MSI Press Blog

Recently released: the audiobook edition of  The Musings of a Carolina Yankee  by Wally Amidon. Book description: Take a slow ride down a country road and let your mind and spirit find the peace of a wooded wonderland. Stop along the way and listen to the quiet. Read some pretty funny stories about things that happen in nature, with animals, and during hunting season. Encounter some eccentric folks, including Bingo Drake, Rattler & Tiny, and the Hunkering Heckler. Find out how a skunk ends up in a living room and why a deer wears a red dress. Chuckle at the rambunctious pranks of growing-up boys, and be awed at what happens between soldiers on opposite sides of the Berlin Wall at Christmastime. Learn what a "hoss bite" is and what goes on at the "Bobblehead Babtist Church." At the end of it all, discover what a redneck really is. Author Wally Amidon grew up living wherever his father was stationed during his Air Force career. When he was overseas, he stayed with...

Wally Amidon Wally grew up wherever his father was stationed during his U. S. Air Force career. When his father was overseas, Wally stayed with his grandmother who was a great storyteller. Listening to the way she made stories come alive made Wally feel as if he had really been there. As he grew older, he began to write down things that made him either laugh or cry and tried to make them as real as possible. Sometimes, he finds it easier to escape into his own little world and create things he wishes were true but never can be. He knows people need an escape from reality at times so he decided to make his writings public.In his book,  The Musings of a Carolina Yankee , there are some true stories and there are some stories he doesn’t know where they came from, but he wrote them in order for readers to have fun and join him on his journey. Like his father, Wally served in the US Air Force; his military service came during the Vietnam conflict. Wally grew up in New Hamp...

  To honor the rare astronomical and spiritual alignment of Purim, Ramadan, and Lent coinciding today, we present our authors who have written books in each of these spiritual traditions. This remarkable convergence of sacred calendars happens only a few times per century, as each tradition follows different systems—the Jewish lunar calendar for Purim, the Islamic lunar calendar for Ramadan, and the Christian calendar (tied to the spring equinox) for Lent. When these observances overlap, they create a unique opportunity for interfaith dialogue and deeper understanding of how different faiths mark periods of reflection, sacrifice, and celebration. And then yesterday (the start of Puri) is also National Thai Elephant Day, a cultural holiday where Buddhist ceremonies are held to bless elephants and their owners. Our publishing house is proud to showcase writers who illuminate these rich traditions through their work. Steven Greenebaum writes about interfaith. Arthur Yavelberg and Am...

TWO HUNTERS I had a red fox come visit me at my ground blind one evening. He came close, sat down in the road, and watched me. Every now and then, he would turn his head and look about. He scratched some fleas a few times, got up, and started sniffing the air. I took my rifle and looked at him through the cross hairs. Then, I zoomed in on him but, for some reason, stopped and watched for a while. The season was open on them, but I asked myself why I should kill this pretty creature. I was not going to put him in the freezer, and his fur looked better on him than hanging on my wall. He stayed for about 20 minutes and then walked on down the road. He stopped midway, sat down in the road, and looked back up to where I was sitting and watching him. He was never afraid although he kept his distance. He let me watch him in his own living room. It makes a hunter realize who he truly is when he doesn’t gun down everything he sees just because he can. I am sitting in my easy chair, ...

  excerpt from The Musings of a Carolina Yankee by Wally Amidon Eagle Lake Fishing Trip In the course of a man’s life, there comes a time to think back to simpler times and things that made you a little happier as the years rolled by. One of these snippets involved my father-in-law, Louis Saucier. The story begins in Eagle Lake, Maine, where Louis was born and grew up. Part of the family journeyed back to the homeland with him from our home in New Hampshire to visit his relatives and to do a little fishing. At this time, Eagle Lake was still a small town, made up mostly of small houses and camps. It was a place that appeared to be in lost in time. The inhabitants neither realized about this nor particularly cared about it. Most of them were family in some way or related to others who were related to someone in the town. I would venture to say that this was where the term, close-knit family , came from. I had never before been to Eagle Lake, nor had I met this side of the f...

  The following books are available free on Kindle: God Speaks into Darkness  (Easterling) Pinnacle Book Achievement Award 10/2-10/6 Thoughts without a Title   (Henderson) 10/3 - 10/7 The Musings of a Carolina Yanke e (Amidon) 10/6 - 10/10 Understanding the Critic (Quinelle) 10/7 - 10/11 Everybody's Little Book of Everyday Prayers (McGregor) 10./8 - 10/12 How to Get Happy and Stay That Way (Romer) 10/9 - 10/13 For posts on any of these books or their authors, type in the name in the search bar; you will have plenty to read! 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  ...

  For those attracted by the charm of the South, check out the following MSI publications: Abandoned, neglected and beaten by a mother who really did care about her but suffered from her own demons and addictions, left with friends and relatives, as well as placed in foster homes, molested and raped on more than one occasion, including by men considered upright, the little girl who grew up to become an educator, minister, and entrepreneur learned to survive by running away again and again. This heartbreaking and heartwarming story, told with courageous frankness, reveals a deep trust in God that, in the long run, promoted an unbelievable resilience, allowing a young girl, turned young woman, to forgive those who hurt her and to reach out to all those who hurt with a message of healing and hope. For more posts by and about Gewanda and her book, click HERE . A heaping slice of old-fashioned Southern storytelling, this book gives readers a taste of genuine American life that will keep...

                                                                                       (photo by Frank Perez) It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. 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. Ever wonder how books get to be accepted for publication? There is often more to any author's story than non-authors and not-yet-published authors would image.  Yes, of course, every publisher has the normal channel of proposal reading and acceptance based on t...