The Family Curse

I have two friends who’ve been talking about their family curses. Yes, sometimes bad things happen to good people, and it seems like these things usually happen in multiples and around the same time. Fortunately, they’ve both maintained their sense of humor.

 I think this cat has looked into the face of a family curse.

“My son wrecked the car yesterday, but he’s okay. Hahahaha” “A car drove through our living room wall last night. The fool missed all of us because we were in the back yard barbequing. hahahahaha” “The roof caved in last night. Fortunately, we weren’t home. Hahahaha”

Okay, maybe it’s not as much a sense of humor as it is shock. Some people laugh at the things that scare them the most. Maybe it’s a coping mechanism. Oh, and those things didn’t really happen to my friends, but they have had their hands full lately.

Things happen to characters in books, too. Mysteries might be a little boring if something didn’t go wrong. Take my Sandi Webster series. Sandi tries to go her merry little way, but something always leaps right in front of her, like her menopausal mother or her eccentric aunt in One Adventure Too Many where they want to be in on the action. Do they care if they might be kidnapped? They wouldn’t believe it could happen. After all, they’re menopausal and eccentric.

Even the bad guys can be goofy sometimes. If you read a lot of mysteries, you’ve probably laughed at some of their antics. It’s all in the way you present them.  Of course, there are bad guys who are just plain bad.

Chris Cross, of the Bogey Man series, has his own crosses to bear. His mother is quirky and has her own agenda, while his father is quiet with a smile that resembles a grimace. Chris bears a close resemblance to Humphrey Bogart and too frequently emulates the real Bogey’s mannerisms. His wife, Pamela, has way too much fun becoming involved in mysteries, and his precocious son is too smart for his own good. Chris also has some close encounters with a gaggle of Church Ladies. (Think Snoop Sisters who go to church.) Let’s not forget Grandma Tillie. She’s nuttier than his mother, and she’ll be putting in an appearance in the next Bogey book.

Do these characters think in terms of a Family Curse? Not really, although Sandi once wondered if it’s her lot in life to be involved with elderly people and dogs.

Speaking of dogs, they can be just as nutty as people. Just ask Sandi or Pamela, Chris’s wife.

Sandi has a half wolf/half Golden Retriever who’s the size of a small bear and who smiles a lot. Bubba is big, and he has some irrational fears including what appears to be a ghost in the attic. His doggy smile frightens people because it looks like he’s baring his teeth at them. Sometimes that can be a good thing. She recently added a small Chiweinie to her household. This dog is a nervous licker and she has irrational fears of coughing, sneezing, and of course, loud noises like thunder. Both dogs are based on dogs I know. The Chiweinie is my daughter’s dog.

Chris has two Yellow Labs with issues of their own. Sherlock, the male, seems to take too many chances and Watson, the female, seems to think he’s an idiot. These dogs are based on my own Labs who have more than their share of issues. They’re both afraid of the dark, and I once saw the large male cowed by a snail. (That one’s going to have to go in a story.)

So, yes, sometimes fictional characters might feel like they’ve been cursed, but they keep moving along. Maybe we’d be better off if we followed their example. Needless to say, there are situations we can’t laugh off, but let’s keep it light when we can.

How are things going for you? Well, I hope. Can you relate to some of the characters you read about in books? Has a book ever helped you wade through bad times?

Until next week, keep smiling and try to laugh a few things off.

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Now that I've mentioned family curses and One Adventure Too Many - A Sandi Webster Mystery, you might think about giving it a try.