MSI Press Blog

Shenan (CB) Leaver has attended special education classes in Virginia, California, and Ohio and graduated from Hayes High School in Delaware, Ohio, where he was voted “class flirt.” A parishioner at the San Benedict (in the background) parish, he now lives in Hollister in San Benito County, California and works at a sheltered workshop, M&M, where he has many friends who like to listen to his tall tales, most of whichS are based on true stories, funny things that happen to one relative or another — or to him.     He has written a very special and very funny book about his mother,   Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest   (yes, true story). Stand by for edition 3, currently in the making. CB is also working on a similar volume about his father, tentatively titled   Daddy Waited . Shenan loves to receive email from readers! For more imformation on CB and his work, click HERE .

  Shenan (CB) Leaver, author of Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest , was recently interviewed by the Mission Village Voice , where his book is being serialized. From the MVV introduction to the column: "Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest is collection of anecdotes about a 'detail-oblivious' homemaker and traveler, told from the point of view of CB, her mentally challenged son. The simplicity of language has made this book a favorite with ESL students, and the humorous 'conclusion' about life from a child's point of view endears it to anyone with a sense of humor. The reason CB's mother worked with him to write the book was to teach him the impact of literacy -- why people write and why people read. Even though it has been impossible for him to learn to read and write very much, through the joint preparation of the book he did learn a lot about literacy. CB is a 42-year-old CHARGE Syndrome, on of about 4-5 worldwide his age. He was given 0% chance of living, dispro

  Today's fortune cookie is associated with Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest (Leaver).  Read more about the Shenan Leaver and his book HERE . Currently on sale for $5 at MSI Press webstore .cookie, Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest, Shenan Leaver 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 (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.  Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information on our  Authors' Pages .    

  MSI Press authors, Sula Parish Cat and Shenan (CB) Leaver, at Old Mission San Juan Bautista Gift Shop office Sula, Parish Cat at Old Mission, has written seven books, the most recent one, Sula and the Franciscan Sisters , released this month. Today, KSBW in Salinas, California featured Sula, her passing, and parishioner response -- along with quite a surprise at the first Mass after her passing. Listen to it HERE . For more posts about Sula and her books, click HERE For posts about Shenan and his book, click HERE .                                    Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

  (photo from last year, in anticipation of changing that number this evening from 41 to 42) November 13 today is CB Leaver's birthday. CB is the MSI Press author of the popular Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest and one of the oldest CHARGE Syndrome adults in the world. He knows only three others world-wide (Ohio, Massachusetts, and Netherlands) who have reached his age of 42 years (one is actually 45, the others are 42, as well) but thinks there may be another one or two somewhere. It is no mere feat, then, that he has survived, and robustly so, after a very tenuous start in life in which he as given 0% chance of survival by well respected doctors at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and rescued by doctors at Children's Hospital in Boston, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Children's National Medical Center, Georgetown University Hospital, and Stanford Children's Medical Center -- it took a countrywide network to turn that 0% into 100%) and no mere feat also that

One of the fun things that a publisher (or at least, an acquisitions editor) gets to experience is meeting more than one member of a family -- as authors whose work we publish. In this series of presenting family authors, we take note of the Leaver writers, who have written books in various combinations and solo. Above pictured is Betty Lou Leaver and Shenan (CB) Leaver, who collaborated on Mommy Our House Guest , a fun book that has gained a number of afficionados and been serialized in a magazine.  Betty Lou, who has written dozens of books, including, for MSI Press, Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star and The Invisible Foreign Language Classroom (with Laura Dabbs) and Carl, who typeset and designed the covers of many MSI Press publications and edited Overcoming the Odds , collaborated on the book,  Intrepid.  who unfortunately passed away in 2021 from Cancer of Unknown Primary, Carl, unfortunately, passed away suddenly in 2021 from Cancer of Unknown Primar

  1948-2021 It is with great sadness that MSI Press notes the death of Carl Leaver, CEO of the Press and typesetter and graphic designer par excellence . Many authors have expressed not only condolences but also a sense of legacy from covers he designed that they love.  Here is his obituary: On August 16, 2021, Carl Don Leaver of San Juan Bautista passed into eternal rest. A forester with the US Forest Service in Idaho and Montana, he turned to nature photography while working in the Bitterroot National Forest. His photographs graced national magazine covers and on a weekly basis the local paper of Hamilton, MT, the Ravalli Republican. He later worked on photography projects for the US Army (AFEES) and taught photography at the New York Institute of Technology in Amman, Jordan. His final career change led him to computer graphics and publishing as co-owner of MSI Press LLC; his many typeset books and book covers have helped MSI Press authors win a large number of awards over the years,

  Today's daily excerpt comes from Understanding the Seeker (Kacee Quinelle)  Chapter 6 The Seeker at Home We have spoken briefly about the home behavior of the Seeker. He or she is no homemaker and is all too frequently oblivious to health and hearth. These traits—and others—create a home climate that differs quite significantly from that of many other personality types. When the other members of the household are also Seekers, the traits are intensified. When the other members of the household are not Seekers, conflicts are multiplied.* House and Housework Given the Seeker’s lack of interest and skill in homemaking activities, the house can become quickly untidy and not at all a cozy place, especially if the spouse and children are all Seekers. Fortunately, for most households, this is not likely. The Seeker personality is not common enough that one would expect to find it in grand distribution among any groups. Still, certainly, there can be more than one Seeker in a family. Wh

    Today is Independent Bookstore Day. In lieu of shared posts from one author, as we typically do each day in the blog post, From the Blog Posts of MSI Press Authors, we are presenting tributes from a range of authors in support of their local independent bookstores. From Julia Aziz I adore the independent bookstores in my city of Austin, TX. When I went to BookPeople and told them about the release of Lessons of Labor, they immediately offered to host a book release party and stock my book there. I felt so supported, both as a professional and as a longtime community member. BookPeople continues to be my happy place--a space to rest, read, and discover. Julia Aziz author of  Lessons from Labor blog posts  by and about Julia Julia's blog From Franki Bagdades blog post on the topic: There is no replacement for entering a space filled with books. Running your hands over glossy covers, flipping through the pages. Hearing someone laugh behind you as they read, a child's "ooo