A French Castle, Irish Giants, and an Old Testament Assassin
How I've spent my last 3 weeks
Hello! Hope you’re well. Here’s the latest:
We Got to France!
When last I left you, I was sitting in the Newark airport wondering if my family would make it to France for my sister’s wedding. Things were not looking promising at the moment and they got more difficult once we crossed the Atlantic, but we made it! I’ll save you the tedium of Covid-era travel challenges, but suffice it to say: international travel these days is not for the faint of heart.
At any rate, our journey took us from Orlando to Newark to Dublin to Paris, and then rented a car and drove about 7 hours to a tiny town in the south of France. Every success along the way felt like (and was, in fact) a grace.
It was certainly worth the effort: celebrating my sister’s wedding in ruined castle-cum-chateau nestled in the foothills of the Rhone Alps was everything it could have been. Gorgeous, joyous, holy.
Episode 4: The One that Got an “Eh” From My Family (Until It Didn’t)
The latest episode of Holy Ghost Stories tells the story of the time Yahweh used Deborah—renaissance woman extraordinaire—and Barak to defeat the fearsome force of 900 ironclad chariots commanded by a Canaanite despot named Sisera.
I love this story. And pronouncing “Barak” as “Buh-Rock” instead of “Bā-Rack” had me grinning as I couldn’t help picturing the prophet Deborah recruiting Obama for this adventure with God. Definitely kept thinking of Hope Never Dies, a mystery-thriller-fan-fiction mash-up by Andrew Shaffer that imagines Biden and Obama as crime fighters who set out to clean up the opioid-ravaged streets of Wilmington, Delaware. Look—it’s Barak pointing the way down the slopes of Mount Tabor!
In all seriousness, though, this was a tough one to put together. Here’s a bit of behind-the-scenes I shared in the Insider Notes over on Patreon this week:
When I finished the episode, I played it for my family. That’s our normal custom—I give them a sneak peek on Sunday night before the episode drops on Monday. It gives me a chance to actually see people experience the story (otherwise, this job is almost entirely solitary), but it also gives me a chance to catch little bits and bobs that need fixing—music levels that need adjustment, a breath sound I don’t like, timing that feels a half-second off, etc. Fixes that are important but don’t take a lot of time to knock out before I go to bed.
But this time was different.
I played the episode and everyone was…nice. But I could tell they were underwhelmed. Ugh. My face fell and a chorus of “No—it was good, daddy!” rang out.
Methinks thou doth protest too much.
In a very bad mood about the whole thing, I convinced my wife to give me some honest feedback and I went to my room to see if I could make a couple of changes. 9 hours of furiously paced work later, I had a new opening scene; I’d combined and tightened up a couple of flabby internal scenes; I’d built out Deborah’s and Barak’s characters; I’d reworked the final scene; and I’d re-recorded, edited, and re-scored most of the episode.
Easy! :)
When I was finally done, I played it for Jennifer and we knew, tearing up in a few parts, that it was right.
I hope you’re blessed by this story the way I’ve been while spending time with it the last couple of weeks. May we, like Barak, experience the goodness of Yahweh when we get over our hangups and just show up.
If you’ve already listened, I’d love to hear anything that stuck out to you about this episode—hit me back!
(Oh—and if you’d be so kind as to leave a quick rating on Apple Podcasts, that would really help. Thank you.)
That Lady Who Stabbed that Guy with a Tent Peg
It’s gotta be one of the most famous stories in the Old Testament, if for no other reason than its off-the-charts gore factor. But there’s more to the tale of Jael.
For one, there’s a part of the story I’ve never heard told (it’s included in Deborah & Barak’s song in Judges 5 and it’s haunting). For another, these events are actually part of the story of Deborah & Barak’s campaign against Sisera. That’s why I chose to make Jael’s grisly moment of glory the first bonus episode of Season 2. It dropped this morning, and it’s available for all patrons of the show.
Not a patron yet? You should jump in! Patronage (via Patreon) is the only way Holy Ghost Stories continues to happen. It’s how you come alongside me as a partner in this Biblical storytelling venture—you give some money, I devote myself fulltime to writing and recording and editing and scoring, and voilá—Holy Ghost Stories exists!
Hope you enjoy “A Pointed Rebuke.”
(Jael, by the way, is called “the most blessed of women” in the Judges 5 song. Different times, I guess.)
Quick Trip to the Causeway Coast
We’re loving Belfast, but this past weekend we rented a car and headed up to the coast—Giant’s Causeway, White Park Bay, Newcastle. Absolutely stunning. Hiked in the Mourne Mountains as well—also stunning.
Here’s proof!
__ Cool Things
Okay, so this last few weeks has been mostly full of me writing and creating for Holy Ghost Stories and wandering around nature. No complaints! But it has left me somewhat bereft of Cool Things discoveries.
So I’m asking you, dear reader, to come to my aid. What cool stuff have you come across? A YouTube find? A purchase you’ve been especially pleased with? A song you can’t stop listening to? A fascinating article? A fabulous new show? A new favorite artist? A kitchen gadget you can’t live without? Do tell.
Reply to this email and then whatever you share, I’ll share on the Holy Ghost Stories IG account. Hit me up!
That’s the latest! Don’t forget to check out “The Muse, the Magistrate, and the Mud”and share it if you dig it.
Gratefully,
Justin