MSI Press Blog

  Today's book excerpt comes from  Blest Atheist  by Elizabeth Mahlou. Mercy, part 2  I began fighting Ma at a young age. When I was small, Ma was like a god, a strong, mean, and angry one. She loomed large, powerful, and seemingly omni scient. As I grew older, however, I learned that I could fight this god and retain my dignity, and as I grew even older I found that I could fight this god and win. Perhaps my growing ability to vanquish the earthly god in my life colored my own disposition toward God the Almighty.  Small, with “dark eyes that could sparkle with delight or flash with fire,” according to relatives who remember those days, I apparently exhibited from birth a pro found orneriness. The pediatrician could not calm me at my six-week checkup and strapped me to a table, waiting for me to stop screaming. For two hours, my screams pierced the doctor’s closed window, causing passersby in the city square below to stop and wonder what was happening. Th...

           What is a  book jewel ? A sometimes-overlooked book with remarkable insight and potential significance. Each month, we share near-daily, or as often as possible, reviews of the monthly book jewel - short, succinct reviews that can be read in 1-2 minutes with links to the reviewer by reviewers whose words are worthy of being heard and whose opinions are worthy of being considered. Sometimes a couple of minutes contains more impressive thought than ten times that many. We will let you decide that. This month's book jewel is  Healing from Incest  by Geri Henderson and Seanne Emerton. Description: In speaking about  Healing from Incest ,  Susan J. Lewis , Ph.D., J.D., Healing writes: “"Brave, profound, touching, healing. This well-written, honest book takes the reader inside the complexities of the therapeutic healing process from the patient and therapist's unique perspective. It is the story of hard work, hope, commitment a...

  Today's book excerpt comes from  Blest Atheist  by Elizabeth Mahlou. Defiance  Physical abuse quickly became routine for us. We just expected to arrive home to a daily rain of blows, kicks, bites, deliberately inflicted sprains, or airplane rides.  We all feared Ma’s airplane rides. She would grab one arm and one leg and rotate in the middle of the room like a dervish, swinging us around and around in circles, allowing the free arm and leg to hit pieces of furniture one after another after another until she was out of breath and let us go. When she let go and we flew into the wall or the furniture, the impact was stunning, and often we lost consciousness from it. Not only were the airplane rides painful, but also they left us feeling dizzy and disoriented whether or not we lost consciousness.  As we got bigger, airplane rides became less manageable for Ma, and these were replaced with sled rides (being pulled down a flight of stairs by our hair). I...

           What is a  book jewel ? A sometimes-overlooked book with remarkable insight and potential significance. Each month, we share near-daily, or as often as possible, reviews of the monthly book jewel - short, succinct reviews that can be read in 1-2 minutes with links to the reviewer by reviewers whose words are worthy of being heard and whose opinions are worthy of being considered. Sometimes a couple of minutes contains more impressive thought than ten times that many. We will let you decide that. This month's book jewel is  Healing from Incest  by Geri Henderson and Seanne Emerton. Description: In speaking about  Healing from Incest ,  Susan J. Lewis , Ph.D., J.D., Healing writes: “"Brave, profound, touching, healing. This well-written, honest book takes the reader inside the complexities of the therapeutic healing process from the patient and therapist's unique perspective. It is the story of hard work, hope, commitment a...

  Today's back story is about the book, It Only Hurts When I Can't Run  by Gewanda Parker. From the publisher: When Gewanda approached us with her pre-publication manuscript, it was clear that here was a person who had experienced tremendous trauma as a child. That is a story, of course. A sad story. However, what was also clear was her resilience in overcoming that trauma very, very successfully. That was a story worth publishing. An uplifting story. A story that can help others. More important for us as publisher, it fit into a line of such books, the leaders of which were Elizabeth Mahlou's Blest Atheist and Geri Henderson's and Seanne Emerton's Healing from Incest -- and ultimate prompted the commissioned book by Joanna Romer, Recovering from Domestic Abuse, Stalking, and Abuse . When it was released, Gewanda's book quickly flew to the top of Amazon's hot new releases lists: #4 Hot New Releases in the child abuse category #8 Hot New Releases in the fam...

  excerpt from It Only Hurts When I Can't Run by Gewanda Parker Introduction   I believe in a God who heals, delivers, and sets captives free. Because God in His mercy did this for me, I have to let the world know that if God can do it for me, surely God can do it for the next person. That is why I had to write this book—and I must admit that writing this narrative has been an unexpectedly tedious but healing journey.   I remember the day I began writing about the sexual abuse in my life. I started writing early in the day. I wrote for about four hours. I revisited every encounter I remembered from ages five to sixteen. When I finished, I erupted into tears. This flood of emotions lasted for nearly six hours. Anger, hurt, scarring, shame, betrayals, disbelief and even fear gripped me to the core of my being. When I had finally stopped, the time seemed to have slipped by because it was well past 11p.m.   On this occasion, God and my good friend were there. She sat th...

  Excerpt from Blest Atheist -  I do not remember when I first became an independent thinker, but somehow even as a young child, I knew I had to be, that this was the route to survival. Over time, the books showed me how.  I remember moments of independence dating back to very young years. One such instance revolved around a gift of seven dollars that Gram had given me for my seventh birthday. I wanted a bank account, and my parents had helped me put this money into savings. I wanted some day to add to the savings. Perhaps with a little money, when I grew up—or even before then—I would be able to leave the burning house. However, my hopes and plans were dashed several months later when my parents decided that I needed a new pair of shoes. The ones they wanted for me cost exactly seven dollars. Holding up my bank book, they told me to get in the car so that we could go to the bank and take out my money for the shoes. I resisted. I would rather have continued to...

Many of our authors have had incredible lives or incredible experiences -- or both! Surely, you can find one or more that sits beside you and keeps you company for years. All are difficult to put down.   Looking for love in your 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and yes, even your 80’s or 90’s?  57 Steps to Paradise  will help you navigate dating in midlife and beyond. Lorenz unzips her soul and exposes her foibles during 50 years of men weaving their way in and out of her life, providing a heap of wit and wisdom to help you make life-changing decisions about love and, perhaps, a life partner. A diverting and informative story of searching for love in mid-life by a divorced social worker, who intertwines entertaining stories of successful love interests with well-known movies containing similar plots and themes. Written as diary entries covering a 15-year period, the author shares openly, in detail, and with insights her experiences with dating, friendships, affairs, and relationshi...