Behind The Masks

One of the novels in my series is the story of a character who, from “Beta”, is painted as a barely leashed psychopath as he and his siblings were growing up. Rumour had it that he had even murdered his own brother to remove him from the line of succession. He attempted to kill the Alpha’s Mate of the Cwn Annwn. He attempted to shoot the Beta of the Cwn Annwn. He was behind several criminal schemes. All in all, Casimir Gosselin was not a ‘nice’ person.

But, hey! It is an urban fantasy and romance series, so that can’t be all there is to it. If I was writing according to the constriction of most traditionally published romances, then I doubt I would have had the freedom to explore Casimir’s character fully. That is one of the joys of self-publishing.

Casimir is not what he seems, and in “Cysgodion”, this is explained in greater detail. But considering Casimir’s story made me think about masks in general. We don’t walk around life wearing masks, like some extended Venetian carnival, yet many of us do wear virtual masks. Is it any wonder that one of my favourite creations in “The Diaries of the Cwn Annwn” does the same?

Consider this. When one is at work, there is an image to project. It might be because one works in a very conservative arena, such as law, or even to some extent, my own field of medical sales. I recall an incident about 12 years ago, when I was travelling by plane to an meeting in Aberdeen. I disembarked from the plane via the rear exit, and was walking to the terminal when a voice called my name. It was a Consultant from one of my major hospital accounts. This individual had known me for a few years, and in all those years, whenever I met with him, I wore a suit, low-heeled court shoes, neat hair and carried a briefcase. Stereotypical rep gear. What had surprised him was my usual travelling clothing: leather jeans, boots and a leather jacket. Even my makeup was different. I discovered that day the meaning of the phrase “jaw hit the deck”, because that was pretty much this Consultant’s reaction.

Some companies will say that they expect their personnel to maintain an image. A mask by any other name, because you may well be hiding your true persona. The other danger is that, whilst one is portraying an image, one can be sure that others will be doing the same. Moreover, the image projected may change: one image for the management, one for subordinates. When the two differ, and something goes wrong, there may be further issues caused, since when there is a significant disparity between images, which is to be believed?

Is there a solution? The recent attempts to focus on how others view mental health issues in the workplace exemplify the problem. Mental health is such a minefield for most employers that it may be easier to brush it under the proverbial carpet. Most companies exist to make profit, either for the owners or for the shareholders. They want and expect their staff to present the face that doesn’t have problems. If those problems exist, it is better to brush them under the carpet, which can be severely detrimental in the long run. This is something that needs to change. If one must focus on maintaining a mask, then surely focus will be lost from the primary responsibility: to make profit for one’s employers.

Honesty is the best policy. That’s another one of those trite phrases, but that is what I believe. Surely it is better to be able to be the person you are? After all, people buy from people, not from clones.

Going back to Casimir, one thing I will say is having to deal with the dregs of human behaviour, it made him a stronger and more resilient individual. I would suggest that those ‘forced’ to hide behind a mask are the same.

RELEVANT LINKS FOR JO PILSWORTH
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JKPilsworth

Paranormal may not be your thing. Urban fantasy may not either. But who knows? I may be one of your friends new favourite author.
Inspired by #Legends an #UrbanFantasy series.

Alpha: https://t.co/IRZLR92AFu
Beta: https://t.co/DGDDI03VB9
Merysekhmet (US link): https://t.co/fFOUm5MHUs
Toho: https://t.co/oKtbDgrqiH https://t.co/mGMuJWd6Xd
Medved: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C19QKPH

AMAZON LINKS

Alpha (US link): https://t.co/IRZLR92AFu
Beta: https://t.co/DGDDI03VB9
Merysekhmet (US link): https://t.co/fFOUm5MHUs
Toho: (US link): https://t.co/oKtbDgrqiH https://t.co/mGMuJWd6Xd
Medved: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C19QKPH

The Birth of a Character

This is a tale of three thirds: the birth of a new character and realising the nature of transferable skills, along with the inclusion of those skills on a CV.

Transferable Skills

The other day, I applied for several admin-type jobs. The rationale was simple. Whilst all of them paid a lot less that my former role in medical sales, they would all place me in a lower tax bracket. The net result would be a take-home salary not far from what I was earning previously. So I don’t have the bonus lure of working in sales, were I to be offered one of those roles, but with my son finished at university, the extra cash is not so important. Food for thought?

But sales vs admin? Skills used in sales: organisation, prioritisation, multi-tasking, project management, management of e-mail accounts, liaison with varying levels of external contacts. All feature both in sales and in a senior PA/Office Manager role. I have just set up my own company properly, with an online Hunter’s Arrow Store Front. All of that will be going on my CV, because it is all relevant experience. However, a caution: DON’T LIE. Be careful how you present those skills, since the last thing you would want is to be caught in a lie.

Skills Update

Another useful thing to do whilst you are looking for another job is skills update. Several months ago, I took advantage of the sale at Udemy.com. I bought a four part course for £20, which focused on internet security. As of Monday 23 July, they have one day of a £10.99 flash sale on. Not a logical thing for a salesperson to have, but if I was going for an admin job, it could be very useful indeed.

Computer skills are not the only thing one can study with Udemy.com. It is worth checking their site because their sales make their courses very affordable.

Banquo O’Cearnaigh, Selkie

From the one who admits to being a ‘pantser’ by preference, it seems surprising that I started to plan one of my characters in advance of writing his story. As with all my characters, I started with a picture. I wanted to write a book incorporating elements of the Selkie legends, to I had an idea of what my character’s looks should be. Enter Maximiliano Patane, totally un-Scottish, but the look was important. Then he had to have some background, because no one lives in a vacuum, particularly when you are something like the tenth book in a series. So we have Banquo O’Cearnaigh, a male Selkie as well as an oceanic environmentalist and marine biologist, who flies planes to help with wildfires and forest fires. He serves Amathaunta, and is familiar with the Lamashtu and Sekhmet links held by other characters.

His gifts from the Goddess free him from the seven year cycle of male Selkies, such that he can transform into his seal form or walk on land. He still retains his sealskin, He tries legal routes for protecting the oceans, but is not averse to less legal routes.

He studied Oceanography and Marine Biology at Bangor University in North Wales, having gone to university at the age of 17, graduating at 20. He joined the Royal Navy and served his 12 years commission.

After leaving the Navy, he moved first to the Orkney Islands before moving to the USA at the behest of his goddess. He settled in Cape May, NJ, living in a Victorian house which is much larger than he needs.

Banquo’s book has the provisional name of “Teine Is Usige” or “Fire and Water”. As with all my novels, it is an urban fantasy, with romance. The female lead is Aisha Steine, a mystery woman with a few more gifts than she is prepared to reveal to him.

My co-author and I have been working on the new book already, and so far, Banquo has been forced to admit that he knows her brother, which has her demanding if he was sent to keep an eye on her. In this day and age, she is anything but amused by her brother’s somewhat Neanderthal attitude.

I predict that their book could be quite an interesting one to write.

RELEVANT LINKS FOR JO PILSWORTH
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JKPilsworth

Paranormal may not be your thing. Urban fantasy may not either. But who knows? I may be one of your friends new favourite author.
Inspired by #Legends an #UrbanFantasy series.

AMAZON LINKS

“Pharma-Babe”? Not me!

The other day, I was called a ‘Pharma-Babe’ in an online chat group, when I admitted to having worked in medical sales. Two things to note: the first was the automatic assumption that I had been a pharmaceutical sales rep, and the second was the derision in which I should be held.

The individual in question was American, and given the piece below from CBS News, perhaps I can understand his derision. I would like to think that the UK pharmaceutical industry is not at the same stage as the American industry in terms of corruption. But, the constant drive for profits, at any cost, can have only one result. Eventually, rules will be broken. The regulatory system in the UK is different to the USA. I would hope that 9 million opioid tablets going to a pharmacy with a catchment of under 1000 adults would raise red flags in the UK.

But, from my own perspective and from many other medical reps, we have ethics. Not all of us are chasing our bonus with no regard for rules. We all have to pass exams. Generally, we are all degree-level educated. I have both a BSc (Hons) and an MSc (Merit). To assume all reps in the UK are like some in the USA would be a bit like me saying all doctors are like [insert name of quack/murderer according to your preference].

I worked hard to be able to do the job that I enjoy. I am proud of my ethical stance. It is not too much to ask for others to respect that. And in answer to the earlier point, yes, I have sold pharmaceuticals, but I have also sold devices. The correct description is Pharmaceutical Sales Representative, or Medical Equipment Sales Representative. Keep your derision for where it is deserved in truth.

CBS News: The cause of the American opioid crisis?

Planning and Prioritisation

(Part 4 of “Life After Redundancy”)

Well, would you look at that. It’s Monday again. Cue the slew of positivity memes that will litter the interwebs, encouraging you to make the most of Monday. That said, my favourite post was by the daughter of a friend of my husband, Leonie Gough at the Bravery Collective (Leonie’s Facebook post). I will leave you to read that one for yourself. It is well worth the effort of a couple of clicks.

Life after redundancy and specifically, the skills of planning and prioritisation. I have been trying to emphasise the skills which one might use day to day, skills learnt through one’s working life, which can still be used so that you don’t unwittingly deskill oneself whilst pondering the iniquities of being made redundant. Mark my words. My last working day with my previous employer was 18 May 2018. Next week will mark two months. And no job yet, people will ask?

The ‘blues’ will start to creep in. What if I can’t find another job? What if money starts to become tight? How will the family manage? Very real questions and very real concerns. And woo hoo, one finds oneself jumping into that black hole, falling down the spiral into the pit of despair.

Focus instead on what you have. Ensure that one remains marketable. Ensure that a potential employer doesn’t see a ‘No Hope’ candidate, but rather a gift, because let’s face it, you can ensure that they fill their vacancy immediately. If necessary, you can start the next day. No other candidate is likely to be able to offer that.

Planning and prioritisation. I was thinking about this as I was writing up my planner.

I know I used this picture last week, but I do rather like the ‘Grumpy Panda’ sticker set from “Little Thoughts” on Etsy (Little Thoughts Store weblink). Put everything down that you need to complete. But those items down under the day you intend to do them, and also make a note of the absolutely last day before s**t hits the fan (SHTF day). Then start prioritising. Clearly the tasks that have their SHTF day imminently must be moved to the top of your list. Equally important, one does not list all the things you like doing over those your must do. If anything, all the MUST DO tasks go to the top of the list.

Then, ensure that you don’t have more than five tasks per day. Some of those tasks can take a while, and there is no point in making an unachievable list. After the five tasks, but in something fun. In my case, that would be doing some research reading for future book ideas or doing some baking. Then back to the list. That way, your list is broken down into manageable blocks and you have the hopeful feeling that you might actually manage to clear your inbox by Friday.

List written. Take five minutes to close your eyes and breathe. Deep breaths from the diaphragm: draw in for a slow count of five, hold for five and release through the mouth over a count of five.

Once you are relaxed, it is time to hit that damn list, because you know that after you cleared the five tasks, or three if you don’t start until Monday afternoon, you have some fun planned. Let that thought give you something good to anticipate.

But … but, shouldn’t you be clearing more of the To Do list if you have time?

The priority here is to ensure that by permitting yourself to relax, you are demonstrating to yourself that you are still sharp. You do still have what it takes. More importantly, you are not a washed-up has-been. You have skills. In keeping an eye on prioritisation, you are also maintaining a key workplace skill. The right job for you is out there.

Lest I forget, this blog should have something to do with the art of writing. So this is it. Research is not playing hooky from ‘more important’ matters. To write accurately and credibly, one needs a refreshed mind. That’s is where researching for the next book enters the equation. Research is fun. All sort of new ideas might pop up. Another factor is exercise. You are a writer, you have your nose down, typing frantically, or writing equally frantically. You don’t have TIME to stop and take a break. This bestseller-to-be must be finished.

Nah! Yes, it must be finished, but STOP! Sit up in your chair. Straighten your back. Turn your head slowly, left to right with a pause in the centre. Extend your arms either side and rotate your wrists. Then do the same with your ankles. Stretch your legs. Feel the muscles contract and relax. Breathe in a conscious manner.

And then, you may begin your next session of writing. Chances are, your mind will be clearer, and your flow will improve.

RELEVANT LINKS FOR JO PILSWORTH
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JKPilsworth

Paranormal may not be your thing. Urban fantasy may not either. But who knows? I may be one of your friends new favourite author.
Inspired by #Legends an #UrbanFantasy series.

AMAZON LINKS

Planning Serves a Purpose

Coming from a sales background, I am sure you will have heard some variation of the maxim “Piss poor planning results in piss poor performance”. I have had that one thrown at me from the time I started in my sales career, well before I acquired nearly 20 years experience in pharmaceutical and medical equipment sales.

As an author, I have heard a variation. Authors are described either as “Pantsers” or “Planners”. Planners is obvious in terms of meaning. The story is planned out, sometimes in more detail that the actual word-count of the finished book. I have several friends who write fantasy. For them, the planning process is essential: world building, religions, language, weaponry etc. For others, such detail holds back the flow of their writing. They are the “Pantsers” of the world, the writers who ‘fly by the seat of their pants’. I would have said that, until now, my style of writing was definitely “Pantser”. Perhaps that was as a result of my online role-play background, where part of the fun was the spur of the moment writing. You would never know what your partner would write, and would have to write something to maintain the flow of the story.

Given that this blog series is about “Life After Redundancy”, and more specifically, maintaining employment-relevant skills, planning is a key part. Fail to plan, and you won’t achieve in sales. Whilst I am working, it is something that I would do without really thinking about the process. Now that I have time to think, it is proving an interesting exercise.

So, I have ‘nothing’ to do all day. Right? Err … nope, as anyone stay-at-home parent will tell you. That’s where the planning comes into play. When I visited the Stationery Show in London, I looked at some of the planners on offer. One in particular caught my eye: the Ponderlily Planner:

36466984_10156700642562269_6595566635476582400_n — Ponderlily Dated Planner: Month overview

Why did I like this system? Simply because thought had gone into its design. The To Do list was extended, but not too much to make it a rolling list. The weekly view also has just the right amount of space. However, what made this one different was that it also had a substantial undated, ruled section. How many people take both a diary and a notebook to a meeting? The intention was to avoid taking the notebook,

36511086_10156700642577269_5027534196659191808_n — Ponderlilly Planner: Weekly View

and just have one relevant book. One book and less chance, in theory, of losing sight of the goals.

Then we have exhibit #2. I have to admit that prior to researching this topic, I had not heard of the American brand, Happy Planner. Their planners comes in several formats, but simply put, you have Big (about A4 sized), Classic (around A5 organiser size) and Mini (about the size of a personal Filofax).

To me, it seems that this is a crossover-type planner. The Happy Planners and other similar brands, are designed to be used with sticker kits. In medical equipment parlance, the planner is the equipment and the sticker sets are the consumables. It is easy to say where the company intends to make its money. I use the Big as a ‘family planner’ The sticker decoration changes each month and each week. I do this so that the weeks don’t merge into one timeless event. This set comes from an Etsy shop run by Mac&Gray. The Classic may be one I will use when I return to work, but it is far from certain. The picture at the top of this post illustrates a sticker set from the Crafty Planning Shop. The Mini HP is my ‘handbag’ planner.

Now, it might be suggested that I could just create a Google calendar for this, but as I pointed out to my son, his father doesn’t use one of those. Visual works best for both of us.

This is an example of my weekly spread in my Mini Happy Planner, using a mixture of write-on stickers for specific events and stickers for various tasks or reminders. This particular set comes from Little Thoughts Store store on Etsy.

One of the issues I had when working was that the work/life balance went out of the window. I am a ‘visual’ kind of person, so having these sorts of reminders works for me, in terms of planning out what sort of tasks need to be done. There is still space for appointments to be noted as you can see on the left-hand side, so neither the routine nor ‘special’ tasks are forgotten. The relevance to work is that when it comes to finding time to block out for my writing, editing and research, I know what else needs to be done.

Piss poor planning leads to piss poor performance. Remember?

By remembering to plan, I am maintaining a very vital skill for the workplace. It is also encouraging me to maintain the discipline.

One final note is how planning in my writing is also having a positive effect. When I started writing, I had quite a simple story. Now, three years down the line from my online role-play days, the stories are a lot more complex. The most recently published book featured a storyline that involved Special Forces and computer hacking. If I didn’t do some research and make copious notes, I might lose the continuity.

36498332_10156700642097269_4017581037960822784_n — Mini Happy Planner with a monthly spread

Planning. We may not like it, but it is important. Just remember, to paraphrase Mercedes Lackey, the only thing to come out of glorious plans are glorious funerals. Plan, yes. But, don’t plan to the point that you are unable to change and adapt those plans when circumstances change.

RELEVANT LINKS FOR JO PILSWORTH
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JKPilsworth

Paranormal may not be your thing. Urban fantasy may not either. But who knows? I may be one of your friends new favourite author.
Inspired by #Legends an #UrbanFantasy series. #RBBC

AMAZON LINKS