Lions and Lambs…

It’s the first day of March and I am reminded of the old saying that, March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. In my experience, this is never really true.

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First, the weather is never predictable. A friend of mine who was in the meteorologist business used to say that predicting weather from a scientific viewpoint was often as accurate as tossing a bag of bones on the table and using that as a source for predicting the weather. Second, this saying completely ignores those parts of the country where March is not the month that transitions to spring. For example, my pals in Australia or New Zealand would happily remind me that March is the start of fall for them. Third, this saying completely ignores parts of the world where the warmth of the sun likely shines brightly throughout the entire month of March and the seasons bring different weather than what I am used to in the Pacific Northwest.

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This got me to thinking where did this saying originate. Of course, I am going to share my research on this. You know how much I love Google! There are three interesting details I discovered:

According to The Paris Review, there was an early citation of this in a proverb book that came out in 1732 by Thomas Fuller.
Another theory is the saying was based in astrology because the constellation Leo the Lion is on the eastern horizon at sunset at the start of March and by the end of the month, Aries (the Ram) is on the western horizon. Okay, granted a Ram is not quite a lamb, but it sounded better than in like a lion and out like a ram.
The Farmer’s Almanac has several other related sayings, but of course, those are all tied to springtime in the US, completely ignoring the rest of the world!

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So, what does this have to do with writing? I believe a book release is a bit like this common saying known in my part of the world. The ranking is like gangbusters the first week, coming in like a lion and then eventually it tapers off. The inevitability of newer, shinier book releases cause the rank to fall. I think that’s an okay thing because March eventually moves on, then comes April, May, June and finally the start of summer here in the US. I enjoy those lazy days of summer…the mellowing of the weather. After the initial push and once the lamb makes an appearance, I can sit back and let those lazy days come. I don’t need to ride the lion anymore and make sure she roars the message of my new book release.

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