And The Winner Is…
Congrats to Janette who has won a copy of Molly Harper’s And One Last Thing in our Deb Ball contest. More contests to come! Janette, I sent you an email asking for your mailing address. Thanks. Deb Kim
News From the 2011 Debs…
Booksellers are raving about Deb Eleanor’s The Weird Sisters. I’m so honored that they’re enjoying it! Can’t wait to pre-order? Check out the details at Deb Eleanor’s site!
Hey, Los Angelenos! Deb Elise will be hanging with Hilary Duff at Barnes and Noble at The Grove on October 19th, 7pm. Hilary will be singing copies of her novel Elixir (co-written by Deb Elise). If you’re in the area, come on by!
Deb Tawna stubbed her toe on a corner of the table. This is honestly the most exciting news she can offer right now.
Deb Kim just heard Amazon is shipping her book early, starting on 10/21. Let the panic begin! If you order and read and like it (she says on bended knee offering you a latte, a Cosmo and a stack of twenties) please leave a review!
Friends of the Debs…
Briana of Bree’s Books is a PR major who lives in Texas, and is crazy about books, especially YA. Her reviews are smart, well-written, and comprehensive. She’ll let you know specifically what she did or didn’t like, and sums it up with a star rating that lets you know exactly where the book ranks. Bonus points for a site that’s beautifully laid out and very easy to read.
Deb Dish — The Debs’ Worst Job Interview Ever
Deb Elise
A couple weeks after my daughter was born, I went in to pitch myself as the writer of a series of DVDs based on the old Choose Your Own Adventure books. I’d just healed from the worst labor in history (you so don’t want to know…), was spending most of my time breast-feeding or diaper changing, and was basically living in a new-baby haze. Still, I somehow managed to slap on some makeup, shove my swollen body into a skirt and a top, then give my daughter one last so-you’ll-nap-while-I’m-gone nurse before I totally clicked into work mode.
In the meeting, I was on fire. I pitched like a madwoman, and everyone was staring at me, rapt. I had to be killing it!
I finished triumphantly, and practically danced out of the meeting and into the bathroom… where I realized my shirt was still open to my navel and my nursing bra and the nursing boobs therein were on display for all to see.
Oddly enough, I got the job…
Deb Eleanor
I’m going with the time I stopped at a gas station for a quick cup of coffee before the interview and, all wound up about said interview, locked my keys in the car. The good news? The gas station had a slim jim (the car-unlocking-metal thingymabob, not the dried meat – though they probably had those, too). The bad news? It wasn’t the right kind for my car. I was a wee bit late.
I didn’t get the job.
Deb Kim
The worst interviews are for jobs you do not want. Back in the mid 1980s I was looking for a new job. You can read about why I was fired from Boston’s largest ad agency in my book. I wish it was for a sexy transgression with a hot Creative Director like Don Draper, alas, no such luck. I applied to Cort furniture rental as a commissioned salesperson. I did not want to rent office furniture. The interview was morbid. I also remember applying to be a property manager at a large apartment complex. Another dreary day.
Deb Sarah
Oh the memories. I showed up early to a job interview for a job I was a little iffy on in the first place (mainly because the company’s reputation was less than perfect (I’d heard some horror stories from friends about the way they treated employees). So there I was in the lobby, early, waiting for my interview to begin. I waited 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, but the woman I had the scheduled interview with still hadn’t showed. When I politely asked the receptionist–at the 45-minute mark–whether the interview was still on, she snootily shrugged as if she didn’t care (and I didn’t matter), then gave me a lecture about how young college grads should be lucky to get any interview and I’d do best to take her advice an wait another hour or so for the woman to return from a long lunch date. In one of the most empowering moments of my early, post-college career, I looked her in the eye and said, “Well, you can tell so-and-so thanks, but no thanks–I want to work for a company that respects people.” And that was that! I walked right out! Harumph!
Deb Tawna
As we were wrapping up a third interview for a Marketing Director job, the CEO asked me to tell her a joke. I’m sure she was just testing my ability to think on my feet and be clever and creative, but the first joke to pop into my brain was a dirty one. Oh, and it was political. And the interview was taking place in a swanky wine bar where the interview panel kept trying to top off everyone’s wine glass. Luckily, they liked the joke. Or they were all buzzed, who knows? I got the job.
Elise – Only in LA….
I wish there had been wine at one of my interviews. Like Deb Elise I was actively nursing a baby (it was an all-day interview for an academic position, but they gave me an hour break in the middle of it to go home and nurse).
I was waiting for one portion–with the college president–and the chair of the committee had escorted me to the meeting. While we waited, he asked what my dissertation was about. And I gave him a minute-long description of the use of rape in Arthurian myth to create heroes from “pure” women. And he said nothing. Not a word. Later, in the committee interview, he wouldn’t even look at me.
I did not get the job.
Well, *I* think it sounds fascinating. I wonder what his beef was?
I’m with Eleanor — I think it sounds incredibly interesting. The guy clearly has some issues…
My very first interview was while I was still in college, and I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing/saying. So the first question they asked, was, of course, “Tell us about yourself.” Knowing they had my resume as well as the answers to a bunch of pre-interview questions, I assumed they knew everything on there (because who wouldn’t memorize such obviously intriguing material?), and so launched into a rant about my likes and dislikes. I have shoved most of it to the back of my brain, but I do remember that when I reached the part about me liking dogs, one of the interviewers stopped me. I was mortified afterward, when I realized my mistake. Of course, I most definitely did not get the job.
Kathleen, I’m laughing out loud because that’s totally the kind of mistake I’d make. I’d STILL make it — you send ahead all that material, you figure they know it and want to hear something new!
Tawna…
…now you have to tell us the joke.