MSI Press Blog

  Watch presentation HERE . For more posts about Dr. Sabzevary, his lectures, and his book, click  HERE .

   Edward Hallowell, M.D.,  Harvard psychologist and  co-author of  Driven to Distraction  and  ADHD 2.0  had this to say about Andrew's Awesome Adventures with His Awesome ADHD Brain : Andrew's Awesome Adventures  is awesome indeed! It is also unique, in that the book combines Andrew's perspective as a child with his mom's perspective both as a mother and as a scientist who's expert on the latest findings on ADHD. Not only unique, this book is also entertaining, well-written, highly informative, and immensely helpful to anyone concerned about ADHD, especially as it occurs in boys who are not disruptive or hyperactive. A superb contribution to the field.  --- For more posts about the Wilcoxes and their books, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter.

Continuing in what seems to be coming a trend -- we keep coming across videos of readers -- teachers and language learners -- who have fallen in love with How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately by Boris Shekhtman. The falling in love is not surprising; this book is the darling of diplomats and international journalists, both groups of individuals that Boris spent his life teaching. What is a little more surprising is the number of people who have quietly made videos about the book and its contents -- and which we stumble across upon occasion, such as today. The latest we have found is an entertaining as well as informative video by an English teacher, Charles Wood and editor of Language Tutor Online, who talks about applying the every simple and very effective principles in the books. You can listen to it HERE . For more posts about Boris Shekhtman and his books, click HERE .

  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

  One of the most famous people I have ever met -- and a very lovely person at that -- is Shirley Temple Black, who passed in 2014 after making the world better in several areas of using her talents at acting, diplomacy, and just good people skills. She genuinely liked people. I remember her taking time from a busy schedule to spend a break period from language studies to talk to my 10-year-old, a conversation he obviously will never forget, about our planned move to Monterey and about how she loved Monterey so much that she got married there. I bring her up in the Cancer Diary post because her birthday would be this coming Saturday (April 23, 1928), and, more important, because she was a breast cancer survivor. Her openness about cancer may have saved millions of lives. The more survivors, the more doctors learn. The more survivors, the more hope for others with breast cancer. And the more survivors, the more we realize that breast cancer does not take sides or pick victims -- every w

(Easter 2022 at Old Mission San Juan Bautista ) Excerpt from the beginning chapter of Blest Atheist (a repeat and more from Easter 2017 , never loses its significance...) Siberia on Easter Morning  “ Khristos voskres ” (Christ is risen). One person after another greeted me with these words as I climbed the stairs of the little, wooden church in Akademgorodok, a tiny town at the end of the man-made Ob Sea, bejeweling the Siberian steppe 45 minutes south of the city of Novosibirsk. The intertwining snow-covered birch and kedr (Siberian pine) trees created an illusion of a land of fantasy, made more so in the late evenings by the moon reflecting off the naked silver-white birch bark onto the dark red-brown trunks and evergreen branches of the pines. This was not yet the inhospitable taiga ; it was somewhat south for that, but nonetheless the birch and kedr trees stood closely side-by-side like brothers-in-arms against a hostile white and cold universe.             “ V istinu voskres ” (

   Continuing in the series of Sula (parish cat) Easter posts and especially on Caturday, here is another excerpt from Sula's Easter book; it comes from the section on the Easter vigil: Waiting before the Vigil The church is always dark on Easter Vigil. I am among the first there, waiting not just for the Resurrection that is to come but also for the people who will be coming to wait together—they with me and I with them. I like greeting the people as they come in. Often, I will know with whom I should be waiting. That, after all, is my mission.     The Mass The Easter Vigil Mass is unique. It is not like any other Mass during the year. The Vigil Mass is also complex—and rich. It goes from dark to light, from people who cannot see each other to people welcoming new members into the body of Christ. The Mass has four elements. These are (1) the Service of Light, (2) the Liturgy of the Word, (3) Baptism, and (4) the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Service of Light starts outside, around