MSI Press Blog

  Anger, in its narrow form, is one of the stages of dying that Elizabeth Kubler-Ross identified quite some time ago in her book, On Death and Dying . People go through various stages, according to Kubler Ross (though her stages have been disputed ), the second of which in her model is anger (though she herself later stated that the stages are not necessarily sequential).  While anger of the patient was the focus of Kubler Ross and of most books and posts about cancer (and other dying) patients, my recent experience is that anger comes also within and from the caregiver, who had not planned on this life-changing (and time-changing) activity and likely is not prepared for it, whether it be lack of skills, lack of knowledge, lack of medical communication or options, lack of time to accomplish all that is necessary and thereby creating considerable stress, or lack of temperament/patience, causing anger to well up as a reaction to inability to control the environment and limited to no time

  The following was sent out in email by Julia Aziz yesterday. Good reflection! I don't know about you, but I'm pretty tired of the "new year, new you" rhetoric.  While I'm a big believer in the power of setting intentions and making commitments to the small steps of change, this whole "ready, set, go" of the new year feels more like pressure than inspiration. I'm personally feeling more of an ease in, see what happens, take it one step at a time kind of vibe. With sadness, disappointment, and weariness so rampant right now, it's hard to get excited about the future. It reminds me of a question my aunt Judy asked me last week: "how do you know what to do for people who are suffering when everybody is having such a hard time?" I told her I don't see it as my job to fix anyone or to make their problems go away. Thank goodness for that, as there are plenty of people out there who will tell you they have the magic solution if only you f

  HAPPY NEW YEAR TO MSI PRESS STAFF, AUTHORS, AND READERS!

  Did you overeat during Chistmas (right after overeating on Halloween and Thanksgiving) and plan to do it again on New Year's Eve and Day? This time of year sure is fun (from the good food, happy food, and much food perspective), but it can bring pounds and regrets. So, below are some articles/posts with good (and perhaps surprising) reading on the topic: From HuffPost: The Toxic Phrase We Should Stop Saying around the Holidays The Point: We should go to the gym for health reasons, not with the singular intent to burn off calories  From Webmd: 9 Ways to Manage Binge Eating Disorder over the Holidays The point: Take control to not become the tail being wagged by the dog; while oriented toward binge eating disorder, most of the recommendations work for anyone who tends to eat just a tad too much at this time of year From MSI Press Blog: Recovering from Holiday Overeating: Overcoming the Tyranny of Day One The point: Dr. Christina Fisanick Greer, author of The Optimistic Food Addict

  Literary Titan awards are given to books and authors that have astounded and amazed LT editors with unique writing styles, vivid worlds, complex characters, and original ideas. According to Literary Titan, t hese books deserve extraordinary praise, and LT is proud to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, and writing skill of talented authors. MSI Press LLC is also proud of its authors whose books have been selected for awards. In 2021, gold awards were won by Liz Bayardelle for both her books, Clean Your Plate!   Read more posts about this book HERE . and for Parenting in a Pandemic . Read more posts about this book HERE . A silver award was received by Renyuan Dong for his book, Rainstorm of Tomorrow , which has won a number of awards. Read more posts about the book HERE . A silver award was received by Arthur Yavelberg for his book, A Theology for the Rest of Us , which also won the Best Indie Book Award 2021 for theology. Read more posts about the book HERE . Congratulations to t

  The Christmas season has become a mixed set of emotions for us. My grandson was born Christmas Day 20 years ago -- extra annual joy! The brother of a young man we took for 6 years died Christmas eve this year of covid. This is the first year that our family is observing the holidays without our patriarch, Carl , and Murjan , our beloved cat. So, for sure, grief has wrapped itself around our holiday activities. Here, then, is an excerpt from Julie Potter's book, Harnessing the Power of Grief , that we have found insightful... Beginning to adjust You are not a stranger to this process. There are many times during your life when you have to adjust to and make your way in a new world: the first day of school, going away to college, getting a new job, marrying, moving to a new neighborhood, retiring and living in a new world with no colleagues and no 9-to-5 schedule, becoming ill or disabled at any age and living in a slower world with people surging on ahead of you, emigrating to a n

  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 What at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic arises from a discussion last week with an author whose cost of book returns brought an otherwise successful book into the negative net income (i.e.) loss realm. Our conversation revolved around several questions that arose from her discussions with her local bookstore.  Why/how do returned books create loss for an otherwise successful book? A large number of returns can eradicate all profit from the book sale and put the book into the loss column on a P&L statement: print costs will not have been recoupled; additional books have now been returned to the publisher's inventory, books that wer