Ruby Allure's Books

Ruby Allure's Books
Ruby Allure's Books
Showing posts with label stereotype. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stereotype. Show all posts

Saturday, 12 December 2015

A letter to all those that love to 'Take All the Credit'.

Dear 'Take all the Credit',
I have been observing your existence for a while now. You really do fascinate me because you and your type appear in most of the corporations I have worked in. You may not be aware there is a whole 'office animal' section dedicated to you. The thing is it seems that this is the time of year where you ramp up your game. I worked out why it is too. It is the end of year appraisal time and you will do whatever you need to to enable you to attain the largest bonus.

Of course you have spent the year working up to the finale by practising on various projects and discovering the best workers to take all the credit from. They are a type too: they are those who work hard and do their best and don't speak up. This may well be the 'office shafted', the 'office actual worker' or the 'office extremely efficient'.
 

The thing is my dear take all the credit is that people know who you are and discuss you. Many avoid working with you for the reason that they have been shafted by you in the past. Others have found new techniques to make sure people know they did the work. I personally embed my name on the whole document. However, I have found ways to make you look like a wombat. My favourite of late has been providing you with a presentation with completely incorrect data to make you appear a complete fool. I notice you have not approached me for anything since, so it worked! I guess that was because your name was emblazoned with big letters on the front of the presentation that you made to the Managing Directors. Woops!
 Image result for pig in a suit
My dear Take All the Credit is you need to be aware that I have been leading a small rebellion against all the 'take all the credits' in this world. I have seen so many decent people be trampled by your credit taking behaviour. It started small in our corporation where a number of people gave The Office Zoo book as the Secret Santa present. They highlighted the 'Office Take All the Credit' within it. I noticed you laughing all the way through the different office types until you came to the highlighted pages and glanced around the room wondering who had discovered you. We have all known it for all while and felt that you should not get away with it. We also felt you needed to know that we knew what you were up to! The thing is from shyte the beautiful flowers grow and you behaviour has united a rebellion through other offices too. You see I mentioned what my colleagues did to some of my friends and they thought it was great and did the same. I guess it could be misconstrued as some kind of bullying but taking advantage of others is also bullying too. In truth all the decent hard workers simply spoke up in a different way.


Image result for dishonest bankerImage result for dishonest business man
So I do want to say thank you because your office type contributed to the The Office Zoo - A Field Guide to Office Animal Observations and it would have been missing a key animal had you not demonstrated your traits so clearly. What's more, observing you and how you treat people has contributed material to the Love Hunt books, which are selling nicely. It seems people who work in offices completely identify with the antics that go on! So thank you so much for showing me all your underhand tricks for taking all the credit. Without you I would have missed out a crucial part of corporate life. So thank you and.... We all know who you are!


The Office Zoo Audiobook
 
If you were an office animal, what would you be? Erm...what do you mean an office animal? Well you may not know this, but there are numerous varieties of office animal migrating to the workplace each day. Every type, with its own characteristics, is awaiting discovery in The Office Zoo. All of those who enter the office jungle on a daily basis have potential for office animal categorizing adventure. Whether we like it or not, each of us falls into one of the many office zoo categories. So which one are you? Which office animals surround you?
 
The paperback on Amazon.com: http://amzn.com/B00H7MRV5G
 

   

I’ll try to write this without spoilers or going too long winded, but the basic gist of this review is: If you are a fan of humour with a generous helping of wit and you’ve ever worked in an office, you will like listening to this!

Boy, it’s a jungle out there. If only there was a field guide with the helpful hints, tips, and ‘general don’t get yourself eaten accidentally’ advice that could help us navigate it all…well this might just be it! Office zoo reads like a Nat Geo guide or a safari special, but on the study of a species of 'animals' that you don't need to travel outside of your city to see in their natural habitat (yay!).

The book reads from point of view of an explorer, which added to the experience and immersion into the guide. The author’s tone was to me perfect for the subject matter. It took me a moment to get used to the narrator’s voice, but once I settled in I realized it was actually a good choice. The narrator reminded me so much of animal nature guide narrators, and that definitely put my brain right in the action, and I had no trouble visualizing the office beings that the author was so helpfully describing.

Despite it being in the humour category, there were quite a number of valuable lessons presented, albeit some slightly over emphasized - the better for us to recognize and work to correct them. If only all company welcome packages included certain snippets of this with the avalanche of company policies - if not only to show that humour is not dead in the office world, but so that people would have a much more enjoyable (and more memorable) reminder to be aware of how they engage with others in the office. We spend so much of our lives in offices (unless you are an actual safari guide, professional base jumper, or something equally office-free), a guide is definitely needed.

There are some characters that were rather harshly covered, but these are made in ‘lemme tell it to you straight’ tone, so it fit with the narrative of the book. Near the end of the book a few of the character’s seemed repeated, or at least very similar to those described in the beginning of the book (granted a I listened to the whole book in one shot, so it may be better to listen to the chapters in segments).There was a weird thing with the recording on my device where all of a sudden it sounded like the narrator teleported to an echo-y tunnel right in the middle of a chapter. I got over it, but it is jarring.

I went into this book expecting to be entertained. I was. But it also got me thinking about my everyday environment in a different way. A humorous take on office culture and a well spent afternoon! I will look up the author’s other work.

Love Hunt: Dating Game Audiobook
 

Come on admit it - as much as we deny it - we ladies like a good love hunt.

We have tick lists, ideals, and we hunt in high-heeled packs. Of course, we're all hunting for that elusive right man who ticks every box and even has tidy nostril hair. Okay maybe not you, but you know other ladies who love the hunt.

Well, it's time for Eva and Gracie to love hunt, and their "targets" are rich men - the golden sperm. Such exciting escapades would provide the pair with entertaining discussions during their dull office hours - or so they thought. What they did not anticipate was the discovery of the "booby man"; humorous but very hard truths about wealth, themselves, power; and the RichIdiot.com phenomenon.

The question remains: can love really be hunted?
 
 Love Hunt II: The Love Game: Richidiot.com, Book 2 | Ruby Allure
The Love Hunt has returned. Gracie is back on the dating horse after a huge fall in her first tick-list-tastic love hunt.
Her new dating adventures take her and Eva into the depths of "the love game".
In the meantime, Eva, the ultimate Russian gold digger, has come to the conclusion that her poor "village idiot boyfriend" will never be enough. He will certainly not pay off her accumulating debts. She needs a rich man, and that means rich idiot dating.
In The Love Game, Eva and Gracie travel the journey of extreme love learning. On the way, they will discover their love and lust lists, their intrinsic issues, and experience some hilarious and jaw-dropping dates in pursuit of the wealthy ideal.
All of this in the pursuit of love.
The Love Hunt II is on!


Saturday, 28 November 2015

An Interview With Ray McCurdy, Audio Producer.

An Interview With Ray McCurdy, Audio Producer
 
 
At the beginning of 2015, I put The Office Zoo up for audition on ACX.com, the audio production platform. In all honesty The Office Zoo was an accidental book, one that I wrote for fun while observing office dynamics and politics. I used to take part in a weekly 'call of doom', which was an incredibly boring call. In that time I would observe a character and post it on a blog and share it with my fellow office workers. I have to admit what made the blog so popular was the brutal honesty of the observation. I wrote what others dared not to say. Well, I had to stop because the call stopped and my working life is intense. It was then fate stepped in because I ran into a colleague on a train. We were both about to go on holiday and she said to me 'I used to love your blog and reading about the bizarre characters - is there anyway you could turn it into a book? I want to get it as a Secret Santa and as leaving gifts for people who leave the office.' I had not considered that such a book would be popular but produced it anyway because I like to take opportunities when they present themselves.

Anyway fast forward to Ray's audition. I had asked for a 'voice' who could deliver a humorous dialogue and sounded like David Attenborough. Well Ray didn't just deliver, he had me crying laughing at the delivery of the Office Stinker. As soon as I heard his voice, I knew he was the 'one'. Anyway here is his interview and I hope he inspires you!

 Image result for audiobook production
 
How did you get into producing audio books?
In 2014, I was the musical director, and also played one of the main characters, in a production of the musical Smoke On The Mountain.  One of the starring roles was played by my friend Rich Grimshaw who has been producing audio books for several years.  Rich and I talked about his audio book experiences and he encouraged me to give it a try.   I've always been an avid reader and I also enjoy voices and dialects.  I enjoy performing, so its a way for me to combine all these interests into one activity.  

What do you look for when choosing to work on an audio book?
When choosing a book to record, I look for something that I enjoy reading first of all.   Then, when possible, I like to find something that allows me to use different character voices or dialects.  Sometimes, I'll find something that I think is good information, like a self-help book, that someone might listen to, but not get around to reading.  So I can read it for them!


What are some of your funniest / weirdest and most awkward experiences within audio production?
The funniest times are when you read something that makes you laugh, and the laughing causes you to mess up the take somehow.  Then you have to do it over, and over, and over.  Sometimes the more you try to fix it, the worse it gets until you just have to come back to it later. 


What was it about The Office Zoo that appealed?
As I read through the audition text for the Office Zoo, I began to recognize "types" that I had encountered myself in the various offices I've worked in.  I loved Ruby's
descriptions of her observations of these wacky "animal" characters and I found myself channeling Sir David Attenborough in the Life series of nature documentaries.   That's where the accent came from that I used when reading the book.


 

What are your favourite bits of The Office Zoo that the readers should listen out for?
My favorite is the "Office Take All The Credit".  There is great satisfaction when he / she gets what they deserve!  I also identify with the Freaky But Definately Geeky as (there is one sitting close to me right now!).     

Image result for take all the credit

Readers should listen out for the insufferable "Office Maternal / Broody / God She Wants To Get Pregnant" and the accompanying "Office - I Did It! I Got Pregnant - I Am Going To Be A Mom!".  Sadly, everyone knows this person and Ruby says what we've all wanted to say but didn't.  That's what I like most about this book.  It gives hilarious voice to all those things we WANTED to say, but were pretending to be polite enough not to say. 

The Office Zoo Audiobook
 
If you were an office animal, what would you be? Erm...what do you mean an office animal? Well you may not know this, but there are numerous varieties of office animal migrating to the workplace each day. Every type, with its own characteristics, is awaiting discovery in The Office Zoo. All of those who enter the office jungle on a daily basis have potential for office animal categorizing adventure. Whether we like it or not, each of us falls into one of the many office zoo categories. So which one are you? Which office animals surround you?
 
The paperback on Amazon.com: http://amzn.com/B00H7MRV5G
   
I’ll try to write this without spoilers or going too long winded, but the basic gist of this review is: If you are a fan of humour with a generous helping of wit and you’ve ever worked in an office, you will like listening to this!

Boy, it’s a jungle out there. If only there was a field guide with the helpful hints, tips, and ‘general don’t get yourself eaten accidentally’ advice that could help us navigate it all…well this might just be it! Office zoo reads like a Nat Geo guide or a safari special, but on the study of a species of 'animals' that you don't need to travel outside of your city to see in their natural habitat (yay!).

The book reads from point of view of an explorer, which added to the experience and immersion into the guide. The author’s tone was to me perfect for the subject matter. It took me a moment to get used to the narrator’s voice, but once I settled in I realized it was actually a good choice. The narrator reminded me so much of animal nature guide narrators, and that definitely put my brain right in the action, and I had no trouble visualizing the office beings that the author was so helpfully describing.

Despite it being in the humour category, there were quite a number of valuable lessons presented, albeit some slightly over emphasized - the better for us to recognize and work to correct them. If only all company welcome packages included certain snippets of this with the avalanche of company policies - if not only to show that humour is not dead in the office world, but so that people would have a much more enjoyable (and more memorable) reminder to be aware of how they engage with others in the office. We spend so much of our lives in offices (unless you are an actual safari guide, professional base jumper, or something equally office-free), a guide is definitely needed.

There are some characters that were rather harshly covered, but these are made in ‘lemme tell it to you straight’ tone, so it fit with the narrative of the book. Near the end of the book a few of the character’s seemed repeated, or at least very similar to those described in the beginning of the book (granted a I listened to the whole book in one shot, so it may be better to listen to the chapters in segments).There was a weird thing with the recording on my device where all of a sudden it sounded like the narrator teleported to an echo-y tunnel right in the middle of a chapter. I got over it, but it is jarring.

I went into this book expecting to be entertained. I was. But it also got me thinking about my everyday environment in a different way. A humorous take on office culture and a well spent afternoon! I will look up the author’s other work.
 

Thursday, 13 August 2015

Do You Have One of These In Your Office? The Office Gossip!

The Office Zoo: A Field Guide to Office Animal Observation
OFFICE ZOO LINK TO AMAZON.COM Link: http://amzn.com/B013N51MNC

The Office Gossip.

Image result for gossip office


She is usually buxom and has a tendency to cross her arms as she leans in to hear everything and everyone. She is a phenomenon because she can extract the intimate details of everyone’s personal life. She is there when someone breaks down and cries. She senses when something is brewing. She notices the subtle gestures between those who are hiding the office sausage but are trying to keep it quiet. She has antennae for all goings on and when she gets the chance, she sets herself up as a confident. She is a gossip genius!
Image result for gossip office
Her days are filled with potential gossip absorption. She is open in conversation and can cleverly trap an individual into confessing all under the guise of a confident. Each day she builds an entirely new catalogue and links all the life-event strings from all of those around the office. As she constructs, weaves and interlaces she builds her power due to potential bribery. When she feels ready to share, she will subtly drop some of the most surprising antics into conversation. ‘So did you hear about…? Such a shame…’ ‘You would never believe… but so and so….’ ‘Guess who is ….’ Everyone wants to know her because this creature brightens people’s lives. It is natural to want to know about others but at the same time be aware that everyone probably knows about you too!
Image result for gossip office
The thing with this woman is that no one will ever know anything about her. It seems that she lives a rather dull life and her purpose is to discover the excitement/scandal in others. The worst part of this is that these traits are in her make-up. She will never change. The only thing is – is that gossip is harmful, and as much as she does not intend to hurt people, rumours spread and become exaggerated. Lives have been ruined by a hint of ‘tittle tattle.’
Image result for gossip office
Learning: well you will learn about your life, other’s lives and the extreme private things that people attempt to keep secret. When you discover your managing director caught crabs from the office tart, you realise how damaging gossip can be to a reputation. Sometimes she will slip up and tell you gossip about you. Just be aware that gossip can be about anyone including you.
Image result for hysterical laughter office
 
 

BUYERS MAKE THE BEST LOVERS - NO ONE TOLD YOU THAT DID THEY?

OFFICE ZOO LINK TO AMAZON.COM Link: http://amzn.com/B013N51MNCThe Office Zoo: A Field Guide to Office Animal Observation

LINKS TO AMAZON.COM:
Labyrinthine: Interior Worlds, Book 1
LABYRINTHINE AMAZON.COM LINK: Link: http://amzn.com/B012FAYI5U
A Short Course In Creative Writing: A compilation of lessons
A SHORT COURSE IN CREATIVE WRITING LINK: Link: http://amzn.com/B01390THLK
Money Farm
MONEY FARM LINK TO AMAZON.COM :Link: http://amzn.com/B010F04W9O
I thought I may as well add the most recent Money Farm review... Love it!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
on July 13, 2015
Gillian’s world is turned upside down when she is unexpectedly ‘released’ from her job. Her government funding is revoked after the board decides they did not like a paper she wrote on ‘Reactants, resistance, reflexivity and reversal in times of financial and social hardship.’

All of a suddenly her secure life has gone. What will she do? All around her people are getting into debt, being encouraged to spend more than they have, buy things they don’t need. Possessions are everything, all that matters. Why? How had the world gotten into this state, and why didn’t the powers that be want to hear what she had to say?

Not taking her redundancy laying down Gillian’s resolve hardens as she actively strives to understand the financial system and money handling. Living on her savings whilst looking for a job, she soon discovers that it won’t be long before she is homeless.

But what about M.O.N.E.Y? The people who work for M.O.N.E.Y live at the Money Farm, which was a series of huge walled islands, linked by bridges, which has been in existence for over 200 years. Gillian becomes obsessed with the M.O.N.E.Y concept. Who are these people, how are they chosen? M.O.N.E.Y is totally self-sufficient, secretive, she has to know more.

How do you become part of M.O.N.E.Y, this amazing organisation whose employees themselves are intriguing?

Then, one day she follows a M.O.N.E.Y employee out of a shop and asks the man the leading question “How do I become one of you?”

This simple question, and his reply changes her life forever.

As she trains and is inducted into the world of M.O.N.E.Y, Gillian soon discovers that she has in fact been chosen. Her militant nature and questioning attitude allows her to think outside the box. However, I wondered, as the story progressed, did M.O.N.E.Y have any idea of what her impact would be?

This was a fascinating book, deep and very thought provoking, it made you wonder…

I will certainly be looking out for more very interesting books by this talented author.