The Paranormal 60 Interview with Dave Schrader

 

Spaced Out Radio Live Interview with Dave Scott

 Last night, I was the guest on Dave Scott's "Spaced Out Radio," a live terrestrial radio program out of British Columbia, Canada that is heard on 8 stations around the U.S., and later posted on YouTube. 

The impetus was the new trilogy edition of my historical novel, Wizard Clip Haunting, and its paranormal storyline. We had a great time and talked for 2 hours (with station and commercial breaks) about the juxtaposition of the natural and supernatural, the paranormal and the normal. 

Dave has an avid nightly following talking about American and Canadian Ghost Stories, Paranormal True Encounters, Real History, UFOs, and Big Foot. He's located in the wilderness between the Cascade Mountains and the North Rocky Mountains (God's country).  

Below is the YouTube version of the podcast, complete with off-air chatter and the silence during terrestrial radio station breaks. 

Related to this is my Nineveh's Crossing blog post "Is Christianity Paranormal" which contains links to posts on the same subject from Amanda Arrows, and Fr. Dwight Longenecker.

"Lose Yourself"

 

Dear Friends and Family,

This is for ours and your grandchildren, who are faced with life choices and divine opportunities, and yet, sometimes, in some ways, they (and we) are fearful of stepping out and working hard enough to go after and embrace that opportunity... because they could fail, or because they fear the hard work that it will require. 

WHERE I COME FROM

There are times when, as much as I appreciate my Christian upbringing and the Church, I recognize that I’ve lived a sheltered life. For the most part, that’s a good thing, a necessary thing, a salvation thing. 

But as Lew Wallace writes in Ben Hur, in the voice of Miriam, mother of the titular character Judah Ben Hur, Jews have no artists, poets, or warriors like the Romans. But they have something better, the artist of creation, God, as exemplified in the art and craftsmanship of Bezalel and Aoholiab (Wallace’s spelling) from Exodus 31 ff who created Israel’s temple and all its gold statuary, elaborate ornaments. 

I wasn’t Jewish, but growing up in Evangelicalism (that bordered the separatist of Christian Fundamentalism), there was a distinct aversion to many forms of artistic expression. The conservative Christian fellowships I grew up in might be brave enough to frame an image of Warmer Sallman’s Head of Christ, but if a real piece of art found its way into the building, there was a passionate impulse by the leaders to plaster the words of a Bible verse across the work in an effort to make it sacred, or ensure the art found its way to a waste bin, or was painted over with pale green wall paint (all true stories, see my memoir, Growing Up Christian). I always found this offensive. My favorite Psalm, which grandson Michael and Rachel asked me to read during their wedding three weeks ago, declares:

The heavens declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words, 

no sound is heard from them. 

Yer their voice goes out into all the world, 

their words to the ends of the world. 

—Ps 91:1–4

God does not plaster the words of Scripture across the heavens or the bark of trees. Although a study of astronomy from the perspective of the Bible reveals that the signs of the zodiac were known to Job (38:31-32), David (above), and Moses (Genesis 1:14).  And there is  Mel Morris's 25-part series, The Bible in the Heavens and the Gospel in the Stars, which explains with clarity how the zodiac signs depict the coming of Christ and the Gospel. (e.g. Virgo—Virgin Birth, Libra—Price of Redemption, Scorpius—Conflict between the Messiah and Satan, Leo—the Tribe of Judah and Christ's victorious return). 

God does not need pat sermons or sweet devotionals to get the truth out. He often proclaims what is good, true, and beautiful in ways that are so obvious we miss them, or we take for granted, and sometimes we find them offensive. (c.f. Angel Quest)

The latest example, in my experience, is "Lose Yourself," the Eminem rap that was the theme song of his 2002 semi-autobiographical Detroit movie “8 Mile,” and which won an Oscar in 2003 for Best Song.  The song ranked in the charts for decades and was a 20+ platinum record (a platinum record is 1 million units sold). 

Last night (May 22, 2026), I felt the heavy ping of being sheltered when I came across a video on YouTube of opera singer, Maria Fiselier, covering “Lose Yourself” on a Dutch TV show...rap as opera is an ironic hook).  I listened to it several times but then only caught a smidgen of the lyrics. Later I found them (below). “Lose Yourself” is an inspirational recording for anyone afraid to step out and embrace an opportunity—articulated in the song’s refrain:

You better lose yourself in the music

The moment, you own it, you better never let it go (Go!)

You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow

This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo

In the movie (8 Mile) the story and the rap are both about rap contests in Detroit’s inner city. But broadly, they are metaphors for every obstacle and opportunity in life. There is much to learn here about working hard to embrace opportunities without fear. The heavy rhythmic beat in the song reinforces the importance of perseverance. You better lose yourself in the music of life...that is, persevere. 

Here is Maria Fiselier’s cover of "Lose Yourself (clearer lyrics but not cleaner.)

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YyuIkVSx-8

Here is Eminem's official video for the movie with subtitles.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yhyp-_hX2s

Eighteen years after "Lose Yourself" won an Oscar, Eminem performed “Lose Yourself” live at the 2020 Oscars. Here’s the link. His segment begins at 2:53.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhe-LJLZMHk

Sabriya's Hope Writing Journal 13

I wish I could be making movies instead of writing novels. But novels are possible, and movies are not, when there is little money. I have a thirst for visuals. When Pam and I watch movies at home, lately about three/week, she's all a tizzy about the emotional storyline, and I'm in awe of the art director's imagination, the blocking, and the L O N G one-take opening sequences (e.g. Touch of Evil).

Writing Sabriya was getting me down. I wanted to SEE my characters and the settings. But my imagination struggles to create art, although I don't have much trouble with wordy descriptions.  But then, I'm now Lew Wallace (Ben Hur), whose command of English and scene setting is mesmerizing. 

I don't use AI to write. I want what I create to be my creation, although research and synonym finders I can't do without. But AI has helped me test my descriptions. I started out with Microsoft Copilot (because we have a Microsoft Office subscription).

But after I write a scene, I'm always wondering how it will translate visually in the reader's mind...or on screen if I should be so lucky. Copilot and lately ChatGPT have made writing a bit more fun for my right brain. Here are some examples where I've taken my word description and asked one or the other AI system what it would look like, though I am humble enough to realize the AI rendering is more Lew Wallace than me. 

Sabriya discovers a safe haven:
St. Mary Elias Monastery

Miwi Cun village where Sabriya's
secret daughter was raised

Sabriya races through the night on her
 MI6 stealth cycle

Doffing her Carmelite lay habit for a
true wedding dress

Sapptoso watches Sabriya give a speech
 as he plans her demise

Sabriya and Hannah, her security attache,
 discuss royal protocol

Sabriya asks David for forgiveness

Sabriya Writing Journal 12 - Aids: Keynote, Scapple, and Scrivener

Sabriya's Hope Plot Board

Writing Aids for writers are numerous. Here are some suggestions and a few visuals. 

A frequent contributor to The Moral Premise knowledge base, Miquel Banks, recently recommended Literature and Latte's SCAPPLE as a useful writer's aid for outlining, brainstorming, plotting, and visualizing how the many ideas that undergird a novel or screenplay can be organized.  Miquel knows I already use Literature and Latte's SCRIVENER for early drafts, such as my novel Sabriya's Hope, which is nearing completion, and is being serialized weekly online.

Sabriya's Hope Names, Locations, etc.

Scapple is a powerful tool, and it integrates well with Scrivener, as you might expect coming from the same company. I have written about my use of Scrivener in other posts on this blog, and while I don't like everything about it (it has some odd British intuitions), it does have many tools that are invaluable and, I doubt, are available elsewhere. 

Sabriya's Hope Character Visuals (AI)

While Scapple is powerful and easy to use, I chose to stick with Apple's Keynote because of my deep familiarity with it when creating slide presentations for my live workshops, which use hundreds of graphics to illustrate narrative theory and story structure. For some tasks, like right-side brainstorming, Scapple is excellent. But I'm mostly a left-sided thinker and so linear processes and procedures are easier for me...thus Keynote is an easy fit.

Sabriya's Hope Maps of Travel and Chases

I think Scapple can do everything I do in Keynote,  as illustrated in the slides at right (clickable to enlarge), but again, it's simply my long use and deep familiarity with Keynote that allows me to keep my focus on completing a novel or screenplay, instead of spending time learning a new system. Elements in the slides on the right were created with a combination of tools from Keynote, Photoshop, Google Maps, and AI from Microsoft Copilot, and ChatGPT/Open AI. (I have modest subscriptions to Microsoft Office and ChatGPT/Open AI.)