Reyna Favis's Blog, page 3
September 29, 2020
Introvert’s How-to Guide to Buying Haunted Real Estate
With low interest rates, now may be a good time to consider buying that haunted house you’ve always dreamed about. Extroverts suffering from the isolation imposed by the pandemic might be able to find built-in companionship, guaranteed to be COVID-negative. For introverts, the allure of a candlelit property on a windswept moor may prove irresistible. Regardless of your personal motivation, discovering the haunted backstory of a property may provide the buyer with an edge during price negotiations. But how does one find such a property?
Consider your constraints
Among the considerations for many home buyers are commuting distance to their jobs, the reputation of area schools, and the property tax burden for the locality. In addition, the property itself must meet certain minimum requirements to offer the lifestyle buyers are trying to achieve.
Finding property that meets these practical needs first will narrow down the choices and save you time during the in-depth research on the properties.
Will they tell me if the property is haunted?
Depending on the local laws, a death in the house or other similar event are not considered a “Material Fact” and do not have to be disclosed by the seller. While a haunted house falls under the category of stigmatized property, in many states in the US, it’s not mandatory to disclose a stigma like a murder, suicide, or crime—or paranormal activity. In the UK, the Property Misdescriptions Act of 1991 makes it an offense for sellers to make false or misleading statements. This Act puts the onus on the buyer to ask the right questions.
As of 2019, only four states in the US included paranormal activity in their real estate disclosure laws: New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Minnesota. While New York and New Jersey require sellers to truthfully tell buyers if they have experienced paranormal activity on the property, Massachusetts and Minnesota statutes state that sellers need not disclose a haunting. In Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and South Carolina, sellers must disclose a death on the property only if asked. California law requires deaths that occurred on the property within the past three years be disclosed, while Alaska requires disclosure if a death is within one year. South Dakota only requires disclosure of homicides.
New York’s disclosure laws were impacted by the “Ghostbuster Ruling” of 1991, a frequently cited ruling that set legal precedent. The buyers of a home sued when they learned that they had not been told by the previous owner that their house was well-known to be haunted. Three out of five justices from an appellate division of the New York Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in this case of fraudulent misrepresentation. The ruling was justified based on the claim that a house inspection would not detect a haunting, therefore this was not a case of the buyer not exercising due care. The justices concluded that failing to disclose a house’s reputation may be grounds for contract rescission. The plaintiff’s case was also helped by the fact that the defendant had been public about the home’s ghosts, with stories featured in the Reader’s Digest and the local newspaper. She was just mum about it when it came to selling the house.
[It is not clear how the laws would apply if after being assured by the seller that the house is haunted, the buyer finds their new house is not haunted or only haunted to a small degree. The buyer may have to prove that s/he is sufficiently sensitive to detect paranormal activity. The seller will likely insist that s/he is a better medium than the buyer.]
Bottom line? Caveat emptor. Check your local disclosure laws and ask the right questions if you want to buy a haunted house. Also, be sure that your medium skills are up to the task. Not all hauntings will be equally active.
Can I do any research on my own?
The first check is an easy one. DiedInHouse.com is a web-based service that performs the initial research on the property for a small fee. In addition to telling you whether someone died on the property, you will also learn cause of death (if available), information on the deceased, fire incidents, if registered sex offenders lived at the property, house history information, and whether anyone ever cooked meth in your future home. All useful pieces of information, but note that this service only has data for valid US addresses.
Search the land deeds or contact the local historical society to find out details about the land. Knowing if the land is the site of a former burial ground or battlefield is helpful in determining the likelihood of haunting. Just be careful and recognize that while the grounds might be haunted, the house may be devoid of activity, and vice versa.
Talk to the neighbors. Neighbors usually love to gossip, so while the seller may be tight-lipped, the neighbors might be happy to fill you in about any stories related to the property.
Check the buy, sell, and repair history of the house. If the house has been sold many times over the years and lost value, it may be haunted. However, former owners desiring to live in a haunted house will have longer histories in the home, so don’t be discouraged. An unusual amount of repairs to the house may be indicative of a haunting, particularly poltergeist activity, but a more prosaic explanation may be that the house is just a money pit. Again, ask the right questions.
Is it a good idea to buy a house next to a cemetery?
A house next to a cemetery is delightful regardless of its haunting status. Your search for such a property may be aided by The Geography of the Dead, an inventory of 144,847 graveyards and cemeteries in the contiguous United States.
While purchasing a home near a cemetery may increase the likelihood of supernatural visitors, there are several caveats that you need to consider before making your purchase. Though mostly quiet, funeral processions, earth movers, visitors, and overall maintenance may create noise on occasion. Also, toxic chemicals used to embalm bodies can leach through the soil and enter groundwater.
On the plus side, homes situated next to graveyards are on average 12% less expensive than comparable homes in the area.
Final thoughts
I hope that you will enjoy your new home and spectral housemate(s). Certainly, drop me a note in the comments and tell me about your haunted house. I look forward to hearing from you!
+ + +
Image by:
By darksouls1 – https://pixabay.com/en/house-cemetery-haunted-house-2187170/ archive copy, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57689729
+ + +
[image error]
If you would like to comment on anything in these posts, I would be delighted to hear from you. Please visit my author’s website to learn more about progress with the Zackie Story series, author appearances, or to send me a message, etc. Or if you prefer, you can also find me on Facebook (at least until another social media platform emerges that will actually safeguard user privacy). Feel free to friend me and send me a message so I’ll know you’re not just a bot.
Soul Search, Soul Scent, and Soul Sign, novels of supernatural suspense, have been described as Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas meets Piers Anthony’s On a Pale Horse. Readers have praised these novels for the very human stories behind the hauntings that create unexpected plot twists, drama, and even moments of humor. The Zackie Stories are available for purchase as ebook, audiobook, and paperback on Amazon and are free on Kindle Unlimited.
If you enjoy the Zackie stories, please, please consider leaving a short review on Amazon and/or Goodreads and/or Bookbub. Your review makes a difference and is incredibly valuable, drawing in other readers and providing access to promotional opportunities that require a specific number of reviews to engage. I’ll be your best friend forever if you write a review.
If you would like to subscribe to this blog, click on the three bars at the upper right. The next full post will be available on or before the last day of the month.
August 31, 2020
Introvert Doubles Toil and Trouble
I used to supervise a biobank that stored both research samples and samples from clinical trials. The collection included everything from extracted DNA and RNA, to all manner of liquid components derived from humans, to chunks of human tissue. The freezer farm housing this stuff consisted of liquid nitrogen tanks and freezers set to -80oC / -112oF. To prevent mishap, the freezer farm was on a 24 / 7 monitor. I was woken up by the alarm in the middle of the night too many times to count — once, after having left that job. In retrospect, this was probably good training for search and rescue.
The point of the biobank was to facilitate biomarker research by preserving the samples in a pristine state, doing everything in our power to prevent damage and decay. As I work toward certification as a human remains detection K9 team with Zackie-O the introverted Plott hound, the flip side of that coin now occupies bandwidth in my life. We play a game of advanced level hide-and-seek with human-derived materials in various states of decomposition. For some of this stuff, I really don’t need Zackie-O’s keen nose to find it.
While biomarker research and cadaver dog training are two uses for materials formerly belonging to humans, English folk from the mid- to late-seventeenth century found yet another use: an antidote to witchcraft.
The image shown at the start of this post is a bellarmine, a German stoneware jug decorated with a bearded mask. The particular jug shown was found during low tide, buried in the river-mud along the Thames. Elsewhere in London, similar “greybeard” jugs have also been buried in open ground. Bellarmine witch-bottles of the seventeenth century have been found in greatest abundance in the eastern counties of England, especially in Suffolk. Witch-bottles in this region are frequently buried under buildings, normally beneath the threshold or hearth, the traditional places for protective charms.
All examples of these witch-bottles, whether buried upside down or rightside up, contain similar items. The contents imply malevolent magic: felt material cut in the shape of a heart and pierced numerous times with pins; sharp items like bent iron nails, brass pins, wire, thorns, and broken glass; and last but not least, human-derived material like hair, nail-clippings, and urine.
Contemporaneous writings explain that the jugs were devised as a counter-measure to witchcraft. To throw back the evil spell on the witch who cast it, the jugs needed to be filled with human materials from the person suffering under the spell. It was believed that because the witch had developed a magical link of sympathy with the victim, part of the vital spirit of the witch was present in the urine, etc. of the victim. This followed logically because “such is the subtlety of the Devil, that he will not suffer the Witch to infuse any poysonous matter into the body of man or beast, without some of the Witches blood mingled with it” [Blagrave 1671; cited in The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic by Ralph Merrifield].
By filling the jugs with the victim’s biomatter and an assortment of nasty, sharp things, the person who cast the spell could be attacked. The form of the attack came as — wait for it — a fatal inability to urinate. From an account published in 1696, “…the party suspected to be the witch, fell ill, that he could not make water, of which he died” [from Mr. Merrifield’s book, cited above].
These witch-bottles are a wonderful example of sympathetic magic, where objects or actions that resemble or are symbolically associated with a person or event are used to influence the person or event. The logic and simplicity of this approach to manipulate one’s world held great appeal, and evidence was recently unearthed that the practice of using witch-bottles extended across the ocean, and at least into the American Civil War era.
In 2016, a witch-bottle was recovered during highway construction in Virginia at an old Civil War fortification east of Williamsburg. Lacking access to a bellarmine, the maker resorted to filling a jade blue bottle manufactured in eastern Pennsylvania with nails and burying it next to a hearth or fire pit.
In contrast to the seventeenth century literature cited by Merrifield, The Washington Post article claims the urine, hair or fingernail clippings in a witch-bottle were intended to lure witches or malevolent spirits to the bottle, where they would be trapped by the nails or pins.
This difference leads me to think that witch-bottles manufactured in the US operate differently than those created in the UK. If you are employing a witch-bottle during the current political season, remember to consult your users’s manual to determine whether to expect fatal bladder blockage or a trapped evil entity. Note that just like biomarker research, disposal of the evil entity or any biohazardous materials must be performed and documented in accordance with OSHA and regulatory requirements, including but not limited to 21 CFR Part 11 [Electronic Records; Electronic Signatures] and Part 58 [Good Laboratory Practice for Nonclinical Laboratory Studies]. Thank you for your cooperation.
+ + +
Image credit:
By Ethan Doyle White – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=82567113
A Bellarmine used as a witch bottle on display in the Guildhall, City of London.
+ + +
[image error]
If you would like to comment on anything in these posts, I would be delighted to hear from you. Please visit my author’s website to learn more about progress with the Zackie Story series, author appearances, or to send me a message, etc. Or if you prefer, you can also find me on Facebook (at least until another social media platform emerges that will actually safeguard user privacy). Feel free to friend me and send me a message so I’ll know you’re not just a bot.
Soul Search, Soul Scent, and Soul Sign, novels of supernatural suspense, have been described as Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas meets Piers Anthony’s On a Pale Horse. Readers have praised these novels for the very human stories behind the hauntings that create unexpected plot twists, drama, and even moments of humor. The Zackie Stories are available for purchase as ebook, audiobook, and paperback on Amazon and are free on Kindle Unlimited.
If you enjoy the Zackie stories, please, please consider leaving a short review on Amazon and/or Goodreads and/or Bookbub. Your review makes a difference and is incredibly valuable, drawing in other readers and providing access to promotional opportunities that require a specific number of reviews to engage. I’ll be your best friend forever if you write a review.
If you would like to subscribe to this blog, click on the three bars at the upper right. The next full post will be available on or before the last day of the month.
June 30, 2020
Introvert and the Pandemic Puppy
We adopted Angus on February 29th, right before the lockdown in New Jersey. The rescue organization said he was a Lab mix. Someone recently said maybe the other half is Great Dane. He has the long, whip tail of the Dane, not the thick, rudder-like tail of a Labrador. Angus is also very leggy and his head shape is more rectangular than square. Perhaps most telling, he has the habit of taking large amounts of water in his mouth and then walking away from his bowl, only to let it flow from his mouth like a waterfall. I’ve seen Great Danes do this. I’m not sure Labs have this habit.
Angus has rapidly eclipsed Zackie-O in size. She is a svelte 50 lb Plott Hound. He is probably between 70 and 80 lbs and he’s not done growing. Angus grows so fast that every other day, he has trouble climbing stairs. He is all uncoordinated, flailing limbs. Today, he stood with his front paws on the bed, hopping with his back end, since he thinks this action will somehow get him on the bed. I’m 5’3″ on a good day and his head reached my shoulder in that position. When he swung his head into me to get pets, he sent me stumbling backwards. He’s a big boy.
As I watched this ever-expanding puppy over the last few months, I grew worried that we weren’t able to properly socialize him. I reached out on social media to friends with dogs and asked for advice. They sent me to several helpful articles on what to do when you can’t bring your dog out to meet people. The articles suggested doing things like drive-by viewing of strangers in shopping areas and making sure the pup was exposed to many different surfaces, noises, and human dress.
We’ve found that there really is no good substitute for direct experience and being handled by other people. Now that restrictions have eased, we have started bringing Angus out to anywhere dogs are accepted. While he had been going on mile-long walks twice a day and being exposed to the sights and sounds of the neighborhood, he hadn’t really been able to get close to other people. We’ve found that he is skittish with new people, but shows no signs of aggression or fear, just uncertainty and distrust. I think he will get over that.
Angus is the slowest maturing dog I’ve ever had. Three weeks ago, he lost his last baby tooth. He lifted his leg on a tree for the first time this week and has since forgotten how to do it. He’s been spooked by a dragonfly resting in the lawn of our backyard and also by a fish when he dipped his toes into a lake for the first time. Because of this slow maturation, I am hopeful that his window for socialization is expanded and he will eventually catch up with his social skills.
+ + +
[image error]
If you would like to comment on anything in these posts, I would be delighted to hear from you. Please visit my author’s website to learn more about progress with the Zackie Story series, author appearances, or to send me a message, etc. Or if you prefer, you can also find me on Facebook (at least until another social media platform emerges that will actually safeguard user privacy). Feel free to friend me and send me a message so I’ll know you’re not just a bot.
Soul Search, Soul Scent, and Soul Sign, novels of supernatural suspense, have been described as Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas meets Piers Anthony’s On a Pale Horse. Readers have praised these novels for the very human stories behind the hauntings that create unexpected plot twists, drama, and even moments of humor. The Zackie Stories are available for purchase on Amazon and are free on Kindle Unlimited.
If you enjoy the Zackie stories, please, please consider leaving a short review on Amazon and/or Goodreads and/or Bookbub. Your review makes a difference and is incredibly valuable, drawing in other readers and providing access to promotional opportunities that require a specific number of reviews to engage. I’ll be your best friend forever if you write a review.
If you would like to subscribe to this blog, click on the three bars at the upper right. The next full post will be available on or before the last day of the month.
May 30, 2020
Introvert Announces SOUL SEARCH Audiobook — available on Audible
An audiobook of SOUL SEARCH is available from Audible.
https://www.audible.com/pd/B08DTWT4SX
Voice artist Eleanor Caudill produced the SOUL SEARCH audiobook. With her permission, I’m attaching the 3 scene audition. Scene 1 is Fia learning about the Psychopomp from Cam; Scene 2 is Fia meeting Parmelia and Bodean in the hills of Appalachia; Scene 3 is a tense moment between Fia and Hannah in the hospital.
+ + +
If you would like to comment on anything in these posts, I would be delighted to hear from you. Please visit my author’s website to learn more about progress with the Zackie Story series, author appearances, or to send me a message, etc. Or if you prefer, you can also find me on Facebook (at least until another social media platform emerges that will actually safeguard user privacy). Feel free to friend me and send me a message so I’ll know you’re not just a bot.
Soul Search, Soul Scent, and Soul Sign, novels of supernatural suspense, have been described as Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas meets Piers Anthony’s On a Pale Horse. Readers have praised these novels for the very human stories behind the hauntings that create unexpected plot twists, drama, and even moments of humor. The Zackie Stories are available for purchase on Amazon and are free on Kindle Unlimited.
If you enjoy the Zackie stories, please, please consider leaving a short review on Amazon and/or Goodreads and/or Bookbub. Your review makes a difference and is incredibly valuable, drawing in other readers and providing access to promotional opportunities that require a specific number of reviews to engage. I’ll be your best friend forever if you write a review.
If you would like to subscribe to this blog, click on the three bars at the upper right. The next full post will be available on or before the last day of the month.
Introvert Announces SOUL SEARCH Audiobook — coming soon!
An audiobook of SOUL SEARCH is in the works.
Voice artist Eleanor Caudill will produce the SOUL SEARCH audiobook. With her permission, I’m attaching the 3 scene audition. Scene 1 is Fia learning about the Psychopomp from Cam; Scene 2 is Fia meeting Parmelia and Bodean in the hills of Appalachia; Scene 3 is a tense moment between Fia and Hannah in the hospital.
If all goes well and Amazon is cooperative, we hope to release the audiobook July 2020. Keep an eye on this space for a launch announcement!
+ + +
If you would like to comment on anything in these posts, I would be delighted to hear from you. Please visit my author’s website to learn more about progress with the Zackie Story series, author appearances, or to send me a message, etc. Or if you prefer, you can also find me on Facebook (at least until another social media platform emerges that will actually safeguard user privacy). Feel free to friend me and send me a message so I’ll know you’re not just a bot.
Soul Search, Soul Scent, and Soul Sign, novels of supernatural suspense, have been described as Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas meets Piers Anthony’s On a Pale Horse. Readers have praised these novels for the very human stories behind the hauntings that create unexpected plot twists, drama, and even moments of humor. The Zackie Stories are available for purchase on Amazon and are free on Kindle Unlimited.
If you enjoy the Zackie stories, please, please consider leaving a short review on Amazon and/or Goodreads and/or Bookbub. Your review makes a difference and is incredibly valuable, drawing in other readers and providing access to promotional opportunities that require a specific number of reviews to engage. I’ll be your best friend forever if you write a review.
If you would like to subscribe to this blog, click on the three bars at the upper right. The next full post will be available on or before the last day of the month.
May 2, 2020
The Introvert and The Third Man
The Third Man is an unseen presence sensed by people who are in extremis, struggling, and near the point of death. This presence encourages them to make one final effort to survive.
Who are these people who have encountered the Third Man? Arctic explorers, high altitude mountain climbers, and shipwreck survivors rank among those who have had this experience. A more recent example is the last man to escape the collapsing World Trade Center during the 9/11 terrorist attack.
The Third Man offers good advice, words of encouragement, and motivates people to do the impossible to overcome overwhelming odds. Those who have sensed his or her presence (the Third Man is sometimes a woman) describe a being who endures the physical hardship with them and is steadfast, staying with them through the painful efforts to survive in extreme environments. The being disappears only when help is at hand, frequently prior to survivors becoming aware that they are out of danger and their ordeal is over.
I can only hope that those who did not live to tell the tale also benefited from a comforting presence before succumbing.
I became interested in the phenomenon after reading a very well-written blog post by Jenn on The Mystery of the Third Man where she referenced the book by John Geiger. In both the book and blog post, the Shackleton Expedition is highlighted as a textbook example of the experience. Oddly, the Shackleton Expedition is also used as a case study by the Harvard Business School (HBS) to teach crisis leadership.
Having been sent to the HBS boot camp by my former employer, I listened to the professor laud the performance of this hero. I also remember sitting there thinking Mr. Shackleton was a rare idiot. My thoughts were confirmed when Geiger’s book pointed out that Shackleton first conceived of the expedition when he was a 22-year-old sailor in the merchant marine. Of all the ridiculous things, the idea came to him in a dream: “I seemed to vow to myself that some day I would go to the region of ice and snow and go on and on ’til I came to one of the poles of the earth.” Worse, the madman convinced a bunch of other idiots that this was a good idea.
To give credit where due, Shackleton did suffer greatly and did manage to save everyone on the expedition. He did not lose a man. But all of this would have been completely unnecessary if he hadn’t decided to take a hike to the South Pole. For the sake of ego and vanity, lives were put at risk. If you’re gonna do something really high risk, you should at the very least have something really worth it at the end. And being featured as an HBS case study for the rest of eternity does not count as something worthy.
The Third Man should not be put through the wringer when so little is at stake. I have no qualms with some noble entity showing up in the final hour to offer comfort to someone who is in a bad position through no fault of their own. However, people who willingly put not only their own lives at risk, but also bring collateral damage to others in their wake—well, that just deserves something a little more special than the stereotypical Third Man.
Perhaps if The Third Man were more like Monty Python’s John Cleese and would not hesitate to comment on someone’s utter stupidity, we’d put our efforts into something with higher yield. Imagine having put yourself in a precarious situation where there is no guarantee that you’re going to make it. Now imagine a very irate Third Man showing up.
Idiot: I don’t know how I get myself into these things. I don’t deserve to die. None of this is my fault!
Third Man: DON’T GIVE ME THAT, YOU SNOTTY-FACED HEAP OF PARROT DROPPINGS!
Idiot: Hey! You’re supposed to be nice to me. I’m a rugged individualist and I know my rights.
Third Man: SHUT YOUR FESTERING GOB, YOU TIT! YOUR TYPE MAKES ME PUKE! YOU VACUOUS TOFFEE-NOSED MALODOROUS PERVERT!!!
But this version of The Third Man couldn’t possibly be inspired by any recent events…
+ + +
[image error]
If you would like to comment on anything in these posts, I would be delighted to hear from you. Please visit my author’s website to learn more about progress with the Zackie Story series, author appearances, or to send me a message, etc. Or if you prefer, you can also find me on Facebook (at least until another social media platform emerges that will actually safeguard user privacy). Feel free to friend me and send me a message so I’ll know you’re not just a bot.
Soul Search, Soul Scent, and Soul Sign, novels of supernatural suspense, have been described as Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas meets Piers Anthony’s On a Pale Horse. Readers have praised these novels for the very human stories behind the hauntings that create unexpected plot twists, drama, and even moments of humor. The Zackie Stories are available for purchase on Amazon and are free on Kindle Unlimited.
If you enjoy the Zackie stories, please, please consider leaving a short review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Your review makes a difference and is incredibly valuable, drawing in other readers and providing access to promotional opportunities that require a specific number of reviews to engage. I’ll be your best friend forever if you write a review.
If you would like to subscribe to this blog, click on the three bars at the upper right. The next full post will be available on or before the last day of the month.
March 31, 2020
Introvert on Working From Home
There are lots of things NOT to do when sequestered and working at home during a pandemic.
First and foremost, NEVER have a puppy and kitten under the same roof at the same time — I’m looking at you, Angus and Mojo. As the prophecies foretold, high energy in a constrained space brings weeping and gnashing of teeth to the homeowner.
Secondly, dress for success. There is no escape from destiny.
A friend of mine was recently told that he must work from home due to the pandemic. He is a bench scientist, and so, was at a loss on how to do this.
The conventional advice for working from home included: Wear pants. Real pants. Every day.
After having worked from home to successfully write three supernatural suspense novels (that are garnering wonderful reviews, by the way), I advised him otherwise: “You’ll get the hang of working from home pretty quickly: show up in your pajamas and put a post-it on your PC to block the camera; check your emails, do your meetings, work on whatever in silico lab stuff you can get done. Some time around noon, get lunch, take a shower, and get dressed. I don’t even wear pants anymore. Sweats are the way to go.”
If you are working from home, NEVER wear pants. This way lies madness.
Thirdly, clear communication is paramount when face-to-face cues to meaning are no longer an option. So let it be written; so let it be done.
Write emails and attend teleconferences knowing that your intentions will be misunderstood. It is always possible that you will be understood, but your suggestions, if enacted, would be disastrous. Fall back on claiming you were misunderstood. Also, cloak you language with unusual phrasing so that, like a magician, you misdirect.
When you are working from home, and you are forced to communicate with the outside world, NEVER miss the opportunity to use pompous language.
+ + +
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
+ + +
[image error]
If you would like to comment on anything in these posts, I would be delighted to hear from you. Please visit my author’s website to learn more about progress with the Zackie Story series, author appearances, or to send me a message, etc. Or if you prefer, you can also find me on Facebook (at least until another social media platform emerges that will actually safeguard user privacy). Feel free to friend me and send me a message so I’ll know you’re not just a bot.
Soul Search, Soul Scent, and Soul Sign, novels of supernatural suspense, have been described as Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas meets Piers Anthony’s On a Pale Horse. Readers have praised these novels for the very human stories behind the hauntings that create unexpected plot twists, drama, and even moments of humor. The Zackie Stories are available for purchase on Amazon and are free on Kindle Unlimited.
If you enjoy the Zackie stories, please, please consider leaving a short review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Your review makes a difference and is incredibly valuable, drawing in other readers and providing access to promotional opportunities that require a specific number of reviews to engage. I’ll be your best friend forever if you write a review.
If you would like to subscribe to this blog, click on the three bars at the upper right. The next full post will be available on or before the last day of the month.
March 2, 2020
Introvert Gets Puppy-fied
We interrupt our regularly scheduled blog post to introduce you to New Puppy Angus.
Angus is a lab mix rescued from death row from a shelter in Arkansas. He was born in October and is a surprisingly hefty 25 pounds. After 8 years, we had forgotten what it was like having a puppy…
Day 1: While it’s possible he is on his very best behavior at the moment, so far he appears to be sweet and confident. This is an extremely good thing. Rich found a chart on the internet indicating that Angus may be 90-120 pounds when he’s full-grown, given his current weight and age.
Day 2: I confirm that Angus was on his best behavior on Day 1. He has started chewing and humping. He will not get neutered until April. This could get interesting. On the bright side, Angus has already learned “sit,” is getting the hang of “down” (as in “lie down”), and he’s been great at “come” when called. The “leave it” command is obeyed when given with the right timber of voice and immediately followed up with a honey-sweet praise voice when he actually leaves it.
Day 3: We have had our first accident in the house. The chewing and humping attempts continue, as does the constant application of the “leave it” command. Zackie-O, the introverted Plott Hound, is unenthusiastic about her new little brother. (Suck it up, Zackie-O.) Mojo the kitten is curious, but the other cats refuse to acknowledge a stranger is in the house. I expect dirty looks from them in the near future.
While Rich and I agree on many things about this puppy, we do have a difference of opinion on name origin. Rich insists Angus is named after Angus Young, co-founder and lead guitarist of AC/DC, renowned for wearing a schoolboy-uniform on stage during concerts. I say Angus is named after the Scottish lullaby “Dream Angus.” Had the Day 1 personality persisted, I might have fallen into calling him Dream Angus. Given the dawning reality of life with a puppy, he remains just “Angus.”
+ + +
R.I.P. George the Cocker Spaniel (May 13, 2008-Feb 10, 2020). You were a sweet boy. We will miss you.
[image error]
+ + +
[image error]
If you would like to comment on anything in these posts, I would be delighted to hear from you. Please visit my author’s website to learn more about progress with the Zackie Story series, author appearances, or to send me a message, etc. Or if you prefer, you can also find me on Facebook (at least until another social media platform emerges that will actually safeguard user privacy). Feel free to friend me and send me a message so I’ll know you’re not just a bot.
Soul Search, Soul Scent, and Soul Sign, novels of supernatural suspense, have been described as Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas meets Piers Anthony’s On a Pale Horse. Readers have praised these novels for the very human stories behind the hauntings that create unexpected plot twists, drama, and even moments of humor. The Zackie Stories are available for purchase on Amazon and are free on Kindle Unlimited.
If you enjoy the Zackie stories, please, please consider leaving a short review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Your review makes a difference and is incredibly valuable, drawing in other readers and providing access to promotional opportunities that require a specific number of reviews to engage. I’ll be your best friend forever if you write a review.
If you would like to subscribe to this blog, click on the three bars at the upper right. The next full post will be available on or before the last day of the month.
January 30, 2020
Introvert Hears 3000-Year-Old Voice
Go ahead. Click the sound file. This is EXACTLY what he said.
https://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2020/images/01/23/mummy.voice.mp3
This is the voice of a mummified Egyptian priest who lived 3,000 years ago during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses XI. His name was Nesyamun, a scribe and priest in his mid-50’s . And honestly, if you were disturbed after resting in peace for 3,000 years , this is the sound you would make.
Nesyamun is among the lucky few whose soft tissue in the throat and vocal tract have survived into the present time. By subjecting his mummy to a CT scan, scientists were able to obtain a detailed image of the man’s airway. This information was used to direct a 3-D printer to reproduce this bit of Nesyamun’s anatomy. Once the printed airway was connected to a specialized loud speaker and an artificial larynx, the sound of his voice could be recreated. What is heard on the audio file is the sound Nesyamun’s vocal tract would make in the position he is lying in the sarcophagus.
To go beyond a simple sound, the scientists would need to fashion a tongue for Nesyamun. His tongue muscles, unfortunately, had wasted away and were not available to provide instructions for 3-D printing. If the reproduction of his airway could be provided with a tongue appropriate for the size of Nesyamun’s vocal tract, we would be able to hear words spoken in his voice. We could recreate the sounds of Nesyamun speaking and chanting while going about his priestly duties in the temple of Karnak. Egyptian scholars say the phonetics and the music of the ancient songs are known, so in principle we could someday hear Nesyamun sing again — a voice that has been silenced for 3,000 years.
Next up, they may try this for Lindow Man, a 2,000 year old bog body found in Chesire in northern England.
Just be sure to manage your expectations as this work proceeds. Neanderthals do not sound at all how I’d expected them to sound. Instead of a basso profundo voice, the sound they issued brings to mind Monty Python’s spam sketch.
+ + +
The original article about Nesyamun can be read here and here.
+ + +
Image courtesy of Wikimedia [File:EB1911 China – Egyptian hieroglyph – eyes.jpg]. Chosen because the expression so closely matched the mummy’s sound.
+ + +
[image error]
If you would like to comment on anything in these posts, I would be delighted to hear from you. Please visit my author’s website to learn more about progress with the Zackie Story series, author appearances, or to send me a message, etc. Or if you prefer, you can also find me on Facebook (at least until another social media platform emerges that will actually safeguard user privacy). Feel free to friend me and send me a message so I’ll know you’re not just a bot.
Soul Search, Soul Scent, and Soul Sign, novels of supernatural suspense, have been described as Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas meets Piers Anthony’s On a Pale Horse. Readers have praised these novels for the very human stories behind the hauntings that create unexpected plot twists, drama, and even moments of humor. The Zackie Stories are available for purchase on Amazon and are free on Kindle Unlimited.
If you enjoy the Zackie stories, please, please consider leaving a short review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Your review makes a difference and is incredibly valuable, drawing in other readers and providing access to promotional opportunities that require a specific number of reviews to engage. I’ll be your best friend forever if you write a review.
If you would like to subscribe to this blog, click on the three bars at the upper right. The next full post will be available on or before the last day of the month.
December 30, 2019
The Plague and The Introvert
“Oh good–it’s turned into Ebola.” Rich finished blowing his nose and gazed suspiciously into the tissue.
Hunched over under layers of blankets to ward off the chills, I gave him the stink-eye. “J’accuse!” I raised a damning finger at him. (I think you can guess which one.) “You made me sick.”
We are living in a plague house. Whatever we have, it started at a search where Rich encountered another searcher, our Patient 0. I was late to the search because K9 Zackie-O had a flare up of her auto-immune disease and I had to take her to the emergency vet. By the time I arrived at the search, the subject had been located and things were shutting down.
I suppose that minimized my exposure to Patient 0. Rich succumbed two days later. I remained healthy through Christmas and then went into a death spiral two days later. My natural introvert immunity, keeping myself to myself, couldn’t help me against being in close quarters with my diseased spouse.
We also have George the Cocker Spaniel in hospice care here. He has a tumor in his jaw that has distorted his sweet little face. There is frequent bloody discharge, but this seems to bother us more than him. The house looks like a crime scene on most days, and I’ve largely given up on the carpets. To George’s credit, he’s hanging in there and still enjoys eating and walks on nice days. As long as his tail keeps wagging, we’ll keep going.
In addition to us possibly having Ebola, Zackie’s flare up and George’s condition, the icing on the cake is Dewey, one of the three black cats in residence. Dewey is sneezing and one eye is dripping. If this were another cat, I might be alarmed, but Dewey probably has allergies. Sneezing is normal for him. The dripping eye, however… I keep my eye on Butters and Mojo. Both of these cats remain healthy, so it’s not contagious. I should mention that Butters has flipped his bed upside down and has started sleeping in it like a meatloaf. I don’t know if that’s a sign of anything.
If you don’t see any further postings on this blog, we have all succumbed to our various illnesses. I have only just moved past the aches and chills, but I’m still not feeling optimistic. Mojo and Butters may be the sole survivors, so check for them before painting a black cross on our door to mark us as a plague house.
+ + +
Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay
+ + +
[image error]
If you would like to comment on anything in these posts, I would be delighted to hear from you. Please visit my author’s website to learn more about progress with the Zackie Story series, author appearances, or to send me a message, etc. Or if you prefer, you can also find me on Facebook (at least until another social media platform emerges that will actually safeguard user privacy). Feel free to friend me and send me a message so I’ll know you’re not just a bot.
Soul Search, Soul Scent, and Soul Sign, novels of supernatural suspense, have been described as Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas meets Piers Anthony’s On a Pale Horse. Readers have praised these novels for the very human stories behind the hauntings that create unexpected plot twists, drama, and even moments of humor. The Zackie Stories are available for purchase on Amazon and are free on Kindle Unlimited.
If you enjoy the Zackie stories, please, please consider leaving a short review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Your review makes a difference and is incredibly valuable, drawing in other readers and providing access to promotional opportunities that require a specific number of reviews to engage. I’ll be your best friend forever if you write a review.
If you would like to subscribe to this blog, click on the three bars at the upper right. The next full post will be available on or before the last day of the month.
