What is political leadership and does it operate differently in different political contexts? In addition to context, personal political skill plays a large role in the area of leadership, often yielding significant results. Whether a leader is active or passive, creating dynamic relations of talent and institutional powers or choosing to leave situations as they are, skill is frequently the key factor in policy achievement. In this book, editors Hargrove and Owens gather seven very different studies of skill in context. From the role of the European Commission president to the well established function of the president of the United States, each essay analyzes and interprets the effects of institutional powers and the environments in which leaders operate on their effectiveness and degree of personal talent each brings to the table.

The second book in the Write Great Fiction series, Plot and Structure offers clear and concise information on creating a believable and engaging plot that readers can't resist. Written by award-winning thriller and suspense author James Scott Bell, this handy instruction guide provides: Easy-to-understand techniques on every aspect of plotting and structure, from brainstorming story ideas to building scenes, and from using subplots to crafting knock-out endings; Engaging exercises, perfect for writers at any level and at any stage in their novel; Practical and encouraging guidance from one of the most respected writers publishing today; Full of diagrams, plot brainstormers, and examples from popular novels, mastering plot and structure has never been so simple.

Ramp up the tension and keep your readers hooked! Inside you'll find everything you need to know to spice up your story, move your plot forward, and keep your readers turning pages.

Expert thriller author and writing instructor James Scott Bell shows you how to craft scenes, create characters, and develop storylines that harness conflict and suspense to carry your story from the first word to the last.

• Learn from examples of successful novels and movies as you transform your work from ho-hum to high-tension.
• Pack the beginning, middle, and end of your book with the right amount of conflict.
• Tap into the suspenseful power of each character's inner conflict.
• Build conflict into your story's point of view.
• Balance subplots, flashbacks, and backstory to keep your story moving forward.
• Maximize the tension in your characters' dialogue.
• Amp up the suspense when you revise.

Conflict & Suspense offers proven techniques that help you craft fiction your readers won't be able to put down.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Spatial Information Theory, COSIT 2015, held in Santa Fee, NM, USA, in October 2015. The 22 papers presented in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 52 full paper submissions. The following topics are addressed: formalizing and modeling space-time, qualitative spatio-temporal reasoning and representation, language and space, signs, images, maps, and other representations of space, navigations by humans and machines.