MSI Press Blog

  Shenan (CB) Leaver, author of Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest , was recently interviewed by the Mission Village Voice , where his book is being serialized. From the MVV introduction to the column: "Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest is collection of anecdotes about a 'detail-oblivious' homemaker and traveler, told from the point of view of CB, her mentally challenged son. The simplicity of language has made this book a favorite with ESL students, and the humorous 'conclusion' about life from a child's point of view endears it to anyone with a sense of humor. The reason CB's mother worked with him to write the book was to teach him the impact of literacy -- why people write and why people read. Even though it has been impossible for him to learn to read and write very much, through the joint preparation of the book he did learn a lot about literacy. CB is a 42-year-old CHARGE Syndrome, on of about 4-5 worldwide his age. He was given 0% chance of living, dispro

  Today's back story is about the book, Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest  by Shenan (CB) Leaver with Betty Lou Leaver. From the co-author: CB Leaver , the author, is a mentally challenged CHARGE Syndrome adult who never learned to read or write. His mother, Betty Lou Leaver, a highly published author, who wanted her son to understand the purpose of the written word: sharing thoughts and/or information with others. It took a full year of working together to put CB's remembered stories on paper, to check that they had been accurately transcribed. CB learned a lot about the written word both in the process of writing and in getting feedback from pre-publication readers of the manuscript. CB subsequently did a book signing at the Los Angeles Book Fair. He had a great time learning about reader reactions to his book. He was also adept at using his people skills and humor to draw readers to his booth.  Book available at 25% discount with code FF25 at msipress.com/shop. Read excerpts a

  (photo from last year, in anticipation of changing that number this evening from 41 to 42) November 13 today is CB Leaver's birthday. CB is the MSI Press author of the popular Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest and one of the oldest CHARGE Syndrome adults in the world. He knows only three others world-wide (Ohio, Massachusetts, and Netherlands) who have reached his age of 42 years (one is actually 45, the others are 42, as well) but thinks there may be another one or two somewhere. It is no mere feat, then, that he has survived, and robustly so, after a very tenuous start in life in which he as given 0% chance of survival by well respected doctors at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and rescued by doctors at Children's Hospital in Boston, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Children's National Medical Center, Georgetown University Hospital, and Stanford Children's Medical Center -- it took a countrywide network to turn that 0% into 100%) and no mere feat also that

  Rare Disease Day is an observance held on the last day of February to raise awareness for rare diseases and improve access to treatment and medical representation for individuals with rare disease. Rare Disease Day is meaningful for MSI Press since one of its authors, Shenan (CB) Leaver suffers from CHARGE Syndrome. CHARGE is so rare that he is one of only a handful of survivors in his age group worldwide -- he has personally found four besides himself! CHARGE Syndrome is a disorder that affects many areas of the body. CHARGE is an abbreviation for several of the features common in the disorder: coloboma, heart defects, atresia choanae (also known as choanal atresia), growth retardation, genital abnormalities, and ear abnormalities. The pattern of malformations varies among individuals with this disorder, and the multiple health problems can be life-threatening in infancy. When CB was born 42 years ago, CHARGE was not even known! Now, 70% of children born with CHARGE make it to age

Shenan (CB) Leaver has attended special education classes in Virginia, California, and Ohio and graduated from Hayes High School in Delaware, Ohio, where he was voted “class flirt.” A parishioner at the San Benedict (in the background) parish, he now lives in Hollister in San Benito County, California and works at a sheltered workshop, M&M, where he has many friends who like to listen to his tall tales, most of whichS are based on true stories, funny things that happen to one relative or another — or to him.     He has written a very special and very funny book about his mother,   Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest   (yes, true story). Stand by for edition 3, currently in the making. CB is also working on a similar volume about his father, tentatively titled   Daddy Waited . Shenan loves to receive email from readers! For more imformation on CB and his work, click HERE .

  CB and the late Carl Leaver, MSI Press authors Meet our author-dads who have written absolutely splendid books for fathers (and others) about all sorts of topics! (Some are no longer with us, but their works in life and in literature live on.) And, yes, of course, we continue to sell their books. Wally Amidon (deceased) The Musings of a South Carolina Yankee Read MSI blog posts about Wally . TL Brink How to Argue with an Atheist Read more posts about TL Brink  HERE . Dave Brown (co-author) One Simple Text.. KOPS-FETRHLING.INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARD LEGACY. AWARD: INSPIRATION/MOTIVATION HOLLYWOOD BOOK FESTIVAL FINALIST Read MSI Press blog posts about Dave  HERE . Dr. Frederic Craigie Weekly Soul AMERICAN BOOKFEST BEST BOOK AWARD FINALIST; INSPIRATION BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD GOLD: MIND, BODY, SPIRIT READER VIEWS LITERARY AWARDS SILVER: MIND/BODY/SPIRIT READER VIEWS LITERARY AWARDS SILVER: RELIGION KOPS-FETHERLING INTERNATIONAL BOOKS AWARDS HONORABLE MENTIONN: INSPIRATION/MOTIVATION Read M

  It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.  Today's topic digresses -- into the absurd, perhaps. Today, I sent for the third time, ARC labels to wone of our authors. The first time the labels disappeared. The second time, they were inexplicably directed to an IRS office in another state. Totally insane! Fingers crossed for a safe arrival this time. Today's experience reminded me of other unexpected, funny, and heartwarming experiences that have occurred over the 20 years MSI Press has been publishing. Here are some of my favorite, somewhat inexplicable stories. When You're Shoved from the Right, Look to Your Left: Metaphors of Islamic Humanism is a great little book, trul

  The Power of Observation Once my sister, Echo, had learned to drive, she was much more observant than my mommy was. She belongs to that group of people that Mommy calls detail-observant, so she pays very close attention to all kinds of things that Mommy does not notice at all. One night after work, my mommy and Echo were driving home together. Well, Mommy, the grande dame of detail-obliviousness, was doing the driving, and clearly, it was Echo, the de­tail-observant, who was doing the watching. That is pretty typi­cal of how they usually drive together. At the light where Mommy had to make a turn to get onto the highway coming to our town—she and Echo worked in the next town over—there was a long line of cars. That was no sur­prise. There often was a long line at this particular light, espe­cially right after work, so Mommy was sort of expecting a line, anyway. Mommy could see all the way to the intersection, and the light there was red. So, she got into line behind the cars. She wa

  Excerpt from Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest (CB Leaver) - The Man in Our Dumpster When I was growing up, Daddy, Mommy, and all of us kids (sometimes we were four, sometimes we were six or seven) lived in a big house with 13 rooms in Salinas, California. When we finished growing up, Daddy got a hankering for the forest and Mommy got a hankering to give up cleaning 13 rooms all the time. So, they decided to buy an RV, travel when they could, and park it in the riverside woods of Arroyo Seco at other times where they lived comfortably and Mommy enjoyed a daily dip in the river. Moving out of 13 rooms was big business. Daddy and Mommy had quite a list of things to do: cleaning, giving away or selling stuff that would not fit in the RV, packing things to take with them, throwing away trash, and lots of other things (like changing addresses with businesses and the post office). One day when Daddy was out doing the lots of other things, Mommy held a yard sale. One of the people who c

  \ What is a book jewel? A sometimes-overlooked book with remarkable insight and potential significance. Starting in August, we will share near-daily, 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  I Love My Kids, But I Don't Always Like Them   by Franki Bagdade.  Amazon review by CB - Great advice, with a sense of humor and humility! This book should be sent home with new parents from the maternity ward! I think my grandparent friends would appreciate it as well. Just received my copy and started reading. Great anecdotes and advice from an experienced educator and parent, written with a sense of humor and humility. Awards IAN Book of the Year Litera