MSI Press Blog

    Just in, on Palm Sunday...a trailer for Sula's book, Easter at the Mission . 'Nuff said, just listen! HERE . For more posts about Sula and her books, click HERE . Fir other posts about Easter, click HERE . For other book trailers, 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. 

  Yes, we have quite a collection of short videos of Sula, parish cat at Old Mission San Juan Bautista, thanks to Stacey Gentry, Sula's official photographer. For some Caturday/Saturday fun, just click HERE and select the videos you like -- or all of them! For more posts about Sula, her life well lived, and her books, click HERE , including Surviving Cancer, Healing People , which won a Literary Titan gold medal. And, with Easter coming up, don't forget about Sula's Easter book! Sula, the now-famous church cat, tackles a mysterious topic for her fifth book: What is Easter, what is its meaning, what are the beliefs behind Catholic behaviors associated with the Lenten season and Easter, why is it called the Paschal mystery? Sula answers these questions with history, dogma, humor, and charm. And, of course, with pictures, lots and lots of people-cat pictures. The sections of the book--Ash Wednesday, Lent, Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and East Mornin

  Gee whiz, after all the rain, Sula now has waterfront property! (For those who do not live in California, over the last couple of drought-killing months, we have not only filled our previously nearly empty reservoirs but have so much water to spare that many people like me have nature-made swimming pools in the backyard and a house, not designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, with a river running through it.) Not to be left out, Old Mission San Juan Bautista's famous parish cat (author of books, subject of online stories), who passed last August after 17 years of dedicated service to the parish and is buried in the Mission gardens near her beloved status of St. Francis, now also has a pond for reflection. For Sula's story on this blog, including posts about Sula and her books, click HERE . For Sula's story on the Internet, including the first publication about her in Guideposts Magazine , click HERE . For more Caturday posts, click HERE . Follow Sula's life, death, and afterl

  Sharing a photo of Sula, parish cat at Old Mission San Juan Bautista, in commemoration of the Lenten season.  For more posts about Sula and her books, especially Easter at the Mission , click HERE . For more posts about Lent, click HERE . For more Caturday posts, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter  here  or on our  home page . 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. 

  Excerpt from Tale of a Mission Catt (Sula)  The Mass The Mass is where the community of believers gather to worship in obedience to Jesus’s words at the Last Supper, “Do this in remembrance of me.” The Mass has several parts, and, depending on my assignment for the day, I may be expected to take part in one or more of them. The introductory rites include the entrance of the priest and the ministers, who join the already gathered people of God. I may walk down the aisle at the end of the line. I rarely do that, but sometimes I need to. If not, I may watch from the altar, seeking out the special parishioner, who is my mission for the Mass. Sometimes, I can just wait patiently in a pew or on the lap of a parishioner. After the procession, the priest leads the people in the sign of the cross. This reminds all of us of how Jesus conquered death. Then the priest reminds us that the Jesus is present among us, and all the people are led to think about their sins, asking God and Jesus to have

  Excerpt from Surviving Cancer, Healing People: One Cat's Story (Sula)   Greetings, World! My name is Sula. I am told that I am a very attractive cat. A bit rotund, I am a domestic shorthair with a very luxuriant and fanciful white coat, accented by greyish-black bangs and a greyish black tail. I am almost ten years old, a big girl now. I live by choice at Old Mission San Juan Bautista, the latest in a long line of mission cats, and I am a cancer survivor. Supposedly, I am a Turkish Van cat by breed, but I doubt that I came here from Turkey. On the other hand, I don’t know where I came from. I don’t think it really matters. I am here, and I like being here. Moreover, I have a mission and a Mission. What more could any cat want? As a cancer-surviving Mission cat, my chore is to heal people who, like me, must overcome burdens in their lives. (I am so very glad that I do not have the same mission that previous Mission cats had: ridding the Mission of mice and rats. I think they must

  Recently, Surviving Cancer, Healing People: One Cat's Story  by Sula Parish Cat at Old Mission was awarded a gold in the Literary Titan February book competition. For more posts about Sula and her books, click HERE . For more MSI Press Literary Titan award winners, 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. 

  Literary Titan says: "Surviving Cancer, Healing People: One Cat’s Story  is a heartwarming memoir of one special cat. Readers will learn about the Catholic faith and get a unique perspective on their practices and beliefs. Cat lovers, children, Christians, and everyone who likes a feel-good story will enjoy this short book." Read the rest of the 5-star review HERE . Read more reviews HERE . For more posts about Sula and her books, click HERE . For more Caturday posts, click HERE . 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@msi

  It seems appropriate that today's daily excerpt, on Caturday, would from a cat book -- Saints I Know by Sula, Parish Cat at Old Mission -- and be about St. Gertrude, the patron saint of cats. St. Gertrude of Nivelles 626-659 St. Gertrude of Nivelles is the patron saint of cats, which is why sometimes I am tempted to say that she is my favorite saint. But I really don't have a favorite, they are all very special. Well, I talk to St. Francis each morning to find out what jobs I have that day so I suppose that does make him sort of extra special—especially since he is the patron saint of animals. If you think of my jobs as a mission, you might say I am a Mission cat with a different mission every day, thanks to St. Francis. Like St. Basil, St. Gertrude came from a family with many saints. Her mother was St. Itta of Nivelles, her father was St. Pepin of Landen, her sister was St. Begga of Ardenne. Unlike many other saints, St. Gertrude didn't come from a poor or humbl

  Check out page 24 of the January issue of the  Mission Village Voice , where Sula's grave is announced as Headstone of the Month. (Just flipping the pages is found - great Internet tech set-up.) As the article says, Sula ministered to the parish at Old Mission San Juan Bautista for 15 years, arriving there apparently Heaven-sent when she was two years old from no one knows where. The "author" of 7 books and the subject of (inter)national articles, she was always a stop on the Mission tour, where she never failed to give visitors her love. Since she passed over the rainbow bridge in August, her grave site in the Mission gardens beside her beloved St. Francis statue has become a stopping place for parishioners and visitors honoring her years of support to this community. For more posts about Sula, click HERE . For more Caturday posts, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishi

  (At Christmas, Sula was in her element -- and in every creche and nativity scene.)  Watch  two endearing videos  of the late Sula , author of seven books and parish cat at O ld Mission San Juan Bautista for a warm 2022 memory. (Sula crossed the rainbow bridge in August.) For more posts about Sula and her books, including trailers and exceprts, 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.

  Click HERE  for previous Christmas even posts. Click HERE for posts about Christmas at the Mission, including excerpts, by the late Sula, Parish Cat at Old Mission -- in honor of Caturday. Click HERE for more Caturday pasts. 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. 

  Brewery 25 in San Juan Bautista, CA has named a beer after Sula: Divine Cat Beer. Tasting is planned for today, Caturday. Anyone local is invited. Not local? Enjoy the video HERE . For more posts about Sula, 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 .

  For all folks who live outside San Juan Bautista and could not attend Sula's memoria (there were 60+ in attendance -- not bad for a funeral Mass for a cat). Here are the Youtube links if you would like to "attend" as well. The video is in three segments because of Youtube limitations. 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0S5C6mD_7U 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0WsE8nJtv8 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_RNs5_yuFM Enjoy! For more posts on Sula, MSI Press author and Mission cat, click HERE .                                    Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .