Dream Chasers and Eccentrics

After the previous episode with Scott Wells and Tina Erwin, I realized Tina and I had a lot more to talk about. The subject of Karma and Frequency came up and I was intrigued. After learning that she had written a book on this, titled "Karma and Frequency," I scheduled another interview with her, got the book, and read it. One could argue that nothing in life is more important than managing our ka...

You might remember Tina Erwin from the episode Ghost Helper Tina Erwin April 2024. She is a retired Commander in the US Navy who has had psychic abilities since she was a child. She is now know for helping ghosts, who she explains are souls trapped on Earth, pass on to Heaven. After last week's interview with Scott Wells where we discussed his Ouija Board experience and his book "Marked by the Oui...

Scott grew up in a small town in Idaho. When he was 16 years old, he bought a Ouija board. His friends got to it before he did, and while he was at work, they had an experience so terifying that they burned the board. This is just the beginning of a story so enthralling and scary that I got goosebumps several times during the interview. The book, "Marked by the Ouija," is based on this experience....

Robert Abele is an artist who paints Cape Cod scenes in oils. He is also a master of cultivating a creative life, and a master of articulating what this means.  We talk about becoming an artist, being inspired by a teacher, trying to be a Disney animator, capturing a feeling of time, selecting colors, playing in the shadows, skills that cross over beteween the arts, cultivating creativity in life,...

Tom Cunliffe is the author of the new novel Hurricane Force, which I read and loved. He has also written 30 sailing nonfiction books and is a lifelong sailor. He lives in England with his wife Ros, sails a Mason 44, and drives a 1949 Mk VI Freestone and Webb Bentley.  We talk about writing fiction vs nonfiction, sailing, navigating by the stars, learning to write without formal study, real and fic...

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett is an author, creative-writing teacher, and host of the podcast Writers on Writing. Her latest book "Pool Fishing" is a collection of noir short stories and releases Sept 16. We talk about her book Pool Fishing, the genre Noir, breaking the law, making bad decisions, creating characters, setting and how it affects story, eliciting an emotional response, Stephen King, her fa...

David Olsen is the Editor in Chief of Kelp Journal, a boutique publisher of literature including surf noir and ocean-based literature. He also writes under the pen name Nik Xandir Wolf. We talk about publishing and writing, what makes writing great, endings, Steinbeck, writing pet peeves, favorite books, the genre noir and how to define it, surfing and big-wave surfing, AI and our opinions on its...

Tony Stead was an offshore commercial diver, working on oil rigs in th Gulf of Mexico in the years before and after hurricanes Rita and Katrina. After this episode of his life, he started a scuba diving operation in Bocas del Toro, Panama. I met him surfing here in Bocas. He is one of the friendliest and most generous people I have met and is a good friend. His stories of commercial diving are cap...

Laura Stanfill is the author of two books: "Singing Lessons for the Stylish Canary," and "Imagine a Door." She is also the owner of Forest Avenue Press.  We talk about why she started a publishing house, the importance of local bookstores, the joy of publishing and working with authors, Forest Avenue Press, what makes a book great, her book "Singing Lessons for the Stylish Canary," a head injury t...

Michael Stockham has worked as a big-firm lawyer for over twenty years after receiving his law degree from Cornell Law School. He's a sought-after litigator and speaker. His award-winning legal thrillers include Confessions of an Accidental Lawyer and the Jake Fox series of legal thrillers, which begins with Jake Fox: Ties that Blind. His books have attracted over 2.5 million page reads, over 100,...

Peter Gooch is the author of the new novel "Lips." He was on the show last year for his debut novel "Seren." He   is a painter, writer, and former art professor living in New Mexico. His short fiction has appeared in numerous literary magazines and online. Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, he holds an MFA from Western Michigan University. He resides in Corrales with his wife, Dr. Sharon Ransom....

Orignial poetry recited by the author, Paul Trammell. Shownotes are here Support the show through patreon

Meteor Shower is an original short story by Paul Trammell, narrated by the author. Every month, I post a short story on my substack page. If you sign up, and it's free, you'll get a short story, written by me, in your inbox on the first of every month, as well as occasional poetry, books reviews, and essays. Find this at https://paultrammell.substack.com/ Shownotes are at https://www.paultrammell....

Ryan and Jonah are two brothers writing and recording original music in the band Crown Mountain.  We talk about writing and recording music, creativity and how to cultivate it, setting aside time to be creative, playing covers, improvisation, playing different instruments, what it takes to make it big, drinking, drugs and writing music, drugs and performing, touring, overproduced music, pitch corr...

Aurora Winter is an author and creative entrepreneur. Her books include "Turn Words into Wealth," "Marketing Fast Track," and the fantasy series "Magic, Mystery, and the Multiverse." We talk about writing fantasy, getting into a creative frame of mind, freedom of speach, grief, healing from a broken heart, reinventing ourselves, using our story to our advantage, neuroscience of effective communica...

Exit Game! is my latest short story, published June 1 on paultrammell.substack.com Sign up for the newsletter if you'd like to get a free short story every month, as well as occasional poetry and book reviews (no strings attched). Support the show through Patreon  

James Goodhand is the author of the new novel "Reports of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated." He was also on the show last year with his novel "The Day Tripper." I love and recommend his books and James is a great speaker and storyteller. He lives in Surry, UK, and repairs cars when not writing novels. We talk about his new novel, what it's like having a child who will read your books one da...

Stacey Hollis (@stacebird) lives in Bocas del Toro, Panama. She has a background in field biology and now takes tourist on various eco-tours like snorkeling and birdwatching. Stacey is from the Washington D.C. area and carries a lifelong, innate passion for birds. This passion only increased as she grew up enough to begin to become aware of the sad fact that birds and ecosystems in general are thr...

Clay Moffat in an ex-Navy weapons tech turned behavioral coach and author of The Trust Trap. He's spent 15 years helping high performers break toxic patterns, stop outsourcing their sanity, and take radical responsibility for their lives. Clay teaches the neuroscience of trust, the psychology of betrayal, and why most people keep screwing themselves over. If you've ever ignored a red flag, sabotag...

Nathan Visage lives in California and is on a mission to surf big waves. We talk about surfing The Wedge, Mavericks, what makes a wave heavy, injuries, safety, paddling out at Mavericks, sharks, training for big-wave surfing, wipeouts, double-wave hold-downs, fear, getting washed into the rocks, big-wave surfboards, tow-surfing and paddle surfing, the community of big-wave surfers, localism, gaini...

Anthony Horowitz is a best-selling author of over 50 books, including the recent "Marble Hall Murders," which I read and loved. His teen spy series Alex Rider has sold over 21 million copies. His books have been made into TV and film series, and he's been commissioned to write Sherlock Holmes and James Bond novels. He is one of the UK's most successful and prolific authors, and is a master of writ...

John Brink was born in Nazi-occupied Holland at the beginning of the Second World War. His early chilhood consisted of foraging for food with his brother and sister. His mother was left to raise the three kids alone when their father was drafted into the Dutch Army. They wouldn't know if he was alive until the liberation of their village, by Canadian soldiers, on April 12, 1945. This was the exact...

Katie Chambers owns and runs the editing agency Beacon Point, is an organizational expert, and is a former English teacher. In addition to editing and leading a team of editors, she teaches the craft of writing.  We talk about teaching, starting an editing business, training and education, proofreading, what's to love about grammar, copy editing and line editing, writing techniques, character inte...

Mark Synnott is a climber best known for pioneering big-wall first-ascents. His expeditions have taken him to places like Alaska, Baffin Island, Greenland, Iceland, Newfoundland, Patagonia, Guyana, Venezuela, Pakistan, Nepal, India, China, Tibet, Uzbekistan, Russia, Cameroon, Chad, Borneo, Oman and Pitcairn Island. Closer to home, Mark has climbed Yosemite's El Capitan 24 times, including several...

Anonymous Andrew is the host of the podcasts Cultimatum, the Culture of Cults; Digital Dating with Anonymous Andrew; and The Weekend Rant.  We talk about cults, what they are and how they attract members, how they maintain power over their members, how they abuse their members (some of this might be disturbing), narcissism, escaping from cults, how to avoid cults, how to recognize cults, and more....