Posts

Showing posts from January, 2022

Cancer Diary: The Importance of Ambiance

Image
  When Carl came home from the hospital and was put on in-home hospice, we, the members of his family (my daughter had come from the East Coast with her family and my son had come from Sacramento), did our best to learn all about his medical needs. The kids had come home because it was clear the end was near, and we wanted to make sure that his time at home was as pleasant as possible, surrounded by family. We learned about the various medications he had been taking and would be taking. He was not able to communicate well by then, but he had quite an arsenal of regular pills that he took every day, and once he stopped being able to sort them out himself, we had to figure out which he needed when. He was also given new drugs -- morphine, which he used only a little of, and an anti-anxiety drug, which he never needed. With the morphine, instructions were unclear, and we guessed at amounts. Checking in with the hospice nurse, we learned that we were giving a 300-pound man the dosage that

Guest Post from MSI Press Author Marti Wells-Smith's Blog: Angels All Around Us

Image
  Angels All Around Us Dear Kindred Spirits in Christ, I've been thinking about the unseen heavenly realm this holiday season, and how real it is. Twice in my life, I've felt the presence of angels - and they were profound, supernatural experiences that I'll never forget. My first encounter was when I was traveling on a four lane highway at dusk. I saw a car cross the median and come barreling toward me, and only had seconds to respond. I felt invisible hands touch mine and guide me safely to the side of the road. I pondered the event heavily, and could only surmise that it wasn't my time yet. The second event was when I was with my extended family at a regional hospital. We had gathered to be with my mother, who was not going to survive emergency surgery. In the wee hours, right before her passing, I was resting, half asleep, when I felt an invisible presence swoosh over me, moving toward her direction. It was a peaceful encounter, and I knew without doubt th

Planning for Pet Care When Owners Die

Image
(photo of Murjan ) All too often, when pet owners die, their pets end up trotting over the rainbow bridge behind them. Not by desire but because kin and neighbors turn the pets into kill shelters, and, indeed, like many other older animals, they are euthanized. It is important, therefore, that people include their pets in their post-mortem plans (wills, trusts, powers of attorney, or simple agreements with family members) and make sure their kin are ready to follow through. Following through does not include dumping pets at shelters that will kill them. No-kill shelters can be an option, but not IMHO the best one. Imagine being caged for most of your life. My daughter has promised to take my cats. She has several cats of her own and takes good care of them. I can rest easy that my cats will have a good home when I can no longer give them one. We have a cat angel in our town. She brings in the street cats and finds homes for them. It is amazing how many people will adopt a neighbor'

Excerpt from The Optimistic Food Addict (Fisanick): Lip-Tied

Image
  Chapter 1. Lip-Tied For my 40th birthday, my husband got me a gift I’d always wanted but could never afford. He paid for me to have the gap in my two front teeth fixed. With the advent of social media and selfies, the gap—about the thickness of a Susan B. Anthony dollar—became like a chasm to me; a dental Grand Canyon of sorts, which seemed to pull camera flashes to it. If I tilted my head a mere inch toward the light, the gap would fill with a shadow that stood in stark relief against my white, never cavitied smile.   I’m sure it seemed extra large to me in part because of its meaning. I associated it with where I came from: a trailer park in West Virginia. The only people I knew with a gap in their teeth (other than the occasional high-profile David Lettermans or Lauren Huttons) were too poor to get their gaps fixed. I hated admitting that I held these beliefs, especially at 40, especially as an academic heavily invested in celebrating Appalachian culture.   Although

Introducing New MSI Press Affiliated Book: Once Again (Gina L. Scott)

Image
  Book Description: Savannah is a young woman set out to make a difference in the world. But she plans to do it alone. With no family to connect with and no man in her life, she is ready, willing and able to face the challenges life has to offer. She is fearless, or so she thinks. She has planned her life out carefully never realizing that the best plans are sometimes altered. This story is about her journey as her life plan changes its course. Book is available at Amazon . Reach the author at glscott333@yahoo.com.

Just Released on Kindle: E-book Version of Practices That Work

Image
  MSI Press is happy to announce the release of the e-book version of Practices That Work   (Thomas Garza). The paperback edition was released in October 2021. To read posts about this book, including excerpts, and its author, click HERE .

A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: Who Are You?

Image
It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic addresses an author's self-presentation, the look-and-feel of your work and yourself. Here are some things to think about as you go about designing the cover of your book (even if a professional designer does the work, you will need to approve it), putting together a website, deciding what social platforms you will use, designing advertising materials, deciding where and how to promote your book, and more. Who are you?  What are your strengths? If your strengths are in the networking area, then you might set up meetings with local organizations interested in your topic to discuss the topic of your book

Cancer Diary: The Horrible Hospice from Hell

Image
I have put off talking about this topic on Cancer Diary for a while because the memory is so painful. However, it did happen, and therefore it probably happens more often than one would think or hope. When it became time for Carl to go on hospice, we chose home hospice and looked forward to him being back home from the hospital with his family and having the support of professionals in our own.  Alas, that did not happen. Whatever could go wrong did go wrong -- and it would appear that with this particular hospice, it might have been regular practice rather than something going wrong. The easiest way to share is probably just to provide a list of everything that went wrong. (Any one of these might go wrong with any hospice, something caregivers should be prepared for. All of them going wrong is simply incompetence, uncaring, and abuse on the part of the hospice.) [In this list, Hospice C is the first hospice we worked with, the bad one, and Hospice B is the second one, the good one. Ho

Just Released: E-Book Version of Life, Liberty, & Covid-19 (Ortman)

Image
  MSI Press is happy to report the release of Life, Liberty, & Covid (Dr. Dennis Ortman)  as an e-book. The paperback version was released in December 2021. Congratulations to the two authors! To read posts about this book, including excerpts, and its authors, click  HERE .

MSI Press Featured in San Francisco Post Article: San Juan Bautista Publisher Aids Local Mission with Unique Books by a Special Cat

Image
  photo of Sula, looking for more of her books, by Stacey Gentry Sula, parish cat at Old Mission San Juan Bautista, is back in the news again. This time, an article about MSI Press LLC in the San Francisco Post details the role Sula and her books play in raising money for the presentation fund of Old Mission San Juan Bautista. Check it out! Nicely written! For more posts about Sula and her books -- and lots of neat pictures, click HERE .

Just Released: E-Book Version of Typhoon Honey (Girrell & Sjogren)

Image
  MSI Press is happy to report the release of  Typhoon Honey  (Kirrell & Sjogren) as an e-book. The paperback version was released in December 2021. Congratulations to the two authors! To read posts about this book, including excerpts, and its authors, click HERE .

Guest Post from MSI Press Author, Joshua Shea: TikTok?

Image
  Have you ever found yourself learning a different way of doing something and then regretting all the inefficient time and effort you spent initially doing things the wrong way? I always feel like that when I'm trying to change a tire or work on a project around the house. How many hours have I lost in my life prior to buying an electric screwdriver? Writing books is just one of the ways that I conduct my outreach to the pornography addiction and betrayal trauma communities. I also coach, but I have a fairly large presence on social media and have appeared on more podcasts talking about these subjects than anybody else in the last five years. I thought I had all of my bases covered. Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram were perfect for hitting the communities I most thought needed my message. Facebook is political opinion I don't want to get into, Snapchat appears like it's mainly to trade naked pictures and TikTok just seemed like my kids' friends acting their age and I do

Fantastic Book Review for Weekly Soul (Craigie) by Family Medicine Magazine

Image
  Holly Salzman, MD, writes of Weekly Soul by Dr. Frederic Craigie: During this turbulent time of global pandemic, racial injustice, political unrest, economic crisis, and financial uncertainty, many of us have seen our lives and our practices changed in unforeseen and unprecedented ways. We are left questioning our purpose and our path.   Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living ,   beautifully written by Frederic C. Craigie, Jr, PhD, seeks to take us on a personal journey to figure out who we are and the meaning of our lives in the context of this new reality.  . . .  This book of reflections will be an asset to all who seek to rediscover meaning, wholeness, and well-being in these stressful times, and can help both trainees and practicing clinicians move beyond burnout to resilience. Read the full review HERE . Read more posts about Dr. Fred Craigie and his book HERE .

A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: Does Pitting One Publisher against Another Improve Your Chances of Acceptance?

Image
  It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic addresses effective communication with acquisitions editors. Does it make sense to p it them against each other? To create a sense of competition in order to get one of them to move? Here are the ways in  which authors have tried to tempt me to offer them a contract by alluding to another publisher -- and my reaction and response.  Just a note to say that the book submitted to you is being seriously considered by a United States Publisher. Please let me know how you would like to move forward. My reaction: The author comes across as pushy (trying to take the upper hand), arrogant (assuming that I would e