Sunday, October 31, 2010

Enjoying Some Psychic Research by Shara Lanel

When I write a story using psychic phenomenon, I make my own rules.  Casey, my heroine from Telekinetic Kisses, has had her gift since she was young, and doesn’t quite have control of it. She’s vowed to never become a lab rat again.  During sex…well, let’s not touch that subject. No talk about micro and macro psychokinesis. What she does is unavoidably in your face…even if she tries to hide it from Parker so that she can appear normal.

Author James Conrad defines the difference between telekinesis and psychokinesis thus: "Telekinesis is the movement of matter by mental means at the micro and macro levels, while psychokinesis (the general term) applies to any of a variety of more complex mind-matter effects, including TK, but also phasing through walls, extraordinary healing, etc." But PK seems to be the most used, as I’ve discovered during my recent reading. (James Conrad has an awesome list of movies with TK/PK here: http://jamesaconrad.com/TK/TK-movie-list.html. )
I had never heard of micro and macro PK until I started researching for my book. Macro-PK equals observable events. Micro-PK means events not visible by the naked eye, such as change on a cellular level, through thought, that leads to healing.  One interesting tidbit I read is that some scientists believe in teleportation at the quantum level, but we’re nowhere near beaming up humans. I know a bit about Schrödinger's cat, but basically nothing about quantum physics, so I’m not even going to go there. An example of macro-PK is Uri Geller’s bending of spoons.
The stories about psychic experiments in the Soviet Union during the Cold War inspired Casey’s past as a lab rat. Yuri Andropov, head of the KGB from ’67 to ’82, wanted to move right ahead with studies of psychic warfare, and he told researchers not to worry if the subjects were injured or…died.
Another intriguing example of telekinesis is the poltergeist. These are not thought to be spirits of the dead, necessarily, but repressed psychic energy manifested in projectile stones and spontaneous fires. Wouldn’t want to be around that person—can we say Firestarter?
If you want to do your own research on PK, here’s a few links to get you going:
Parapsychological Association


Global Consciousness Project

Glossary of parapsych terms

Videos of the lab test at SRI with Uri Geller

Geller naysayers

Research on PK


Check out an excerpt from Telekinetic Kisses (http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/books/telekinetickisses.htm) and have a rockin’ Halloween!



~Shara



Bio:

Award-winning author Shara Lanel started her writing
career by passing around serial stories in her sixth grade
class. She moved on to writing and editing for her school
paper. But then her dreams switched to making movies-too
much Indiana Jones-so she went to NYC for college and
majored in film.

But her true love remained writing. One hubby, one
dog, and one son later, she started writing romance. Joining
Romance Writers of America introduced her to the business
side of romance, but it was the research that fascinated her.
She met sexy SWAT guys and shot targets at her county’s
Citizen’s Police Academy. She’s attended crime scene
investigation workshops and read books on every subject
from werewolves to The War of 1812.

Shara currently lives in Richmond, Virginia, growing
hot peppers and starting fires in her kitchen in her spare
time. To learn more about Shara and read excerpts from
her books, visit
www.SharaLanel.com.

Prize:
$10 Amazon gift cert.



23 comments:

Tabitha Blake said...

Very interesting.

careydoucet@yahoo.com

Maria D. said...

Very interesting post about the differences between Telekenesis and Psychokenesis....love the sound of your book Telekinetic Kisses and the heroine sounds very interesting.

junegirl63(at)gmail(dot)com

Jill James said...

Thanks for some great info into a little understood field. I remember watching Uri Gellar on tv when I was a kid. I have a bent spoon put away that supposedly he bent with his mind even though it was sitting on top of my television. One never knows.

*yadkny* said...

Hi Shara!
Awesome cover on Telekinetic Kisses! Putting this one on the wishlist:)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
yadkny@hotmail.com

Judy said...

That is a very interesting post. I would be leery of being around people with those abilities. Your books like great also.


Happy Halloween!!

Judy
magnolias_1@msn.com

Sandy said...

Shara,

What an interesting subject. Thanks for a great blog.

Unknown said...

Interesting research! It would be cool to have telekinesis.

amysmith98@gmail.com

JeanMP said...

That is very interesting the differences between telekinesis and psychokinesis. I agree wouldn't want to be around anyone with psychic energy.

skpetal at hotmail dot com

Virginia C said...

Hi, Shara! Thank you for a very interesting and intriguing post. Your comments explained a lot with just a few words. I do believe that many people have heightened psychic abilities, and some are more receptive than others to acknowledging and developing those abilities. It could be an overwhelming situation, especially if someone wants to exploit you for your very special psychic strengths!

US Resident, Follower, Subscriber

gcwhiskas at aol dot com

Jennifer Mathis said...

how interesting. great post i even learned something new :)

meandi09@yahoo.com

ladydi6497 said...

Hi, Shara, thanks for the great information on TK/PK, it is very interesting to know that there is a difference. I cannot wait to read TELEKINETIC KISSES.

Thanks for being here.

dbarskey(at)hotmail(dot)com

Lil said...

Micro and Macro PK? I am learning all sorts of things this Halloween.

Hope yours is a grand one.

little lamb lst at yahoo dot com

elaing8 said...

Very interesting post.
Went and read the excerpt,sounds pretty good.
elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net

Jeanette J said...

Thank you for the info. I did not realize there was a difference

The Scarf Princess said...

Very interesting post. There are times I'd love to have telekinesis. It would really come in handy at the poker tables.

joderjo402 AT gmail DOT com

annalisa said...

Fascinating post!

TOPSAIL246(at)aol(dot)com

Cathy M said...

Hi Shara,

That's why I love reading paranormal romances so much, they are all so imaginative and unique.


caity_mack at yahoo dot com

Linda Henderson said...

I have to admit, I don't know much about psychic phenomenon. It definitely sounds interesting though. I don't think I'd want to have any psychic abilities though. Great book covers by the way.

seriousreader at live dot com

Carlie Angelus said...

I'm just wondering if you've personally ever experienced any psychic phenomena?

Enjoyed the post & links!

--Carlie
carlieangelus@gmail.com

Rae M. said...

I had heard of both, but I always confused the definitions of the two. I could never remember whether micro and macro fell under PK or TK.

Love the premise of the book. I always like when I can look at where authors get their research from.

Thanks!

rachaelgwen(at)yahoo(dot)com

Vicky CK said...

All the research for a "romance" novel. Everyone who doesn't read them is always putting them down as nothing fluff. And here you are teaching us new things even after the book is done! (One of the reasons I like the well done historicals!)
Thinking about your post reminded me of Anne MacCaffery's Talent series! What some people could do with their brain power! Just gives me a headache thinking about it (haha).

Thanks for the contest!
vickykerr@sbcglobal.net

Beth said...

Very interesting post. I'll have to check out some of those links. Maybe I can get a story idea for myself out of them.

Annie Nicholas said...

contest is closed