We Tried To Warn You

This book was written as a response to the positive and heartening reception to a series of articles published (online and print) on innovative interventions in organizations. The core message of We Tried to Warn You is that every day, micro-failures of communication and their cover-ups can accumulate, and enable a network of decisions that lead to systemic-level failures of organizations. I report on first hand experiences as an organizational participant, and more recently as a design/management consultant, informed by the substantive research published over the years by key authors I have learned from, and cite in the book. We Tried to Warn You presents a case study in compact form, with identifying details obscured to protect the great and the guilty alike. I focus emphasis on the knowledge-based practices that enable organizations to sense and make decisions from critical feedback from customers in the field, especially the multidisciplinary field now known as "user experience" (or UX). UX has become a primary conduit for understanding "real users" and their needs in current organizations worldwide. UX is often involved throughout all phases of a project, from user research, to product concept design, to final design and user testing. As a still-emerging knowledge discipline, UX practices were developed in the case organization as a response to a systemic failure, with outstanding positive results. The book also shares lessons learned from a process called socialization, which distributes leadership and skill development among organizational players in the formation of key strategic practices such as UX.

HEMINGWAY FIRST NOVEL PRIZE Critical Comment: D.T. Max, New York Times Book Review: Exceptional, smart and playful, a novel of quiet seductions. An imagined correspondence between Wilde and the author that turns into a drama of cross-century friendship. Merlin Holland; author, grandson of Oscar Wilde:A charming read. Im sure Grandfather would have seen the fun of it. Hillary Hemingway; Director, Hemingway Literary Festival: What a delight to discover this unique voice. The novel is already the buzz of New York. Jill Jackson,Syndicated columnist, King Features:A brilliant correspondence, beautifully written and researched. Very funny stuff. Ellis Hanson, Author, Decadence & Catholicism:A style so conversational and amusing, it felt like Holloway was sitting at my dinner table. Postmodern parallels with Wilde abound theatre is transmogrified into TV commercials, rentboys into go-go types in a hustler bar, Reading Gaol into a psycho-prison for sexual outcasts. They make for interesting echoes and dissonances between decadence and post-modernism, aestheticism and camp, innuendo and outness, sex as gross indecency and sex as medical problem. Giovanna Franci,Professor of English, University of Bologna, Italy:What a wonderful concept! Beautifully realized! I couldnt put it down. LINER NOTES: In February of 1993, enroute from Capetown, South Africa to Los Angeles, during a lay-over at Londons Cadogan Hotel, C. Robert Holloway is convinced he witnessed the arrest of Oscar Wilde from the very room hes occupying. After badgering a reluctant night-manager, he learns that his room is indeed the same suite from which Wilde was ignominiously hauled away to Bow Street Police Station in April of 1895. Emboldened by a split of honor-bar rose and a chocolate rush, he drafts a letter to Wilde, at once part apology - part adulation - part exorcism and no small part jet-lagged foolishness. Next morning,he deposits it in a Piccadilly post-box, and shortly departs for California, never giving it a second thought. Two weeks later a thick envelope tumbles from Holloways mail-box in West Hollywood. Filling several pages, the flamboyant hand bears a strong resemblance to Wildes. Its authors observations on Holloways lineage and threadbare education are accurate enough to unnerve him, albeit momentarily. Thus begins an audacious, outrageous, occasionally trenchant, often hilarious correspondence between a little-known TV producion designer and the most famous gay man in the Western world.

The Sheriff of Hell's Murder Case is the final novel in Dr. Jack Justin Turner's highly-acclaimed Cumberland Mountain Trilogy. With a mangled arm, and with his long-barreled Luger close at hand, Sheriff Jacob Newton Herald must muster all the cunning and courage that saw him through The Great War to survive the sometimes savage place he calls home. Jake, as he is known by both friend and foe, has been described as a combination of Hamlet and Dirty Harry – but in this last volume Jake exhibits a quite different and endearing personality, when he makes two of the most important decisions of his life. Part murder mystery and part magnificent love story, The Sheriff of Hell's Murder Case again demonstrates Dr. Turner's powerful and insightful explanation of character and locale, in a page-turner that is perhaps unparalleled in modern Appalachian fiction. Turner obviously knows and loves the setting and its inhabitants and puts the lie to the work of a litany of literary carpetbaggers. As one reviewer put it, "Jack Justin Turner's voice rings so true that one might think the author is actually channeling the spirits of his early twentieth century characters. Seldom does a book transport a reader so surely to another place and time." Keywords: Romance, Revenge, Action, History, War, Kentucky, Herald, Fiction, Iron Fist, Mystery, Veteran

Buoy your sailing knowhow with advice from two US sailing champions Nothing can beat the feel of the warm sun on your back, the gentle wind in your hair, and a swaying deck under your feet. If you long to take to the open water and sail wherever the wind takes you, you’ll find everything you need to know in Sailing For Dummies. This friendly guide offers information for beginning and intermediate captains. Discover everything you need to know to confidently navigate your vessel through whatever waters—rough or smooth—you may encounter. Whether your goal is to explore a nearby lake, sail down the Mighty Mississippi, or take to the open sea, Sailing For Dummies explains how to launch your vessel, tie knots, turn sails, read the water, and more. Figure out how to work with the wind using sails to reach your destination Find out how the latest technology makes sailing easier and more enjoyable Master the essential skills of docking, tying knots, and dropping anchor Learn how to read the wind, sea, and sky to know what the weather is up to Choose the boat that’s right for you, complete with bells and whistles Discover the basics of windsurfing and kiteboarding Satisfy your need to go farther and faster in your craft Know how to sail safely in tricky situations Whether you’re dipping your toe in the water or knee deep in your pursuit of sailing excellence, this reference will come in handy as you set your sights on sailing. After spending some time with Sailing For Dummies—and even more time on the water—you’ll know the ropes!

This book can be read as a stand alone. To do a great right, do a little wrong. A honeymoon in Paris! Except…there’s more at stake in the City of Lights than romance. Abigail’s specialty as an ancient maps librarian has brought her to a prestigious symposium at the Louvre, where she has one final chance to prove herself and save her job. Tony, a recently reformed cat burglar, is there to search for his family’s roots and learn more about his great-grandfather. Then Abigail’s wedding ring is stolen, and she and Tony put sightseeing on hold to track down the thief. The emerald ring is highly desired by thieves and collectors for its connection to a famous Italian artist, but it’s worth more to Tony and Abigail as a family heirloom and symbol of their love. As the newlyweds seek answers, the line between right and wrong blurs. With Abigail’s future in jeopardy, and Tony’s reputation following him, how far will they go to find the truth?

Two sisters unite to survive a traumatic upbringing—from absentee parents to a wilderness camp for troubled teens—in this “relentless and spooky” (Joy Williams) debut novel from an essential new voice. “A story that’s so weird, it has to be true. . . . Keeps our attention in a chokehold.”—The New York Times ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Good Housekeeping “When the Juvenile Transportation Services come for you in the night in a preordained kidnapping, complete with an unmarked van and husky guardsmen you can’t outmatch, you have been sold for a promise.” A young woman thinks she has escaped her past only to discover that she’s been hovering on its edges all along: She and her younger sister bide their time in a dilapidated warehouse in a desolate town north of New York City; their parents settled there with dreams of starting an art commune. But after the girls’ father vanishes, all traces of stability disappear for the family, and the girls retreat into strange worlds of their own mythmaking and isolation. As the sisters both try to survive their increasingly dark and dangerous adolescences, they break apart and reunite repeatedly, orbiting each other like planets. Both endure stints at the Veld Center, a wilderness camp where troubled teenage girls are sent as a last resort, and both emerge more deeply warped by the harsh outdoor survival experiences they must endure and the attempts by staff to break them down psychologically. With a mesmerizing voice and uncanny storytelling style, this is a remarkable debut about two women who must struggle to understand the bonds that link them and how their traumatic history will shape who they choose to become as adults.

The bestselling Western author continues his bold saga of the American frontier, where one man fights for the very survival of the town called Fury. It’s hard country, but the pioneers of Fury (Pop. 112) are banding together to make it a home. With barren lands, blinding dust storms, drought, hostile Apaches, and violent bands of cutthroat outlaws against them, death is never far away. It’s enough to make Jason Fury, whose father the town was named after, ride out for San Francisco. But a fiery young redhead named Megan McDonald keeps him Arizona bound—and just in time. When another Apache attack finds the marshal’s badge pinned to Jason’s unwilling chest, he turns out to be the right man to do whatever it takes—for . . . A Town Called Fury Praise for the novels of William W. Johnstone “[A] rousing, two-fisted saga of the growing American frontier.” —Publishers Weekly on Eyes of Eagles “There’s plenty of gunplay and fast-paced action as this old-time hero proves again that a steady eye and quick reflexes are the keys to survival on the Western frontier.” —Curled Up with a Good Book on Dead Before Sundown