MSI Press Blog

Author: Patricia Lorenz Book : 57 Steps to Paradise What possessed you to write a tell-all book about your past dates, husbands and interim boyfriends?      When I moved to Florida in 2004 I met many women who were divorced and widowed, mostly in their 50's, 60's, 70's and 80’s.  I myself was single at that time having spent the last 27 years of my life raising my four children as a single parent.  I was married, divorced and annulled twice before that.  In Florida I met a number of men and finally married one in my 60’s.  Because I had met, known and dated a number of men over the years I decided to write a book about my experiences to share with my friends and anyone who is looking for love and perhaps a second or third marriage in their mid-life and later.             What is your favorite story in the book?        My favorite story is the one titled “Mr. Underpants”.  In that story I go from dating or at least meeting over a d

  (photo by Martin Klimek) Long overdue is this story about Sula, parish cat of Old Mission, who was featured in the Christmas issue of Guideposts Magazine and in the All Creatures spinoff magazine in 2017 -- she was the cover in both cases.  Since that first story, which you can read online HERE , asn well as view the beautiful photography by Martin Klimek (sample above -- and more pictures at the Guideposts online site), Sula has written six books about and in support of her parish, Old Mission San Juan Bautista. They have received wonderful reviews! You can read more posts by Sula and her books HERE .

  It being Caturday and all, I thought I would share a cute drawing of Sula, parish cat at Old Mission, that I saw in the Mission Gift Shop when I visited today. Sula is beloved by parishioners and visitors alike. People draw pictures of her; they photograph her, and of course they hold and pet her. Sula is known for her appearance in two Guideposts Magazines and for the six books she has written to raise money for the Mission's retrofit (it is located in California, atop the intersection of three earthquake fault). To read more on the web about Sula, including her Guideposts stories, click HERE . To see posts about Sula and her books, click HERE .

  Okay, so this post does not tell the story behind the book itself. Not really. But most book publications have a relationship between publisher and author that exists or is built prior to publication. Publication of a book does not typically occur as an automatic, computerized, solely criterai-related set of steps. Rather, there is an initial contact of some sort, and, in many cases, a longer-term relationship prior to a book's acceptance and publication. This author is a bit more private about her publication life (ironically so since this book puts her personal life front and foremost -- and with quite a bit of personal sharing -- and emotion, both bathetic and humorous), so I will share just enough to provide insights for other authors and wannabee published authors.  Patricia Lorenz, a well-published author, especial by Guideposts , had a little inside information about MSI Press because of her support to one of our former authors. So, when she approached MSI Press with her b

  Sula, well known across the Internet for the general sharing of her story by Guideposts , All Creatures , and others, is listed on every Sunday bulletin of Old Mission San Juan Bautista .  Sula has survived five bouts of cancer, written a book about it ( Surviving Cancer, Healing People: One Cat's Story ). When she entered remission after her fifth bout and concurrent with closure of the Mission gift shop, her home, because of covid regulations, Sula, now 14 years ago, went into retirement, living with a parish couple that has taken care of her whenever she needed to recuperate for years. Now, she comes to the church on Sundays to be with the parishioners and lend them support as she always has. Sula's first cancer is skin cancer. The first bout required clipping her ears. The second bout required removing her ears. She remains in remission from skin cancer. Sula's second cancer was carcinoma at the injection site of a vaccination (her hip). The first time required surgi

  Sula c 2005- August 24, 2022 Sula, parish cat at Old Mission San Juan Bautista, "wrote" six books for parishioners on religions topics. They were well received, and Sula made the news cycle now and again and was featured in national magazines and in online publications. Examples: All Creatures and Guideposts. Today, parishioners and visitors walked past her grave at the Mission and asked to know more about her. Today, the decision was made by the parish to create a 2024 calendar with her charming photos. It should be available for sale soon. The picture above was posted on her Face Book page today in memory of what she brought to the Mission. (photo by Stacey Gentry) For more info, pictures, and book excerpts related to Sula, click HERE .

  Yep, it's Caturday, and we want to share, somewhat anonymously for privacy reasons, a bit of the recent trials and tribulations of Sula, the parish cat at Old Mission who has written six books. Sula has both a big fan club -- you can even join it on her Face Book page HERE -- and quite some renown, thanks to both own publications and publications about here, which you can read about HERE (pick and choose the ones that might most tickle your fancy). To briefly encapsulate the history: 1. Sula arrived as a kitten, perhaps somewhere around age 1, at the Old Mission, which really is the only action in her little town. 2. After a few years spending much time outdoors in this sunny California town, Sula developed skin cancer on her ears. They were trimmed. The cancer came back. Her ears were removed. You can read her story about that experience in her book, Surviving Cancer, Healing People: One Cat's Story .  3. Elizabeth Mahlou related Sula's story to Guideposts Magazine , wh

  (Sula in the arms of Fr. Ed at her godparents' house in Hollister, godparents on the left, friend on the right, and another MSI Press author, CB Leaver , in red in the front) Sula has been the parish cat at Old Mission San Juan Bautista for 13 years and through four bouts of cancer (fourth just starting/reappearing). With Covid-19 and the shutdown of the Mission, along with the rest of the state of California, Sula retired to live with her godparents in Hollister, where she can be watched after and can even have a visit occasionally frnom a retired priest from the parish who lives neaby. She still works on Sundays, though -- and visitors are always delighted to find her in the pews at Mass, where she goes on her own and sits with whomever seems to need her at the moment even though she does have her own pew with her name on it, and between Masses at the Mimssion gift shop. Here is her bio: Sula is a very unusual cat. She is the parish cat for Old Mission San Juan Bautista and, b

Sula, the parish cat at Old Mission San Juan Bautista, is quite a famous cat. Google her, and you will find lots of pictures and references. She has appeared as the lead article in Guideposts Magazine and in A ll Creatures Magazine -- and she has written six books of her own, including one in Spanish. The excerpt below is from one of her earlier books, a beloved one that was illustrated by the late Zhenya Yanovich, a Russian artist of growing esteem. The 12 Days of Christmas The twelve days of Christmas refer to the period extending from Christmas to Epiphany. The song you just read and maybe even sang in your head is well known both to Catholics and to those not in the Church. It is a secular tribute to something sacred, but many people do not know the sacred part. Do you know that there are three feasts during the 12 days of Christmas? They date from the fifth century and all focus on the incarnation of the Word of God (Christ) as the baby Jesus, human like us—well, like

Hi, I am Sula, the Parish Cat. In honor of Caturday, I am going to invite you to join me on my Facebook Page  HERE   -- I have almost 800 friends now; you can be my friend, too, if you like read some blog posts about me HERE   -- all kinds of information: who I am, pictures of me, information about my book, and more: go discover! read the interview that Mudpie conducted with me when my book, Suriving Cancer, Helping People: One Cat's Stor y first came out HERE   -- it was fun; I think you will like it see  the stories about me on the Internet (from local newspapers, Guideposts Magazine, All Creatures Managzine, and more) read reviews about my books; you can a list of the reviews here Christmas at the Mission Dia de Muertos Easter at the Mission Saints I Know Surviving Cancer, Healing People: One Cat's Story Tale of a Mission Cat read some excerpts from my books HERE And, for some immediate reading pleasure right here, this is the Canticle of Sula that Stacy Gentry, my care pro

   Christmas at the Mission came after other Sula books were written, the first being Surviving Cancer, Healing People, which won a Literary Titan gold award. The first Sula story was told in Guideposts Magazine  (and repeated two years later as the lead Christmas story in All God's Creatures Magazine ) as the lead story in the Christmas 2015 issue. So, it seemed a natural that one of the books in what become a 7-book series should be a book about Christmas. Not only did Sula photogenically place herself in just the right Christmas spots (the local newspaper got some of those shots, too), but it became clear that not all parishioners were familiar with all the concepts associated with the Catholic observation of Christmas. Sula's books have always tried to strike a balance between informing and entertaining. For more posts about Sula and her books, click HERE . For more book back stories, click HERE . (And yes, we know the timing is a bit odd -- Christmas as four months ago an

(Christmas photo by Lovejoy Studios, Hollister, CA; originally published in The Hollister Freelance )  This Caturday, we are sharing some new pictures of Sula, parish cat at Old Mission San Juan Bautista, who has earned Internet fame and written six books (one in Spanish) and two more proposed. For today, though, thought it might be fun just to share some pictures of the author herself, as she has appeared in various interviews and stories over the years. Photo by Klimek, for Guideposts Magazine. More from that article can be found HERE . Portrait by Kat, cat artist in New York City. Drawing of Sula by Stacy Gentry, photographer and Old Mission Gift Shop manager--and overseer of Sula's care and caregivers. And the newspaper article with the photo above. And another newspaper article : "Cat's Story Is a Tale of Hope" ( The Hollister Freelancer ; photo by Nick Lovejoy). And yet another article , "Sula the Cat Is on a Mission in San Juan" ( The Gilroy Dispatch