MSI Press Blog

  This week's book back story features Good Blood by Irit Schaffer. from the author -- Irit Schaffer is an author, speaker, physical therapist and healer in California. Her healing journey began in childhood where she was mesmerized by the stories of her father who had supernatural encounters with miraculous healing. Her dad journeyed through the turbulence of the Holocaust, was a Russian POW, imprisoned, suffered gunfire, gangrene infection.  There was no medicine to be had and yet he found a resilience that would change the course of his life and through his stories, hers.    Irit says “I would always ask him how he could tolerate the bullets taken out and not scream, and he would say that he had good blood. I would ask him if I had good blood, and he would laugh.”  That story set in motion Irit’s never-ending desire to understand the mind /body connection and the resiliency and resourcefulness of the human body mind spirit, called “Good Blood”.    Irit went on to achieve a Mast

  excerpt from Good Blood (Schaffer) -  Author Note  People ask me when I began my journey with Good Blood, and my answer is always the same “when I was born.” I laugh when I say it, but it is true. As a child in Montréal, I would curl up next to my dad and beg to hear the stories of his childhood, his family, and his incredible war experiences. “Dad, tell me again how you had the bullets taken out without pain medicine and you didn’t even cry. Dad, tell me again how you healed.” “Dad, tell me again,” was my favorite line.  With my mom, it was different. It was forbidden to talk to her about the holocaust for fear that she would faint, and I was always afraid she wouldn’t come to. Yet, as a child, I did know three things about her war experience, and those three things made a deep impact on me:   She had exit papers to leave, but she stayed to help her parents.  A Christian family hid her and her parents, and it was a Jew who informed on them.  Her father gave her a gold chai

  It is Tuesday. 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 digresses -- into the absurd, perhaps. Today, I sent for the third time, ARC labels to wone of our authors. The first time the labels disappeared. The second time, they were inexplicably directed to an IRS office in another state. Totally insane! Fingers crossed for a safe arrival this time. Today's experience reminded me of other unexpected, funny, and heartwarming experiences that have occurred over the 20 years MSI Press has been publishing. Here are some of my favorite, somewhat inexplicable stories. When You're Shoved from the Right, Look to Your Left: Metaphors of Islamic Humanism is a great little book, trul

  As a Chanukah gift to our readers, we are offering a 40% discount on Good Blood . Use coupon code ad40 at our webstore to get the discount. For more information about Good Blood , including posts by and about the 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. 

  Chanukah  is an eight-day Jewish celebration commemorating the rededication of the second temple by the Maccabees in Jerusalem in the second century B.C.  While there is so much more to learn about the Maccabees and the events at the time, why we celebrate Chanukah, is the result of the miracle they experienced.  Under the cruel leadership of Seleucids King Antiochus IV, the Jews, at the time, were not allowed to practice their own religion openly.  In fact, in their own country, they were faced with slavery and their religion was being eradicated. The Maccabees organized a successful rebellion against Antiochus and were trying to reestablish the temple in Jerusalem by sanctifying it while they were still under siege.    To sanctify the temple, the Maccabees were going to light a menorah lamp. They, however, only had enough oil for one day. But while they were only a small group of rebels, they also tuned into a higher power. The miracle of the Maccabees is through the connection to

  Well, we missed this one when it happened, but better late than never. Irit Schaffer, author of Good Blood , gave an interview (worth checking out) to Release blog. Read the interview HERE . Read more posts about Irit and her book HERE .                                         Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

  Here are some excellent podcast interviews of Irit Schaffer, gems from the past. Enjoy! "Seekers of Meaning" - podcast presentation for Jewish Sacred Aging "Trauma, Family, Legacy, and Healing" on Inner Work podcast The Idea Crucible: Body Mind Spirit podcast: Interview with Irit Schaffer, part 1 The Idea Crucible: Body Mind Spirit podcast: Interview with Irit Schaffer, part 2 Blogtalk radio Read more posts about Irit and her book HERE .                                  Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

  Excerpt from Good Blood: A Journey of Healing (Irit Schaffer): From: 1978 (Chapter 3) At 5:30 a.m., I wake up, and my head is pounding. A shooting wave of pain goes through my abdomen. Within thirty seconds of waking, I rush to the bathroom. I make it just in time.  Did I upset my stomach? Did anyone else get sick? I wonder. Ok, go back to sleep, Irit, I tell myself.   No sooner do I crawl under the down comforter than the shooting pain sears through my gut again. Almost instantly, I start to feel nauseous, and my hands get clammy. I bolt for the toilet once again, and this time I throw up.  What is going on? I wonder. It can’t be the food I ate because Barna and Jofie ate everything I did, and they’re ok. I would know if they were getting up.  One hour passes, and my back and belly are on fire. As I head to the bathroom for the umpteenth time, I hear footsteps. Barna’s kind Hungarian voice comes through the bathroom door, “Are you alright?”  I’m having trouble thinking of

  Congratulations to Irit Schaffer ( Good Blood ) for earning the status of Runner-Up (equivalent to a silver medal) in the 2021 Paris Book Festival's Spiritual/religious category. For more posts about MSI Press authors' awards, click HERE . For more posts about Irit, click HERE . For more posts about Good Blood , click HERE .

  Congratulations to MSI Press authors whose books placed in the Hollywood Book Festival. Irit Schaffer ( Good Blood ) earned the silver medal in the spiritual category and an honorable mention in the historical category. Andrew Harvey ( Tucker and Me ) earned an honorable mention in the autobiography/biography/memoir category.  MSI Press Blog Joanna Charnas ( A Movie Lover’s Search for Romance )    earned an honorable mention in the autobiography/biography/memoir category.  Betty Sha w and Dave Brown ( One Simple Text… ) earned an honorable mention in the general nonfiction category.

                                                                                       (photo by Frank Perez) 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. Ever wonder how books get to be accepted for publication? There is often more to any author's story than non-authors and not-yet-published authors would image.  Yes, of course, every publisher has the normal channel of proposal reading and acceptance based on the quality of the proposal, the "fit" of the book, the quality of the writing, and the perceived marketability, typically based on the author's platform. But...some books come into being in some other ways. Here are a few from the MSI Press e