Happy Monday!

Today’s guest post is penned by TB Markinson. Pssst, I run this website. I’m here to share a bit about my latest release: Reservations from the Heart. Keep reading because there’s a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card.

Even Brilliant People Can Be Stupid

I am not known for being tech savvy. For well over a year, I thought my DVD player was broken, so I stopped using it. Then I dusted the DVD player (I’m not known for my dusting skills either) and noticed the cord from the device to the TV had come loose. Low and behold I was able to watch DVDs again. A miracle!

When I applied for a scheduling job at a university, I didn’t know part of the job would involve assigning AV staff and resources. I found out the hard way. I mean, when I started making reservations, I added resources like LCD, laser pointer, and other items. On one hand, I understood this part of my duties.

On the other hand, I didn’t fully comprehend what it truly meant for clients. It wasn’t until I received a panicked phone call from a professor who was in the middle of teaching a class that I realized it was assumed since I made the reservation, I was proficient with technology. (Picture me laughing hysterically just writing that sentence.) While on the phone with a professor screaming at me, I was paging a tech while simultaneously googling solutions as to why his laptop had failed. Luckily, the tech was nearby, and it ended well.

But that wasn’t an isolated incident. The phone calls kept coming. I kept googling. Sometimes they’d call because they couldn’t do something in Excel in preparation for a class. Before getting this job, I applied for a different position, and they had me take a computer test that asked me to do basic functions in Excel. I bombed it and didn’t get the job. Yet, professors would demand answers. Did you know there’s a help function in Excel, and it’s, well, helpful?

Also, I never heard the word dongle before this job, and when a professor was shouting into the phone, “I need a dongle!” I wasn’t sure if I should report the incident to HR or even research dongle on my work computer in fear of landing on porn sites.

While I enjoyed certain aspects of my university job, I grew tired of professors treating me poorly because I didn’t know much about technology. The shocking part: I knew way more than the biggest complainers, and I think this post proves I’m not all that adept.

Some of the scheduling problems in Reservations of the Heart are things that happened to me. I didn’t include a few of my real-world experiences in the novel because no one would believe that would actually happen at a university filled with super brainy people. Sometimes being brilliant doesn’t stop you from doing stupid stuff.

GIVEAWAY

To celebrate the release of my latest novel, I’ve put together a giveaway, which will include a signed copy of Reservations of the Heart and a $50 Amazon gift card.

A bit about Reservations:

When Stella and Aurora unexpectedly come together, sparks fly. Neither is looking for a relationship, but what they discover in one another is so much more than a physical connection. Can two wounded women who believe love is the last thing they want overcome their fears to find healing?

Best-selling lesbian romance author T.B. Markinson brings lesfic readers a heartwarming age-gap story about facing one’s demons to live a fuller and loving life. Grab your copy of the standalone medical romance novel that will make your heart sing.

MEET THE AUTHOR

TB Markinson is an American who’s recently returned to the US after a seven-year stint in the UK and Ireland. When she isn’t writing, she’s traveling the world, watching sports on the telly, visiting pubs in New England, or reading. Not necessarily in that order.

Her novels have hit Amazon bestseller lists for lesbian fiction and lesbian romance.

She cohosts the Lesbians Who Write Podcast with Clare Lydon. TB also runs I Heart Lesfic, a place for authors and fans of lesfic to come together to celebrate lesbian fiction.

CONNECT WITH TB MARKINSON

Twitter / Website / Lesbians Who Write Podcast 

Thanks so much for stopping by today.