Stories That Relate to Us

This post contains affiliate links for PodMatch and my Patreon Community.

Hi there!

My name is Phil Strangolagalli. I am the author of “Jesus Loves Movies” an independently published book that uses movies to help people out in life. I’ve had the honor of my book being in over 500+ Barnes and Noble stores, Target, Walmart, and independent book stores all throughout the U.S. 

Jesus Loves Movies has been recognized by Tim Tebow, Rick Warren, T.D. Jakes, and Joshua Dubois. I’ve received emails, letters, and DMs from people saying how my book has impacted them. 

I went through a rough time in my life and movies were a place of comfort for me from a lot of the trauma I went through. It really is a story of how I overcame trauma and learned to cope. It was never supposed to be a book—but it became one. 

I hope to be a person that encourages and provides hope to people who are in rough times. That using a creative outlet can help people work through complex emotions. 

Phil’s Social Media: Website, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter

Phil’s Book, Jesus Loves Movies Available in paperback, Kindle, and Audible

The Count of Monte Cristo, (2002) Director, Kevin Reynolds, Based on the book by Alexandre Dumas père, Screenplay, Jay Wolpert

Twitch Live-streaming service featuring live-stream for gamers, sports competitions, music broadcasts, creative content, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc.

The Thin Man (1934) Director, W.S. Van Duke, Novel, Danshiell Hammett, Screenplay, Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich

Knives Out (2019) Director and Writer, Ryan Johnson

The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon, by Don Zolidis

Is He Dead? by Mark Twain based on his short story, the play was published in 2003, adapted by David Ives

The Knight of the Burning Pestle, by Francis Beaumont, first performed at the Blackfriars Theatre, London, England in 1607

The Academy Awards, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences

Day of the Dead, (1985) Director and Writer, George A. Romero

Shaun of the Dead, (2004) Director, Edgar Wright, Writers, Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright

The Babadook (2014) Director and Writer, Jennifer Kent

Get Out (2017) Director and Writer, Jordan Peele

A Quiet Place, A Quiet Place part II, Director, John Krasinski, Screenplay by Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, John Krasinski

Schindler’s List (1993) Director, Steven Spielberg, Book, Thomas Keneally, Screenplay, Steven Zaillian

Them! (1954) Director, Gordon Douglas, Screenplay, Ted Sherdeman, Russell Hughes, Story by George Worthing Yates

Godzilla (1954) Director, Ishirō Honda, Novel, Shigeru Kayama, Writers, Takeo Murata, Ishirō Honda

Jurassic World (2015) Director, Colin Trevorrow, based on characters created by Michael Crichton, Screenplay by Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly

Jurassic Park (1993) Director, Steven Spielberg, Novel and Screenplay, Michael Crichton, Screenplay also by David Kopek

Foundation TV series, (2021 – ) Novels by Isaac Asimov, Created by Josh Friedman, David S. Goyer, multiple directors and writers

Ambulance (2022) Director, Michael Bay, based on the film “Ambulances” written by Laurits Munch-Petersen and Lars Andreas Pedersen, Screenplay, Chris Fedak

Dune (1984) Director, David Lynch, Novel, Frank Herbert, Screenplay, David Lynch

Dune (2021) Director, Denis Villeneuve, Screenplay, Jon Spats, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth

Coda (2021) Director and Screenplay, Sian Heder, Other screenplay credits, Victoria Bedos, Stanislas Carré de Malberg, Éric Lartigau, Thomas Bidegain

Ted Lasso, (2020 – ) TV series, Developed by Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, Bill Lawrence, Jason Sudekis, Phoebe Walsh, Brett Goldstein, multiple directors and writers

The Marvel Cinematic Universe, Producer, Kevin Feige

Moon Knight (2022) Directors, Mohamed Diab, Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Creator, Doug Moench, Don Perlin, multiple writers,

Morbius (2022) Director, Daniel Espinosa, Screenplay, Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless

Masterpiece Theatre, on PBS

Bridgerton, TV series, (2020 – ) multiple directors, Books, Julia Quinn, Created and written by Chris Van Dusen, multiple other writers

Sanditon TV series (2019 – ) PBS Masterpiece, Created by Andrew Davies, based on an unfinished novel by Jane Austen, Directors, Charles Sturridge, Olly Blackburn, Lisa Clarke, Ethosheia Hylton, Written by Andrew Davies, and multiple others

“Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are ideally set up to understand stories.” ~ Roger C. Schank, Cognitive Scientist

PodMatch

This episode is brought to you by PodMatch, the dating service for podcasters. They introduced me to Phil Strangolagalli, 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 my affiliate link at PodMatch and tell them Lucinda sent you.

Patreon

I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast and Patreon communities so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. If you’re passionate about stories too, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower.

You’re Never Too Young to Follow Your Dreams

Sarah lives in Lehi, Utah and is a die hard fantasy nerd that can’t stop talking about dragons and anime. She’s trying to get through school by creating her own worlds and characters, and has written six novels. Her latest is YA Fantasy Romance Novel “Stone Cold” containing 308 pages of clean reading published through Morgan James in New York. She makes friends, but only with people who can stand her habit of constantly talking during movies to critique the plot, her memorization of the How to Train your Dragon wikipedia page, and a monologue explaining why Doctor Strange is obviously the best avenger.

Sarah’s Social Media: Website, Facebook, Instagram

  Stone Cold, Sarah Humpherys

Beyond the Darkness, Angie Fenimore

The Giver, Lois Lowry

Delirium, Lauren Oliver

Divergent Series, Veronica Roth

The Hunger Games Series, Suzanne Collins

Percy Jackson and The Olympians Series, Rick Riordan

Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling

Greek Mythology

Eragon Series, The Inheritance Cycle, Christopher Paolini

Wings of Fire: Moon Rising, A Graphic Novel, Tui T. Sutherland

Three Dark Crowns, Kendare Blake

Encanto Deluxe Junior Novel, by Disney, Movie, (2021), Directors, Jaren Bush, Byron Howard, Charise Castro Smith, Written by, Charise Castro Smith

A.D. Trosper, Raven Daughter Series, Dragon’s Call Series

Stacy Bennett, Corthan Legacy Series

Fledgling: A Novel, Octavia Butler

How to Train Your Dragon, Cressida Cowell

The Dragonriders of Pern, Anne McCaffery

The Wheel of Time: Eye of the World Book One, Robert Jordan

Foundation, Isaac Asimov

The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

Moby Dick (Complete Unabridged Edition), Herman Melville

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

Skyward, Brandon Sanderson

Red Rising (Red Rising Series Book 1), Pierce Brown

Steelheart (The Reckoners Book 1), Brandon Sanderson

A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini

Manga Japanese Graphic Novels available on Amazon

Dr. Strange (2016) Director, Scott Derrickson, Writer, Jon Spaihts, part of the MCU

Iron Man, (2008) Director, Jon Favreau, Writers, Mark Fergus and 7 others, First of the MCU

Spider Man (2017) Director, Tom Watts, Writer Jonathan Goldstein, Actor, Tom Holland Part of the MCU

Thor (2011) Director, Kenneth Branagh, Writers, Ashley Miller and 7 others, Part of the MCU

Sherlock (2010 – 2017) Multiple Directors, Created and written by Mark Gatiss

WandaVision (2021) Director Mark Shakman, Writers, Peter Cameron, MacKenzie Dohr, and 12 others

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) Director, Kari Skogland, Writers, Ed Brubaker, and 10 others

Hawkeye (2021) Directors, Bert, Bertie, Rhys Thomas, Writers, Erin Cancino, and 10 others

Loki (2021) Directors, Kate Herron, Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Writers, Michael Waldron, and 7 others

Black Widow (2021) Director Cate Shortland, Writers, Eric Pearson, and 2 others

Code Name Verity ,Elizabeth E. Wein

The Key To Rebecca,Ken Follett

The Six of Crows,Leigh Bardugo also, Shadow and Bone Trilogy

“Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are ideally set up to understand stories.” ~ Roger C. Schank, Cognitive Scientist

PodMatch

This episode is brought to you by PodMatch, the dating service for podcasters. They introduced me to Sarah Humpherys, 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 my affiliate link at PodMatch and tell them Lucinda sent you.

Patreon

I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast and Patreon communities so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. If you’re passionate about stories too, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower.

If You Don’t Know Your History, You Don’t Know What You’re Talking About

Author, educator, and parent, Barbara Ann Mojica provides tools to inspire, entertain and educate youth.  History is the key to solving today’s problems.  Tired of being bombarded by social media noise? Accept the challenge. Be a truth-teller. 

Barbara Ann Mojica, M.A. S.A.S., S.D.A is a historian and retired educator. Her education career spans more than forty years serving as a teacher, special educator, principal, and school district administrator.

Using the whimsical Little Miss History character to narrate her book series, she makes learning history a fun-filled adventure. Barbara firmly believes, “If you don’t know your history, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Barbara’s Website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest

Hudson Valley Tourism

Carole P. Roman, award winning author of over fifty children’s books 

James Patterson, Author and mentor

Clive Cussler, Author of his most continuous series about Dirk Pitt. He is also the founder of NUMA, a non-profit organization that dedicates itself to preserving maritime and navel history.

Jean M. Auel, Author of the Earth’s Children series, including The Clan of the Cave Bear.

The Pulitzer Prize, was founded in 1917 and covers fiction, music, photography, general non-fiction, poetry, drama, journalism and more. Those mentioned: The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck, Arrowsmith, Sinclair Lewis, The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway

Places Barbara has visited:

  The Soviet Union, (now Russia)

  Czechoslovakia

  Hungary  

  Poland

  The Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy

  China

Other tourist locations mentioned:

  Scheveningen, Netherlands

  The Grand Canyon

  Niagara Falls

  The Taj Mahal

  The Louvre

  Museum of the American Revolution

“Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic, they are ideally set up to understand stories.” ~ Roger C. Schank, Cognitive Scientist

PodMatch

This episode is brought to you by PodMatch, the dating service for podcasters. They introduced me to Barbara Mojica, 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 and tell them Lucinda sent you.

Patreon

I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast and Patreon communities so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. If you’re passionate about stories too, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower.

Thank You 2022

“If you want something different, you have to do something different.” Kat, from Marry Me

“Sometimes you have to sit in the question until the answer comes.” Charlie, from Marry Me

This is going to be my last blog post for the year. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in 2023. I just need some time off to do some deep personal work. I’ve been so busy this fall creating my online class, which is almost ready to upload, that I haven’t taken a significant amount of time to reflect.

I love taking time to look back at the previous year and see what I’ve learned, what changed for me, and what I still need to work on.

The two quotes above are from a romcom I watched earlier this year, Marry Me. I have to say that romantic comedies aren’t my first choice of movie entertainment. However, the trailers for this one looked interesting and I was hooked when Jennifer Lopez character said, “If you want something different, you have to do something different.” Yes! That’s my philosophy, though I don’t always follow it. This statement is a variation on the famous Albert Einstein quote, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.” I’m finally letting go of some long held beliefs and attitudes that never served me, but I held on to to satisfy my family or society. I’m done with that nonsense.

This year I’ve been slowly changing not only how I do things, but also how I think about my life. So the trailer hooked me. And fortunately it turned out to be a good movie. Change is difficult, and that’s part of Kat and Charlie’s journey. They’ve done things the same way for a long time, which hasn’t made them happy. So their unexpected meeting and on the spur of the moment marriage shakes their lives up quite a bit.

I also love Charlie’s philosophy, “Sometimes you have to sit in the question until the answer comes to you.” In the movie, he’s a math teacher and that’s what he tells his students. It’s good advice for more than just solving math problems. That’s what I’m taking this break to do, sit in some questions I’ve had for a long time and let the Universe bring me the answers.

One thing Barry and I did that was different this holiday season was to get all our Christmas decorating finished by December 1st. That’s never happened in our entire 42 years of marriage. We said to each other, “Since we’re going to be home for the holidays, let’s enjoy every minute of them.” And I have to say that seeing the lights and decorations every day has already been a joy and filled me with gratitude and expectation for the future.

I hope you have a blessed holiday season. See you in 2023.

Love and blessings to you all.

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2022

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 is 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.

Patreon

I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast and Patreon communities so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. If you’re passionate about stories too, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower.

PodMatch

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. Use the affiliate link and tell them, Lucinda sent you. Then contact me so we can set up a Story-Power chat.

Grateful to Be Alive

“May you live in interesting times.” ~ Chinese Curse

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ~ Melody Beattie

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” ~ William Arthur Ward

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

I take exception to the Chinese curse above. I don’t think humans are meant to live in calm waters all their lives. At least one of Jane Austen’s characters, Mrs. Croft, an Admiral’s wife in Persuasion, thought so. She said, “I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.” I feel vindicated! 

I admit since the end of 2016 when it seemed that the world took a steep nosedive, and then it really did in March of 2020, I struggled to find joy in everyday living. But I kept turning away from despair and looking for little things to be grateful for. Being ordered to stay home was one of them. My husband and I were able to spend lots of time together. He was able to help me with my Story-Power artwork, and other things I needed help with to launch my podcast. And it’s always wonderful to enjoy the wildlife wandering through our yard. I also had lots of time to reflect and work on healing old wounds.

In the spring of this year, I joined Mindvalley to take some “quests” to help me continue to clear out old ways of thinking and feeling about my life and my place in the world. I just started my seventh quest, Unlimited Abundance, taught by Christie Marie Sheldon. I’ve been working on clearing lots of old beliefs and ideas that weren’t true about who I am and why I’m here. Most recently I’ve been working on clearing blocks to allowing abundance of all kinds to flow to me, but particularly money. 

After only a few sessions with Christie, I feel subtle shifts in the way I feel about my life and my financial future. It’s hard to describe but I’m different somehow and I like it. I feel more open and free to not only enjoy life, but to build the life I always dreamed of but never believed I could have.

Today, I’m grateful that my parents taught me to be open to change and to be a lifelong learner. If not for their encouragement, I might be miserable right now believing nothing in my life can get better.

Another thing I’m grateful for is the fact that in most cases change happens gradually. There are times like now with lots of upheaval and it seems like the changes are occurring all of a sudden, but that’s not true. The groundwork was being laid subtly and quietly for many years. It’s just now time to heal the deep-seated wounds that we were trying to cover up.

I guess my efforts to clear out my gunk, and the efforts of others like me, are having an affect on the wider world. I believe we often think that we’re alone in what we experience. But that’s not true. I can’t remember where I first heard this but it’s true, “Emotions are energy in motion.” The energy of our emotions both good and bad, travel out from us to those around us and beyond. Which means, I’m going to continue to try to send out clear love energy and that means continuing to work on myself. 

Have a lovely weekend. I hope you find something to be grateful for today.

Blessings,

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2022

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 is 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.

Patreon

I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast and Patreon communities so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. If you’re passionate about stories too, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower.

PodMatch

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. Use the affiliate link and tell them, Lucinda sent you. Then contact me so we can set up a Story-Power chat.