MSI Press Blog

  Carl, whose experience launched this blog and the MSI Press's Carl's Cancer Compendium (CCC) died after a very short 5 months post-diagnosis of occult cancer, or, as the official term goes, Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP).  Carl fell February 23 and went to the local hospital where staff found advanced stage 4 metastatic cancer in five organs and subsequently transferred him to Stanford University Hospital, stating he would not likely return him. He did return home, for a brief four months--and he died at home on hospice almost a month later, having spent only 10 days in that capacity.  Stanford spent almost a month trying to determine the original cancer that had spread to these five organs (none of these organs was the original.) That is the problem with CUP. Finding the original seems out of reach and a guessing game. The doctor made his best guess, based on the spread pattern, but the cocktail he came up with for chemotherapy while doing no harm also did no good. T...

  Have you ever thought you knew someone well and later discovered a side of them you had never seen before?   My brother has been transcribing some letters my grandmother wrote when she was engaged to my grandfather but living apart in New York and Chicago. Nineteen-year-old Helen Yarmush teases her beloved with tales of her dates with other men and says things like, "It's been a beautiful day today--a day to run in the wind (which I did) and laugh and sing." The Helen Zimmerberg I got to know three decades later was a mother of four who had already lost her first daughter to ovarian cancer and was undergoing chemo and radiation for lymphoma herself. I've cherished my memories of Helen's sense of humor and ability to make the best out of most anything, and I delight in this free spirit I'm seeing now at her 20th yahrzeit (death anniversary). What a gift it is to discover something new in someone I haven't seen for so long and to be reminded of how multi-f...

  While helping a first-time author, I quite coincidentally came across an old 5-star review for Publishing for Smarties: How to Find a Publisher on Amazon. Review from Amazon: Van W. Wolverton 5.0 out of 5 stars  Kickstart your book’s journey to the marketplace Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2014 Verified Purchase The path from “I’m going to write a book about that” to seeing your work in print (whether on paper or screen) is winding, sometimes steep, and sports more than a few hidden potholes. Here’s your shortcut past some of those first blind curves and potholes, a detailed and thorough guide to the various ways you can usher your creation from your computer into the marketplace. “Publishing for Smarties: Finding a Publisher” guides you through understanding the pros and cons of all the current publishing techniques, from the traditional publishing house that takes your manuscript and does as much or as little as it believes necessary to make it market-worthy—whi...

  MSI Press has published a number of how-to books in a variety of areas. Written by experts who are also practitioners, these books have won multiple awards. Check them out: How to Argue with an Atheist How to Be a Good Mommy When You're Sick How to Get Happy and Stay That Way How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately   How to Live from Your Heart How to Stay Calm in Chaos

  Available right now on preorder from Amazon : Book description: The many and varied demands of the digital age require cadres of professionals capable of collaborating effectively and engaging globally in the world's languages and cultures. This volume represents a collection of classroom- and field-tested practices used to prepare global professions to the highest standards of proficiency in their languages in order to meet these global challenges. Culled from faculty of government, private, and state educational programs, these "practices that work" offer the language practitioner a selection of "recipes" for helping language learners attain near-native professional proficiency. The techniques and practices offered in these pages can be incorporated and used in virtually any curriculum or learning environment and are highly learner centered. The path to native-like proficiency in world languages can be demanding, but this volume can help make it more product...

  Today, a Celebration of Life was held for MSI Press co-owner, typesetter, and cover designer par excellence, Carl Leaver, who died August 16, 2021.  Carl always said he was a rotten pumpkin, being born a day after Halloween, but November 1 is All Saints Day and the day after is All Souls Day -- pretty special timing. Carl's experience with cancer of unknown primary, which he killed him very rapidly (5 months), inspired Carl's Cancer Compendium and Cancer Diary. As for those saints and souls, check out Saints I Know and Dia de Muertos by that famous parish cat, Sula. Blog editor's note: As a memorial to Carl, and simply because it is truly needed, MSI  is now hosting a web page,  Carl's Cancer Compendium , as a one-stop starting point for all things cancer, to make it easier for those with cancer to find answers to questions that can otherwise take hours to track down on the Internet and/or from professionals. The web page is in its infancy but expected to expan...

  Yes, our book, Dia de Muertos is about the Mexican holiday, Day of the Dead, that occurs the day after Halloween, but these days have much in common -- and not. One section in the book spells out these differences; check it out! For excerpts from Dia de Muertos and other information about the book, click HERE .