Greetings! My name is J.C. McKenzie, and I’m a self acknowledged bibliophile (book lover).
From the moment my mom handed me a Nancy Drew paperback in Grade 7, I haven’t successfully kept my nose out of a book. I adore all genres of fiction, but after reading Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber, the idea of the extraordinary living among the ordinary sparked my imagination.
I’ve been spinning urban fantasy and paranormal romance stories in my head ever since.
Today, I’m going to discuss work. Wait! Before you cringe and run away, hear me out.
In my latest release, SHIFT WORK (shameless plug below), the main character, Andy, faces a career change. No longer a cold, heartless assassin, she’s accepted employment with the local police department to help them in their fight against a new street drug.
While I was writing this story, I thought about all the different jobs I’ve had in the past–the good, the not-so-good, and the I’m-only-putting-up-with-this-crap-for-tuition.
One of my most memorable jobs was working as a fisheries observer for a marine research company, contracted by the Canadian Government’s Department of Fisheries & Oceans (DFO). I used to go out on commercial fishing vessels to monitor compliance to DFO regulations, conduct biological sampling and to estimate total catch and the percentage of species in each catch. This is a job I hated, and loved at the same time. The most fun part of my job was seeing a variety of rare and unique organisms that would get mixed in with the catch (and promptly thrown back overboard). I learned quickly how to pick up a wolf eel without getting punctured from their ridiculously sharp front teeth. And that if I found one, its mate was most likely somewhere else in the catch, so I’d better hurry and find it so I could release them together, alive. I also learned exactly how strong and dexterous the arms of an octopus are (Hello? I’m trying to save you from ending up as bait. Stop fighting me!).
I stood on the back of a swaying vessel in ten-foot swells with a machete in one hand and a slimy Dover Sole in the other. I mastered the skill of hacking open their heads to pluck out their otolith bones for sampling.
I watched a pod of over 100 porpoises ride our bow wave. I stood on deck while a Killer Whale and her calf swam beside us in the crystalline waters off of Prince Rupert, so close I felt I could’ve reached out and touched her dorsal fin. This job provided so many rich life experiences that are unique and hard to come by, but it had its downfalls. The difficult part of my job was the social aspect. It was nicknamed by a coworker as “the job of broken promises.” I never knew when I’d go out on a boat or when we’d come back. Being in my early 20s, this had a negative impact on my social life. Also, the pay stunk. I was on a hook-and-liner, in a bit of a storm, and the line snagged on something while the crew was reeling it in. The whole boat jolted and tilted. It was in that Titanic-esque moment, as I looked down the length of the boat into the churning black abyss of the Pacific Ocean (probably not nearly as drastic or dramatic as I remember it), that I had this thought over and over again. 
Instead of mapping out my path to my survival suit, I kept thinking “this isn’t worth $12.70/hour!” The line broke, the vessel righted, and the crisis averted in a matter of milliseconds, but after we came back to port, I gave my notice and never looked back.
My point is, besides reminiscing about an old job, is every job has its ups and downs. Sometimes, it’s hard to see the good when we’re faced with more bad. In my case, not even my love for biology and geeking out could outweigh the pitfalls of the fisheries position.
In Shift Work, my main character Andy, is also faced with the pros and cons of working for the Vancouver Police Department. Will she stick it out? Or will she decide to go another route? You’ll have to read to find out! (Again, shameless plug below).
My question for you: What was your favorite job, and why? What was your most hated? I’d love to hear from you.
SHAMELESS PLUG OF SHIFT WORK
Badass Shifter Andy McNeilly is running on empty. The death of a prominent supernatural being has her reeling. The invention of a new street drug has the police knocking on her door for assistance. And a friend needs her unique skills to help investigate a messy murder.
In the interest of paying the bills, paying it forward, and keeping the Supernatural Regulatory Division off her back, Andy once again slips through the dark streets of Vancouver’s seedy underworld. In the process, she uncovers secrets that threaten to derail her love life and her investigation. Can Andy capture a murderer, solve a mystery, and forgive her lover’s past? Or will the grime of the criminal world swallow her whole?
Buy Now: Amazon | All Romance | Barnes & Noble | Bookstrand | Chapters – Indigo | iTunes | Kobo | The Wild Rose Press
About the Author:
Born and raised on the Haida Gwaii, off the West Coast of Canada, J.C. McKenzie grew up in a pristine wilderness that inspired her to dream. She writes Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance.
Contact Information:
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25 COMMENTS
J.C. McKenzie
8 years agoAnd I didn’t realize when I scheduled this it would fall on Easter Monday! Happy Easter everyone!
Nikki Andrews
8 years agoAll-time fave–picture framer in an art gallery. Great boss, great co-workers. A perfect blend of craft skill, creative eye, and physical effort. See my cozy mystery Framed for a quick peek.(Sorry for the plug, J.C.)
All-time horror–admin assistant at Job-From-Hell, because I refuse to name the company. Bosses who thought 2 years in the military 50 years ago gave them license for misogyny, racism, foul language, and farting in public. But hey, great characters for me to kill off.
jcmckenzie
8 years ago AUTHORNo worries about the plus Nikki. Sounds like a fantastic job. And your job from hell sounds awful. Sounds like I was a receptionist for the same group of people. :-/ Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Laura Strickland
8 years agoMy favorite job is the one I have now–working with books,books, books all the time! (At a library system.) My least favorite? My mercifully short stint in the shoe department of a cut-rate bargain store. Soul destroying. I wound up clipping two left and two right shoes together and lasted less than a week. Funny story though–it turns out my future husband came into the department looking for boots while I worked there. I remember him. He was complaining about the crappy way the boots had been clipped together … We didn’t actually meet till several years later.
jcmckenzie
8 years ago AUTHORLOL! I have a hard time imagining anything to do with shoes as being “soul-destroying”, but I guess it’s different when you’re selling, not buying! Thanks for stopping by and commenting Laura, and I’m glad you found your favourite job. 🙂
Andrea Downing
8 years agoWow, JC you are one brave lady–I wouldn’t have done that work for a million bucks! My favorite job is writing (OK, so that’s a bit of a cop out but I’m leaving that.) My least fave–I was a lecturer (prof in US terms) at a British college which had courses for day release student/apprentices while I was there and I had to teach one–sort of General Studies. I was very young at the time and the students were all beefy young men who hated the course. One day one of them in the front row took out a switch blade and started cleaning his nails with it–I was NOT AMUSED. Very threatening I thought
jcmckenzie
8 years ago AUTHORWow, yes, I wouldn’t have been amused either. I used to teach at-risk students in BC before we moved to Saskatchewan and while it can be rewarding, it’s also very stressful and draining. I’m glad you found writing! Thanks for stopping by and commenting. 🙂
Marie Tuhart
8 years agoMy favorite job is being a writing. I know, cliche as it is. I love being my own boss, and being able to let my characters come to life.
Job I hated – when I was a service rep for the phone company – I have never been and will never be a sales person. I don’t mind offering my opinion but if someone says “no” that’s it for me. As a person I don’t like pushy sales people so I won’t do it.
jcmckenzie
8 years ago AUTHORLol! I tried to be a telemarketer during university. I lasted a week! I’m not good at being pushy either. 🙂
Colleen L. Donnelly
8 years agoFor me, and aspiring biologist (turned writer now), it was a bank job during the college years. And it wasn’t bookkeeping in their accounting area that was so torturous for me – learned all sorts of ways people steal from banks and eye-witnessed two very clever employees-gone-crook get nabbed – it was my supervisor that made life so unbearable during that time. Life wasn’t good to her, so it was her bookkeeping crew that suffered. I got that. And I still do. Coworkers are like family – they may choose to suffer along with us, but they should never suffer because of us.
jcmckenzie
8 years ago AUTHORUgh! The coworkers definitely make the job! Thanks for commenting!
Casi McLean
8 years agoI loved Nancy Drew too, and to swim with porpoises sounds amazing. Great article, JC. Best of luck with your writing!!
jcmckenzie
8 years ago AUTHORThanks Casi! I didn’t get to swim with them, but it’s pretty magical watching them up close. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. 🙂
Tena
8 years agoHey JC, what an interesting job. I love the ocean, on my terms. LOL I think my least favorite job was a paralegal for a huge insurance defense law firm. The hours were long and the work snooze worthy most of the time. However, it enabled me to hone my skills and later join a criminal defense law firm where it spent a lot of years.
Best wishes for lots of sales with Shift Work.
jcmckenzie
8 years ago AUTHORThanks for stopping by Tena! And LOL, yes. I love the ocean on my terms, too. The daily grind of a paralegal doesn’t sounds nearly as exciting as they make it look on TV. *sigh* Isn’t that always the way?
L. A. Kelley
8 years agoMy favorite job is writing (Yay!). My least favorite job was customer service. I had no patience for it. I’ll bet a teacher once told you there are no dumb questions. There are. If someone walks up to a customer service desk and the first question out of their mouth is “Is this Customer Service” then I should have been able to smack them. My boss wouldn’t allow it. Probably why we didn’t get along.
jcmckenzie
8 years ago AUTHORHahahaha! I used to work in customer service, too. There’s only so many times you can hear the same dumb question and not want to react with violence! Thanks for stopping by and commenting. 🙂
Maureen Bonatch
8 years agoLove the post! Very interesting! I’ll have to say my favorite aspect of one of my jobs- since the job overall had unfavorable issues with management etc- would be working as a psych nurse. I loved doing patient admissions and learning their story. My least favorite was my first job as a child working at a Bingo hall. Between the smoke and the cranky ladies…OYI. lol
jcmckenzie
8 years ago AUTHORThanks Maureen! I’m glad you enjoyed it. I can only imagine some of the stories you’ve heard as a psych nurse–inspiration for stories, maybe? That, and you probably never have to second guess your spelling of “psych”. That’s just one of those words I always struggled with. LOL. I love the image of you running around a smoke-filled bingo hall, dodging cranky old woman. Ha, ha, ha! Awesome. Thanks for stopping by and sharing 🙂
Karilyn Bentley
8 years agoLoved the post! I’ve gotta hand it to you, you’re a lot braver than me. I’d be puking over the side of the boat instead of checking out the catch. Motion sickness. 🙁 I get nauseous looking through a microscope. 🙂 My favorite job was working for a caterer. We got to take home the leftovers, which was great! Free food! It’s amazing what people will say in front of caterers b/c they see you as invisible or something. 🙂
Best wishes for many sales!!!
Anita Kidesu
8 years agoMy least favorite job was trimming Christmas trees in July. Lord, it was hot. The mosquitoes horrible, and the sap stuck to everything. I think I made about $1.00 an hour. Then when we were done, my brother and I had to walk two miles to get home. My favorite job – writing.
Susabelle Kelmer
8 years agoI know I am late to this party. It took me many years to get into my current field, which is definitely niche and rare (the job, that is). I love what I do, but I HATE the job. I know that makes no sense, but I work with students with disabilities in higher education. Ultimately, I’m a geek – I work with assistive technology and computers and produce hundreds of accessible textbooks every year for students with print disaibilities. That is the part of the job I love. I hate the politics of the department I work with, I hate the cheap ways of the campus I work on, and I am counting the years until retirement (less than 12). If I could do my job without all that extra stuff, I’d be a happy camper. 🙂
jcmckenzie
8 years ago AUTHORLOL Karilyn – you wouldn’t be the only one. But I practically grew up in and on the water, so the worst sea sickness I got was sleepiness or a headache. I’m fortunate that way, but I have a lot of other faults…so it all evens out 🙂 And I love free food! I would’ve been all over that! Thanks for stopping by and commenting 🙂
jcmckenzie
8 years ago AUTHORAnita – I abhor mosquitoes! I would’ve hated that job, too. Thanks for the visit! 🙂
jcmckenzie
8 years ago AUTHORHi Susabelle! Thank you for stopping by! I completely understand what you’re trying to say. That’s often how I feel about teaching. There’s a lot of things I love about the job, and my coworkers and admin this year are amazing, but all the paperwork, reporting, e-mails, learning improvement plans, etc, etc, somestimes feel like they get in the way of me doing the best job possible, which I hate.