons ever again, by order of the Renner Volunteer Fire Brigade), and amateur radio operator, she has published many short pieces in anthologies, magazines, and journals, along with faithfully maintaining her weblog (which is not a "diary"--diaries pretend to some version of the truth, and writers don't hold with strict veracity. They prefer stories, because they make more sense.) She has worked as a software weenie, soft-serve cone maker at Dairy Queen (she perfected that little twirl on the top of the dipped cone), and secondary school math tutor. Her favorite foods are curried yak, chocolate, and French fries. She knows (but is not telling) a plethora of alchemical and occult secrets. Homeland Security has identified her as a person of interest. (Okay, just kidding. She doesn't really eat curried yak.) She is currently at work on yet another novel. She and her husband live happily in a northern suburb of Dallas, Texas, with their two beloved pets: a yappy Pomeranian and Denise's elderly mother. Write when you get work. Visit her blog at http://shalanna.livejournal.com
