MSI Press Blog

excerpt from  Diary of an RVer during Quarantine  (MacDonald) -  Day 8 (Wednesday?) I climb up on the roof to see why my ceiling-vent fan is not working when the vent opens.    Being afraid of heights, standing on an RV roof is not my forte; I get a little queasy standing in the back of my pickup truck.    So I crawl to the vent.    Here’s some advice:    don’t crawl on a white roof in blue jeans … unless you’re trying to make a fashion statement with white-kneed jeans.   Finally, I reach the vent and Sandy opens it from the inside control panel.    I notice a switch designed to open when the lid goes up is rusty.    A shot of WD-40 and a slight tug on the switch and the fan begins working again.    I also clean a layer of soot off the topside of the clear plastic fan.    That brilliant piece of work warranted another Quarantini.    In all my 35 years of RVing, I don’t recall dr...

  excerpt from  Diary of an RVer during Quarantine  (MacDonald) -  Day 2 - 6 (Wednesday - Monday) It didn’t take me long to come up with a list of jobs that were long overdue.  Washing and waxing the truck and trailer pretty much got me through the first week.  Each day, I congratulated myself for a job-well-done with a “Quarantini” … which tastes just like a martini except that you drink it at home alone!  And you don’t even have to wait for Happy Hour – when you’re confined in a trailer, you can be happy at 11:00 in the morning!  As they say in the RV world:  it’s 5 o’clock somewhere!   5 stars, Readers' Favorite For more posts about award-winning author, Larry MacDonald, and his books, click  HERE . Read more posts about the Larry and his books, click  HERE . AWARD FOR  RV OOPSIES Kops-Fetherling International Book Award for Sports and Recreation AWARD FOR  TRAVELS WITH ELLY American Bookfest Best Books Award Fin...

  Just released: the audiobook edition of by the very funny book, Diary of an RVer during Quarantine by Larry MacDonald. Book description: This nonfiction book provides a humorous glimpse into a couple's strategies for surviving two weeks of quarantine within the confines of their RV. The author's diary includes his never-ending "to-do" list as well as the couple's routine and unique activities, such as ordering groceries and restaurant meals online for delivery to their RV site, playing games, and learning new skills such as baking and playing the ukulele. A major portion of the book is devoted to how full-time RVers might occupy their time fruitfully while staying cooped up during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reading RV magazines and related books and planning an RV adventure when restrictions are lift ed is complemented with excerpts provided from two of the author's books. Words of wisdom abound: "Stay at home, wash your hands, and enjoy my books." Pa...

  excerpt from  Diary of an RVer during Quarantine  (MacDonald) -  Day 1 (Tuesday) From a carefree life of joyful activities, we suddenly feel like captives within our 38-ft. 5 th wheel.  In our RV Park in Victoria, British Columbia, people are keeping their distance from others by walking almost sideways as they pass.  Friends are greeting each other not with a handshake but with a wave, and chatting from chairs strategically placed 2 metres (6 feet) apart.  Physical distancing and hand washing are the orders-of-the-day to mitigate the spread of the highly contagious and deadly virus.  Our poodle Bella can’t figure out why we aren’t leaving the site to play fetch with her ball.  Playing with stuffed toys inside the RV is not quite the same, but she is making the best of it.  My wife Sandy and I decided we would also make the best of it … but how?   As a knitter, meditator, painter, and ukulele player, Sandy is well on her way to m...

  Diary of an RVer is one of 15 books prepared as part of a 2020 project to help readers cope with the pandemic, quarantine, shut down, and the fears and daily life Fifteen MSI Press authors accepted the call to prepare pandemic-related books in their specialist. For Larry, an ardent RVer and author about RV life, with a sense of humor, the challenge took the form of relating two weeks of daily life trapped inside an RV -- with a twist of humor. His quarantini has become a favorite. For more posts about Larry and his books, click HERE . For more book back stories, 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.co...

  excerpt from Diary of an RVer during Quarantine (MacDonald) -  Almost overnight, the world has changed!  Well, not really the world so much, but our place in the world.   In the world, fish are jumping and the cotton is high!  But we humans no longer seem to be in control of our lives.    In early March 2020, as full-time RVers, we left our winter resort in Mesa, Arizona and arrived at another in Tucson, where we enjoyed playing pickleball and golf, hiking in state parks, visiting an outdoor artisan market, and dining at patio restaurants.  Our intent was to meet up with friends in another week or so in Las Cruces, New Mexico for a golf holiday before heading back to Canada.  Life was good!  We were on the road to adventure.   About that time, we started receiving increasing news reports about the novel Corona Virus (later identified as COVID-19) infiltrating America.  Group activities – dances, concerts, sports, and parties...

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, and many have gone on to write books that have been subsequently traditionally published by MSI Press. Today, San Juan Books presents author Larry MacDonald. Larry MacDonald has a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology and over 30 years of experience RVing and freelance writing for various magazines, including  MotorHome ,  Trailer Life , and  Canadian RVinglds . His book,  RV Oopsies: 101 ...

Excerpt from Diary of an RVer during Quarantine: Day 7 (Tuesday) Today, I decide to figure out why the front burner of our propane stove is not lighting with the clicker switch (Finally, a real purpose for getting out of bed!).  Have you ever taken the top cover off your stove?  Me neither!  Not once in the six years we’ve owned this rig!  Underneath were scattered pieces of dried spaghetti, macaroni, and rice that would have provided dinner for four.  The instructions on how to light and shut down the stove are posted under the cover, but I had to remove grease with dish detergent before I could read them.  A pleasant surprise!  They are in three languages, which provided an opportunity to see if my weekly Spanish classes in Arizona paid off … they didn’t!  However, I was able to understand ONE word (highlighted) in the first sentence: “Abra el suministro principal de gas a la estufa.”   Well, look there … the ignition tube to the fro...