MSI Press Blog

  (drawing by Uliana Yanovich) What is Lent? One of the duties during Lent is to go to confession (reconciliation). Lent is one of two times in the Catholic Church when the Sacrament of Reconciliation is required. Can you guess the other? Yep, it is Christmas. I like to sit with people in the church as they take turns going to one of the priests—our Mission often brings in several priests on one evening during Lent to make it easy for people to go to confession. I notice that when they come back—maybe the priest has given them a penance of a prayer or something like that—they sometimes pray beside me. They always seem happy! That is why I think the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a good thing! Sometimes people seem nervous at first, but if anyone is willing to take advice from a cat, I say “go for it; don’t pass up any opportunity for reconciliation.” The Mission, like every Catholic church makes the opportunity for confession available at any time. Usually a few hours each week are

  Excerpt from Noah's New Puppy .  One day the father had to leave Noah and his mother.   THIS BOOK WAS AWARDED THE KOPS-FETHERLING INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARD HONORABLE MENTION FOR CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOKS. For more posts about this book, click  HERE . For more posts about Richard Rice, click HERE . For more posts about Geri Henderson, click HERE . For more posts about PTSD, click HERE . For more posts about military families, people, and issues, click HERE . Currently on half-price sale at www.msipress.com/shop.  Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

  Congratulations to Richard Rice, Vincent Rice, and Geri Henderson on their book, Noah's New Puppy , being selected as the Kops-Fetherling International Book Awards honorable mention in the category of children's picture books.    Read more about the book, including excerpts, and its authors HERE .

  Recently, I wrote an Amazon review of My Yellow Balloon , a very touchingly written and extremely insightful book for children who have experienced loss, written by Tiffany Papageorge, illustrated by Erwin Madrid, and published by Minoan Moon. It is an impressive book on all levels; the writing, the illustrations, and the quality of publication. Something that belongs in the room and hands of every child who has ever lost anyone or anything of importance to him/her. Noah's New Puppy , a book by Richard Rice and Geri Henderson, illustrated by Vincent Rice, that we published a couple of years ago, fulfills a similar purpose but for a different need. Tenderly written, including with guidance for parents on its use, and gorgeously illustrated, this book focuses on PTSD and indeed belongs in the hands of all children whose parents experience PTSD as well as with those who work with them. (Note: MSI Press, editor@msipress.com, will provide a complimentary copy to reviewers and special

Dr. Geri Henderson considers herself, first and foremost, a teacher and mentor but loves her roles as sister, aunt, and friend.  Geri has taught in a number of places such as the Caribbean, Jordan, Bahrain, LIthuania, Lebanon, Japan, Korea, and the US.  Her interests include a passion for music which she studied and subsequently taught for 30 years before beginning her second professional career in higher education. She is probably teaching literature and writing somewhere in the world right now. Her first book with MSI Press,   Thoughts without a Title , was edited while she was teaching in the Middle East and contains the stories and essays of Middle Eastern college students and their views of the world. Her second book, co-authored with Seanne Emerton,   Healing from Incest: Intimate Conversations with My Therapist , is gathering 5-star reviews and was selected as a 2015 Book of the Year Award Finalist. Her most recent book was written together with Richard Rice, author

  THIS EXCERPT FROM THE OPTIMISTIC FOOD ADDICT SEEMS APPROPRIATE FOR WHAT MANY PEOPLE ARE EXPERIENCING FROM THE "QUARANTINE FIFTEEN" COUNTRY-WIDE AVERAGE POUNDS GAINED OVER THE PAST YEAR.              For a good half an hour before falling asleep, I would try to force my mind to coerce my body to burn itself alive. I hated my fat so much that I would imagine it sizzling like bacon in a skillet, dripping like hot wax off my bones and into the ether. I was determined to will my fat to melt away.              The next morning I would wake up, disappointed to find my thighs and ass still too big to fit comfortably in my third-hand Jordache jeans. And later that night, I’d lay prone in my bed, visually imagining my flesh liquefying in my skin once again.              This dour wishful thinking would go on night after night from the time I was 11 until well into my 20s. And yet many people asked me, nearly as often as I asked myself, if being fat bothered me so much, why couldn’

  Excerpt from A Movie Lover's Search for Romance (Joanna Charnas) THE NEW GUY   You don’t always know when you’re experiencing burnout until you’re hip deep in its muck. You also don’t comprehend how completely addicting Internet dating is until you’re hooked. So if you find yourself burned out from Internet dating, as I did, the prudent thing is to give it a rest. Although I planned to take a break from Internet dating, I’d become too addicted to stop. It didn’t matter that I was emotionally exhausted from too many blind dates. Which is when Simon entered my life.  I met Simon on an Internet dating site. When we first spoke on the phone, he asked if I’d meet him that evening at a party given in honor of a couple of his friends. Simon explained that his schedule was booked for the rest of the week, but he wanted to meet me right away. The party started in mid-afternoon, and assuming I wouldn’t be enslaved and forced into the sex trade, I agreed to rendezvous at his friends’ house

Parenting has its joys; it can also be demanding when all does not go as planned or hoped, as in this picture of parents with their son and two emergency room specialists, raising up (literally) their physically challenged daughter. MSI Press offers several unique books on parenting--for the everyday difficulties and the unique challenges. Take a look! 3 65 Teacher Secrets for Parent s by Cindy McKinley and Patti Trombly See posts by and about Cindy and Patti, including book excerpts, HERE . Courageous Parents   by Dr. Haim Omer Read posts by and about Dr. Omer, including book excerpts, HERE . How to Be a Good Mommy When You're Sick by Dr. Emily Graves Read posts by and about Dr. Graves, including book excerpts, HERE . Lessons of Labor by Julia Aziz See posts by and about Jula Aziz, including book excerpts,  HERE . Life after Losing a Child by Pat Young and Joanna Romer See posts by and about Pat  and Joanna. Noah's New Puppy by Richard R

"With its strong, dedicated, and important message, Noah's New Puppy is an extraordinary, unique, impressively entertaining, thoroughly 'kid friendly', and unreservedly recommended addition to family, preschool, elementary school, and community library picture book collections." Read the full review at MidWest Book Review, Reviewer's Choice, January 2020 Children's Bookwatch .

Excerpt from Diary of an RVer during Quarantine: Day 7 (Tuesday) Today, I decide to figure out why the front burner of our propane stove is not lighting with the clicker switch (Finally, a real purpose for getting out of bed!).  Have you ever taken the top cover off your stove?  Me neither!  Not once in the six years we’ve owned this rig!  Underneath were scattered pieces of dried spaghetti, macaroni, and rice that would have provided dinner for four.  The instructions on how to light and shut down the stove are posted under the cover, but I had to remove grease with dish detergent before I could read them.  A pleasant surprise!  They are in three languages, which provided an opportunity to see if my weekly Spanish classes in Arizona paid off … they didn’t!  However, I was able to understand ONE word (highlighted) in the first sentence: “Abra el suministro principal de gas a la estufa.”   Well, look there … the ignition tube to the front burner had rusted and was hanging down aw

  Congratulations to MSI Press's many talented authors for a strong showing in the 2020 Kops-Fetherling International Book Awards competition . The books and their awards are listed below. We will present each individual over the next couple of weeks so that readers can get to know the books and their authors. Definitely, each book is deserving (in our admittedly partially biased opinion) of its standing in the competition. Here are the 14 MSI books that placed in the competition. Phoenix Award Best New Voice Health and Fitness: Women, We're Only Old Once by Bertha Cooper. Gold Medal, Education: 10 Quick Homework Tips by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly. Silver Medal, Science: Rainstorm of Tomorrow by Renyuan Dong Honorable Mention, Children's Picture Book: Noah's New Puppy by Vincent Rice with Geri Henderson Honorable Mention, Inspiration/Motivation: Weekly Soul by Dr. Frederic Craigie Honorable Mention, Mind, Body, & Spirit: How to Stay Calm in Chaos b

Richard is a veterans, who wrote the book,  Noah’s New Puppy , loosely based on his life and the wonderful help he received from his own service dog, Abby. Several years ago, Richard became a licensed service dog trainer, living with his family in Germany. Founder of K9s for Veterans Abroad, he is completing his MA in Social Work and plans to continue to combine his talent for dog training with his skills as a therapist to help veterans deal with their trauma. For more posts about Richard and his book, Noah's New Puppy, click HERE .

The following excerpt comes from Dr. Fisanick's book, The Optimistic Food Addict (Chapter 6):               The roads were thick with ice the night I told my parents I was pregnant. My boyfriend and I broke the news to my mother first, as we sat on that old, gold couch in the living room, waiting for my dad to get home from the midnight shift.               My mother, who had been a teen mother herself, was disappointed, probably because she knew the hard road ahead of me. She wanted me out, and she was sure my dad would feel the same.               I had just turned seventeen and was in my senior year of high school. I was an underachieving Honors student. I stopped caring about school the day I met my neighbor’s blond haired, blue-eyed best friend. And there I sat next to him, five months pregnant with his child.               The trailer where I grew up was cold that night, like always. The lack of insulation and ancient oil furnace meant frozen pipes and the necessit