MSI Press Blog

SASKATCHEWAN  “Between the blush at dawn and dusk the long kiss of land and sky, bare against each other.”  From “The Prairie” in This Land by Ken Odland  The sun shown brightly as we crossed the border into the neighbouring province of Saskatchewan. Temperatures approached 30° Celsius, about 10 degrees above normal for September. Immediate impressions, as seen from the highway, were checkerboard fields of amber, ochre, and green. Fall is harvest time in the prairies and many farmers were taking advantage of the fine weather to collect their crops. On distant horizons, columns of dust rose behind tractors pulling reaping machines. Grain elevators, always beside railroad tracks, were prominent landmarks in most small towns.  British Columbia’s landscape is mostly mountainous; Alberta has mountains to the west and prairie to the east; Saskatchewan, at least the southern section, is endless flat prairie. Two tongue-in-cheek sayings that capture the essence of this fla

  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. Today's topic  is a look at the life cycle of books -- how they differ, how do you define "success" and "failure," and what authors can expect over a lifetime. Here at MSI Press, we have seen a variety of paths taken by successful books (and ones that have not fared as well). For lack of better nomenclature, I would say that we have hares, tortoises, dogs, cats, and mountain goats.  Hares As in the fable, the hares start out fast. These books have strong launches, sell hundreds of books in the first few weeks (from a larger press, these might show up as thousands of sales) and then, quite suddenly s

  War and natural disasters create atrocious living circumstances not only for the people caught in the vortex but also for their pets, who are not used to foraging for themselves, have not built up the skills for survival, and are met with austere conditions too frequently too overwhelming to support their efforts to stay alive. Ukrainians are devoted to their pets; having to leave them behind may look like desertion but in a blitzkrieg style war can be the only option to helping ensure a fleeing family itself survives -- and is likely gut-wrenching. Many families are scooping up their pets. Some cannot, and their pets are now on the streets. Network for Animals is stepping in and doing the best it can to take care of animals left behind. It needs help. Help = money. Any amount; US dollars stretch farther there than here. Network for Animals is registered in a number of countries, including Brazil, the USA, and UK, as a reputable charity, and contributions are considered tax deductibl

  And now, the fifth post in the series of Caturday posts about cats trapped in war zones. Cats are not political (nor are dogs or any other animal for that matter--nor, generally, the people caring for them, nor this post). In peace and where people watch out for them, cats enjoy being loved and learn to return love. Yet, cats (and other animals) do get find themselves struggling in war zones. They, just like people who have done nothing to bring harm to anyone else but just happen to live there, suffer the consequences of evil descending unexpectedly from sources external to them. Like people, cats and other animals suffer when they are homeless and without food or winter. And they are often completely forgotten when war (or natural disaster, for that matter -- they drown in floods and burn in fires) breaks out. Like people, they have to dodge bullets, bombs, and other dangers. Unlike people, they are often not calculated into humanitarian outreach efforts Let the Animals Live  shelt

    photo from Animal Friends Shelter Two weeks ago, our Caturday post focused on the  plight of animals and their caregivers in war zones .  It focused as the first in a planned series on Animal Friends Shelter in Gaza City.  Animal Friends Shelter Last Saturday, we updated the information available from Tamir and Samir, two selfless cat godparents weathering the war in Gaza City (and, of course, beyond).  This Caturday, we can report that we last heard from AFS yesterday. We know from the news reports that the Internet is not functioning in Gaza right now, but we hope and pray that AFS is able t continue caring for its family of cats, who, yesterday, were squabbling a bit over rationed food.   Animal Friends Shelter is on Twitter:  Animal Friends Shelter (@AnimalFriendsAF) / X (twitter.com) And for those who wish to donate (AFS is a charity) to help -- PayPal.Me . Now, with an invasion going on and the Internet is down, donations may take a while to get through and supplies may not b

  And now, the third post in the series of Caturday posts about cats trapped in war zones. Cats are not political (nor are dogs or any other animal for that matter--nor, generally, the people caring for them, nor this post). In peace and where people watch out for them, cats enjoy being loved and learn to return love. Yet, cats (and other animals) do get find themselves struggling in war zones. They, just like people who have done nothing to bring harm to anyone else but just happen to live there, suffer the consequences of evil descending unexpectedly from sources external to them. Like people, cats and other animals suffer when they are homeless and without food or winter. And they are often completely forgotten when war (or natural disaster, for that matter -- they drown in floods and burn in fires) breaks out. Like people, they have to dodge bullets, bombs, and other dangers. Unlike people, they are often not calculated into humanitarian outreach efforts Sulala Animal Rescue , loca

  This post continues the series of Caturday posts about cats trapped in war zones. Cats are not political (nor are dogs or any other animal for that matter--nor, generally, the people caring for them, nor this post). In peace and where people watch out for them, cats enjoy being loved and learn to return love. Yet, cats (and other animals) do get find themselves struggling in war zones. They, just like people who have done nothing to bring harm to anyone else but just happen to live there, suffer the consequences of evil descending unexpectedly from sources external to them. Like people, cats and other animals suffer when they are homeless and without food or winter. And they are often completely forgotten when war (or natural disaster, for that matter -- they drown in floods and burn in fires) breaks out. Like people, they have to dodge bullets, bombs, and other dangers. Unlike people, they are often not calculated into humanitarian outreach efforts. (Ditto for dogs and other animals

Why Cats Make Better Mentors Than Dogs  1) Pet’s goal in life: Dog: Please his master. Cat: Please herself. Point: Cat 2) How pet gets what it wants: Dog: Begging for it. Cat: Taking it. Point: Cat 3)  How pet endears itself to humans: Dog: Demeaning tricks. Cat: Being herself. Point: Cat 4) Pet’s favorite activity: Dog: Long, repetitive walks. Cat: Sleeping. Point: Cat 5) Likelihood pet will eat its own vomit: Dog: Extremely high. Cat: Pretty unlikely. Point: Cat Read more excerpts HERE , along with information about the author and book. Check out the book page for How My Cat Made Me a Better Man at the MSI Press website.

  I Am Not Wearing That Leash  Cat Tale : Shelly was an indoor cat so I thought she might benefit from going outside. She could breathe the fresh air and smell exciting new things. But since my apartment was on a busy street, I didn’t have the nerve to let her go out untethered. I was afraid she might run away or get eaten by a pack of coyotes. So, I decided I’d walk her on a leash. The idea made sense at the time. After all, why would a pet store sell cat leashes if it weren’t at least theoretically possible to put one on a cat?  The leash was really more of a harness, where you slip each of the cat’s front paws through a loop, then tighten the cord so the whole thing fits snugly. I’ve seen them on dogs before, mostly bulldog types with portly bodies and stumpy little legs.  I brought the leash home and put it on the floor, letting Shelly check it out. She was suspicious but also curious. As she started to sniff it, I made my move. I took her paw and slipped it through one

  This is the seventh of a series of Caturday posts about cats trapped in war zones. Cats are not political (nor are dogs or any other animal for that matter--nor, generally, the people caring for them, nor this post). In peace and where people watch out for them, cats enjoy being loved and learn to return love. Yet, cats (and other animals) do get find themselves struggling in war zones. They, just like people who have done nothing to bring harm to anyone else but just happen to live there, suffer the consequences of evil descending unexpectedly from sources external to them. Like people, cats and other animals suffer when they are homeless and without food or winter. And they are often completely forgotten when war (or natural disaster, for that matter -- they drown in floods and burn in fires) breaks out. Like people, they have to dodge bullets, bombs, and other dangers. Unlike people, they are often not calculated into humanitarian outreach efforts. (Ditto for dogs and other animal

  Finally, the second post in the series of Caturday posts about cats trapped in war zones. Cats are not political (nor are dogs or any other animal for that matter--nor, generally, the people caring for them, nor this post). In peace and where people watch out for them, cats enjoy being loved and learn to return love. Yet, cats (and other animals) do get find themselves struggling in war zones. They, just like people who have done nothing to bring harm to anyone else but just happen to live there, suffer the consequences of evil descending unexpectedly from sources external to them. Like people, cats and other animals suffer when they are homeless and without food or winter. And they are often completely forgotten when war (or natural disaster, for that matter -- they drown in floods and burn in fires) breaks out. Like people, they have to dodge bullets, bombs, and other dangers. Unlike people, they are often not calculated into humanitarian outreach efforts In this post, we share the

Why Cats Make Better Mentors Than Dogs  1) Pet’s goal in life: Dog: Please his master. Cat: Please herself. Point: Cat 2) How pet gets what it wants: Dog: Begging for it. Cat: Taking it. Point: Cat 3)  How pet endears itself to humans: Dog: Demeaning tricks. Cat: Being herself. Point: Cat 4) Pet’s favorite activity: Dog: Long, repetitive walks. Cat: Sleeping. Point: Cat 5) Likelihood pet will eat its own vomit: Dog: Extremely high. Cat: Pretty unlikely. Point: Cat Excerpt from How My Cat Made Me a Better Man (Code FF25 for 25% discount at MSI Press webstore) Also available on Kindle Jeremy Feig is originally from a small town in slightly upstate New York. After graduating from New Paltz College, he moved to Los Angeles for TV and film production work before stumbling into a career in digital marketing. Jeremy spends much of his time working on creative projects, usually involving comedy. He’s written numerous screenplays and TV scripts, created ori

  excerpt from Jesus Is Still Passing By by Bennett Easterling -  A GENTILE WOMAN’S CHILD (Gospel account in Matthew 15:21-28; Matthew 20:29-34) Jesus went to the vicinity of Tyre, where a Canaanite woman came to him pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter has a demon in her, and it’s severely tormenting her.” Jesus gave her no reply. His disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to leave,” they said. “She’s bothering us with all her begging.” Sensitive souls, right? Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent to help the people of Israel, God’s lost sheep, not the Gentiles.” But she came and worshipped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!” Again, he protested, “It’s not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” “Yes, Lord,” she agreed, “but even puppies eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Her reply seemed to astonish the Lord, blowing away any further thought of refusal. “Woman, great is your faith,” he told her. “Yo