MSI Press Blog

  Beginning today and continuing through July 31, we will be offering a discount on Lamentations of the Heart through the Kindle Countdown program.  Find it HERE . Read more about Marti Wells-Smith and Lamentations of the Heart HERE .

(graphic from posts of Julia Aziz )   Today, as I watch the remaining leaves swirl down from our maple trees and scatter at the slightest touch of wind, I feel a sense of letting go within myself. It speaks to my heart of change and movement, in each of our lives, at the appointed times of God. I know that change is inevitable, yet it stirs something wistful within me, something that makes me yearn to hold on. But I can't. Read the rest of the post HERE . Read posts about Marti and her book HERE . Read more posts about letting go HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount

  Lamentations of the Heart is a memoir about the death of the author's son. THE LOVELY THINGS          Today, I look fondly upon this place, this life of mine, in a softer way, from a different view. Choosing to see something new, even in its long-lived state. To peer upon my world and see the faintest lovely things grow large, as the smallest acts of kindness show their power.       Weary of grief, this choice was made. A call for beauty among ashes, overlooked before, pulled from a time that cannot return, from thoughts that churned in an aching stream. Those were the days when I dwelled on my loss—when it seemed there was nothing more.          But there is always more. “God, help me,” I said, “to seek them out, the parts that will cover the rest of my life.” Shaping the corners where you once stood, connecting the spaces that you once filled, I asked for something to move me when I stand too still. And faith came upon me. It carried me along, and I went with it, willingl

Extracted from photo by M. Katherine Shear, M.D. See original photo with words and blog article at aspire.com .   Whether they die in war, from illness, by suicide, or as a result end-of-life issues, their loss affects relatives, friends, acquaintances, neighbors, and colleagues in  devastating ways. The following books are gentle but helpful treatments of the issues of bereavement and grief. Damascus amid the War by Muna Imady Written by popular author, Muna Imady, whose book, Syrian Folktales, has delighted an uncountable number of readers outside of Syria, Damascus amid the War tells the very human story of the devolution of a society. The book containts 29 pre-war poins, vibrant with imagery of daily life in a robust Damascus. The 100 war poems that follow show the devastating affect on the people who navigate a daily existence after war came. This is a posthumous publication, containing Muna’s very last works and an introduction by her mother, Elaine Imady, author of Road to Dama

  Lamentations of the Heart soulfully combines contemporary free verse poetry and nonfictional prose to tell the story of one mother’s grief following the death of her only child. The author interweaves scriptural passages with the inevitable struggles to accept and make sense of her new reality. All of it reveals the unending love for family that remains. Written to reach out to others who have experienced similar pain, it moves upon the uneven, wavering pattern of great emotion, along a tumultuous path blessed with signs and wonders --   an unwanted journey a tapestry of life healing begins   “The author speaks from her heart and touched mine as I read, shedding a few tears along the way.” (Jan Hedges, Owner, Hedgehog INK! Bookstore)   Available right now from Amazon . Other sellers will follow soon.  25% discount at MSI Press webstore . Use coupon code FF25.  Read posts about Marti and her book HERE .