MSI Press Blog

  This week's book back story features Good Blood by Irit Schaffer. from the author -- Irit Schaffer is an author, speaker, physical therapist and healer in California. Her healing journey began in childhood where she was mesmerized by the stories of her father who had supernatural encounters with miraculous healing. Her dad journeyed through the turbulence of the Holocaust, was a Russian POW, imprisoned, suffered gunfire, gangrene infection.  There was no medicine to be had and yet he found a resilience that would change the course of his life and through his stories, hers.    Irit says “I would always ask him how he could tolerate the bullets taken out and not scream, and he would say that he had good blood. I would ask him if I had good blood, and he would laugh.”  That story set in motion Irit’s never-ending desire to understand the mind /body connection and the resiliency and resourcefulness of the human body mind spirit, called “Good Blood”.  ...

Excerpt from Good Blood, Edition 2 (Schaffer): Foreword by Arjia Rinpoche I was enjoying the sun rays shining through the giant red wood trees after a stormy winter day in Mill Valley when my dear friend Naomi walked up the stone steps with an attractive lady. She introduced her as Irit. Right after our introduction, Irit and I got into a long conversation about our backgrounds. Suddenly, I found myself in memory lane feeling as if I were right back in Tibet in the 1950s. But then quickly I realized I was still in Mill Valley -- just telling my story. Both Irit and I felt deeply connected, and from that moment on, we were able to develop a close friendship because we had shared our memories. Even though, we were from different cultures, we had faced similar challenges in life. When I was a small boy in Tibet, I had been wrenched from my secure monastery during the Religious Reform Movement of the 1950s and made to divest myself of my monastic robes and attend a Chines...

  Here are some excellent podcast interviews of Irit Schaffer, gems from the past. Enjoy! "Seekers of Meaning" - podcast presentation for Jewish Sacred Aging "Trauma, Family, Legacy, and Healing" on Inner Work podcast The Idea Crucible: Body Mind Spirit podcast: Interview with Irit Schaffer, part 1 The Idea Crucible: Body Mind Spirit podcast: Interview with Irit Schaffer, part 2 Blogtalk radio Read more posts about Irit and her book HERE .                                  Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

Endorsements received for  Good Blood, Second Edition  by Irit Schaffer This is the only book I have read cover to cover in the past several years.  It captivated me and I couldn’t put it down.  As a retired psychologist and university professor, I view it as a stunning study of many aspects of human behavior.  As a spiritual seeker, I experience it as a motivator in looking for the Light to help me in my personal healing and transformation.  As the dad of two grown sons and grandfather of two young children, it challenged me to look at the legacy of Love and Light that I want to pass on to them.  I am grateful to Irit for writing this book that nourished and healed me on every level of my being.   Charles R. Billings, Ph.D. Corte Madera, California   This book allowed me to see that even in the darkest of situations, if you live in the mindset that there is always hope, you can survive and even come out stronger than...

  In  Good Blood , Irit Schaffer tells the story of her parents' survival of the Holocaust, in two different camps. Her father always said he survived because he had good blood. As a midlife physical therapist, Irit set out to find what that meant -- and she finally also got her mother to share her story. Memories, reflections, healing are the dominant themes of this well-liked book that can relate to anyone, not just those affected by the Holocaust.   About the author: Born in Israel, raised in Canada, and now living in the US, Irit Schaffer works in her physical therapy and healing practice in California, where her good blood background, coupled with extensive educational training, has allowed her a unique perspective on the mind-spirit-connection. Hollywood Book Festival finalist Paris Book Festival finalist Book Excellence Award For more posts about Irit and her book, click  HERE . or the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow  MSI Press  on  Twitter ,...

  Irit Schaffer, author of Good Blood , recently taught a Zoom class at Penn State University on her book and its topics. The class received "glowing: reviews, and a repeat class is planned for the fall. For more posts about Irit and her book, click HERE .                                  Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

  It is Tuesday. 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 digresses -- into the absurd, perhaps. Today, I sent for the third time, ARC labels to wone of our authors. The first time the labels disappeared. The second time, they were inexplicably directed to an IRS office in another state. Totally insane! Fingers crossed for a safe arrival this time. Today's experience reminded me of other unexpected, funny, and heartwarming experiences that have occurred over the 20 years MSI Press has been publishing. Here are some of my favorite, somewhat inexplicable stories. When You're Shoved from the Right, Look to Your Left: Metaphors of Islamic Humanism is a great little book, trul...