Tour Stop: Fun Friday the 13th Facts by Amanda Bonilla

Today I’m pleased to welcome fab author, Amanda Bonilla, to the blog! She recently published the second book in her Shaede Assasin series titled Blood Before Sunrise. If you haven’t given her novels a try yet I strongly encourage you to do so. You’re in for a real treat, trust me! 🙂

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Thanks so much to Carmel and Rabid Reads for hosting me today!! Go Canada! 😉

Sometimes I wonder if I have bad luck because I’m superstitious, or if I’m superstitious because I have bad luck. I come from a pretty superstitious family. In fact, my great-grandma, who was admittedly a little off her nut, claimed she saw ghosts, ladles floating above water basins, and she even claimed a will-o-the-wisp drifted through her house one night. So I suppose certain superstitions were passed down through my family. And my mom likes to tell me that Murphy’s Law was written for me. Over the years I’ve adopted a “plan for the worst” mindset because truly, my mom is right. Call it superstition, self-fulfilling prophecy, or just plain old bad luck, but I seem to experience the effects of Murphy’s Law more often on Friday the 13th.

The last Friday the 13th was in April. I backed my car into my husband’s truck and broke my tail light and dented the back end. I’ve broken a wrist and locked my keys out of my car on Friday the 13th, too. My list of misfortune could probably fill an entire blog post on their own, but instead of boring you with a story about the time the hubs dropped a thirty pound river rock on my foot, I thought I’d share a few fun facts I gathered from around the interwebs about Friday the 13th.

Fun Facts for Friday the 13th

• This year there are three Friday the Thirteenths: Jan. 13, April 13 and July 13. And what’s even more interesting is that the dates fall exactly 13 weeks apart. That hasn’t happened since 1984.
• The next year that we’ll have three Friday the Thirteenths is 2015. They’ll fall in the months of February, March and November.
• Pagans consider the number 13 a lucky number. It corresponds with the number of full moons in a year.
• A witch’s coven is often comprised of 13 members.
• According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, N.C., estimates suggest hundreds of millions of dollars are lost every year due to people’s fear of flying or doing business as usual on Friday the 13th.

• Fear of Friday the 13th dates back to Nordic Mythology. Many of their thirteenth Gods met with violent deaths, such as Loki, the trickster.
• Ancient Romans regarded the number 13 as a symbol of death, destruction and misfortune.
• Lizzy Borden uttered a total of 13 words at her trial.
• There are 13 steps leading to the gallows.
• There are also 13 knots in a hangman’s noose.
• Thirteen feet which the guillotine blade falls. (Wow, those last three are morbid and creepy! No wonder 13 is considered unlucky!)
• Triskaidekaphobia is the technical name for fear of Friday the 13th.
• Certain ocean liners will be held in dock until after midnight to appease passenger’s fears on Friday the 13th.
• A British study concluded that even though there were less cars on the road on Friday the 13th (as compared with other Fridays) more accidents were reported.

Thanks to msnbc.com and cosmicsociety.com for some of these fun facts! How do you feel about Friday the 13th? Is it just another day, or do you hole up in your house and hide under the covers until the 14th rolls around?

Author Bio Amanda Bonilla lives in rural Idaho with her husband and two kids. She’s a part-time pet wrangler, a full-time sun worshipper, and only goes out into the cold when coerced. She loves the outdoors, black clothes, pink appliances and thinks junk food should be a recognized food group. In the summer, she can be found sitting by the lake, enjoying the view from her dock. Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter

In the shadows of the night, Darian has lived alone for almost a century. Made and abandoned by her former love, Darian is the last of her kind—an immortal Shaede who can slip into darkness as easily as breathing. With no one else to rely on, she has taught herself how to survive, using her unique skills to become a deadly assassin. When Darian’s next mark turns out to be Xander Peck, King of the Shaede Nation, her whole worldview is thrown into question. Darian begins to wonder if she’s taken on more than her conscience will allow. But a good assassin never leaves a job unfinished… Read Excerpt / My Review

“She needed a bargaining chip and this was it. Raif’s daughter’s life for hers. And he knew damn good and well I was right. Just like he’d assured me the night I’d killed Azriel, this was far from over. His daughter was alive, I knew it. And I was going to find her.” For months Darian and her Shaede guardian Raif have searched for the Oracle who attempted to overthrow the Shaede Nation—and kill Darian in the bargain. But now that they’ve finally found the half-crazed Oracle, for their efforts they are granted a possibility too painful for Raif to imagine, and too enticing for Darian to ignore. Darian is determined to reunite Raif and the daughter he thought was dead, but her mission quickly proves dangerous when her lover Tyler is almost killed. And when a brooding and mysterious Fae warrior offers his guidance—at an extraordinary price—Darian finds herself willing to risk everything. As her single-minded hunt turns into an obsession, and she and Tyler grow further apart, Darian finds herself caught between the man she loves like a brother, and the man whose love she can’t live without… Read Excerpt / My Review

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