Coincidence or Muse Miracle?

Coincidence : A sequence of events that although accidental seems to have been planned or arranged.

I'm not one who believes in coincidences. When certain things happen, I believe it's the universe's way of urging us in a certain direction. Call it the muse, the gut, the instinct, call it anything but coincidence. I've shared an example below...you be the judge.

In mid-February, hubby and I went to Savannah to do research on my current book-in-progress and celebrate my birthday. Savannah held its annual Irish Festival, and since the book has Irish themes, what better way to have some fun and do research at the same time? We shopped, we walked, we talked to men wearing kilts. (Apparently it's an Irish thing too? I figured it was only Scottish, but I digress...)

After a few hours (and a clueless bartender who, instead of making me a Black&Tan, made a black and foam - gross!) I was, shall we say, a bit grumpy. We met up with people who wanted to see a later performance by another band, so as much as I longed for the comfy bed back at the B&B, we stayed at the festival. But I was proactive! Knowing that saving seats would be a nightmare, I went into the earlier act's performance to hear the last 10 minutes of their set, figuring I could easily save seats once they finished.

And this is when coincidence did not happen.

During those 10 minutes, a band I'd never heard of (Roger Drawdy & The Firestarters) ROCKED the house down. Fiddles, guitars, drums, lyrics--all combined with a passion and energy I hadn't seen before. To watch musicians with so much talent and dedication to their creative art was, for lack of a better word, mesmerizing :)

And that's when a key character for the book was born. I'd been trying to incorporate some Irish customs into the plot but wasn't sure how. Up until those 10 minutes, my subconscious had been marinating on ideas, but it was like walking around with blurry vision. Seeing them perform was like having Lasik surgery.

Suddenly, the muse was no longer whispering hints...she was talking non-stop! And she's continuing to chatter all the time, which is helping this book move along faster than I could have hoped for.

But, coincidence? What if we hadn't met up with our friends that day and we'd gone back to the inn to relax before dinner? What if we'd gone to Savannah on another weekend? What if that bartender had fixed my drink right and I would have remained nearby to drink another one, thereby missing the performance?

All interesting questions...

There are no coincidences...