MSI Press Blog

Parenting in a Pandemic  is the book we all needed and for which we never dreamed we would have to search. Bayardelle breaks down a tremendous amount of information in a short, well-organized, and engaging read. I highly recommend Bayardelelle’s guide to any parent looking to navigate the waters of parenting in this pandemic while waiting patiently on a return to what may be our new normal. 5 stars Read the rest of the review on Literary Titan .  Read more posts about Liz Bayardelle and her books HERE .

  Being a publisher of language teaching and learning books (among other lines), we are always interested in what the language community is doing. One source of fascinating information is the National Museum of Language. In its most recent newsletter, it talked about its new normal in the era of covid.  At the Museum, our new normal is to not only continue to offer you the same great content you have seen throughout the years, but to add new and exciting concepts to our regular lineup. The Teacher's Corner has taken on a digital slant, focusing on what can be done now while many teachers remain teaching online to some degree, but with tasks and tools that can come back with you to the classroom. After the success of our first trivia night, we will be looking at another one coming to you shortly. Having virtual Speakers has increased our audience significantly and allows us to reach out to audiences we had never considered. And those are only what you have seen so far! Our new int

  As a child, I imagined that the year 2020 would feature flying cars, magically calorie-free food, teleportation, and pets that were actually robots. What the actual year 2020 has brought is a complete dumpster fire. At the time of writing, we’re only halfway through, and so far we have experienced increasingly dangerous political divisions, major earthquakes, civic unrest, actual locusts (really), the deaths of cherished public figures, continuing protests for racial equality, massive fires, and murder hornets. We can’t forget about the murder hornets. Oh yes, as if all of this wasn’t already enough, we’re also facing an unprecedented global health crisis in the form of the coronavirus, otherwise known as COVID-19. The WHO first reported a novel virus on January 5, 2020, after a series of cases in Wuhan, China originally thought to be pneumonia proved to be from the same strand of a new disease. [1] The first cases outside China were reported on January 13. On January 20 the U

  The following post comes from Julia Aziz, author of Lessons of Labor : I’ve been living in the same neighborhood for ten years now, and given that I take a walk at least once a day, I’m pretty familiar with my surroundings. There’s the blue house with the big cactus out front, the little library around the corner, the “for sale by owner” sign two blocks away… you get the picture. Seeing the same things every day can, as you may well know, get a little monotonous. Yesterday though, it occurred to me that I could walk in a different direction. That sounds obvious, I know, but taking a left from my front door means crossing a busy street, so I never go that way. Yesterday however, I turned left, waited to cross the street, and found myself in a neighborhood I had never seen before. Listen, it wasn’t as if I discovered Shangri-la. It’s just another neighborhood, right? But yesterday it felt like grace, getting happily lost on unfamiliar streets with new sights to see. Of course this mini

From the blog of MSI Press author, Julia Aziz: You might find this strange and a little gross, but the other day I spent some time watching a beetle roll a little balll of dung across the road. I became fascinated by his perseverance and how he naturally made use of what for most living beings on earth is just poop. I don’t know much about dung beetles, but it strikes me on a metaphoric level how we need this kind of resourcefulness in our current world. What creativity could transform what we must leave behind into something sustainable and life-giving? The most common refrain I’m hearing from folks these days is “I just wish I knew when this pandemic would end.” There is a lot of sadness with this question, as no one can offer anything but predictions or false promises. Maybe there is a higher authority on the subject though. Nature tells us: Everything changes. Change happens on its own time. To read the rest of this blog post, click HERE , For more posts by and about Julia and her

Choice and Structure for Children with Autism . Get it HERE .  How are you and your child with autism managing during his time of quarantine? Are you productively juggling or really struggling? Is your daughter playing throughout your home or staying alone? During interactions, is your son engaged or enraged? Are your toys being enjoyed or does your child get annoyed? After most days do you feel celebrated or devastated? If you are struggling, this little book offers some ideas of support in improving focus, engagement, and cooperation. Some strategies shared include ways to offer thoughtfully chosen choice and structure when engaging with autistic children. For more posts on Colette McNeil and her books, click HERE .

Yesterday, with the release of Julie Gentile's book, How to Stay Calm in Chaos , we reached release #10 of the books in our pandemic series--experts among our authors who have turned their expertise into providing advice, help, and encouragement with dealing with the fallout of various sorts of trying to cope with and manage life successfully during a pandemic. These books encompass a wide range of topics, all of them very pertinent to what is happening all around us. Which ones could help you? The  Pandemic and Hope , written by former priest and long-term, respected psychologist, Dr. Dennis Ortman. Read more HERE . Tips, Tools, and Anecdoates to Help during a Pandemic , written by San Diego social worker, Joanna Charnas. Read more HERE . God Speaks into Darkness , written by church leader, J Bennett Easterling. Read more HERE . Diary of an RVer during Quarantine, written by RV expert (judge of the RV Oopsies awards), Karry MacDonald. Read more HERE . Old and On Hold , written by

  Released today -- the next book in our pandemic series: How to Stay Calm in Chaos: An Everyday Self-Care Guide by Julie M. Gentile. Self-care is more important now than it has ever been. It is exactly what to turn to when you need to stay calm in chaos. is quick read goes beyond the basics of eating well, exercising, and getting quality sleep. Packed with smart self-care strategies, this book can help you get through each day of the week: - Sunday: Stay Present - Monday: Stay Motivated - Tuesday: Stay Flexible - Wednesday: Stay Realistic - Thursday: Stay Supported - Friday: Stay Connected - Saturday: Stay Resilient Whether you write it out, sweat it out, breathe it out, or let it go, these mind-body-spirit practices can help you cope with the ever-changing landscape we are living in. See also Julie's other book: 108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas Read more posts about Julie and her books HERE .

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

Released today: 10 Quick Homework Tips . with special advise for activities during a quarantine. Written by two teachers with 40 years of combined experience: Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly.   Check out their other book that also has many activities that can be done during a pandemic: 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents . And here is another source of hood activities to help during quarantine from Black Parenting Magazine: click here .

OVERCOMING CHALLENGES 1. DO WHAT WORKS: VILE COUGH DROPS As I recovered from a splenectomy, I caught the horrible cold that was going around my work place. It started with a hacking cough in my chest. The day the cough started, I went to the Nex (Navy exchange, similar to a 7-Eleven) in the basement of my building and bought cough drops. They were vile but wonderfully effective. I hated them but needed them to be even marginally functional and to get to sleep. I ran into my neighbor a couple of days after the coughing started and mentioned the horrible cough drops. He said he’d had the same illness and recommended a better- tasting brand. He fished one out of his pocket and gave it to me. His brand tasted much better, but I didn’t have the time or energy to go to the drug store right then, so I continued to ingest the horrid ones for a while longer. I often advise my mental health patients do what works to improve their health even if they don’t like the options, su

Joshua Shea, author of  He's a Porn Addict...Now What? , was a guest speaker on the Hell Bound with Haloes Show on April 23, 2020. Listen to the podcast episode, "Hell Bound with Haloes,"  HERE . For posts by and about Joshua Shea and his work, read  HERE .

Joshua Shea, author of  He's a Porn Addict...Now What?,  was a guest speaker on the Dr. Zoe Show on April 16, 2020. Listen to the podcast episode, "How to Deal with Your Husband's Porn Addiction during COVID-19," HERE . For posts by and about Joshua Shea and his work, read  HERE .

Released this week. Seeking Balance in an Unbalanced Time by Rev. Steven Greenebaum. The notion of a worldwide pandemic has been ripped out of the realm of "someday" and dumped in our laps. We can feel lost. How do we cope? How do we find our way? How can we find and keep some kind of balance as we walk this pandemic tightrope? This short book helps us find that balance as well as offering an affirming path forward. It helps us understand that the crisis humanity is facing is a family crisis. It helps us to take care of ourselves, offering concrete, positive examples. It helps us to keep our balance by also giving concrete positive examples of how we can help each other. For posts about other books in the MSI Press pandemic series, click HERE . For more posts by and about Steven Greenebaum and his books, click HERE .

FINDING OPPORTUNITY DURING THE PANDEMIC Making the Possible Possible We are older. We are vulnerable. We are taking our place as spectators of those younger and on the front lines of taking care of the ill and providing essential services. We are less able to see those who are working from home unless they appear in one of those boxes on the grid of people commenting on today’s news. We are missing being with some of our favorite people and doing some of our favorite things, but, for the moment, we’ve right sized our life during a pandemic to meet the needs of our unique selves and those for whom we care. No doubt we’ve had moments of what’s being called “quarantine fatigue.” A friendly grocery clerk likened it to the movie, Ground Hog Day , in which the same story repeats daily. Sometimes, we feel great progress is being made, and sometimes, we think it will never change. Depending upon the extent we’ve been directly exposed to the tragedy of COVID-19, we may be wonde

Lovely review from NYTechMommy/Instagram Excerpt: T his little book is an easy read. It’s filled with great little anecdotes that help put things in prospective. And I love that it focuses on both physical and mental well being! Read the full review HERE . For more posts by and about Joanna Charnas and her books, click HERE .

Written by Colette McNeil to help parents of children with autism through the shelter-at-home days of the ongoing pandemic, this little book is eye-opening and helpful for any day at home with a child with autism. Bound to inspire with new ways of interaction with positive ioutcomes. Colette has many years of experience as a teacher of children with autism and as an aunt of a child with autism. She knows whereof she writes. Check out her other book on autism, Understanding the Challenge of "No" for Children with Autism . See posts by and about Colette and her books HERE .