Blind Influence
by, Linda Riesenberg Fisler
**Guest Post**
Blind Influence Guest Post
Feminism
and Nicole.
Back in 1979 the feminist movement
was gathering much steam. Being a female
working at a consumer products company with a large number of engineers, a
field at that time dominated by men, discrimination was something I experienced
often. Anyone who knows me would tell
you that it takes a lot to intimidate me.
I remember sitting in my interview and being asked where I wanted to be
in five years. I knew I couldn’t say
Hollywood directing movies, so I answered that I saw myself managing people and
projects. The HR Director stated flatly
that would never happen because I didn’t have a college degree. So, strike
one—female and strike two— “uneducated”.
My answer was “We’ll see about that.”
In the years that followed I endured many discriminating comments from
my managers from being told I had no thinking process, to being forced to solve
math problems to prove I could indeed think and being told that maybe I should
go back and try high school again. After
enduring many bad managers, there were a few years (count then as a handful in
the twenty six years I worked at this company) when I had supportive
managers. One saw the many benefits of
my work and forged ahead to have me promoted to the management ranks without the
college degree. The was something rarely done.
When I left this company, I had accomplished the one thing that HR
Director said I would never do.
The road was a hard one and there
are a ton of emotions and situations that I can draw upon for the character of
Nicole. While today’s strong women seemed to be depicted as badasses with guns
and the strength of an Amazon Warrior, most of the strong women that I know
don’t arm themselves with guns or other weapons. Most of the women I know are
facing what I have faced. Intimidation
accompanied by arbitrary limitations or labels by men in the workforce. Discrimination and unequal pay for similar
jobs held by men. These men supposedly out-perform their women counterpoints on
every level. These women arm themselves
with knowledge, perseverance, and a very thick skin on their long hard journey
to accomplish the goals that they set out regardless of the obstacles in front
of them. We owe the trailblazers, the
women who forged the path in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s a huge debt and
gratitude. While the starting point of a
woman’s career has gotten easier, inequality still exists. While a woman can choose just about any
career, there are still injustices. The
prejudices of childbirth, expectations that she must work twice as hard to
garner admittance to the “old boys club” and discriminations once that “status”
is granted by men still exist. As much
as we don’t like to admit it, there is a force to be reckoned with as the vile
head of discrimination and inequality rises once again. We need to continue to
strive for the simplest accomplishments.
Small, confident steps will make a huge difference for the generations
to come.
Blind
Influence
Successful, sexy attorney
Nicole Charbonneau feels content with her life and career as a star at a
powerful law firm in Washington, DC. She is blind, however, to the
circumstances that will put her at the center of a web of deceit, murder, power
plays and conspiracies. Across the ocean, British MI-6 Agent Sean Adkins is
tracking a cold-blooded assassin known as the Serpent, who’s been hired to kill
President Andrews. The Serpent cares only for the millions he’ll get, not why
the powerful group of men wants Andrews killed.
The Serpent, a master of
disguise, completes his job, but will it be his last? Sean will stop at nothing
to get revenge, which includes setting a trap. Nicole, through her work and her
connection with Robert Jenkins, a powerful young senator who happens to head
the Intelligence Committee, pieces together who hired the assassin. Will the
senator reveal to the public all he knows, or will revealing the identities of
the powerful businessmen, politicians and government officials be too much for
a country already in a fragile state?
Blind
Influence, set in 1979 when the United States was on the brink
of its second oil crisis, takes readers on a wild ride of political intrigue
and personal discovery.
AUTHOR
BIO
When Linda Riesenberg
Fisler isn’t working on her next book she is painting in her studio or riding
her Trek bicycle along the many bike trails of Ohio. The former Fortune 500
consumer products manager explores art through her worldwide Internet radio
show, “Art Chats with Linda Fisler”. Linda has been creative since childhood,
writing stories and scripts of movies and TV shows to entertain friends. She
discovered oil painting in the 1990s and began trying to express words
visually.
Writing Blind Influence helped Linda realize she
had been blind to letting others run her life, so she began to transition to
the more artistic life she has today. In addition to The Blind series of books, Linda has created a fantasy book based
on her exploration of spirituality. She hopes readers will learn how to open
their own eyes instead of blindly following the expectations of those around
them.
Teaser:
Then
it started. The siren was the first thing to warn him something was wrong. The golden light turned dark. The bittersweet taste of adrenaline began in his mouth, and he swallowed, trying to quell it. A red flashing light accosted his eyes, and he could see himself running to his home—
their home. He ran into the house, unable to catch his breath. He tried to wake himself from the nightmare. He didn’t want to live this again.
Game:
Who would you cast to play the
Characters in Blind Influence?
If you are like me, when I read a
book I end up casting an actor or actress in the part. So let’s do this too.
1. Who would you cast to play Nicole Charbonneau?
2. Who
would you cast to play Sean Adkins?
3. Who
would you cast to play Robert Jenkins?
4. Who
would you cast to play the assassin—the Serpent?
5. Who
would you cast to play Tony Shafer?
6. Who
would you cast to play Carol Gartner?
7. Who
would you cast to play Ahnah?
8. Who
would you cast to play Jerome Bailey?
9. Who
would you cast to play Kevin Thompson?
10. Who
would you cast to play Norman Sipes?
Links
Newsletter http://bit.ly/1N9n8ac
Blind
Influence Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BlindInfluence
Personal
facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/lindafisler
Twitter
page: https://twitter.com/lfisler
(@lfisler)
Google+
page: https://plus.google.com/u/0/110587744782827126484/
Blind
Influence paperback link on Amazon:
Personal website: http://www.lindafisler.com
(For autographed
books: http://www.lindafisler.com/blind-series/blind-influence-book-summary/
)
Blind
Influence website: http://www.lindariesenbergfisler.com
.jpeg)
