Morgan McCarver was born and raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Her work is inspired by her female mentors of past and present, as well as her connection to Victorian corsetry through her scoliosis journey. She received an art degree with a ceramics concentration and a double minor in art history and business in 2019 from Anderson University in Anderson, SC. McCarver had the honor of receiving the 2019 Outstanding Art Major Ceramics Award her senior year. As a 2020 701 Center for Contemporary Art prize finalist, she had the honor of being the youngest artist to ever make it that far. She is a multi-award-winning artist who recently received an Artist Support Grant to attend a national ceramics conference. She has had the honor of displaying her work in 2 solo exhibitions, “FemininiTEA” 2020 and “The Strength of a Wildflower” 2022. She recently completed a residency at Edgewood Cottage in Blowing Rock Summer 2023 and participated 2022 as well. McCarver has studios in Asheville, NC and Spartanburg, SC. Her art can be found in various galleries around the Carolinas and Tennessee. Her first book, “God the Artist: Revealing God’s Creative Side Through Pottery,” was released with Morgan James Publishing January 9, 2024.
Morgan’s Book: God the Artist: Revealing God’s Creative Side Through Pottery
Lilith, Nikki Marmery
Story-Power on Patreon and Apple Subscriptions I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast, Patreon Community, and Apple subscription so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. Patreon is $5 a month for content not found on the Story-Power podcast, or on my Sage Woman Blog. The Apple subscription is $3 a month, again with content not found on the Story-Power podcast. If you’re passionate about stories, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower. Or, you can add the subscription on Apple podcast where Story-Power is published. Let’s share what we’ve learned from the stories we love.
PodMatch for Podcasters This episode is brought to you by PodMatch, the dating service for podcasters. They introduced me to Morgan McCarver, and I’m so glad they did. I hope you’ve enjoyed our conversation and remember that if you have a podcast or something to share with the world, check out PodMatch at my affiliate link at PodMatch and tell them Lucinda sent you.
“Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!” ~ Rosalind Russell as Auntie Mame in Auntie Mame (1958)
“Lighten up, just enjoy life, smile more, and don’t get so worked up about things.” ~ Kenneth Branagh
“If you’re always strict with yourself, life gets miserable. And we’re supposed to enjoy life.” ~ Mia Maestro
It’s interesting how old things become new again. I was scrolling Facebook the other day and came across a post by someone on the TCM group about Angela Lansbury’s career. It happened to be her birthday. It would have been her 98th birthday. She was one of three or four actresses to play an iconic character, Mame Dennis on stage and film. Mame Dennis is based on author Patrick Dennis’ real life aunt who loved life so much she lived to be over 100 years old. When I read the post about Mame, I remembered that one of my favorite movies is the non-musical version, Auntie Mame that came first. Rosalind Russell is mesmerizing in the role. Mame is so full of joy. She’s open-hearted and free-spirited. Nothing is off limits to experience and learn from. And her enthusiasm rubs off on almost everyone she knows, including her young nephew who becomes her ward when his father dies.
The quote above, from which I take the title of this post, is from a line she says in the plays and movies. “Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.” Since it feels like we’ve been starved of so many positive things over the last few years, I needed to watch this movie again. It feels to me like we’ve been in the desert on our knees looking for water to nourish our parched bodies. Somehow, in just the last few weeks we’ve made it to the watering hole and joy is coming back to us in the form of VP Kamala Harris and her VP pick, Governor Tim Walz. An old idea that humans can live in joy is coming back and I for one am very grateful.
When I’m writing I usually prefer quiet. But for some reason today I wanted to play Aaron Copland, the iconic American composer. He was born in 1900 and died in 1990, so he was still alive when Barry and I chose music from his The Tender Land opera for our wedding. The first piece I listened to today was his very famous, Fanfare for the Common Man. It was one of my father’s favorites and I weep every time I hear it. It’s so appropriate for today even though Copland wrote it in 1942. The sweeping fanfare is for common people everywhere. It rises like a wave of ecstasy as if the common people are the ones who should be honored rather than the rulers. If you’ve never heard it, I highly recommend listening to it. If your heart doesn’t soar, I will be very much surprised.
The common people are rising up. We want hope and joy. We want to experience the banquet of life. We don’t want to be confined to a small life where we’re fighting for every scrap of food, water, or even toilet paper. Remember those days. It feels like those days are over.
The common people aren’t just rising up here in the U.S. either. There are lots of places around the globe where people aren’t going to allow their leaders to oppress them any longer. I don’t watch the news much, but I saw snippets of the protests in Venezuela over the dictator there declaring himself the winner of the election, when in fact, he wasn’t the winner at all. And the dictator of Bengladesh was just ousted as well. Hope and joy seem to be the order of the day!
If you’re looking for some feel good entertainment, I suggest you watch, Auntie Mame, or even, the musical version Mame, though I prefer the non-musical version. It’s the story of one woman’s crusade to fight closed-mindedness, bigotry, and hate, even though it’s on a small scale. Every little bit helps. Love is contagious.
Auntie Mame is available on Tubi. Yes, there are commercials, but you will get so wrapped up in the story, you won’t notice. Or if you’re lucky, you might be able to check it out of your local library. Let’s spread love, hope, and joy through great stories! I hope you’ll share some of your favorites with the rest of us.
A side note: I just got word that the ebook version of The Space Between Time is now available on Hoopla. So if your local library is connected with that service you can now read my book for free. If you do, please leave a review, good or bad, on Goodreads, or some service like it. Goodreads is now connected to Amazon, so your review will go there too. The sequel, Time’s Echo is a story of the Suffrage Movement that finally got women the vote, paralleled with the Women’s Movement of today. I’m in the midst of revisions and hope to get the manuscript to my writer friend Lisa soon for her comments.
Thanks to my new followers and to those of you who like and comment on my posts. I appreciate your support.
Blessings,
Lucinda Sage-Midgorden
The Space Between Time
Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.
Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, after the last few years, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.
The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version and sequel are published.
Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a podcast where she and her guests discuss their creative endeavors, and/or the stories that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and YouTube podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.
Rita Gau’s review: Recently, I finished reading a book titled, The Space Between Time, by my friend, Lucinda Sage-Midgorden. It was the best book I’ve read in a long time. It kept me captivated, which I have not experienced from any other book for the past couple of years. I loved all the little gems of meaningful and what I call spiritual statements throughout the book. You know, those words that make you pause and think, and sometimes have an “aha” from or a deeper awareness about something. And it was entertaining and informational about some of the history in the 1800’s and yet, contemporary. It also reminded me of the importance of “living in community” and how important it is to help one another and be engaged in your community. Thank you Lucinda for a wonderful, entertaining and captivating book!
Story-Power on Patreon and Apple Subscriptions
I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast, Patreon Community, and Apple subscription so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. Patreon is $5 a month for content not found on the Story-Power podcast, or on my Sage Woman Blog. They have recently instituted a free tier so you can try it out before you buy. Apple subscription is $3 a month, again with content not found on the Story-Power podcast. If you’re passionate about stories, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower. Or, you can add the subscription on Apple podcast where Story-Power is published. Let’s share what we’ve learned from the stories we love.
PodMatch for Podcasters
If you are a podcaster, or have a message or fantastic product you want to share with the world, I encourage you to check out PodMatch. I call them a dating service for podcasters. Use the affiliate link and tell them, Lucinda sent you. Then contact me so we can set up a Story-Power chat.
“The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.” ~ Brandon Sanderson
“Stories are the communal currency of humanity.” ~ Tahir Shah
No matter what’s going on in my life, or out in the world, I can always find comfort in a good story. I think most humans do that. We seek out stories to distract us, or help us make sense of ourselves and what’s going on around us. As I quote Roger C. Shank in my intro to my Story-Power podcast, “Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are ideally set up to understand stories.” For millennia stories have been painted on cave walls, or on other surfaces. We dance and sing them, we write them for others to read, and we perform them. Stories are all about trying to figure out our emotions and what it means to be a human being.
As I’ve written recently, I’ve been consuming heart-warming stories that give me faith in humanity. Friday night, Barry and I went to see a play at our local community theatre.
The story of how the theatre company survived the pandemic and set up shop in our dying mall, is great on it’s own. But that’s a story for another time. We went to see this play for two reasons. It was directed by my teaching colleague, and two time podcast guest, Dave Dahl. And because it is a story about family.
But I’m burying the lede. The above photo is of the program cover for the play. It doesn’t take place at Thanksgiving as, Barry first thought. But it is about grandparents and their relationship to one grown grandchild, though one plot point does revolve around food. It’s also an immigrant story and how one generation attempts to boost the next one up to a better life than they had. I love stories where the characters have to come to grips with the ups and downs of their family and/or friend relationships. Stories like that can turn out sad but this one was poignant, a little sad, but mostly happy with the characters declaring their love for each other. Barry and I were very happy we saw the play because in the end it affirmed the goodness of humanity.
Another story we watched recently that has very similar themes, is Find Me Falling, on Netflix, with Harry Connick, Jr. and Agni Scott. It takes place on Cyprus, a beautiful island in the Mediterranean Sea. Connick’s character is a washed up rock star who has suffered a setback when his come back album flops. In an effort to find himself again, he buys a small house with a gorgeous view of the ocean not knowing that the cliff in his front yard is a prime spot for suicides. In a way, it’s poetic that Connick’s character has purchased such a place since he’s in a very sad place himself. But his attempts to keep people from jumping and the welcome he receives by the town’s people help him begin to heal. There are of course unexpected surprises in store for him along the way. But isn’t that one of the things that keeps life interesting? This is another life affirming story and I highly recommend it.
During this heat wave in the Northern Hemisphere, I hope you have a cool place where you can go enjoy some uplifting stories that help you feel good about your fellow human beings.
By the way, I’m doing another round of edits on Time’s Echo, the sequel to The Space Between Time. I’ll keep you posted about when it will be published. I may post some segments of it here for you to sample. And if you want to hear more from me in addition to my podcast Story-Power, I do have bonus content on both my Patreon and Story-Power Apple Subscription platforms. My next Apple Bonus post is going to be about Lessons in Chemistry. I hope you’ll check it out. You’ll find the details for those platforms below.
Thanks to those of you who go back and read blog posts from months or even years ago and like or comment on them. It’s interesting how long stories stick around.
Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.
Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, after the last few years, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.
The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version and sequel are published.
Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a podcast where she and her guests discuss their creative endeavors, and/or the stories that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.
Rita Gau’s review: Recently, I finished reading a book titled, The Space Between Time, by my friend, Lucinda Sage-Midgorden. It was the best book I’ve read in a long time. It kept me captivated, which I have not experienced from any other book for the past couple of years. I loved all the little gems of meaningful and what I call spiritual statements throughout the book. You know, those words that make you pause and think, and sometimes have an “aha” from or a deeper awareness about something. And it was entertaining and informational about some of the history in the 1800’s and yet, contemporary. It also reminded me of the importance of “living in community” and how important it is to help one another and be engaged in your community. Thank you Lucinda for a wonderful, entertaining and captivating book!
Story-Power on Patreon and Apple Subscriptions
I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast, Patreon Community, and Apple subscription so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. Patreon is $5 a month for content not found on the Story-Power podcast, or on my Sage Woman Blog. They have recently instituted a free tier so you can try it out before you buy. The Apple subscription is $3 a month, again with content not found on the Story-Power podcast. If you’re passionate about stories, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower. Or, you can add the subscription on Apple podcast where Story-Power is published. Let’s share what we’ve learned from the stories we love.
PodMatch for Podcasters
If you are a podcaster, or have a message or fantastic product you want to share with the world, I encourage you to check out PodMatch. I call them a dating service for podcasters. Use the affiliate link and tell them, Lucinda sent you. Then contact me so we can set up a Story-Power chat.
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This episode is brought to you by PodMatch, the dating service for podcasters. They introduced me to Michele Defilippo, and I’m so glad they did. I hope you’ve enjoyed our conversation and remember that if you have a podcast or something to share with the world, check out PodMatch at my affiliate link at PodMatch and tell them Lucinda sent you.
Story-Power on Patreon and Apple Subscriptions
I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast, Patreon Community, and Apple subscription so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. Patreon is $5 a month for content not found on the Story-Power podcast, or on my Sage Woman Blog. The Apple subscription is $3 a month, again with content not found on the Story-Power podcast. If you’re passionate about stories, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower. Or, you can add the subscription on Apple podcast where Story-Power is published. Let’s share what we’ve learned from the stories we love.
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” ~ George Bernard Shaw
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” ~ John F. Kennedy
“All the world is a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” ~ William Shakespeare
The last few posts I wrote were mostly to remind myself that, while things seemed chaotic and uncertain, that usually means change is on the horizon. Well, last Sunday after my post aired, a huge change happened in the U.S. Even though I backed President Biden, the energy around his campaign felt heavy. Yes, he’s old, but I have to say that old people often know stuff that younger people haven’t figured out yet. But when he decided to step aside and let Kamala Harris, his Vice President, step into his place, I was excited.
Don’t get me wrong, I think President Biden would still be able to do a good job, but there is a lot at stake in this election. And as Vice President Harris reminded us, we the people have to decide what kind of country we want to live in. She’s got the energy to see that our Democracy is protected. I think President Biden knows she’s got what is needed at this time and that’s why he is allowing her to take over.
In the last few days the tenor of the country has changed completely. People who were afraid we were going to lose many freedoms and go back to the 19th century, are heeding the call to stop the threats that the people who subscribe to the Project 2025 agenda are trying to put into place. Vice President Harris has raised, at last count according to The Washington Post, $250 million in just a few days. Lots and lots of people are registering to vote, volunteering to help her campaign, she’s getting important endorsements, and she keeps reiterating how important it is to keep the gains made by President Biden and his administration. All he has accomplished is making our country stronger than ever. She’s also choosing love over hate and that more than anything else is helping her gain so much support. Someone I follow on YouTube said many months ago that Americans are tired of war. We want peace not just for ourselves, but for the world as well. Vice President Harris promises to work toward that.
Even though I’m feeling better about the upcoming election, I have to remember not to continually scroll to find out the latest news about the campaign. Doing that can be addictive and I want to concentrate on my own creativity more than hope scrolling. It’s good to have hope about the future of our country, but I don’t need to spend hours watching clips about it.
On the other hand, since I want to help create a more equitable society, I’m looking for ways I can help create a better world. The way I do that is by using my creativity to help those who consume my work see humanity in new ways.
I may have written about this, but a few weeks ago, I got the idea to create a new YouTube channel, tentatively titled, “Classic Cinema with the Sage Sisters”. My sister, Celeste and I could talk for hours about the books, movies, and TV shows we read and watch. And while there are other YouTube channels that analyze books and movies, there are not many that concentrate solely on the classics. She and I love classic movies and believe they still have things to teach us if we go back and reexamine them.
This morning I was thinking about how we might introduce the channel, and it occurred to me that Shakespeare was right, all the world is a stage and all of us are merely players. And the stories we humans create and lovingly consume, are our way of trying to figure out who we are, why we’re here, what kind of world we live in and how to cope with that situation? Stories can also be about how to create a better world than the current one we live in. Which brings me back to the election.
We’re all writing the story of the world whether we know it or not. It all depends on where we focus our attention. When something happens to you, do you immediately go to the negative side? Or do you take a breath and say, “Well there must be something to learn from that,” and try to find the positives? We can change the story of the world at any time just by imagining something better.
Now seems to be the perfect time to say, “The parameters we’ve adopted for human existence aren’t working any longer. Let’s create something more loving and inclusive. We can get rid of greed, the lust for power, fame and hoarding fortunes. We can make sure everyone has opportunities to build the kind of life that suits them best as in Star Trek. We can live in a world structured something like The Federation.” However, to create that kind of world, we might want to rethink our tactics. Angry demonstrations aren’t really the answer, but being curious and trying to understand our friends, family, and neighbors by encouraging dialogue and hopefully loving relationships with them is a great place to begin.
As Barry and I were listening to one Vice President Harris’s first speeches, she used the word “fight” more than once. Barry said, “I wish she’d use a different word than fight.” I got what he was saying and he’s right. But it’s going to take time to get used to a new way of thinking and speaking. We’re just at the beginning of turning away from hatred. It’s a learning process that we can all participate in.
I for one am looking forward to the new world of inclusion, hope, and love.
Thank you so much for supporting me by reading, sharing, liking and commenting on my thoughts. I appreciate it very much.
I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast, Patreon Community, and Apple subscription so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. Patreon is $5 a month for content not found on the Story-Power podcast, or on my Sage Woman Blog. The Apple subscription is $3 a month, again with content not found on the Story-Power podcast. If you’re passionate about stories, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower. Or, you can add the subscription on Apple podcast where Story-Power is published. Let’s share what we’ve learned from the stories we love.
PodMatch for Podcasters
If you are a podcaster, or have a message or fantastic product you want to share with the world, I encourage you to check out PodMatch. I call them a dating service for podcasters. Use the affiliate link and tell them, Lucinda sent you. Then contact me so we can set up a Story-Power chat.
The Space Between Time
Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.
Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, after the last few years, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.
The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version and sequel are published.
Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a podcast where she and her guests discuss their creative endeavors, and/or the stories that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.
Rita Gau’s review: Recently, I finished reading a book titled, The Space Between Time, by my friend, Lucinda Sage-Midgorden. It was the best book I’ve read in a long time. It kept me captivated, which I have not experienced from any other book for the past couple of years. I loved all the little gems of meaningful and what I call spiritual statements throughout the book. You know, those words that make you pause and think, and sometimes have an “aha” from or a deeper awareness about something. And it was entertaining and informational about some of the history in the 1800’s and yet, contemporary. It also reminded me of the importance of “living in community” and how important it is to help one another and be engaged in your community. Thank you Lucinda for a wonderful, entertaining and captivating book!
Sage Woman Chronicles 