Today I am so pleased to welcome E.J. Russell to Joyfully Jay. E.J. has come to talk to us about her latest release, Cutie and the Beast. She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!
Clients, Not Patients
In one of the first rather confrontational conversations between David and Alun, Alun informs David that he doesn’t treat patients, he sees clients. David, who’s been fired from other medical and dental jobs, but never one in a psychologist’s office, is surprised, but willing to learn the correct terminology for his new job.
This is actually something David and I share. When my Curmudgeonly Husband and I decided to move from the San Francisco Bay Area to Portland, Oregon, we had an agreement—the first person to find a job would take it; the other person would stay at home with our Lovely Daughter (who was then a year old). At the time, CH was still working in theater (as a technical director), however even with two theater degrees under my belt, I was no longer employed directly in theater. I had moved on to work for a software company that developed ticketing and administrative programs for theaters and other non-for-profit companies that depended on ticket sales (science museums, for instance).
As it happens, I’m the one who found a gig first (although CH admits he didn’t try very hard). It wasn’t in theater or even in software. No, I landed a job as CFO of a community mental health agency that provided a wide range of services to residents of the county next door to Portland, on a sliding scale of ability to pay.
This may seem like a giant change in direction from my previous jobs, but it wasn’t that far off. With my second theater degree—an MFA in theater administration—I specialized in not-for-profit finance (the usual fiscal organization of most regional theaters). The accounting principles and reporting structures for a not-for-profit mental health agency were the same—we simply counted different things.
One my first lessons at my new job was that the people who walked through our doors, who received services from our clinicians, were called clients.
Soon after I started, my boss told me something else: the systems in place for mental heath coverage—private insurance, Medicaid, Medicare—held a definite bias in terms of eligibility. Age (either young or old), severity of diagnosis, endangerment, court-ordered treatment—all affected the likelihood that costs would be covered. He said, “It’s not fair, but if you’re an otherwise healthy adult who just needs to feel better, you’re out of luck.”
One of the things I never address in Cutie and the Beast is payment for services—and not just because it isn’t exactly a process that lends itself to deathless prose. I like to think that Alun—even though he’s a fictional character who’s a member of a mythological species—would see anyone in his community who needed help—even if it was only to feel better—regardless of their ability to pay.
Blurb
Temp worker David Evans has been dreaming of Dr. Alun Kendrick ever since that one transcription job for him, because holy cats, that voice. Swoon. So when his agency offers him a position as Dr. Kendrick’s temporary office manager, David neglects to mention that he’s been permanently banished from offices. Because, forgiveness? Way easier than permission.
Alun Kendrick, former Queen’s Champion of Faerie’s Seelie Court, takes his job as a psychologist for Portland’s supernatural population extremely seriously. Secrecy is paramount: no non-supe can know of their existence. So when a gods-bedamned human shows up to replace his office manager, he intends to send the man packing. It shouldn’t be difficult—in the two hundred years since he was cursed, no human has ever failed to run screaming from his hideous face.
But cheeky David isn’t intimidated, and despite himself, Alun is drawn to David in a way that can only spell disaster: when fae consort with humans, it never ends well. And if the human has secrets of his own? The disaster might be greater than either of them could ever imagine.
Bio
E.J. Russell holds a BA and an MFA in theater, so naturally she’s spent the last three decades as a financial manager, database designer, and business-intelligence consultant. After her twin sons left for college and she no longer spent half her waking hours ferrying them to dance class, she returned to her childhood love of writing fiction. Now she wonders why she ever thought an empty nest meant leisure.
E.J. lives in rural Oregon with her curmudgeonly husband, the only man on the planet who cares less about sports than she does. She enjoys visits from her wonderful adult children, and indulges in good books, red wine, and the occasional hyperbole.
Connect with E.J.:
- Website: ejrussell.com
- Blog: ejrussell.com/bloggery/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/E.J.Russell.author
- Twitter: twitter.com/ej_russell
- Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/ejrussell/
Giveaway
To celebrate the release of all three books in the Fae Out of Water series, one lucky winner across all three tours will receive a GRAND PRIZE of a $50 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on September 23, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.
Thanks for following the Cutie and the Beast tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!
- By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
- Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win.  The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
- If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
- Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
- Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
- All book prizes are in electronic format unless otherwise specified.
- By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
- Readers may only enter once for each contest. Â Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
- Void where prohibited by law.
This sounds great!
kimandpete123 at gmail dot com
It does sound like a job that would lend itself to stories!
vitajex(at)Aol(Dot)com
Congrats, E.J., and thanks for the mental health background. I have a psych background myself; and yes, it’s “clients,” and yes, if you think medical insurance is bad, well mental health coverage is a mess. Glad you have Alun taking the altruistic route. –
TheWrote [at] aol [dot] com
Finding ways to get people the help they needed was one of the major goals of my employer at the time. So important!
Thank you for the post. A lot of jobs uses the term clients. It’s considered professional to call them that and its a pretty generic term that applies to most fields.
humhumbum AT yahoo DOT com
I like Beauty and the Beast retellings. This sounds like a good one.
jlshannon74 at gmail.com
This sounds wonderful.
Debby236 at gmail dot com
I enjoyed the post and I never thought of the difference between patients and clients I found this very interesting. shirleyann2400 (at) gmail (dot) com
I love a good fairy tale, and beauty and the beast is my favourite, so this sounds just perfect for me!
susanaperez7140(at)Gmail(dot)com
I love the premise of this story! Â Plus it has a beautiful cover.
dfair1951@gmail.com
The cover design is by the wonderful Lou Harper, who did an amazing job on the whole series!
I’ve seen this book promoted and have been waiting to get my hands on it. Love the premise.
Thanks for the post!
legacylandlisa(at)gmail(dot)com
This is already on my TBR stack. I’m really looking forward to reading it. 🙂
aelnova@aol.com
Thank you, Jay, for hosting me today, and thanks to everyone who stopped by to help me launch Alun and David into the world!
Great to have you!
This sounds great! violet817(at)aol(dot)com
Welcome, E.J., and thanks for sharing details from your background. Cutie and the Beast sounds appealing!
I can’t wait to be drawn into this story! I love beauty and the beast spinoffs lol.
I still have dreams about working in MH finance… and they aren’t always good. Those insurance companies will send you running in circles
ashley.vanburen[at]gmail[dot]com
Congrats on the new release! And thanks for sharing your experience, it seems that when it comes to health most places are a mess to deal with it.