Monday, May 18, 2015

Blind Influence by, Linda Riesenberg Fisler **Guest Post**

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
Blind Influence Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/BlindInfluence
Personal facebook account:  https://www.facebook.com/lindafisler
Twitter page:  https://twitter.com/lfisler   (@lfisler)
Personal website:  http://www.lindafisler.com
Blind Influence website:  http://www.lindariesenbergfisler.com

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