My Kind of Story

Inside Powell’s bookstore

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

“Self-acknowledgment boosts your emotional and spiritual immunity, giving you the strength you need to release the past and rise above fear, doubt or resignation.” ~ Debbie Ford

As I’ve written here many times, I’m passionate about stories in different genres, styles, and formats. I love classic stories as well as the modern ones.

As I’ve listened to my favorite podcast, “What Should I Read Next,” I’ve been prompted to think about what stories hit that sweet spot for my reading, or watching satisfaction.

This is what I came up with. I love stories where the main character is plopped into an unfamiliar situation and must learn to navigate it. Along the way, he or she learns a lot about themselves. I also love stories about found families, unusual love relationships, quirky stories about an unexpected inner life of a character that manifests in interesting ways. But at the heart of every story I love, are characters who heal their wounds and their fears and transform them into love. When I say love, I don’t mean just romantic love. In the stories that feed my soul, the characters open their hearts and embrace the world around them, flaws and all.

While I love action books and pictures, I don’t want a steady diet of them. Once I got hooked on classic British literature in high school, it was the slow to develop, the quiet stories I have enjoyed the most.

I’m reading one right now that hits all those boxes. It’s The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan. I started it on Monday and by the time this entry posts, I will have finished it. Part of why I love it so much is because it’s a gentle story of people just living their lives, trying to figure things out. Sometimes when life is big and dramatic, as it is now, I need the quiet stories to sooth my nerves.

In The Keeper of Lost Things, several character’s lives intertwine around a writer, Anthony, who lost the love of his life and the gift she gave him, on what would have been their wedding day. Her death set him on an unusual path. In an effort to find the small medallion of St. Therese, Anthony’s love Therese had given him, he picks up lost things, takes them home, catalogues them and then tries to return them to their owners. He writes fanciful stories about the items which are hugely popular. But as he gets older he realizes that some of the owners of the lost items don’t want them back because they represent too much pain. So he begins to write darker stories about them. His publisher rejects these stories which causes Anthony to stop writing all together.

Along the way, he hires an assistant, Laura, who is recovering from wounds of her own, and when Anthony dies, she discovers he has left her everything he owns with the directive to continue to return as many of the lost items as she can. And doing that leads her to discover all the details of Anthony and Therese’s story while helping her transform from an emotionally closed person, to someone open hearted. She finds her purpose because of Anthony.

I think it’s a blessing to have so many creative people offering their talents with different types of music, stories, and visual art to help us get in touch with our emotions. The other day I was thinking, and it occurred to me that my emotions, which have been bubbling to the surface lately, are my true link to the Divine. Our minds are great tools, but we get all tangled up when we try to understand the majesty and vastness of everything outside our mental constructs. It’s our emotions that help us understand, even if it’s only by small amounts how connected we are to each other and everything that exists. That’s why the arts are a necessity for our health. They help connect us to our emotions. They help us expand.

I’d love to hear what kinds of stories speak to you.

On another note, I’m getting ready to finish the audiobook for The Space Between Time. Because I’m teaching it may take me until the end of the year to finish it, but I’ll keep you posted about my progress.

Take care of yourselves. Thanks for reading, liking, and commenting. Blessings to you all.

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2020

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, 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.

From To Kill A Mockingbird, Jane Austen, the MCU, and Back Again, pt. 2

This is part two of my long conversation with my sister, Celeste Sage-Tate.



Story~Power is now available on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps.



I have had the love of reading since 7th grade. I would spend hours after school just reading and seeing myself in the stories I read. I read many different genres. I do not limit myself. As a Life Coach I have read many books from Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, and Marianne Williamson.

Part Two
The Crucible – Arthur Miller, Movie, (1996) Nicholas Hytner, director
To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee, Movie, (1962) Robert Mulligan, director
Rise of the Guardians – (2012) Peter Ramsey, director
A Course In Miracles – New Christian Church of Full Endeavor
MCU movies, Kevin Feige, producer
Star Wars movies, George Lucas, creator
Star Trek series and movies, Gene Roddenberry, creator
The works of William Shakespeare
The works of Jane Austen
Avengers: Endgame (2019) Anthony and Joe Russo, directors
Iron Man – (2008) Jon Favreau, director
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) Anthony and Joe Russo, directors
Black Panther (2018) Ryan Coogler, director
Dr. Strange (2016) Scott Derrickson, director
Thor (2011) Kenneth Branagh, director
Black Widow – Character in the MCU, movie projected release (2020) Cate Shortland, director
The Road Less Traveled – M. Scott Peck
Die Hard (1988) John McTiernan, director
The Shining – Stephen King, Movie (1980) Stanley Kubrick, director
Cujo – Stephen King, Movie (1983) Lewis Teague, director
Movies by M. Night Shyamalan
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Signs (2002)
Lady in the Water (2006)
The Village (2004)
Seat of the Soul – Gary Zukav
Back to the Future (1985), Robert Zemeckis, director
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen, Our favorite version – Mini-series (1995) Simon Langton, director
Now Voyager (1942), Irving Rapper, director

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

Late Summer Blossoms

Free picture (Abdeckung. Herbst Blumen.)fall-flowers-very-vivid-colours-fragment-58174

“The Law of Divine Compensation posits that this is a self-organizing and self-correcting universe: the embryo becomes the baby, the bud becomes a blossom, the acorn becomes an oak tree. Clearly, there is some invisible force that is moving every aspect of reality to its next best expression.” ~ Marianne Williamson

“Any human anywhere will blossom in a hundred unexpected talents and capacities simply by being given the opportunity to do so.” ~ Doris Lessing

Today is the day before our fortieth anniversary. It hardly seems possible. I love where we are in our relationship. We’re busy working on fun projects, as much or more so than when we were young.

Since we are taking the entire weekend to celebrate, I won’t keep you long.

There are advantages to getting older. Oh, sure, we ache a little more but I’m feeling much more confident about being creative. I don’t worry what other people think and it feels like my intuition is working at a much higher level. That’s why I started my Story~Power podcast.

I’ve been listening to Anne Bogel’s podcast, “What Should I Read Next”, for a year or so and I love it. But as my first guest, Dave Dahl said, Shakespeare didn’t write in a niche, he wrote for the wealthy as well as the men working in the mines. “He wrote for everyone.” And the more I listened to Anne’s podcast, which is a niche program, I wanted to produce my own podcast where I could discuss a wider range of topics. I’m interested in books, movies, TV shows, and plays in all different styles and genres and I wanted to share all those with my listeners. One or more of my guests and I even talk about music and visual arts and the stories they tell.

There is just something about encountering the stories of people who are like me, and very different than me, that opens up my emotions and helps me feel more deeply connected to the rest of humanity. That’s what I want to share with my listeners.

I never thought I’d say this, but I love every aspect of producing this podcast. I love learning how to use the technology. I love the conversations, the editing, and prepping for publication. I even love sharing about it on social media, which I’ve been avoiding lately because it can be so contentious. I’m energized in a way I never thought I would be at sixty-seven years old. It’s as if I’ve finally come into my purpose.

For me, being “forced” to stay home has been like reaping the seeds of ideas that have been floating around in my mind for a long time. I’m basking in the energy of what is flowering.

If you’re so inclined to listen and help me spread the word, go to Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps and rate or write a review for Story~Power. Episode three, which airs on August 19, is the second part of my conversation with my sister Celeste. She and I talk about classic books and movies as well as more modern ones like the MCU series and what we’ve learned from each of them. In fact I found each conversation with my guests immensely satisfying. I have learned a lot from them.

Well, I’m off to celebrate. Have a lovely weekend. Stay safe and healthy. Blessings to you all.

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2020

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, 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.

A Short Post

The Community of Christ Seal of my childhood

“It’s those difficult times that inform the next wonderful time, and it’s a series of trade-offs, of events, of wins and losses.” ~ Brad Pitt

“Difficult times disrupt your conventional ways of thinking and push you to forge better habits of thought, performance and being.” ~ Robin S. Sharma


 I could use some peace right about now. How about you?

We’ve had some issues revamping my site, as you can see. My husband is helping me but he’s got to do some research before we can fix all the glitches. And, of course, life gets in the way. I hope we’ll have all the issues worked out by the end of August. We’ll see.

I’ve enjoyed my Story~Power chats and am looking forward to the next round which will be posted in the new year. I hope you are getting the notifications and enjoying the two which have aired so far. I’ve had many amazing conversations with my guests.

At the moment, I’m getting ready for a new semester of teaching at the college. It was touch and go as to whether I’d be teaching at all, but it looks like my very small classes will be offered. I’ll be teaching both classes using Zoom. Dave and I did teach acting that way at the end of last semester, but to do it for an entire semester is going to be really interesting. The other class dramatic structure won’t be affected that much.

But back to my opening statement, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been very emotional lately with everything that’s going on and then there was the explosion in Lebanon. That sent me into a tizzy. I’ve cranked up my spiritual practice of meditation, sending Reiki, journaling and the like just to maintain some balance. It takes me longer every day to finish this important work. At first I was feeling quite anxious about it, but then I remembered that if I’m going to make it through this time of upheaval, I must go within. That’s just as, if not more important, than any of my other creative work.

I hope you are all are keeping safe and sane. In my daily meditations, I send out love and light to all of you, and everyone on the planet. We must support each other in order to make it through these extremely difficult times. Here’s hoping we catch a break soon.

I hope to have a longer post next week.

Love and blessings to you all.

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2020

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, 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.

From To Kill A Mockingbird, Jane Austen, the MCU, and Back Again pt. 1


This is the first of an edited two hour conversation I had with my sister, Celeste Sage-Tate. When she and I get started, we talk about one story that leads to another, and another linking themes and what we’ve learned from them.

Story~Power is now available on Apple, Google and Spotify podcast apps.


Part One
I have had the love of reading since 7th grade. I would spend hours after school just reading and seeing myself in the stories I read. I read many different genres. I do not limit myself. As a Life Coach I have read many books from Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, and Marianne Williamson.

Stories Discussed
To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee, Movie, (1962) Robert Mulligan, director
The Crucible – Arthur Miller, Movie, (1996) Nicholas Hytner, director
Go Set a Watchman – Harper Lee
Parable of the Sower – Octavia E. Butler
The Casual Vacancy – J.K. Rowling
Gladiator – (2000) Ridley Scott, director
Braveheart – (1995) Mel Gibson, director
Star Trek (all series and movies) Gene Roddenberry creator
Author of note: William Shakespeare
The Stand – Stephen King, Mini-series (1994) Mick Garris, director
Shawshank Redemption – Stephen King, Movie (1994), Frank Darabont, director
The Green Mile – Stephen King, Movie (1999) Frank Darabont, director
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen, Our favorite version – Mini-series (1995) Simon Langton, director 
Dune – Frank Herbert, Movie (1984), David Lynch, director
Finding Nemo – (2003) Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich, directors
Bruce Lipton non-fiction books
The Hunger Games Series – Suzanne Collins, Movies, (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015,) Gary Ross and Francis Lawrence, directors
A Return to Love – Marianne Williamson
Saving Private Ryan – (1998) Steven Spielberg, director
Wayne Dyer, Spiritual Teacher and Author

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