MSI Press Blog

  (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. Today's topic is about assessing the hype for self-publishing. What should you believe and not believe? Hype abounds for self-publishing. Some of it is somewhat accurate, but many of the claims, while not necessarily false, are generally de-contextualized. We have friends and colleagues who have self-published books. While some of them are very nicely laid out and well-written, most can be easily discerned as self-published because of the quality. In one case, we were so appalled by the results of a friend who self-published through a vanity press, we offered to republish the book so that it had

  MSI Press author, Colette McNeil, has an article in the February issue of Autism Parenting Magazine : "How Counting to 20 Can Help Your Child with Autism." For information about other contributions Colette has made to this magazine, as well as posts about her and her books, click HERE .

  Being a publisher of language teaching and learning books (among other lines), we are always interested in what the language community is doing. One source of fascinating information is the National Museum of Language. In its most recent newsletter, it talked about its new normal in the era of covid.  At the Museum, our new normal is to not only continue to offer you the same great content you have seen throughout the years, but to add new and exciting concepts to our regular lineup. The Teacher's Corner has taken on a digital slant, focusing on what can be done now while many teachers remain teaching online to some degree, but with tasks and tools that can come back with you to the classroom. After the success of our first trivia night, we will be looking at another one coming to you shortly. Having virtual Speakers has increased our audience significantly and allows us to reach out to audiences we had never considered. And those are only what you have seen so far! Our new int

  Yes, Elly had a friend, Buster, a cat, who made the RV trip across Canada with her. Buster was apparently not a very good traveler at first, but adapted with time and experience. Here are some times the cat appears in the book: Buster is a Rag Doll breed of cat whose defining characteristic is going limp when he’s picked up. Having grown up with Elly, the slightly older Buster established himself early on as Alpha and maintained that relationship by a swat or nip on Elly’s hindquarters when he decided a playful interlude was over. While Elly was always a great traveler, Buster had some issues, even before our trip began. He occasionally upchucked if a road became too twisty or bumpy for more than 10 or 15 minutes. Buster’s problem behavior stopped suddenly and permanently during our trip, much to our delight. When appropriate, I’ll offer my opinion as to why. Our departure date of July 1 coincided with Canada Day, a statutory holiday for citizens to celebrate the birth of Canada. We

  Betty Lou Leaver, managing editor of the MSI Press LLC, has joined with two colleagues, to edit a groundbreaking book on transformative education. The back of the book says it all: Transformative learning has been widely used in the field of adult education for over 20 years, yet until recently has received little attention in the field of world languages. Drawing on test practices and research of distinguished international world language experts, this volume provides theoretical and classroom -tested models of transformative education in world languages in major university, state, and government programs. Chapters outline theoretical frameworks and detail successful models from cutting-edge programs in a wide range of languages, with plenty of examples included to make the theory accessible to readers not yet familiar with the concepts. Classroom teachers, program administrators, and faculty developers will find support for their courses. With its innovative approach to the teachin

photo: https://calstar.org/contact-us/              A nurse named Ally carried a big, white binder into Elizabeth’s room. It contained, according to Ally, all the information I would need to help me understand what to expect in the coming days and weeks. As Ally guided me through the binder, the truth that Elizabeth was not yet out of the woods—not even close—began to sink in. My heart pounded in my throat, and tears gathered at the corners of my eyes. “Just take it hour by hour,” Ally told me, just as the TRU nurse had.   I learned about the two critical periods in the early recovery for a person with a brain injury. The initial critical period when injuries may be so bad that they cause death, even with the best care, occurs the first day or two after the injury. Those who survive this period face another critical period a few days later, lasting for approximately two more weeks during which time the brain may swell and complications occur at any time. Elizabeth had now entered i

  Shenan (CB) Leaver's book, Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest, was translated into Russia and published in Russia, with excerpts in the Socionics Journal . For those who can read Russian, hear is some fun reading!! Мама отравила нашего гостя! (фрагменты из книги) Авторы: Си Би ЛИВЕР и Бетти Лу ЛИВЕР В своей книге Си Би Ливер, один из семи детей Бетти Ливер, решил рассказать о своей Маме, которая помогла ему с редактированием текста. К сожалению, хорошей фотографии Си Би не нашлось, поэтому помещаем только фотографию героини книги. Соционический тип: как нам кажется, хорошо виден из текста Эл. адреса: CBLeaver @ aol . com и Leaver @ aol . com Хаос на кухне. Моя Мама – очень хорошая Мама, но очень плохой повар. Однажды моей сестрёнке понадобилось принести на праздник девочек-скаутов "дьявольские яйца" (обычно их фаршируют майонезом и сладким красным перцем, но Мама, вид