MSI Press Blog

  setting out for Pizza Factory In today's post, I take a moment away from our typical post topics to share a special moment. Today is the third anniversary of the death of Carl Leaver , co-founder of MSI Press LLC.  To commemorate this special day, Carl's son, CB (an MSI Press author himself), and I had lunch at Carl's favorite pizza hangout, Pizza Factory in San Juan Bautista. We each wore one of Carl's favorite caps, and then we had Carl's favorite buffet lunch and set a place (empty) for Carl to be with us in spirit.        Sign up for the MSI Press LLC monthly newsletter (recent releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, author advice, and more -- stay up to date)   Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC?  We help writers become award-winning published authors. One writer at a time. We are a family, not a factory. Do you have a future with us? Turned away by other publis

  Recently, a Cancer Diary post addressed what all too often happens when cancer is diagnosed at a late stage, especially at advanced Stage 4. But how do you get that far without a diagnosis? In Carl's case, we missed the early signs, ignored the warning signs, and excused his bad behavior. Early signs The early signs were mostly associated with our expectations of aging. He was getting into his seventh decade. So, we were not surprised when he was no longer up for hiking mountains or spending eight hours a day on the job. In fact, I was always coaxing him to put just a little more time into working since working from the same office, I was quite aware of how much effort I was putting in on a daily and even hourly basis than he was. I chalked it up to his being lazier than usual as he aged. (Work was never where he wanted to concentrate his efforts, anyway. He was an ESTP on the MBTI, someone who loved to play, put things off, and spend time in the outdoors.) But even some of that

  Today's book back story is about  Overcoming the Odds,  edited by Carl Leaver. From the publisher -  At one point in time, MSI Press embraced the idea of a book of excerpts to use in book promotion. The idea was to put these in various waiting rooms, such as medical clinics, to give people something interesting to read -- and the opportunity to order the full book from which their favorite excerpts came.  Carl selected some of the most heartwarming and triumphant books we had published for excerpting in Overcoming the Odds .  That book has served its purpose. It no longer sits in waiting rooms; however, it is still available for purchase from MSI Press . For more posts about Carl Leaver and this book, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC monthly newsletter (recentof  releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, author advice, and more -- stay up to date) Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Pres

  Today would have been the 54th anniversary for Carl  and me. Last year, I spent it in the cemetery with Carl, as I did the year before. This year I cannot because I am in Bandung, Indonesia, but perhaps that is just as well.  On our 51st, he was alive, but not well. Three weeks earlier, he had fallen, been xrayed, and found to be in the advanced stage of cancer of unknown primary , with liver, lungs, bones, and stomach completely riddled with cancer cells, blood clots in his lungs, and his bones throwing off cells to create hypercalcemia, the reason he had fallen. It was a difficult time. We were just coming out of the covid months. We brought our CHARGE Syndrome son CB who had been living in group homes for 20 years home when they were not careful with protection from covid. At the same time, our spina bifida daughter, who lives about 30 miles to the south of us, independently, with a county-provided part-time aide lost her caregiver to surgery and no one wanted to take over, given

  Carl died of Cancer of Unknown Primary -- never could find the original cancer; CUP is frustrating that way. Of the cancers that were known, stomach cancer was one of the five cancers that wracked his body. We did not know anything until it was too late. Carl lived only five months after his initial diagnosis. Had we known what to look for -- and even though to check out little aches and pains and oddities -- he might have fared much better.  For those still living with what may seem like little aches and pains and oddities, here are some  Stomach cancer: causes, warning signs, and treatment (msn.com) . For other Cancer Diary posts, click  HERE . Blog editor's note: As a memorial to Carl, and simply because it is truly needed, MSI Press is now hosting a web page,  Carl's Cancer Compendium , as a one-stop starting point for all things cancer, to make it easier for those with cancer to find answers to questions that can otherwise take hours to track down on the Internet and/o

  We share a couple of items with you in honor of All Saints Day. (1) We would remind you of the book, Saints I Know , by Sula, parish cat at Old Mission (shown above with Our Lady of Guadalupe). It is a great resource for catechism students in choosing a saint's name. It is also a great resource for anyone wanting a collection of true stories about well-known and not-so-well-known saints. (2) Sula also wrote a book, Sula and the Franciscan Sisters (saints in waiting). (2) Today is the second anniversary of Carl Leaver 's birthday following his passing in 2021. Carl was co-founder and chief typesetter of MSI Press from 2003-2021. While he was born on All Saints' Day, he usually referred to himself as a "rotten pumpkin," being born the day after Halloween. Happy All Saints' Day. Read more posts for All Saint's Day here . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI

One of the fun things that a publisher (or at least, an acquisitions editor) gets to experience is meeting more than one member of a family -- as authors whose work we publish. In this series of presenting family authors, we take note of the Leaver writers, who have written books in various combinations and solo. Above pictured is Betty Lou Leaver and Shenan (CB) Leaver, who collaborated on Mommy Our House Guest , a fun book that has gained a number of afficionados and been serialized in a magazine.  Betty Lou, who has written dozens of books, including, for MSI Press, Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star and The Invisible Foreign Language Classroom (with Laura Dabbs) and Carl, who typeset and designed the covers of many MSI Press publications and edited Overcoming the Odds , collaborated on the book,  Intrepid.  who unfortunately passed away in 2021 from Cancer of Unknown Primary, Carl, unfortunately, passed away suddenly in 2021 from Cancer of Unknown Primar

    The following excerpt comes from Overcoming the Odds, edited by Carl Leaver\. GUIDELINES: TWO RULES FOR SURVIVAL Gratitude 1. When you get up in the morning, express gratitude that you had your husband as long as you did. You can do this by writing down some thoughts in a journal, saying a prayer, or just thinking grateful thoughts. 2. Talk about your loved one with friends, mentioning particularly nice things your husband did for you and others. 3. Make a list of everything that you have to be grateful for. Post the list in a conspicuous place: near your computer, on the refrigerator, or in a journal you use every day. 4. Take yourself out to lunch at a favorite place, and feel grateful to be lunching there. Savor the food; admire the ambiance. 5. Go to a movie that you know will touch you. Be grateful that you can still be touched. Do Something for Someone Else 1. Buy a little gift for one of your husband’s relatives. Sisters, brothers, even cousins may be hurting as much as yo