Please welcome debut author Christy McKellen as she talks about Bullying in the workplace.
About Christy
Formerly a Video and Radio Producer, Christy now spends her time writing fun, impassioned and emotive romance with an undercurrent of sexual tension. When she’s not writing, she can be found enjoying life with her husband and three children, walking for pleasure and researching other people’s deepest secrets and desires.
Christy loves to hear from readers. You can get hold of her at her
Blog
post on bullying in the workplace – a theme from UNLOCKING HER BOSS’S HEART
The underlying theme of my first story for
the Harlequin Romance line is bullying at work.
I think everyone has probably had some
experience with bullying, even if it hasn’t had a huge impact on their life at
the time.
Bullying is a thing that most people
associate with being at school, but unfortunately it doesn’t always get left
there. I’ve had my own experience of facing a bully in a place where I worked
in my twenties—mercifully not for very long—but I can tell you, it doesn’t get
any easier to deal with as an adult. It can destroy your confidence and leave
you with a deep feeling of dread about getting up and going to work every
morning.
That’s not right.
My heroine in UNLOCKING HER BOSS’S HEART
has had her fair share of problems at the last place she worked, so much so
that it’s still affecting her three months later when she finds herself working
with our hero, Max. They’re both brittle and broken at the beginning of the
story, but thankfully with each other’s help they manage to find the support
and encouragement each needs in order to move forwards.
Unfortunately a lot of people don’t get the
support they need whilst being bullied, sometimes because they feel ashamed to
admit it’s happening to them or because they don’t feel it will be taken
seriously by their boss.
But it is serious, and it can have a huge
impact on people’s lives.
So if you know someone who is being bullied
at work, or you’re experiencing it yourself, I urge you to take action. Don’t
let the bullies win.
Some useful and informative websites about
bullying in the workplace and ways to tackle it:
Unlocking Her Boss’s Heart is available
from all good retailers from 1st January 2016
Cara Winstone is determined to bounce back from her
last—disastrous—PA job, and working for Max Firebrace is exactly how she's
going to do it. Little does Cara know that walking into her brooding boss's
luxurious London town house also has her walking into his past…
Since losing his wife, Max doesn't think he has any
love left to give. But something in the warmth of Cara's smile jump-starts
Max's heart again, making him wonder if he's ready for a new
happy-ever-after…with Cara by his side.
Buy links:
An important topic and it looks like a good story, I love romances.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Christine, it's a topic that's had quite an impact on my life in the past and I think it's one that's worth discussing. Thanks for commenting!
DeleteWork place bullying is a serious issue - glad you've addressed it here!
ReplyDeleteBook sounds fabulous - good luck with it!
Thanks so much, Jemi!
DeleteGreat info. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kelly, if it only helps one person I'd be hugely glad.
DeleteBullying sucks but when you add romance as a cure? I like that premise. Sounds like a sweet romance perfect for this day and age when bullying is all to common.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately it is, Chrys. Thanks so much for your lovely comment.
DeleteBullying sucks but when you add romance as a cure? I like that premise. Sounds like a sweet romance perfect for this day and age when bullying is all to common.
ReplyDeleteI remember very few instances of bullying when I was in school, (back in the Dark Ages) and never encountered any at all in the workplace. I wonder if bullying is more prevalent now, or if we've simply become more aware of it. Whichever, it isn't acceptable. It's good that your book sheds some light on it.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to know, Susan, isn't it, but I'm all for openly discussing it as an issue. Unfortunately there's a lot of shame attached to being the victim of a bully so having people recognise it as something that really happens can only be a good thing. Thanks for commenting.
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ReplyDeleteI hate bullies. You usually find that if you stand up to them, they're nothing but cowards. An interesting issue to add to the story.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely right, Jo. Having the courage to stand up to them can be hard, but it seems to be the only way to break the cycle of abuse. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteGreat points, Christy! Bullying is definitely not just something that happens to school kids.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately not, Meradeth, but awareness is the key. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteTruthfully, I think that's why Stephanie Meyer quit publishing for so many years. Let's just call bullying what it is: abuse.
ReplyDeleteQuite right, Crystal, it is abuse. The word bullying has a bit of a childlike quality to it in my opinion, which takes away from the seriousness of it. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteI can relate. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was bullied in the workplace in my 20's. Since I've gotten mouthier with age, that doesn't happen anymore.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you've found a way to let the bullies know you won't put up with it, Medeia. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteI sometimes think that bullying can be worse among adults because adults are expected to fend for themselves, which leave bullying victims possibly more alienated than children would have been.
ReplyDeleteI agree Misha, it can be worse for adults because it's not always taken seriously enough.
DeleteUnlocking Her Boss's Heart sounds like a sweet romance.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sherry!
DeleteI was in a bullying situation in my last job...when it started. That was back in 2002. There were some mean, bitter women who did everything they could to go all "mean girls" on me. I just put up with it. Some of the people left/retired and only a couple of the mean girls were left but every time I had to be around them, I just felt uncomfortable. Without their other mean girls, they lost their bite. Of course, not a single one of them ever apologized for being mean to me. Much of what they did was behind my back (but that stuff gets back to you) but some of them were just outright hateful to my face...when I'd done nothing wrong. That was their own insecurities, I figure.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear this, Stephanie. I agree, that sort of behaviour is usually because the bully is very insecure about where they fit in the world and his/her followers are too cowardly to stand up for themselves in case they become victims. It sounds like you're a very strong, secure person, which perhaps intimidated them. Thanks so much for commenting and telling your story. It's really important that we talk about this stuff so others know they're not the only one suffering with it and something can be done to stop it.
DeleteWhat an important post. I think with all of the talk about bullying in other areas people may not think about it happening in the work place.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a good book. Wishing Christy all the best! :)
~Jess
Thank you, Jess. I agree, I think bullying in the workplace can be overlooked very easily. Unfortunately that means that sometimes people are forced to leave a job they love because of it.
DeleteHello Kelly, I’m just back from my break and wanted to thank you for the holiday wishes you left on my blog. We had a wonderful time with our family, and it’s proving difficult to get back to ‘normal’ but I’m getting there!
ReplyDeleteI came up against a couple of bullies at work – they made my life very uncomfortable, but I refused to be intimidated by them. That doesn’t mean I didn’t go home and cry my heart out on numerous occasions because I did, but I refused to let them see they were getting to me. Once they grew bored, they moved on to someone else and someone else after that. The bullying was plain to see, but nothing was ever done about it. This was back in the 1960s so I would like to think times have changed – but perhaps they haven’t?
So sorry to hear that Barbara. I think it is something that people recognise as a problem now, but it can still be brushed under the carpet. Talking about it is the best thing we can do. Thanks so much for commenting.
DeleteThis is an important topic... I think we need to address and keep it in the open. That is the only way to deal with bullies.... xoxo
ReplyDeleteI agree, Launna. Thank you for commenting.
DeleteBullying is getting a lot of press these days, and that's good. Maybe shining a light on this will bring it to a halt.
ReplyDelete