Weight of the Human Soul?

In my upcoming release, Finders, Demonologist Luke Melloy fights on behalf of the human soul. But is the soul a tangible part of the human anatomy? Some people think it is and has even determined its approximate weight. 
 
The Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, who lived in the sixth century BC, thought that the soul was composed of an unusually fine or rare kind of matter, such as air or fire.

In 1901 a doctor named Duncan MacDougall tried to prove the existence of the human soul. To do this he measured the weight of terminally ill patients before and at the moment of their death. He had 6 patients, who all experienced weight loss at the moment of death, with the average loss of weight being 21 grams.  

In 1988 ~From a Noetic Science experiment:

The human soul weighs 1/3,000th of an ounce!
That’s the astonishing claim of East German researchers who recently weighed more than 200 terminally ill patients just before, and immediately after, their deaths.

In each case the weight loss was exactly the same–1/3,000th of an ounce.
“The inescapable conclusion is that we have now confirmed the existence of the human soul and determined its weight,” Dr. Becker Mertens of Dresden said in a letter printed in the German science journal Horizon. Read More...

There has been no further valid experimentation since 1988 that I can find.

Various theories have been assembled to explain the change in weight from life to death.   Some try to say the margin for error in the calculations is larger than stated and therefore the results are questionable, while others have used the experiments to argue in support of the theory that  “dark matter” is part of the makeup of all living humans.

Hollywood decided to add their 2 cents with the release of 21 Grams in 2003 - A freak accident brings together a critically ill mathematician, a grieving mother, and a born-again ex-con.The film was critically acclaimed and won 30 awards with two Oscar nominations.

Whether it’s 21 grams, or 0.01 gram, the jury is still out on what it all means.

What do you think? Let me know your take on The Weight of a Human Soul.

Look for Finders Coming in 2019!


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Saturday Seven ~ April 13th 2019

Happy Saturday, what have you been up to this week? Here is a rundown of highlights for the week. I hope you find them useful in your life! My goal as a person and a writer are to always Pay-It-Forward so please let me know how I can help you. YES, YOU!
Enjoy your weekend & this post! Amazing things to come!
~Amy

What am I Reading? - What if There Is Nothing Wrong With You: A Practice in Reinterpretation by Henkels Susan Munich ~ Susan Henkels has worked as a psychotherapist for more than 45 years. That means she’s spent decades smiling and nodding, decades handing over tissues at the appropriate moment — and decades hearing people tell her all the things about themselves that need to be fixed.

One day, as she was listening to a patient take her through the “whole list of what was wrong with her,” says Henkels, “I thought in the middle of this litany, ‘What? There’s actually nothing wrong with her.’”

From that moment, she realized there is a surprising power to be found in prompting people to ask themselves, “What if there’s nothing wrong with me?” Read More Here.

·       What am I Listening to? –  A lot of classic rock. I found a new radio station that plays it and it really is a good time. Even if I do not know the song I still enjoy it and I cannot say that about any other kind of music. The Eagles, Bob Segar, Fleetwood Mac, Three Dog Night, Elton John, Billy Joel, Carly Simon, James Taylor, America, Toto, etc.  FM 92.9 The Drive

       

·       What Quote am I pondering? –  Been an eventful week and the one that keeps swirling through my brain is “Just keep swimming, Just keep swimming, Just keep swimming” ~ Dory from Disney’s Finding Nemo. Sometimes that’s all you can do.

·       What am I Researching? – Kidney Stones – a friend of mine suffers from chronic kidney stones, he passes about one every six weeks. Another friend found out very abruptly via screaming pain that he has a 4 cm kidney stone.  There are two things I immediately think of, someone said once that kidney stones are the closest thing the male of our species can experience that is close to the pain of Childbirth. This leads me to the Friends episode when Phoebe is giving birth and Joey has to pass a kidney stone (hilarious all around). There are several types of kidney stones, they are created and caused by varying things happening in your body. #1 thing to do is, during A LOT of water, pass the stone and then have it examined to reveal its source to prevent them in the future. The other item I am learning more about is the Trapezius Muscle. This muscle is the current source of my personal pain – literally. No idea what I did to tick it off, but it is PISSED! Muscle relaxers and pain killers are my current friends.  

·       Yummy Meal of the Week – Salad, yes is my favorite item this week. Salad with lettuce, carrots, cheese, egg, croutons, and homemade buttermilk ranch dressing. I have no link to give you a recipe for the salad. I think you can handle it. Oh, and Bacon Cheddar Ranch dip with Ritz crackers is the BOMB!

·       What did I Learn? –   In my job I live in MS Excel and while Excel is a very handy application there are cheats I use to move things along when I am dealing with a large amount of data (which happens to be on a regular basis) I recently upgraded to MS Excel 64 byte to help move processes a little faster. Come to learn my utility cheat does not play well with this higher version.  My cheat of choice is ASAP Utilities. If you use Excel a lot, I would definitely recommend it. The answer to my current dilemma – if you are wondering -- is to use the free version of ASAP on my personal laptop and that way I can still utilize it when needed.

·       What am I Watching? –  Still watching Blindspot, we are in toward the end of Season two. I am also watching the Rookie.  Loving both! Also watched Big Hero 6 – just love that movie. I really love almost all Disney movies.  There are some I have not seen and some I will never watch again but overall Disney rocks.

Have any thoughts on my week’s activity or want to make a recommendation? Drop me a line, or a tweet. One lucky commenter will win a free Romine book of their choice! Never want to miss a blog post or a Saturday Seven? Join my mailing list and I will be happy to send it straight to your inbox!

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Awesome Excerpt Thursday ~ Pygmalion Revisited by Devon Layne

The myth of Pygmalion, the artist who fell in love with a statue he carved, has been a theme for countless authors, singers, and artists over the years. In this volume, author Devon Layne compiles six stories, each with a different take on the ancient myth.

The first is a simple retelling of the myth with “a little meat on its bones” and told in contemporary language. The second, “Lost Wax”, tells the story of a sculptor working with bronze castings whose clay molds begin to shape the model he is working with. “Whittled Away” is the story of an old man who converses with his long-dead wife as he whittles at a block of wood in his cabin awaiting his time to join her. When two artists meet at a Renaissance Festival but have different media for their art, we are left to ask what durable art is and whether clay and iron can mix in “Iron Alchemy”. What if it were the other way around and the art fell in love with the artist? This is the question asked in “Mixed Media”. And finally, an advertising copywriter describes his ideal mate in “A Thousand Words”.

Each story presents a different aspect, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and always with a touch of romance and erotica.

Kindle eBook and Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071DSBXGQ

Excerpt from “Whittled Away”:

THE MAN who chops his own wood warms himself twice.

“You always have something clever to say when it’s me who’s suffering.” Nonetheless, David set another log on the chopping block and swung his axe. It was a well-practiced swing of the blade and split the log smoothly. He picked up the pieces and tossed them in his wagon. He picked up the next log, almost too small to split. He’d spent the past week cutting the wood to the right lengths with his chainsaw. He’d hauled it out of the woodlot, but the larger pieces still needed to be split or they wouldn’t burn thoroughly. Some wouldn’t even fit in the fireplace.

He stood with the stick of wood in his hand and let the axe idle against his thigh. A limb had broken away from this trunk many years ago, leaving a protruding knob, long-since healed over with bark. The shape of the knot filled his hand with memories.

I was never as firm as that. And never a wooden lover.

“No, my love, but the shape is about right. I held those precious breasts enough times to remember.”

I went to sleep at night with your hands supporting them. I felt so secure.

“I think I’ll stop for now and go sit a spell.”

Don’t forget to drink something. And I mean water, not any of that cider that’s gone hard.

“I don’t drink that stuff.”

Don’t lie to me. I know better.

“I suppose you are spying on me from the grave. I’ll have water first.”

David dragged the two-wheel cart up to the house and stacked the load of firewood, keeping the breast-shaped log aside. He’d just keep that by his chair on the porch for a while. He pumped water and washed his head to cool off. The water was cold. October was already brisk and he was headed for a hard winter. As long as he kept a fire in the firebox, the pump shouldn’t freeze. But he needed to finish splitting that fourth cord of wood and if he was smart, he’d put in another. He drank his fill of the cold water and toweled himself off. There’d been no hard frost yet, so he figured he could do without a fire tonight.

Instead he fixed a simple dinner of rice and beans, cut a sausage into the mess, and sat on the porch with his plate.

Those cans of vegetables you put in won’t do your body any good unless you eat them.

“Always complaining about the way I eat,” he groused.

Just always want you to be healthy, my love. Was I really such a nag?

“I’d give my life to have you here nagging me now.”

I don’t think that was an answer. What are you going to do now?

“Hmm. Sit here.” He rocked in his chair and picked up the log. Maybe he’d whittle a little. He pulled out his Buck knife and carefully began stripping the bark from the block of wood.

Ooh. Like the first time you undressed me.

ISBN-13: 978-1939275622


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Writing Warrior Wednesday ~ How to Train Your Writing Dragon

When this movie first came out in the theater I was less than excited. It didn’t interest me. My husband, as a treat to our five-year-old son, took him to see it. 

Taking the kids to see animated movies, with the exception of Pixar, is usually a crap shoot, but we suffer through. In this case, when my husband and son returned that afternoon, our son was bouncing off the walls babbling about how awesome the movie was. This is not unusual. My husband, though, was also very complimentary and kept talking about not only the animation but the main character, Toothless, the dragon. 

Years have gone by and “How to Train your Dragon” is now on Netflix. We recently sat down one night as a family to watch it. 
I loved it, no I will preface this. I loved Toothless. 

Toothless has joined the ranks of my favorite silent characters. These include Wall-E, Silent Bob, R2D2, Sam (Benny & Joon), Pixar’s Lamp, Teller (Penn & Teller), The Red Balloon (from French movie of the same title), Wilson (Castaway) & The Tramp (Charlie Chaplin).

Chaplin, the master of the silent movie, was, and still is considered the master of conveying emotion, or character, without the use of dialog. One of the challenges every author faces is the ability to convey emotion through words. This can be done via dialog or description. An exercise most writers are tasked with in the very beginning of their pros is to write a scene completely devoid of description. The only venue you have to convey your theme is dialog. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, what if you had no dialog as a venue, only description?  As ours is not visual art, this poses quite a challenge. 

Visual expression, as brilliantly shown in the character Toothless, is astounding in the ability to have such an impact. The emotions attached to a silent character run a different, deeper, path than those who have a voice.  Another impressive modern example of this is Kurt Russell in the movie “Soldier” released in 1998. While this film was released with little attention from the populace, it is a touching and powerful example of expression without words. 

But how do we as writers describe the emotional expression of a character and exactly the same results? How do we describe anger, love, hate, frustration without words?

This, of course, leads us back to the #1 rule of fiction writing, show, don’t tell. 

One of the things I have started to do is to watch these characters and then describe their facial movements, their stance, and their eyes, trying to dissect what emotion is coming across, and how. 

So here is an exercise for all those who are interested in exploring this facet of our world. Here is a picture of Toothless. Use words to describe the scene and what is happening, the emotion involved in the scene.  Basically, recreate the picture in words. When finished you should be able to read the description and form the same image without the picture. 


Share it with us! I am excited to see what you come up with!

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Teaser Tuesday ~ Sneak Peek Outsider in Oklahoma

The shadows grew longer. She estimated only a few hours remained until sunset. Raised in Pennsylvania, she wasn’t a stranger to farm life and their open fields, early evenings and mornings that began before the sunrise. Living across from a dairy farm as a child, she saw the farm hands work the cattle and the fields. It was a hard life, but not without satisfaction for those who loved it.

Maybe that was why she couldn’t picture Aidan here. His passion had always been with the publishing world, the big city and working with clients. Particularly the trends that defined sales, spikes, marketing and the future of the publishing landscape. Since working with him she’d grown to appreciate his passion for the methodology and chaos of it all. Aidan Durrant was an amazing man, and part of the reason she’d worked with him all these years.

The center of activity played out away from the house. Following a gravely, dirt path, the herd of cattle milled around the largest of three enclosures. She heard the familiar sound of a horse whinnying to her right and discovered the smallest enclosure corralled several sturdy, tall horses. A cowboy brandishing a black hat conversed with a second man while examining one of the horses.

Tess watched the pleasurable interaction between them. She hooked her elbows on the top rail of the fence, like a little girl at a rodeo she didn’t want to miss a moment.

The discussion about the horse ended in agreement. The man in the cowboy hat nodded in her direction. She couldn’t help but admire his muscular body. The worn dungarees and cotton work shirt silhouetted against the sun outlined a fine specimen of a man. Cowboys certainly knew how to stay in shape. The cowboy she’d been admiring gave her a wicked grin and Tess’s knees went weak, realizing beneath the hat was a familiar pair of green eyes, Aidan. Oh, God, I’ve done it now.

She had a weakness for alpha males, cowboys, the man’s man. In her childhood fantasies, her prince would kick ass and take names before rescuing her. Now, as an adult, she liked to think she could kick some ass of her own.

Aidan strutted across the enclosure; his expression mesmerizing her, and she couldn't help but blush. This wasn’t the same man she’d spent the last seven years with. No way. Aidan Durrant’s timeworn boots stopped a few feet away. When his green eyes flashed gold, her breath caught in her throat.

"Nice hat, " he said.

"I like yours better."

One dark eyebrow rose.

Who are you, and what have you done with my boss?

"How are you enjoying the fresh air?"

"I am perfect."

"Always have been."

Tess bit her tongue, but inside, she smirked.

"Something wrong with the horse?" Tess quickly turned the subject.

"Nothing we can’t fix with rehabilitation."

"I don’t remember seeing horses earlier."

"There weren’t any."

"Another surprise from Daniel?"

"My brother seemed determined to run up debt." Aidan scratched his head. "Wonder if he realized we were so far in we’d never crawl our way out?"

"Maybe he wanted to do something good for once." Her words were out of line and she knew it. "I’m sorry…"

"No, maybe you’re right." Aidan motioned her to follow him and locked the gate behind them. "You must be starving."

"And you must have heard my stomach protesting."

His hand landed on the small of her back. He leaned into her and pointed to a building across the path. "I need to finish with the Vet and get cleaned up. I’ll meet you in the dining hall in a few minutes."

"Sounds like a plan," Tess said, acutely aware of the warmth flowing from his hand into her back. Aidan smiled and rejoined the vet who was loading a horse onto a trailer. Tess leaned against the fence, puzzled by her reaction to his touch. They’d brushed shoulders a million times over the years. So what was different about this time?

Shaking the thought from her head, she wrote it off to the relaxed ambiance at the ranch, the fresh air. She’d always been aware of his beauty, but it never seemed as pronounced as now. Had she been so buried in her job, she never appreciated the finer things about Aidan Durrant? With that question lingering in her mind, she turned toward the dining hall.

***

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How to Survive a Psychotic Killer Stalking You

 
Some of you may be wondering, how do you keep from losing your mind when your entire life has been turned inside out and upside down? When everything once within the illusion of your control is now running amuck like a bull in a china shop. We here are a few tips, from someone who knows.

If you think you are in control just let go of that right now. The more you try to control the situation the worse it is going to get! If you do find yourself the object of affection for some psycho lunatic, let’s be honest, there really isn’t shit you can do.

Tip # 1 - Buy a Laptop

First, if you don’t have a laptop consider investing in one. Most are fairly cheap  and you will thank your credit card later. This wonderful device will soon become your only link to the outside world, via email, online content and the occasional Facebook posting (although I would limit your exposure). You will also hopefully be able to salvage the remains of your life. Continue to pay bills, work remotely, maybe even buy a new pair of shoes (although you will need to set up a separate destination for delivery as you won’t to give yourself away). Laptops are also portable and can pretty much handle anything you throw at them, and most are water proof for the occasional melt down.

Tip# 2 - Prepare for the Late Night / Early morning crawl.

Next I would suggest you get familiar with Late night TV. Now I am not talking 11 pm David Letterman or Jimmy Kimmel. I am talking 230 AM TCM Abbot and Costello or my personal favorite, Tom and Jerry on Cartoon Planet. Rule of thumb, there is ALWAYS a Law and Order on somewhere. Also, just because it is black and white doesn’t mean it sucks. Best channels for late night / early morning are going to be, TCM, TNT,USA , and Cartoon Planet (does anyone else see a pattern here?). If you go cable you are going to run into soft core and since you probably not getting any at the moment probably not the best idea. 

A second option for your sleepless night dilemma’s is going to be your trusty DVR.  I would suggest, if you can, recording your favorite daytime soap or talkshow that you haven’t been able to watch in years. That will kill at least an hour with commercials. Now you may be thinking that you shouldn’t be prepared for the occasion of insomnia. Trust Me it will happen and better to be prepared than get stuck watching infomercials.

*Note - Do not try and work at 3 AM! First off, people are going to think you have fallen off the deep end. Second, although your eyes are open and your mind is spinning, how coherent are you really? Do be stupid and try to ‘keep up’, you don’t need to be sending drunk emails to your boss. (They found that people who drive after being awake for 17 to 19 hours performed worse than those with a blood alcohol level of .05 percent.)

Tip# 3 - Keep the little constants in your life alive and kicking

Moving on, try and keep some fragment of your life stable. (Impossible, right?) They say that children need a schedule for a sense of reassurance. Believe it or not Adults do as well. So obviously if you go running every morning you are going to have to put it on hold for a while (yes I know it totally sucks!) but things, small things, like your favorite creamer in the fridge or keeping up with you favorite blogs online. Even something as small as having Taco’s on Wednesdays can make all the difference in your ability to cope with the upheaval.

Lastly, and most important, DO NOT GIVE UP, it will end eventually. As you are already realizing, your friends and family are going to be supportive and wonderful but the fact of the matter is, you are going through this, not them.

So, do not give up, give in or let go of anything you want, wish and hope for. Those are the things that will keep you going. Things are never completely hopeless. There is always a glimmer of hope smiling back at you when you look into his eyes…hold onto the warmth of the memory, the sliver of belief that if it is meant to be it will happen.

God please make it meant to be…

So here are your tips to survival. I could go on and on but these are the must have’s in my opinion everything else is negotiable.

Stick to your guns and as Scarlett said…tomorrow is another day!

Author Amy Romine writing as Rebecca Gailen the Heroine of Trust Me Book 1 - Serenity Lost available at Amazon.com

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Saturday Seven ~ April 6th 2019

Happy Saturday, what have you been up to this week? Here is a rundown of highlights for the week. I hope you find them useful in your life! My goal as a person and a writer are to always Pay-It-Forward so please let me know how I can help you. YES, YOU!
Enjoy your weekend & this post! Amazing things to come!
~Amy

What am I Reading? – I am addicted to the Curiosity App (a must for your mind) Curiosity offers quick 5-minute articles on everything from space exploration to time management.  This week I read all about how Jupiter’s Red Spot is Shrinking, The Simple Technique that will instantly make you a better Listener & Daruma Dolls are a Japanese tradition for achieving goals. Good stuff!!

·       What am I Listening to? –  Exciting news! I have been asked to be on a podcast! The amazing host of Write Away, Natalie Lockett, has asked me to be a part of a creativity panel and I am thrilled! We will be talking about inspiration and creativity resources. It airs on May 1^st! Check out previous episodes now here.

       

·       What Quote am I pondering? – Pay it forward ~ not really a quote but been thinking a lot about my own blessings and good fortune. I am a big believer in karma and what goes around comes back around. I try to keep this in mind with every action I take, personally and professionally.

·       What am I Researching? –  Interesting enough, kink. Yes, I said kink and yes, I mean that kind of kink. One of my fellow writers is writing a book on alternative lifestyles, specifically, polyamory and kink. Not something I have ever considered for myself but interesting none the less. I am looking into understanding the lifestyle and choices of the community. Here is a terrific article I found if your curiosity is at all piqued.

·       Yummy Meal of the Week – Baked Feta Crusted Salmon – Holy yum! Love fish, and super love this amazing dish! Get the recipe here.

·       What did I Learn? –  Choosing our battles is important. There are lots of reasons to fight back, draw the line and state enough is enough and there are just as many reasons not to. Some people use the fight as a vehicle for drama, attention, and even distraction. Either way, it is used energy --positive or negative. As I have gotten older, I am realizing I need to choose how best to expend my energy and what battles (good and bad) are worth fighting and which are better spent unfought and even ignored.  This is a difficult choice at times, but definitely necessary because in the end not battles are won in the fight, some are won in the strategy to ignore, compromise and or resolve without conflict.

·       What am I Watching? –  The Rookie on ABC. I have always been a fan of Nathan Fillon, he got my attention in Serenity (Firefly) and then again in Castle. I was recently challenged into watching the pilot episode of his new ABC show – The Rookie about a 40-something man who is looking for a clean slate after his divorce. Showing bravery and a knack for de-escalation he moves to Los Angeles and becomes a police officer.  Obviously, I was not initially interested in the show but after the pilot, I have to admit I am intrigued. I am a fan of 911 and this has a similar feel. I am putting it to the three-episode test! (if you are curious, the deal was I have to watch The Rookie and they had to watch Blindspot – they are almost through Season One!)

Have any thoughts on my week’s activity or want to make a recommendation? Drop me a line, or a tweet. One lucky commenter will win a free Romine book of their choice! Never want to miss a blog post or a Saturday Seven? Join my mailing list and I will be happy to send it straight to your inbox!

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