MSI Press Blog

  Blessings on Dia de Muertos wished to all by MSI Press and the late Sula (parish cat at Old Mission) -- hey, she can do that, this is the day that the souls who have passed on come back for a bit. Listen HERE to a short video about Sula and Day of the Dead. For more posts about Sula and her books, click HERE .  Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter 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 concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com. 

  Dia de Muertos is right around the corner -- and we have a book all about it, wrritten by parish cat Sula. Read the book -- find out what you might have missed: history, customs, recipes, and more. Pictures, too. For more posts about Sula and her books, click  HERE . Read more Caturday posts HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  X ,  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 concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com. Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information on our  Authors' Pages .

  Today's fortune cookie is associated with Dia de Muertos by Sula. For more posts about this book and its author, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter 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 concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.  Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information on our  Authors' Pages .    

  Excerpt from Dia de Muertos by Sula -  ¿Dónde se celebra Día de Muertos? El Día de Muertos se celebró por primera vez en México, y todavía se celebra allí. Es una fiesta importante. Hoy se celebra en ·        toda América Latina, ·        Europa, ·        Estados Unidos y ·        otros lugares. No conozco todos los países donde se celebra, pero sí sé que se celebra en muchos países, especialmente en los lugares donde hay muchas poblaciones originarias de México.   Y, por supuesto, lo celebramos aquí en la Antigua Misión de San Juan Bautista y en mi ciudad, San Juan Bautista. For more posts about Sula and her books, click HERE . Father's day is coming up -- yikes, tomorrow already!  Now, there are kid dads, and that is a long tradition of honoring them.  But, what about cat dads? Should they not be honored, too? This link provides a wide range of ideas for gifts for Father's Day. And here is another idea -- find the best picture of "Dad" with "Cat(s)" an

  The story behind Dia de Muertos is pretty simpe, really. Sula, the parish cat at Old Mission San Juan Bautist a, already had published five books about the Mission and about Catholic customs and beliefs, all of them in English. The parish, however, was pretty equally divided between English speakers and Spanish speakers with two Masses each Sunday in each language and holiday and holy day Masses bilingual. (The community of San Juan Bautista is a pretty evenly divided bilingual community, as well.) Sula, the parish cat, was present at all Masses. She was beloved by all parishioners. The "Sula books" were written to help raise funds for a very expensive retrofit requirement. (The church sits atop the intersection of three major fault lines and has twice fallen from earthquakes high on the Richter scale). Although most Spanish speakers in the parish could understand English, they felt left out of the Sula project. They wanted a book that spoke to their community in their lan

  Dia de Muertos by Sula, Parish Cat at Old Mission is available for those who want to know more about and to celebrate Day of the Dead. This book has it all -- history, recipes, paper-making instructions, pictures -- inn a simple, easy read. Amazon has only one left, but MSI Press has a number available through its webstore . For more posts about Sula and her books, click HERE Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

  At this time of year, we like to point out a unique resource -- Dia de Muertos by Sula. More information than you will find on the web -- and accurate, too.  history - traditions - recipes - photos  For more posts about this book and excerpts from it, click HERE . For more posts about Sula and her books, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

  Excerpt from Harnessing the Power of Grief : What other cultures can teach us   Proximity to other cultures offers opportunities to adopt much of their wisdom into our own culture. Paul C. Rosenblatt, a psychologist, tells us that cultures are not static. They are in a state of change (some more than others) with many individual differences. [Rosenblatt] [1] A Buddhist, a Jewish person, an African American, a Protestant, will grieve in the unique ways of their cultures. Variations exist among subgroups (based on lifestyle and income, religious variations within and between denominations), intermarriage, and cross-cultural influences. Consequently, we all are bumping into one another, learning from one another, loving one another, reading about one another, and interacting with one another.   Funerals and memorial services in Western culture tend to stand alone, like shooting stars in the night. They may be memorable and beautiful, but then we are left with the rest of the ni

  Excerpt from D í a de Muertos: ¿ Cómo se prepara la ofrenda para el Día de los Muertos? Una ofrenda es una colección de objetos colocados en una exposición ritual durante la celebración anual y tradicionalmente mexicana del Día de Muertos. En general Generalmente, cada ofrenda también suele incluir los cuatro elementos: ·        agua, ·        viento, ·        tierra y ·        fuego. Se deja agua en una jarra para que los espíritus puedan calmar su sed. Papel picado, o pancartas de papel tradicionales, representan el viento. La tierra está representada por la comida, especialmente el pan. El fuego está presente en las velas que a menudo se colocan en la ofrenda. Las velas a menudo se dejan en forma de cruz para representar las direcciones cardinales, para que los espíritus puedan encontrar su camino. La ofrenda, o altar, está compuesta de recuerdos, fotografías y objetos de seres queridos que han muerto; su propósito es de honrar y recordar sus vidas. E ntre estos artículos se enc