Hi guys! Today, we have a tour stop for the Warlock’s Curse blog tour, hosted by CBB promotions. The book is by M.K. Hobson and the tour will run until 12/28. We have a guest post from the author herself below, and a tour-wide giveaway is ongoing. Make sure to enter. Enjoy!
Hooray! The world didn’t end!
by M.K. Hobson
If it’s December 21st, and you’re reading this after 6 a.m., congratulations—you have survived the Mayan Apocalypse! Or, perhaps it’s more accurate to say that, since the Mayan Apocalypse clearly did not come, you survived all the hype about the Mayan Apocalypse that we’ve been subjected to for weeks, months—and for some of us who are very superstitious—years. And this isn’t the first time that an end-of-the world prophecy has gripped the public consciousness, nor will it be the last.
In my Veneficas Americana series, I imagined a kind of magic called Credomancy. It’s the magic of belief, exploiting the idea that if enough people believe something, then it gains real worldly power. Credomancers are warlocks who use persuasion and other psychological arts to make the public believe things that will create real, tangible benefit—usually for the credomancer.
Though wish I could say I came up with the idea of human belief creating physical reality, but I can’t—the concept goes all the way back to Plato. And as it turns out, the idea may even have some tiny bit of scientific credence. A ten-year scientific study into the nature of luck, conducted by psychologist Richard Wiseman, revealed that, to a large extent, people do make their own good and bad fortune. The results also show that it is possible to enhance the amount of luck we encounter in our lives.
For his study, Dr. Wiseman studied people who identified themselves as very lucky, as well as people who identified themselves as unlucky. His research revealed some common traits among both groups. He discovered that the “lucky” people generate their own good fortune in four specific ways. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, they make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, their positive expectations are self-fulfilling prophesies, and they have a level of mental resiliency that helps them see the silver lining in every cloud. He also notes that lucky people tend to shake things up in their life—taking a different route on their daily walk, or doing things that push their comfort level.
Unlucky people, on the other hand, are generally more fearful and anxious, and less able to notice the opportunities life hands them. It’s not that those opportunities aren’t there; it’s just that they don’t perceive them because their minds are too busy with worry to notice them. This higher level of fear and anxiety tends to keep them creatures of habit, not breaking out of their routines and thus, not exposing themselves to opportunities.
There is a problem with this kind of thinking, however. It’s easy to turn it on its head and say that if bad things happen to you, it’s because you have a bad attitude. Author Barbara Ehrenreich tackles this in her excellent book “Bright-Sided.” In it, she points out the overwhelming personal burden that “making our own luck” places on us: “If optimism is the key to material success, and you can achieve an optimistic outlook through the discipline of positive thinking, then there is no excuse for failure … if your business fails or your job is eliminated, it must be because you didn’t try hard enough.”
While she makes an excellent point, she doesn’t convince me that positive thinking isn’t, on the whole, better for our mental and emotional health. The answer to the conundrum, comes when you stop thinking of a “lucky” person as “someone who gets what he or she wants”—and instead realize that a “lucky” person is actually nothing more than someone who truly appreciates what he or she actually gets.
And as for the Mayan Apocalypse, I have a theory about that, too. I think human beings indulge in these “doomsday” panics as a way to shake ourselves up—to make ourselves change and grow, just like taking a different route on our daily walk. Not to mention the fact that we all get to heave a collective sigh of gratitude and relief when the worst does not come to pass. I think these events are actually beneficial for us —and as such, maybe they can even help us all become a little bit luckier as result!
THE YEAR IS 1910. Eighteen-year-old Will Edwards has landed a prestigious apprenticeship at Detroit’s Tesla Industries, the most advanced scientific research center in the United States. It’s a plum prize for a young man who dreams of a career in the new science of Otherwhere Engineering.But his father doesn’t want him to go. And he won’t tell him why.
Determined to get there by any means necessary, Will finds unexpected support along the way. His old friend Jenny Hansen—daughter of a San Francisco timber baron—is eager to help him for reasons of her own. And so is his estranged brother Ben, who he hasn’t seen in over ten years.
But running away turns out to be the easy part. On the first full moon after his eighteenth birthday, Will is stricken by a powerful magic—a devastating curse laid upon his ancestors by the malevolent sangrimancer Aebedel Cowdray. Will must find a way to control the magic that possesses him—or the vengeful warlock’s spirit will destroy everything and everyone he loves.
Check out the book trailer here: http://youtu.be/oyrYAfu8IMg
M.K. Hobson’s debut novel, The Native Star—the first book in her Veneficas Americana series—was nominated for a Nebula award in 2010. She lives in the first city in the United States incorporated west of the Rockies. Her favorite writers are Theodore Dreiser, Sinclair Lewis, Booth Tarkington, Gore Vidal, and William S. Burroughs. The Warlock’s Curse is her third novel. You can find out more at her website, www.demimonde.com.
Twitter: @mkhobson
Prize package of *signed* copies of The Native Star, The Hidden Goddess and The Warlock's Curse as well as a swag pack of a Tesla Industries pin, magnets and a sticker *not shown*.
*Open to US only*
13 ebooks of The Warlock's Curse
*Open worldwide*
Ends 12/30/12
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*Open to US only*
13 ebooks of The Warlock's Curse
*Open worldwide*
Ends 12/30/12
This tour was hosted by:
We survived! LOL. I wasn't sure that I believed the apocalypse might happen, but I was semi ready regardless. Which is good because now we have a small stockpile of non perishables in case something does happen at some point.
ReplyDeleteI love this post because yes, we should be more accepting of what is handed us and consider ourselves lucky. Especially when we look at those in third world countries (or even our own country) who have it so much worse.
Thanks for hosting a tour stop Jenna!
Yes,lol. Thanks too Candace!
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