Ellis Amdur's Blog: Edgework - On the Books of Ellis Amdur

I am currently waiting for critical views of my 2nd draft of a new book concerning martial arts: Roots Still Cracking Rock. Title is from a poem:

My heart is touched by gray
frost's severity. I hold summer's
warmth within cool fingers.
Some leaves brown and fallen to the ground,
standing amidst my death, I am an autumn man,
rattling and shaking within the wind,
roots still cracking rock.

It has been a good year for several of my books: GIRL WITH THE FACEOF THE MOON has won the WRITER’S DIGEST: First Place Award - 11th Annual Self-Published E-Book in Mystery/Thriller Category.
AND:
LITTLE BIRD & THE TIGER has won WRITER’S DIGEST: First Place Award in the self-published Mainstream/Literary Fiction category

I've just release a new novel, Little Bird & The Tiger. You can read two sample chapters here - https://edgeworkbooks.com/little-bird... It is on Amazon, with several great reviews. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C12KRNH4

I'm offering signed copies of The Girl with the Face of the Moon and Body and Soul. Just go to edgeworkbooks.com and click on the eBay link. I know that eBay may seem .... lacking class .... but it works for me for several reasons: They do a good job of processing orders. And this way, I don't compete with my KDP books that are on Amazon (which I would do if I sold them through an Amazon Seller Account).

I recently published a new novel, Lost Boy.

Of this novel, author Geoff Thompson writes:
This is a beautifully crafted novel, but it is also much more: it is educational, it is revelatory, it is forewarning, and ultimately, it is intercessionary. I believe that these words, this story, this author will land in your life like a bomb or a seed, at the right time, with the right information and guide you towards the right direction.

I've published it worldwide through Amazon KDP, except the USA. There, I have been using Amazon Seller to sell 100 signed copies, of which there are a few left. That done, I'll use KDP for the USA as well.

On November first, Robert Hubal and I will be releasing a Revised and Expanded edition of The Coordinator: Managing High-Risk High-Consequence Social Interactions in an Unfamiliar Environment. This new edition had a number of new scenarios used to illustrate the principles in the book and a more refined schema to teach how to organize oneself to use different 'stances' (physical, psychological, interactional) to elicit behavior in others to achieve the (ethical) goals you are working towards. The book will first be available as Perfect Bound, through just about any online bookstore and also available internationally at local prices, through bookstores and online services. It is listed among my books here.

For my friends in Great Britain and Europe (no, nothing political - two publishing streams). All my books regarding the de-escalation of aggressive behavior are now directly available through Amazon Europe (Creatspace). The cover stock is a little lighter, but this enables me to sell books in Europe with local postage rates. (Shipping from America almost doubles the price). The books in question are listed on this page - simply check your local (European) Amazon page for the book you wish to acquire. http://edgeworkbooks.com/books-on-de-...

Aside from Words of Power, I have released three books in rapid succession. The first is Shapeshifting for Correctional Facility CNT/HNT: Effective Scenario Training for Crisis/Hostage Negotiation Teams. The title speaks for itself - a very specialized work, to be sure, but it actually reads like short-short fiction.

Secondly, after a very long wait, Hidden in Plain Sight: Esoteric Power Training Within Japanese Martial Traditions. This is almost a new book - ⅔ larger than the original, with over 100 photographs.

And third, a bound version of The Girl with the Face of the Moon. I have added five new chapters, which make the book truly complete. And beyond that, there are now 16 beautifully savage paintings by artist Ben Trissel.

As always, reviews are very much appreciated. As a self-publisher, they are one of the most powerful ways for my work to be noticed.

I have just published a new book on Amazon Createspace (Kindle in a few days) entitled Words of Power: A Guide for Ordinary People to Calm and De-Escalate Aggressive Individuals.

This book is part of my series on de-escalation of aggression, but unlike my previous works, which were all focused on specialty professions who must face aggressive and emotionally disturbed individuals on a regular basis (be they police, EMS, social services, hospitals, etc), this book is for ordinary people who may occasionally be confronted with such an individual.

It is a "honed-down" book - with the help of a number of critical readers, I removed anything that is not likely to occur, and retained the information that everyone should know when facing an angry, or worse, an enraged person.

This book embodies the core principles that imbue all my work in crisis intervention. I have been fortunate to engage in a true collaboration with Robert Hubal, a cognitive scientist, who works on the leading edge of the study of communication in high-risk, high-consequence situations. We met through our participation in a project funded by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), entitled “The Good Stranger Project.” I was brought in as a kind of ‘outlier subject-matter expert’ (something for which DARPA is renowned, enabling them to include ‘outside the box’ ideas in their endeavors). What I offered was a combination of several decades front-line work in crisis intervention informed by core principles derived from classical Japanese combative arts. Within these archaic traditions lie profound teachings on applied psychology within dangerous situations—how you influence someone who is either actively trying to kill you, bears that intention, or at minimum, regards you with hate, fear or mistrust.

Together, Robert and I have created a unique work. The book is geared for trainers in very specific roles, but the content goes far beyond that. It is written in plain language and accessible imagery, and will be valuable to anyone: from warfighters in another people’s land or police officers in a tough neighborhood to those working in emergency medicine, social services, businesses or schools.