Steve Emecz's Blog: Musings of a Sherlockian Publisher, page 19

Sherlock Holmes Society of London reviews Holmes Sweet Holmes by Dan Andriacco

"Holmes Sweet Holmes by Dan Andriacco.  I loved No Police Like Holmes, Dan Andriacco’s first novel about Sebastian McCabe and Jeff Cody, and I’m delighted to recommend  the second, which has a curiously topical touch. Holmes Sweet Holmes concerns the murder of Peter Gerard, writer, director and star of 221B Bourbon Street, which reimagines Sherlock Holmes as a jazz-playing American in 1920s New Orleans. The film is a hit, but some Sherlockian fundamentalists have sent hate mail. Did an angry Sherlockian break in to St Benignus College and kill Gerard? And how could Gerard be murdered twice? The characters are appealing, the plot is cunning, and the writing is literate and witty. This is classy stuff!"

Roger Johnson

Holmes Sweet Holmes is available from all good bookstores worldwide including in the USA Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Classic Specialities, in the UK Amazon and Waterstones, and for everywhere else Book Depository who offer free worldwide delivery - and in all electronic formats including Amazon Kindle, Nook,  iPad and Kobo.

Top 20 NLP Books on Kindle

Performance Strategies for Musicians by David Buswell at the top of the top twenty MX NLP books on Amazon Kindle USA….

#204,543  Performance Strategies for Musicians

#497,395  NLP for Teachers (Engaging NLP)

#517,686  Inside Out - Personal Excellence Through Self Discovey

#530,869  NLP for Children (Engaging NLP)

#550,630  NLP for Parents

#581,569  Going Mental: Reaching your Goals in Business and Sports

#618,417  Bridges to Success

#642,466  Recover your Energy

#666,207  Entrancing Tales for Change with Hypnosis and NLP

#676,383  Online Therapy - Reading Between the lines

#694,453  Bangers and Mash: How to Take on Throat Cancer

#713,150  NLP for Teens

#740,676  Inside Out: NLP and Hypnosis for Weight Loss

#765,706  Developmental Coaching

#773,936  Succeed in Sport

#827,169  Make New Year Resolutions

#833,371  And the Next Question is... 

#847,311  Negotiation Mastery

#858,045  LIFE

#862,903  PNL Pour les Enfants

Sherlock Holmes Kobo Books - December 14th Top 10

Here is our weekly round up of the top ten Sherlock Holmes books as they stand from MX on Kobo Books:

#47  Sherlock Holmes and The Lyme Regis Horror (2nd Edition)

#110 Sherlock Holmes and The Mystery of The Boer Wagon 

#113 Sherlock Holmes and The Case of the Bulgarian Codex

#114 Sherlock Holmes and The Case of The Edinburgh Haunting

#116 Sherlock Holmes and The Lyme Regis Trials

#169 Sherlock Holmes On The Air

#207 Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of The Jacobite Rose

#216 Bertram Fletcher Robinson - A Biography (co-creator Hound of The Baskervilles and close friend of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

#279 A Professor Reflects on Sherlock Holmes 

#300 Sherlock Holmes and The Terrible Secret

Much of the top 100 is various free versions of the original canon so some great performances from the above.

For a full listing of Kobo Holmes books check out the Sherlock Holmes Kobo Books page on Pinterest.

Review of Negotiation Mastery by The Negotiator Magazine

"Simon Horton is the Lead Trainer in Negotiation Skills at the United Kingdom training and coaching firm of Negotiation Mastery. You are not seeing double, the name of Mr. Horton's firm and his book are the same.

Mr. Horton holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Brighton University (U.K.) and has done additional graduate work at the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). His career has been almost evenly divided into an early period of approximately ten years as a business consultant to the financial services industry and a second path of almost equivalent length as a negotiation skills trainer and coach. In that capacity he has focused on training hostage negotiators, lawyers, bankers, and large manufacturer purchasing department personnel. Additionally, Simon Horton serves as a Visiting Lecturer at both the Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art.

This book is a primer on negotiation skills and certainly is a reflection of Mr. Horton's courses. His approach is clear and unequivocal from the opening introduction through the last page of his book: "... the negotiated solution must be win-win in nature" (p. 13).

Lest the reader have any doubt about the certainty of Mr. Horton's commitment to win-win negotiation, he explains his view immediately: "...it is a no brainer" (p.14). Mr. Horton's argument for his approach is an eminently pragmatic one. Quite simply, he states:

"...If the other party is not satisfied with the agreement they will not implement it or they will sabotage it or undermine it or implement it to the letter but not in the spirit" (p. 14).

To further define his approach, Mr. Horton labels it as "Strong Win-Win" (p.21). Unlike traditional win-win approaches, Mr. Horton states, his "strong" variant avoids the two major criticisms that have been raised against the strategy. "Strong win-win" he contends:

" ... only works if the other party plays win-win too"
" ... stresses credibility and strength in the deal. Strong Win-Win will not bullied" (p.21).

With these characterizations and an array of seemingly unending statements such as "... win-win does get you your best deal" as anchor, Mr. Horton moves into an essentially traditional negotiation skills presentation ranging from the importance of preparation through joint problem-solving to enlarging and splitting the pie. It is a solid and useful work filled with a wide range of examples and illustrations of techniques and strategies that worked and others that failed.

Readers will find Mr. Horton's presentation of steps in the preparation process, the vital role of creativity, and the importance of developing your Plan B alternative into a true and real option of particular interest.

Too often, negotiators are not really prepared to walk-away from negotiations despite their early planning bravado. Mr. Horton not only drives this plan home, he is correct in this reader's view. "He who cares least wins," he tells us. Mr. Horton sees this saying as true. Alas, it often is true. This reviewer, however, sees this the proverbial pregnant moment, a cross roads with one path leading out the door and a second path pausing for a last try by the parties. One must always work even harder to find the path to agreement at the darkest hour of the negotiation. To do less is to sacrifice potential for immediacy when patience may be the miracle remedy.

Readers will also find the author's admonitions to "start with no" (p. 87), "cultivate your alternatives" (p. 90), and "warn them before you walk away" (p.91) excellent advice. There is much here in few words. The thoughtful negotiator will find much to reflect upon in these pages.

As a last note, I fully agree with Mr. Horton's often stated contention that negotiations are rarely one-on-one situations. Much to their chagrin, many negotiators take too long to learn this key component of negotiations. The importance of this understanding alone is worth the price of the book.

Recommended."

John D. Baker, Ph.D.
Editor

Negotiation Mastery is available from all good bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble and Amazon , in the UK Amazon and Waterstones . For other countries  Book Depository offer free delivery worldwide. The book is also available in ebook format including Kindle , iPad , Kobo and Nook . 

Sherlock Holmes Society of London reviews A Chronology of the Life of Arthur Conan Doyle

"As Randall Stock notes in his foreword, a chronology is not a biography, but A Chronology of the Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, May 22nd 1859 to July 7th 1930, the magnum opus of Brian W Pugh, is more valuable than most of the published lives of Conan Doyle. The new edition adds about fifty pages, seven of them containing a chronological summary of the journal recently published as ‘Dangerous Work’: Diary of an Arctic Adventure (enthusiastically reviewed in DM 325). Here are lists of ACD’s various homes, his sporting career, the burial places of the Doyles, statues and plaques, and more, including some fascinating photographs. But the essence of the book is in the orderly calendar of Sir Arthur’s life, in which innumerable ambiguities and uncertainties are authoritatively resolved. Brian Pugh has created that rare thing, a genuinely essential work of reference."

Roger Johnson

A Chronology of Arthur Conan Doyle - Revised and Expanded Edition is available from all good bookstores including in the USA Amazon, Barnes and Noble, in the UK Amazon, Waterstones,  and for everywhere else Book Depository who offer free worldwide delivery.

The Top NLP Books for the Christmas List

Here are some recommendations for NLP books this christmas - ones that we ourselves will be gifting to friends and family. Some are for specific groups of people, but we kick off with one general one on New Year Resolutions.  Make New Year Resolutions and Keep Them Using NLP (Donna Blinston). The majority of us see the new year as an opportunity to make changes in our lives, and whether you have a formal new years resolution list, or just want to find a way to keep to a few specific things, this simple and practical book from Donna Blinston has worked wonders. Chris and Amazon reviewer comments "I bought this book to help me get fit, I found it really easy to read and very beneficial. A lot of its contents are quite common sense when brought to your attention and without out them I believe I would still be where I was."

NLP For Parents and NLP For Children. Judy Bartkowiak's Engaging NLP series (which now includes Teens and Tweens) takes NLP and applies half a dozen to a dozen techniques to specific groups. Each book is 80-100 pages long and contains easy to implement methods to situations specific to the life stages involved. There are also books for New Mums, for Work, Teacher and others, and it is the NLP for Parents and NLP for Children books that are the most popular.

Bangers and Mash. For any person dealing with cancer, family members and friends, Keith Hern's incredible moving book takes us on a journey with him as he battled throat cancer the first time around. Keith is a photographer so there are plenty of amazing pictures as well. With the aid of an NLP coach, Keith has beaten cancer twice, and is once again currently using a host of NLP techniques in his third battle against cancer. Keith is a leading advocate of the use of NLP with cancer patients and many hospitals have in fact changed their procedures after reading the book.

Seeing Spells Achieving (Bendefy and Hickmott). The #1 NLP book in the world for learning difficulties since 2006, the book is still in the UK top 20 NLP books and has helped turn around the lives of tens of thousands of people - mainly children - with a variety of learning difficulties such as dyslexia. When first launched is what seen as revolutionary - applying NLP techniques in this field - and six years later is regarded as the definitive book that many others have built upon.

Negotiation Mastery. We can all do with some help in negotiation, whether its in business or in our personal lives. This new book comes from the position of creating the 'win-win' and is getting incredible reviews. The author, Simon Horton, has even trained top hostage negotiators and his no-nonsense approach is very easy to follow.

Influencing The Interview. Getting a job in the challenging economy is extremely tough and Chris Delaney should know - he runs a recruitment business. Chris is also an NLP practitioner and in this book he shares all the secrets of maximising your influence in that all important job interview using a host of NLP and hypnotherapy techniques

And The Next Question Is? Getting the necessary information is all down to how good your questions are and this book has thousands of insightful questions that will live long in many coaches and practitioners toolkits.

Finally, a fun book that includes a chapter on NLP from one of the world's most fascinating mentalists - Joe Riggs. 'The Real Sherlock Holmes' is a book that explains the deductive techniques that con-artists and charlatans use to garner facts about people - many of which are used by the world's most famous consulting detective Sherlock Holmes. The title of the book comes from a major US newspaper reporter who, on witnessing Riggs's deductive skills, dubbed him 'the real Sherlock Holmes' and the name stuck.

Review of Steampunk Holmes: Legacy of the Nautilus by Portland Book Review

"Audiences have been fascinated with Sherlock Holmes since the first story with him as a character was published. Over the years, a number of books and films have been made, typically adding a twist on the original material.  Author P.C. Martin presents her vision of Holmes with the novella,Steampunk Holmes:  Legacy of the Nautilius. The author very successfully captures the style of Arthur Conan Doyle and the essence of the characters.  Holmes is his typical self; scintillating and Watson is well written with his blend of intelligence and naiveté, especially when it comes to beautiful women. One of the more interesting things is the reconceptualization of Mycroft as a sister rather than a brother. This sets up a different kind of interplay between Sherlock and Mycroft, as well as between Watson and Mycroft.

The plot is nicely laid out and the steampunk gadgets and weapons are a fun addition to the Holmes world.  According to the author’s website, this novella and subsequent Holmes adventures will eventually be interactive, which will be interesting to see and hear. For now, though, fans of Sherlock Holmes will have to content themselves with enjoying this fun take on the classic character."

Reviewed By Barbara Cothern

Steampunk Holmes: Legacy of The Nautilus   is available from all book bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble , Amazon and in the UK Amazon and Waterstone s. For elsewhere Book Depository offer free delivery worldwide. Also available on Kindle.

Ideal Christmas Stocking Books - The Real Sherlock Holmes

The Real Sherlock Holmes

The Real Sherlock Holmes  is a book that explains the deductive techniques that con-artists and charlatans use to garner facts about people - many of which are used by the world's most famous consulting detective Sherlock Holmes. The title of the book comes from a major US newspaper reporter who, on witnessing Riggs's deductive skills, dubbed him 'the real Sherlock Holmes' and the name stuck.

'The Real Sherlock Holmes' is available from  all good bookstores including  Barnes and Noble ,  Amazon , and in all formats including  Amazon Kindle  and now on the  iPad  too. Fans outside the US and UK can get free delivery from  Book Depository . 

Ideal Christmas Stocking Books - Influencing The Interview

Influencing The Interview

Getting a job in the challenging economy is extremely tough and Chris Delaney should know - he runs a recruitment business. Chris is also an NLP practitioner and in this book he shares all the secrets of maximising your influence in that all important job interview using a host of NLP and hypnotherapy techniques.

The 73 Rules of Influencing the Interview is available from all good bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble and Amazon, in the UK Amazon and Waterstones. For other countries Book Depository  offer free delivery worldwide. 

Ideal Christmas Stocking Books - Negotiation Mastery

Negotiation Mastery

We can all do with some help in negotiation, whether its in business or in our personal lives. This new book comes from the position of creating the 'win-win' and is getting incredible reviews. The author, Simon Horton, has even trained top hostage negotiators and his no-nonsense approach is very easy to follow.

Negotiation Mastery is available from all good bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble and Amazon , in the UK Amazon and Waterstones . For other countrie Book Depository offer free delivery worldwide. The book is also available in ebook format including Kindle , iPad , Kobo and Nook .