Roxanne Smolen

"Systemic Action Research" works with real social and organisational issues to uncover their complex dynamics, often revealing unexpected opportunities. This book shows how this process can be integrated, in any context, to the process of social and organisational development and change. The book explains how systemic thinking works and how Systemic Action Research can be embedded into organisational structures and processes to catalyse sustainable change and critical local interventions. Practically written, it details how to design a programme and build it directly into policy and practice development, extending the possibilities of action research beyond the 'individual' and the 'group' to work across whole organisations, multi agency governance arenas, and networks. The book is filled with illustrative stories and pictures which bring the concepts to life enabling the reader to develop a clear picture of how to put it into practice. Systemic Action Research programmes are now being adopted in Government and local governance contexts as well as in national and international NGOs. This book will be invaluable for experienced action researchers as well as social science and social policy researchers who will benefit from an approach to qualitative research which is participative, grounded in practice and allows systemic understandings of complex problems. Policy makers and practitioners will appreciate a process which generates meaningful evidence about the dynamics of change and offers a tangible system for continuously integrating that learning into both formal and informal decision-making.

Anneliese, a spoiled and demanding rich girl, spites her father by marrying a man she barely knows. Of all the places her husband could have chosen for their honeymoon, he elects to take her to the infamous pleasure world, Resort Debauch. Anneliese, blinded by her love for her husband, does not believe her husband capable of selling her into prostitution in order to repay his gambling debts. Raped and beaten, Anneliese draws upon a growing inner strength and escapes into the surrounding wasteland. And so begins her quest to find her missing husband; during which she discovers there is far more at stake than just her marriage. She becomes enmeshed in the indigenous people's fight to free their world. Through her insight and daring, Anneliese earns their trust and is named their prophet. But can she save them from destruction? Who are the mysterious Llaird who are said to travel in the wind?Join Anneliese on her perilous journey through worlds that will astound you, where danger lurks in every shadow and the past returns to haunt the present. Roxanne Smolen, through her enriched imagery and unbridled imagination, has created a storyline and characters that will keep you riveted to the final word and leave you wanting more.

In Book 3 of the Annaliese Thielman series, the clans are united, but the land is sterile, and Anneliese cannot provide food for her pilgrims. Overwhelmed by rumors of curses and dissention, she does not heed her daughter's mystical warning of coming warriors until nearly too late. She realizes that in order to fulfill the prophecy of leading the people to freedom, she must take her followers to a new world -- a moon known as Mortar's Keep.