Your Lucky Day

Does it seem everyone else gets the lucky breaks? Are you never in the right place at the right time? How come you haven't been "discovered," the way Lana Turner was, sitting in a drug store?

I think the ancient Roman writer Seneca said it best: "Luck is what happens when opportunity meets preparedness." That means you study up on when and where opportunity might strike, and you plan to be there ready to make an impression. It means you always dress your best for work and keep your desk clean, in case the president of the company makes a surprise visit.

It means you write a lot of books, so that when you hear that such-and-such editor is looking for a meaty Western historical or a sexy alien book, you've got one ready to pop in the mail. It means that when you attend a professional conference, you have a list of who you'd like to talk to, what you're going to say, and what your objectives are so that a chance encounter in an elevator pays off.

Lots of people get lucky breaks. But it's the ones who know what to do with an opportunity that we hear about. You can be just as lucky. Plan for all kinds of eventualities, and be prepared.

As for Lana (whose real name was Julia Jean Mildred Frances), maybe she knew the publisher of the Hollywood Reporter often frequented that drugstore (and it was actually a cafe). Maybe she skipped typing class every week for months, hoping for a chance encounter. Maybe she situated herself on just the right stool, and maybe she watched for him and smiled at him when he showed up.

I'm just guessing, but having read a short biography of Ms. Turner, she sounds like the kind of person who made her own luck.

Fortunately,
Kara