Vanishing Twins

It's almost always necessary to research something when writing a book. Scarlett took me into some very interesting research and I delved a little beyond it into the unknown. Scarlett has heterochromia or different colored eyes. One is amber the other green. Hetero meaning different and chrom meaning color.

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This is a real condition and can happen for a variety of reasons which are generally genetic. In Scarlett's case its caused by having a vanishing twin. So what is a vanishing twin?

A vanishing twin is a twin that dies in the womb because of a miscarriage and the other twin absorbs the fetal tissue. This was first discovered sometime in the mid twentieth century. Scarlett's story begins in 1961 when she's five. There wasn't much known about it at the time. Recent research and studies disclose much more than would have been known then.

When the surviving twin absorbs the other gets a mix of DNA which can cause heterochromia. In Scarlett's case having a vanishing twins is genetic. Now if its truly genetic I'm not positive. I didn't find anything to back that up but I think its completely plausible; having twins can be genetic and discrepancies in reading DNA, producing proteins and much more can all be passed from parent to offspring. If research in the area continues we may find that in some cases vanishing twins is genetic.

In most cases a twin miscarries in the womb because of a defect and the mother rarely notices until she goes back to the doctor and suddenly has one baby instead of two.

I added a mystical paranormal twist to vanishing twin syndrome in which Scarlett's twin whom she absorbed is still hanging around in ghost form. He ages with her and if she becomes pregnant his spirit can enter the baby.

Scarlett aware of her twin, visits a metaphysical store and purchases a book and other materials to keep ghosts away. The book also contains other information about vanishing twins in the spiritual realm. Of course this stuff is completely fictional.

If you'd like to read about vanishing twin ghost experiences click the link:

http://www.yourghoststories.com/real-ghost-story.php?story=11629

Eye legends: https://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/eye-superstitions#page=7

Mid-way through the story Scarlett is nick-named Chimera and aptly so. She has different colored eyes and two sets of DNA -- her vanished twins and her own.

More research:

http://americanpregnancy.org/multiples/vanishing-twin-syndrome/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110705091500.htm

http://vanishingtwin.com/this-man-failed-a-paternity-test-due-to-his-vanished-twins-dna/

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/different-colored-eyes-day

Those are most of the websites I used to dig up research. What is most interesting to me is that I did the research after I wrote the pages in the book. That's not unusual for me though. All the astrology in the Ruthless Storm Trilogy was done at the end of each book not before. It gives me chills and I firmly believe the characters created have energy.

Scarlett releases 11/12 and will be .99 until 11/19.