MSI Press Blog

  Lauretta Avina Lauretta Avina, an Italian American immigrant, has a deep passion for sharing good food with family and friends. She self-published her first cookbook,  Ricette del Mio Paese , in 2011. At the time of publication, Lauretta had been married for 36 years to her husband, a 24-year Army Veteran, now retired. Lauretta is the founder and president of the Franca Barsi Memorial Scholarship, created to honor her late sister by awarding a scholarship annually to a graduating high school senior. Following her sister’s tragic death due to domestic violence, Lauretta became a dedicated advocate and volunteer, educating others about domestic violence prevention and services. She has served as a guest speaker for various social welfare agencies and juvenile probation Victim Awareness Classes. In addition to her advocacy for domestic violence victims, Lauretta is a staunch supporter of military veterans and their families. She also advocates for students in her role as a Guid...

  Meet G T Walker, author of  Curse of the Maestro and Other Stories . G.T. Walker is the nom de guerre of Gregory Walker, a Black concert violinist and interdisciplinary artist (@electricvivaldi on Facebook and Instagram). He received a B.S. in Music with Honors in English at Indiana University followed by master’s degrees in computer music and music composition at the University of California San Diego and Mills College, eventually collecting a doctorate and joining the faculty at the University of Colorado Denver’s Department of Music and Entertainment Industry Studies. Securing a publisher for his first novel,  Trigram Cluster Funk  (Double Dragon), winning the Elizabeth M. Cruthers Prize in Playwriting, and attending the Second Wind Theatre premiere of his science fiction drama  Chambers of the Heart , he became a freelance writer and columnist for a number of national and international publications including  Strings, Hoosier Lit, Teen Strings, Points...

  New to the MSI Press family is Victor Montgomery III, whose books, Heart to Heart Resuscitation: A Memoir and Heart to Heart to Heart Resuscitation: My Journal were recently released. They are available online and in bookstores.  (Use coupon code FF25 at the MSI Press webstore for a 25% discount.) Want to know a little something about the books, watch the trailer HERE . As a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, serving with 1st Marine Air Wing, Iwakuni, Japan and Da Nang, Vietnam Air Base, the author has experienced first-hand, an inside view of what it takes to survive the challenges and trials of deployment and reintegration back into society and family, which gives him strong credibility in counseling veterans. Vic, himself a recovering alcoholic with 43 years clean and sober “a day at a time”, and a PTSD diagnosis, writes about the sheer power and honesty he experienced while meeting weekly, face to face with the 12 combat veterans in Group Room #2. Vic puts into action re...

                    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 Imady writers, who have written several exciting and award-winning books. Above pictured, left to right, is Elaine Imady, the mother of Muna (daughter) and Omar (son). Elaine's book, Road to Damascus , a memoir of her physical and emotional journey from New York to Syria with her husband, Mohammed, was the first runner-up in the Eric Hoffer Legacy Award competition. Muna, who published two books with MSI Press -- the popular Syrian Folktales and the gut-wrenching Damascus amid the War , passed away suddenly and unexpectedly just as she finished the latter book; may she rest in peace. Omar's MSI Press books are quite different one from another: The Rise and Fall of Muslim Civ...

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 ...

New to the MSI Press family is Diana Keathely, whose book, GodSway: My Anecdotes with God , is on pre-order at Amazon, B&N, and elsewhere. (Use coupon code FF25 at the MSI Press webstore for a 25% discount.) Diana is a teacher of Spanish and English as a Second Language turned author. She writes about her unusual and compelling experiences with God. Her writing has been published in several magazines, and she has won awards for it.  She has been active in several local churches for many years where she was part of a Worship Team and more. Her true-life stories of God’s intervention, protection, provision, and personal communication, as laid out in her first book, GodSway: My Anecdotes with God , have had an impact on her students and her peers, in addition to her family.  Diana resides in Tulsa, Oklahoma , with her husband of 43 years. She loves spending time with extended family and playing games – especially Corn Hole (“bags”) and Catch Phrase –with their four adult chil...