MSI Press Blog

What is a book jewel? A sometimes-overlooked book with remarkable insight and potential significance. Starting in August, we will share near-daily, as possible, reviews of the monthly book jewel - short, succinct reviews that can be read in 1-2 minutes with links to the reviewer by reviewers whose words are worthy of being heard and whose opinions are worthy of being considered. Sometimes a couple of minutes contains more impressive thought than ten times that many. We will let you decide that. This month's book jewel is Women, We're Only Old Once by Bertha Cooper. Amazon review by Paula Simpson - Fact-based, practical, and inspiring1 Here’s a terrific book for women who are facing, or already in, our golden years. The author consulted medical and mental health experts and interviewed dozens of women to write this pragmatic handbook covering all the facets of life: physical and mental health, weight, exercise, relationships and sexuality, spirituality, the inevitability of los

  The following excerpt comes from Old and On Hold (Cooper) -- (editor's note: while this book -- and a dozen others - - were written for the days of the pandemic, to help with various unique circumstances we all experienced at that time. some of the advice in it is good in general for circumstances that occur as the aging process kicks in, so we have maintained the book for sale at the MSI Press webstore ) Making Up for Missing Religious and Recreational Gatherings We had interests before the pandemic and still have the same interests now except we may not be able to participate in our callings and interests. If we are active in a religion and regularly attend gatherings, we likely experience spiritual solace and a sense of belonging with others. Our plan will include staying in contact with our religious community leaders to help maintain connection, especially around providing explanations and understandings of this world crisis. How many of us are devoted followers of sport

  Bertha Cooper recently won the Pinnacle Books Achievement Awards' health category for her book, Women, We're Only Old Once . Women, We're Only Old Once  has won numerous awards, including: Kops-Fetherling International Book Awards/ Phoenix Award for Best New Voice in Health and Fitness Best Indie Book Award\ Independent Press Award For more posts about Bertha and her book, click  HERE . For posts about other Pinnacle Book Achievement Award winners, click  HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter  here  or on our  home page . Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrent

  Today's book excerpt comes from the award-winning book, Women, We're Only Old Once by Bertha Cooper -- Growing Old in a Culture of Denial As I began my journey of discovery into what being an older woman might mean in America, I learned that I wasn’t the only one who had questions and fears, nor was I the only one who craved conversation about aging well but didn’t know how to begin it. Most of us are at least curious about the experience of others and how it compares to ours. Yet, inexplicably we women, even those of us who tend to overshare, don’t always engage in substantial discussions about what it means to grow old and how to do it with dignity and self-kindness. We live in a culture in the United States that celebrates youth and hopes to postpone aging as long as possible. As women, we’ve all experienced the message throughout our lives that to be socially acceptable and desirable it’s necessary to be beautiful as in slender but curvaceous, with unlined, made-up faces

  Women, We're Only Old Once  is  a 2023 Independent Press Award WINNER   in the category of Aging/Midlife.  Congratulations to MSI Press author, Bertha Coope Book description: With over ten years of growing into an old woman with the help of her friends, Bertha Cooper knows whereof she writes. In this book you will learn that growing old is not the slow death of our personalities, our bodies, or our relevance to the world. Someday, it will happen, but not yet! Feel the wisdom below the years we've lived and the power that comes with making our own choices about our aging selves.  Women, We're Only Old Once  offers explanations for natural changes that occur while aging and transitions we must make as we age. Women can be relieved to learn that having less endurance or word-finding problems are not signs of disease. Women are empowered to put their energy and spirit where it counts on their journey in this important phase of life. Bertha Cooper also earned the Kops-Fetherli

  Excerpt from Old and On Hold   Eating through a Pandemic The food supply chain has been turned upside down, creating unusual problems wherein some farmers are tossing milk or burying vegetables while people are lined up at food banks without adequate supplies of food. As of this writing ,we are being told that meat processing has been affected by plant workers being struck with COVID-19. A threat of meat shortage can create food insecurity and the desire to hoard which, of course, requires a way to store larger quantities of food. People without means, including elderly on fixed incomes living in small spaces, can’t hoard. We can expect that grocers will put some limits on the amount bought just as stores did with toilet paper and paper towels. I thank my grocer every time I go in for the effort to provide and, in some cases, “police” our good intentions for the good of all. Stress and boredom are triggers for overindulging. Sugary and salty foods offer temporary satisfaction and com

  San Juan Books is the hybrid division of MSI Press LLC. It allows first-time writers to become published in a traditional way through the reduction of risk by sharing publication costs. All other publishing features are traditional in nature, and most SJB authors go on to be offered traditional contracts for their subsequent books. SJB publications are available as paperback, hard cover, and e-book versions. SJB authors' books very much hold their own against their contemporaries in the traditional publishing division. Indeed, a number of them have outsold their traditional compatriots. Today, San Juan Books presents author Bertha Cooper.  Bertha earned a BSN degree in nursing (University of Washington) and entered the profession the same year as Medicare, a coincidence destined to define her career in non-traditional ways. She began her career in public health and moved into a management position early in her career - the beginning of a long career in management and administrati

  Bertha Cooper is a speaker par excellence. She has spoken to many groups and continues to speak to them. Her most recent presentations have been about each of her books, sponsored by the Soroptimist International of Sequim this past month:    One of our favorite presentations by Bertha here at MSI Press was recorded on Youtube by Norwester Rotary. Listen...you will get really good advice (along with information and insights that you might first encounter here). HERE is the link. For more posts about Bertha and her books, click HERE . For more books on aging, click HERE .

  The following is an excerpt from the award-winning book, Women. We're Only Old Once (Bertha Cooper) that seems particularly appropriate as the new year begins:  I have been frankly humbled by this experience of entering the last phase of my life. I, so far, have humble thoughts, the most important include being honest about my grief and, in the end, letting go of it. I try to honor the important losses of friends, accept the devaluation of my work, shrug off the newest arthritic finger bump, and pay attention to new thoughts and aspirations that never before had room in my life. Quite important, as you will see in later chapters, I encourage investment in well-being. Among my hopes in sharing this journey with you is that we will honor our bodies, which are changing daily, by taking care of them and will cherish our remaining relationships. We can anticipate that new thoughts and aspirations will begin entering from unexpected places as we clear out denial and grieving. Welcomin

  Difficult Relationships That Take More of a Toll As We Age Long-standing relationships that are chronically stressful begin to take a greater toll as we age. We know that chronic stress and mental anguish have a greater impact on our physical bodies as we age. Making a final attempt to mend difficult relationships or to let go and to stop obsessing about them becomes an essential task when you are on the cusp of old age. Mental distress robs us of valuable time and energy we need or want for other pursuits so it becomes essential to pick our stresses. Difficult relationships are not those friendships that seem to have a natural ebb and flow and enter and leave a life. Most of us have countless relationships that we can pick up after years. Difficult relationships, on the other hand, become tiresome, unbalanced, and demanding. If resolving a difficult relationship were easy, we would have done it long ago. However, we somehow have gotten entangled in old feelings, responses, hurts, an

  Exploring the Dark Side of the Moon Erik Erikson, well-known psychologist (1902-1994), proposed eight stages of human personality development (1993), each having a significant development task to complete in order to successfully go on to the next stage. The eighth and last stage he called maturity and identified it as beginning at age 65. The conflict experienced in maturity he described as ego integrity versus despair and the task as reflection on and acceptance of one’s life. Success, he suggested, is measured by feeling a true sense of oneself and having a fulfilled or fulfilling life. Reflection is a way to strengthen our confidence in transitioning to an aging woman with a sense of self and purpose. Some of the past is occurring in the moment. One of the women I interviewed would be 70 that year and is just now giving up working. “I haven’t had a summer off since I was 14 years old,” she said in a way that caused me to believe that she was astonished by this fact. That’s o