MSI Press Blog

  The award-winning book, Travels with Elly (Larry MacDonald), everyone assumes is about a dog. It is, indeed, about a dog. BUT a cat, Buster, comes along on the trip and is part of the story and fun, too. See this paragraph from the introduction to the book: Buster is a Rag Doll breed of cat whose defining characteristic is going limp when he’s picked up. Having grown up with Elly, the slightly older Buster established himself early on as Alpha and maintained that relationship by a swat or nip on Elly’s hindquarters when he decided a playful interlude was over. While Elly was always a great traveler, Buster had some issues, even before our trip began. He occasionally upchucked if a road became too twisty or bumpy for more than 10 or 15 minutes. Buster’s problem behavior stopped suddenly and permanently during our trip, much to our delight. When appropriate, I’ll offer my opinion as to why. Ah, well, at this point, if Buster has caught your fancy, check out the e-book and search f

  INTRODUCTION  On a balmy afternoon in July, the weather turned ugly shards of lightning, booming thunder, roiling green and black clouds, and an angry wind that shook our trailer unmercifully. Forecasted tornado warnings in the Edmonton area had me peering through rain streaked windows at a darkening sky, scanning for dreaded vortexes that would prompt a hasty retreat to our campground’s washroom.  A little brown head bunted my leg, chimpanzee-esque eyes expressing concern. “Don’t worry,” I said, “The odds of dying in a tornado are 20 million to one.” It’s the ONE I’m worried about, she replied, continuing her frantic pacing.  An hour later, sanity returned with mottled gray skies and peaceful prairie breezes. Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher, said it best: “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” That’s good—being stronger may have helped us survive even worse weather yet to come, Canada’s “Storm of the Century.”  In 1960, John Steinbeck traveled across th

  From Readers' Favorite -- C amping is where you spend a small fortune to live like the homeless.” Larry MacDonald is direct and cleverly witty in his detailed writing of what life can be like living in a recreational vehicle, especially during quarantine.  Diary of an RVer During Quarantine is a short book that you will find entertaining and informative. For the full review, click HERE For more posts on Larry MacDonald and his books, click HERE .

  Yes, Elly had a friend, Buster, a cat, who made the RV trip across Canada with her. Buster was apparently not a very good traveler at first, but adapted with time and experience. Here are some times the cat appears in the book: Buster is a Rag Doll breed of cat whose defining characteristic is going limp when he’s picked up. Having grown up with Elly, the slightly older Buster established himself early on as Alpha and maintained that relationship by a swat or nip on Elly’s hindquarters when he decided a playful interlude was over. While Elly was always a great traveler, Buster had some issues, even before our trip began. He occasionally upchucked if a road became too twisty or bumpy for more than 10 or 15 minutes. Buster’s problem behavior stopped suddenly and permanently during our trip, much to our delight. When appropriate, I’ll offer my opinion as to why. Our departure date of July 1 coincided with Canada Day, a statutory holiday for citizens to celebrate the birth of Canada. We

  To honor Caturday, we have been presenting pictures of MSI Press authors with their cats. Here we share a photo of Simone, Larry MacDonald's cat, who traveled around Canada in an RV with him, his wife, and his dog Elly. To read about these travels, check out posts about Travels with Elly HERE . The book is available from online sellers, kindle, retailers, and the MSI Press webstore. For information about Larry and his other books, click HERE for some great reading.

In honor of Caturday, we are sharing photos of the cats who own MSI Press authors, starting with Sula, pictured above, who is herself an MSI Press author. Click HERE  to see Sula's works. Simon is owned by Joanna Charnas, author of chronic illness support books and A Movie Lover's Search for  Romance , who says he is her "foster failure." Click HERE to see Joanna's works. Jeremy Feig was owned by Shelly. He wrote a book about her, How My Cat Made Me a Better Man , that won a book of the year award. Click HERE   to read about Shelly, including excerpts from the book. Carl and Betty Lou Leaver are owned by Intrepid about whom they wrote a book, stuffed with illustrations, and five other cats. Click HERE to see Intrepid . In the picture, Happy (black & white) and Murjan (red & white) share a cat bed. Cindy McKinley Alder is owned by Watson, shown here wrapped in a ribbon. So cute! Click HERE to see Cindy's contributions to the field of teaching, parenting

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 Dumb Things That RVers Do!  is a compilation of ten years of research on RV mishaps, rated from “dumb” to “dumbest,” with helpful hints on how they could have been avoided. A “must-read” for all RVers, new and seasoned, wanting to save some grief and cash by learning what  not  to do while RVing. In his subsequent t book, Travels with Elly: Reflections on Canada by an RVer and His Dog , the author travels from coast to coast in a trailer with his wife and pets, including their poodle, Elly, in order to gain a better understanding of his adopted country. An informative read for armchair travelers with a spirit of adventure, for those wanting to learm more about Canada, and for any cross-Canada traveler, especially RVers and dog lovers. Travels with Elly won t

t 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! Larry is the author of three MSI books: Read more posts about Larry MacDonald and his books HERE .

Released this week, Diary of an RVer in Quarantine by Larry MacDonald. 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.” See also Larry's other books. RV Oopsies  -- funny and helpful! One of our most popu

Are you a now-grounded RVer? We have some good reading for you! Fun and informative! Get ready to avoid 101 mishaps when you are released with your RV onto the world's highways. 99. STOP, LOOK, AND ASSESS THE MESS Steve was backing his Class C motorhome into a campsite with his wife in the passenger seat. He heard shouts coming from an adjacent campsite and stopped to see what all the commotion was about. He had backed over a small cedar tree, which was lodged at a rakish angle under the rear quarter section. In his haste to extricate his rig from the tree, Steve pulled forward. RIPPPP! The partially uprooted tree ripped off the lower side and rear aluminum panels. After sheepishly replanting the tree, Steve used a handful of metal screws to temporarily reattach the RV panels. His final fix involved a pricey visit to the body shop. Since the mishap, Steve always ensures that his wife is watching behind the rig to give directions when he backs up. He even purchase

RV Oopsies by Larry MacDonald received a 5-star review by Java Davis at Readers' Favorites. The reviewer concludes: The author is from Canada, but these lessons are universal, and they are not geocentric. From prospective RV’ers like myself to novices to the seasoned traveler, this is a great RV Bible. I learned that I am completely ill-equipped to purchase and drive an RV, but rather than discourage me, RV Oopsies by Larry MacDonald made me feel that if the people illustrated in these stories can do it, I can too. Look out, World, I may be road tripping soon! Read the full review here:  Readers Favorite Review. Larry is also author of  Travels with Elly. RV Oopsies  can be purchased for 25% discount at the  MSI webstore . Use coupon code FF25.

January Magazine 2020 features Travels with Elly (Larry MacDonald).  Read about it HERE . Read posts by and about Larry, this book, and his other work  HERE . .

Travels with Elly by Larry MacDonald received a 5-star review by Gisela Dixon at Readers' Favorites. She concludes: I enjoyed reading Travels with Elly and thought it was a witty, thoughtful, and at times humorous travel memoir. Larry has written in detail about the people and places they encountered on their road trip. The book also provides a glimpse into what life could be like living in a trailer, camping and traveling the road in this way. The engaging and fun writing style also incorporates the antics of Elly and pet lovers will surely enjoy it. The photographs complement the narrative and provide a visual representation of the events and places. Overall, this is a good travel memoir of travels across Canada in an RV and travel buffs will definitely enjoy it. Read the full review here: Readers Favorite Review . Larry is also author of RV Oopsies. Travels with Elly can be purchased for 25% discount at the MSI webstore . Use coupon code FF25.

SASKATCHEWAN  “Between the blush at dawn and dusk the long kiss of land and sky, bare against each other.”  From “The Prairie” in This Land by Ken Odland  The sun shown brightly as we crossed the border into the neighbouring province of Saskatchewan. Temperatures approached 30° Celsius, about 10 degrees above normal for September. Immediate impressions, as seen from the highway, were checkerboard fields of amber, ochre, and green. Fall is harvest time in the prairies and many farmers were taking advantage of the fine weather to collect their crops. On distant horizons, columns of dust rose behind tractors pulling reaping machines. Grain elevators, always beside railroad tracks, were prominent landmarks in most small towns.  British Columbia’s landscape is mostly mountainous; Alberta has mountains to the west and prairie to the east; Saskatchewan, at least the southern section, is endless flat prairie. Two tongue-in-cheek sayings that capture the essence of this fla

Released yesterday! This nonfiction book views Canada from a personal perspective, similar to John Steinbeck's view of America in his 1960 book  Travels with Charley . The author travels from coast to coast in a trailer with his wife and pets, including their Standard Poodle, Elly, in order to gain a better understanding of his adopted country. Interspersed between descriptions of history, cultures, places, and icons are the author's reflections on various things such as Elly's antics, signage, ferries, political injustice, environmental issues, and animal instincts. To provide a canine's perspective, Elly reflects on things of interest to her, including cats, cows, and other critters...but especially cats! Where was Canada's first settlement? What is its prettiest town? When and where was its most devastating shipwreck? And who was its greatest hero? Find out by reading this account of the author's journey through a unique and wondrous country, brimming with