Jobs: First, Worst and Cursed
My youngest daughter recently got her first job, as a grocery store cashier. She works mostly evening shifts, which suits her teenage nocturnal lifestyle. At her three-month review, she got kudos for her friendliness to customers, plus thanks for getting the most charitable donations.
My first job was cooking breakfast in a nursing home. I had to get up at 5 am. It was wretched. Old people are mean and so was my boss. Plus, 5 am, people! Later, I taught aerobics, slung ice-cream, prepared tax returns and got fired by a florist. Then, I spent two years in school to earn $8/hr and get peed on.
Good times.
But now I get paid to play with words, an occupation that suits me very well, as it involves almost no human interaction and very few early mornings. No one throws porridge at me and I’m almost never peed on. (I find myself begging people to like me, however. You won’t make me beg, will you?)
At the start of my latest book, His Reluctant Rancher, Desiree Burke is reeling from a career setback. She’s frustrated at not being able to use her skills fully, and Des being Des, she doesn’t take this quietly.
And she ends up disgraced, humiliated and unemployed.
But this bad luck, of course, is how she discovers a whole new, even better, life.
If you don’t understand occupational angst and your career path has been sweet and smooth, well, congratulations. You can go back to polishing your silver spoon.
I want to hear from the rest of you: what career mishaps have you experienced? What odd occupations came your way? Do you have a first/worst/cursed job story? Did you gain anything from it?
One lucky commenter will win a $25 Amazon gift card! And be sure to check out the other Entangled blogs for other great prizes.
Click here to check out what the other authors are giving away during the Entangled In Love blog hop!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Three River Ranch – A ‘REAL’ Book!
I was a late adopter of the whole digital-reader thing. Reluctant to learn a new technology, just to read a “book” that could lose power and leave me stranded before I was ready to turn out the light! Reluctant to further strain my pathetic eyes. Reluctant to give in, and let my own stories go into the ether of last resort.
Boy was I wrong. Here’s why:
1) I love my Kobo! The charge lasts forever, and gives me lots of warning when it does get low. The eye-friendly e-Ink technology is no tougher on my eyes than a paper-book. In fact, it might be easier, because I can adjust the font size. Plus, books like Game of Thrones and The Passage no longer leave me with an aching wrist!
2) Not only do I love reading on an e-reader, being published in digital-first format is the most exciting experience of my writing life. What I once thought of as giving in is, in fact, launching my career to a whole new level.
3) Going digital doesn’t mean giving up “real” books! (See below) Did paperbacks kill hard-cover copies? No. It’s just another format option, with (usually) a friendlier price-point.
And finally, the best part of digital books: the BUY NOW button! From the comfort of your bed, while your spouse snores beside you. No waiting to start the next in the series, no panic over not having exactly the right book for your mood.
BUY. NOW. <click>
Sweet.
<iframe src=”http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wwwroxannesno-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B00BFQDGWM&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr” style=”width:120px;height:240px;” scrolling=”no” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ frameborder=”0″></iframe>
20th Anniversary of the Surrey International Writers’ Conference
It’s Sunday. The Sunday after The Conference. I think my brain is bleeding. I know my eyes feel like someone poured sand in them, and my throat is scratchy. Undoubtedly I’m incubating some horrid hotel-air Ebola-type virus that will lay me flat when I can least afford it.
But I don’t care.
It was an amazing weekend, full of up-to-the-minute information, inspiring keynote addresses, hilarious hijinks and of course, Michael Slade‘s Shock Theatre. And Jack Whyte‘s Mud.
But this means nothing to most of you.
Suffice it to say, I worked my patootie off, reconnected with old friends, met some new ones and am totally recharged to write the next book – and the one after that, and the one after that – the very best I can.
I’ll post something more interesting shortly. Because if I learned one thing this weekend – thank you, Sean Cranbury! – it’s KEEP BLOGGING!