MSI Press Blog

  Excerpt from Spunky Grandmas and Other Amusing Characters (Mogren) APPROVAL NOT REQUIRED   Seems Grandma’s clothes were getting rather tight. When Grandpa said she ought to lose some weight, It very nearly caused a nasty fight For she got pleasure from the foods she ate.   She baked and ate delicious cakes and pies, Drank wine and cappuccino every day, Loved pizza, burgers, onion rings, and fries And one day threw her bathroom scale away.   Time was she’d fret about what others thought. She exercised and always was aware Of fats and carbs in all the foods she bought. But now she says, “I really don’t much care.   “I’m happy with myself the way I am. If folks don’t like it, I don’t give a damn.” Ken's book can be purchased at retail stores, online booksellers, and for 25% discount, with coupon code FF25, at the MSI Press webstore . For more posts by and about Ken Mogren and his book, click HERE . For more MSI Press humor books, click HERE .

  What Is a Sonnet? The simplest answer is a 14 line poem. It can be about any topic. But if it doesn’t have exactly 14 lines, it isn’t a sonnet. Traditionally, sonnets have followed other “rules” besides the 14 line rule. Traditional sonnets must have some type of rhyme pattern. I write mine in the Shakespearian Sonnet form. That means the first line rhymes with the third, the second with the fourth, the fifth with the seventh, the sixth with the eighth, the ninth with the eleventh, the tenth with the twelfth, and the thirteenth with the fourteenth. Some sonneteers might use different rhyme patterns, but a rhyme scheme of some type is one of the defining characteristics of a traditional sonnet. Another characteristic is some type of rhythmic structure, commonly called meter (or metre if you’re British). That means arranging the words so there is a rhythmic alternation of emphasis on the syllables within those words. In the Shakespearian form the meter is called iambic and puts the emp