FIRE ME by Libby Malin
I’ve been lucky enough to have some great bosses over the years—when I worked full-time and as I’ve been freelancing. But, like most folks, I’ve also had a few…clunkers. With those bosses, you sometimes feel like you have scars on your tongue from biting it so much!
But what if you didn’t need to hold back? What if you could treat that boss the way he or she treats you and every other employee?
That’s at the heart of the premise of my novel Fire Me, where protagonist Anne Wyatt goes into work one day prepared to hand in her resignation to wild and crazy boss Mitch Burnham, but stops in her tracks when Mitch announces he’s going to lay off an employee—by the end of the day! That’s right, all the staff get to participate in a game of Survivor meets The Apprentice. What fun.
Not.
She’s about to tell Mitch he needn’t pull this stunt because she’s leaving the team anyway when she learns he will bestow a very generous severance package on the employee who gets the bad news. Change of plans. If he’s playing games, why can’t Anne? How hard can it be to get fired anyway? And what could go wrong? Or, rather, right?
It seems like such a great plan, with so many delicious possibilities, doesn’t it? And it does end up being a rollercoaster ride of lunacy as she works her scheme, one crazy stunt after another. But occasionally throughout the day, this Fun House mirror forces her to see everything she’s ever done and chosen in a completely different way. By the end of the day, she’s no longer sure if she’s won or lost something, if she should take that new job, or take a chance on co-worker Ken, or start over in a completely different career.
Fire Me was a blast to write, not just because it was fun coming up with ideas for “fire me” antics, but because Anne and Ken were characters I can relate to (uh, guess that makes sense since I’m the author!). They’re both dreamers with a practical side that sometimes holds their dreams in check. And they believe, from past hurtful experiences, that they are wise to be wary of taking risks in love and in work. So while Anne takes the chance of trying to get fired, she shields her heart and soul from other risks, ones that could open up whole new happy horizons for her, but could also expose her to the pain of disappointment.
The book takes place in one twenty-four hour period that ends up flipping a switch in both characters, forcing them to make a conscious choice between standing still and moving….in some new direction. Although the story is filled with zany activities, the underlying theme is about the risks involved in pursuing your dreams. Once Anne takes the risk of trying to get fired, she begins wondering if she should be stronger about taking other risks.
Because all the main action takes place in such a short period of time—one day—I am offering a free extra chapter to readers who want to know what becomes of Anne and Ken a few months later. Information on how to get the extra read is available at my website, www.LibbysBooks.com, where you can also learn about my other books!
Thanks so much for having me stop by your blog today.
16 comments:
I'm re-doing this because I forgot to include my email address! My first job ever was waiting on tables. One day, I was waiting on a family who had a girl who was loud and obnoxious and really didn't know how to behave in public. I brought coffee to the table and the girl jumped up and pushed me and the coffee spilled all over me. The family never reprimanded her or apologized for her behavior. milou2ster(at)gmail.com
Ugh, I had so many worst days on the job in my life it's difficult to count them all. I try to not remember them but one is stubborn and won't fade in my memory. It was my least liked job and I left it with a bang, I am frankly embarrased to say it but I lost my cool and called certain people certain names but it felt good at the time.
Anyway, I think that was the day when a thought to start freelancing first occured to me. Today I thankfully no longer have to deal with anybody but myself (sometimes i wonder which one is worse :)).
lillyswistek@gmail.com
Sorry to hear the bad boss/bad job stories. Although I've had a few bad bosses, I've had more good ones. But writing FIRE ME was cathartic in that I got to write some things I'd never say!
Worst day? Probably the day that the new "boss" decided my job was superfluous. Not that he had much of any idea what I actually did. He hadn't had the patience to sit through the training 2 days before! AND he gave me the ultimatum in front of HIS boss (who had been the boss for a year or two) and wouldn't let me ask her about it!! Yeah, I quit.
Made my day when I heard he got fired. Too bad it took so long.
schriftstellarin(at)hotmail(dot)com
At my former law firm, I had a partner tell me that I served up the law to clients like a waitress. She also told me that she was talking to her therapist about how to deal with me. (She never understood why she went though 4 secretaries in a 6-month period.)
It's interesting that when I gave notice the firm created a special position so I could work for them remotely from a different city for several months.
TexasRedBooks[at]yahoo[dot]com
Hmmm...worst days? That's tough. Probably those days where I am in meetings all day, my manager wanted to know if I got anything done even though she knew I was in meetings all day, then my train breaks down on the way home with no a/c in 100+ degree weather and I was sitting next to someone who badly needed deoderant. Ok, not exactly bad work day but a bad day all together.
This books sounds like a lot of fun!
dasuzuki at yahoo dot com
Hmmm...they all run together! Anyway I'm retired now. But my last boss would qualify for the queen of workplace bullies...she had her little coterie of sycophants and certain people she considered easy targets. Most of her targets quit for the sake of their emotional and mental health. I waited till she fired me...and that was both my worst, and my best, day on the job!
dreamseeker52@gmail.com
My worse day ever at a job was a day when I was the victim of bait and switch. Basically, two guys came into Kids 'R' Us, my first job ever, was buying a pair of jeans gave me $100. Then when I got to give them back the change says they don't want the jeans anymore because they thought it was on sale. So I gave them back the $100, one of them does a quick switch saying I only gave him $10. And I couldn't find the $100, so I gave them 2 $50. Well after they leave I'm still wondering where I put that $100. When my manager comes out we count out; check the video camera, only to see them in action. I got written up and I felt stupid.
Anyway, that's my most horrible day ever. I would like to read this book please include me in the contest. jcoissiere(AT)comcast(DOT)net
When I was in high school I worked at a campground. The worst day was when they told me I had to clean up the trash from some big party the night before. They handed me a bunch of bags, a pair of gloves, and told me to go to the sports field. It was COVERED in trash, and I had to do it alone. It took me several hours and it was NASTY!!!
Thanks for the great giveaway!
--Anna
diaryofaneccentric at hotmail dot com
Diary of an Eccentric
I teach kindergarten. Worst day....year really...a ceiling collapsed in our main building (it's 2 stories...built in 1925!!) We had to double up classrooms for 3 months!! 56 kids...4 women....not enough tables and chairs and a co-teacher who does not teach like I do!!!
mj.coward[at]gmail.com
Teddy sent me :)
My worst day on a job ever was when I was working at a convenience store. It was a second job, making some extra cash to go to Disney with the nieces and nephews.
4 men came in, each got 4 24 packs of beer, they walked towards the counter and then ran out.. I being really dumb, chased them. (don't worry didn't catch them). The one man when he saw me coming Thru one of the packs of beer at me to slow me down.. Unfortunately he had poor aim and he hit a woman who was on her husbands motorcycle in the parking lot, Knocked her right off.. She wasn't hurt serious, lots of scrapes, cuts and bruises.
I was so surprised that people would act that way for free beer. I can't imagine stealing it.. Still shocks me.
So the day included numerous reports, the police, and an ambulance. What a day!!
itsjustmerene2003 at yahoo dot com
Oh, and Teddy sent me!
This book would be a PERFECT way to start my summer AND my retirement. I would love to win it. My worst day on the job (well I have taught now for 37 years so it is hard to pick THE worst but here's one). My first day, I had to substitute until I got a permanent position and I was in a school subbing for the music teacher (can't carry a note myself).It was however, Dec, so I had to wheel a cart to the different rooms and the second room I was in, a 3rd grade, had just had lunch. I told them to stand so they could sing better and put on Jingle Bells and as soon as we started a boy in the back projectile vomited...thus making 2 others sick from the mess and smell and they threw up. I had no info on who to call or what to do..luckily the teacher for the class had forgotten something and came back and she called the custodian and told me to take the rest out her door and sing outside. After that first day as a teacher, I am amazed I have lasted 37 years!
Please enter me, thanks! booksobsession(at)gmail(dot)com
Well, I don't have a job yet since I'm still in high school, but I do babysit a lot! The worst babysitting job was when the boy actually pooped in his pants and ran around the house. I spent about an hour cleaning it up, while trying not to complain since it was an accident. Yuck!!
Okay - this is really embarrassing - I was working at a Pizza Hut...and had a nursing baby at home. I was serving at a large table with college aged boys. A baby in the restaurant started crying...and I started leaking. All over a nice fresh hot pizza. I could have just died right then and there. The guys thought it was hysterical - they got a free pizza - I got to go home early, cause I quit. End of story!
libneas[at]aol[dot]com
One of my worst days on the job was when my boss decided to take a two week vacation, and left me to do his job. While he was gone, he said I was to use his desk intead of mine, and an office assistant would use mine. One day I needed some more forms, so I opened one of his desk drawers. I was shocked to find birth control pills, condoms, and porn books. I then realized why he spent so much time away from the office, he was seeing women for sex during office hours.
ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net
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