Workin' For A Living

by Beth

We've been spending quite a bit of time at my house discussing careers. My son just started his senior year of high school (sob!) and is looking at colleges which means he's also trying to decide what the heck he wants to do with his life.

Luckily, he has some working experience as over the summer he held three part time jobs. He mowed three lawns, worked as a busboy/counter guy/dishwasher/some-time cook at a local restaurant and is a Dietary Aide at our hospital (which is a fancy way of saying he washes dishes and fills food trays :-)

His job experience had me thinking of the jobs I've held over the years. My first job was counting and wrapping change at a bank downtown. Really. They had this little room with a huge change sorter/wrapper where I'd work for a few hours a week. I had to cut open the bags of loose change (already sorted, thank goodness) pour them into the machine and then load the wrapped coins onto metal trays. The trays were then stacked in the safe.

My next job was at the same bank but as a teller. I held this position twice: once the summer after high school and then later right after I got married until I had my son.

I didn't go back to work until my son was a few months old. I put my cosmetologist license to good use and worked in a hair salon for all of three weeks before deciding my true calling was that of a stay-at-home mother.

When my kids were little, I worked for my father and two brothers in the office of their contracting firm. And let me just say that as much as I love my family, and though I stayed at that job for years, there is no way I'd ever work for them again. 'Nuff said *g*

Luckily, by that time I knew what I really wanted to be when I grew up: A Romance Writer! Today I'm blessed to be able to do what I love for a living and I hope to have this job for many, many, MANY years to come ;-)

So let's talk jobs! Here's my husband's list:

Hardest job - lawn care at a local cemetery. The mowing wasn't so bad but he had to trim around the 100+ headstones. And since this was before weed whackers, he had do to them all by hand *g*

Weirdest job - growing crystals that were cut in to wafers to make the chips for integrated circuits.

Shortest amount of time he held a job - 30 minutes. That's right. He'd just started a new job when he got the call letting him know he had a better offer at a different place :-)

What was your hardest job? Your weirdest? Most fun? And can anyone beat my husband's record for shortest time employed?

Kim Castillo from RNTV is in the Lair!

Having survived her mystery author stint over at Romance Novel TV more or less intact, Christine Wells caught up with RNTV’s fabulous production manager, Kim Castillo for a chat.

Hi Kim, and welcome to the lair!

First, let me give a big hullo to all the Banditas! Its so wonderful to be here. The Lair is so lush and beautiful. I didn't know you kept Tim Tams back here! *squeals with delight and sneaks a few*

Haha, you have taken the Tim Tam truth syrum. You are in my power... We Aussies are taking over the world, one Tim Tam at a time bwahaha!

OK, down to business. Kim, can you explain for the uninitiated what Romance Novel TV is and how it all started?

Romance Novel TV is the brainchild of Maria and Marisa, twin sisters who love romance novels and wanted to bring them to the world in a new and innovative way. They both have a background in TV production so on-camera interviews were a natural choice for them. Their theory is not everything is revealed on the page and that's so true. There are so many great stories behind authors and the books they create. Its Maria and Marisa's vision to bring that to romance readers everywhere. I was lucky enough to be introduced to The M's through Eloisa James and was brought on board for the launch. Its such fun to work with this team. We have a great time together.

The Romance Novel TV site is quite extensive and ever changing. We have a thriving message board where we play Mystery Author, Banditas Donna and Christine being our most recent tricksters! We also host a Guest Author each week and since I love to give away books, there's always a contest or two going on. We've recently added a Review page where you'll find opinions on upcoming romances and old favorites. Bandita Anna C is going to be our resident reviewer and share her thoughts each month!

What is your role at RNTV? You seem to put in a LOT of hours moderating the boards along with all the other things you do. How do you stay fresh and on top of things?

Well, my title is production manager *g*. I do put in a lot of time and effort into the message board (thank you for noticing!) I do most of the author scheduling and contest fullfillment along with various other things. My role is ever changing and evolving. One fun and exciting thing I got to do was interview Kim Harrison on-camera at last year's RWA. I can't tell you what a thrill it was for me. For one day I got to be Katie Couric.

Keeping fresh? A constant supply of peanut M&M's and great romance novels, of course! Truly, what keeps me fresh is that I love what I do. After years and years of being miserable in my job now that I found something I'm good at everyday is like a blessing and that makes it easy. Also, I work with some of the best people in the world. The M's, the members of our community and all the great authors make my days fly by in a flurry of eutopia. Finding this happiness is something that I give thanks for everyday.

What do you hope readers find when they come to RNTV?

Entertainment and a place where they can come everyday to talk about romance. We strive to make each day something special on our site. I hope they find new authors and expand their reading choices. Most of all, I hope they find a place in our community.

What plans do you have for the future on the site?

Valentines Day will be our first anniversary! Our plans for our second year are so exciting. We plan on bringing new and innovative programming and exploring new ways to bring romance novels to readers. The three of us feel that the sky's the limit and we're ever changing and always open to new ideas. There is always a new author and a new story to talk about, we don't see that ever slowing down. Romance Novel TV changes and grows to bring this to our viewers in an entertaining and fun way. As long as there are authors writing romance novels RNTV will be there to cover it.

And finally, tell us 5 quirky things about you, that perhaps your readers don’t know about.

Only 5? LOL
1. I have very strict rules about The Care and Handling of Books. You must never ever write in a book, turn down the page or break the spine. Those are just the most urgent ones. I have about 378 rules.

2. Literally everyday I can eat sweet and sour chicken from Memories of China. I never get sick of it, sadly, my poor husband does.

3. My sense of humor is that of a teen-age boy. I love gutter humor. Adam Sandler, Kevin Smith and Dane Cook are my idols!

4. I'm a self-taught cook. Up until about 10 years ago I couldn't even boil water. Now there's nothing I can't make including New York Cheesecake, pies and all sorts of goodies.

5. To Dance With Kings by Rosalind Laker kicked off a lifelong obsession with Marie Antoinette and a burning desire to see Versailles. NO, she did not say it (Let them eat cake) and YES, one day I will dance with my very own love in the Hall of Mirrors to candlelight *G*

Wow, remind me never to borrow a book from you, my dear! Eek, you'd have me hung drawn and quartered!

Thank you for joining us in the lair, Kim. And now, have another Tim Tam, I have a few more interesting questions for you in private... *g*

Thanks so much to the Banditas for having me! I can't wait till they take over the RNTV blog next week. Its going to be an invasion to rival the Beatles.

And now I'd like to ask your readers a question--I found my dream job at RNTV. What job would you love to have? Addendum--Christine forgot to add that Kim has very generously offered to give one lucky commenter a box of chocolates from her favourite chocolatier, The Nut Shoppe! Thanks so much, Kim!