New Book Release: Johnathan By Richard Brooke - Published by Elise Brooke

 Jonathan” By Richard Brooke, published by Elise Brooke.

Available for pre- order 27^th July on Amazon or direct from elisebrooke771@gmail.com

Summary:

The story starts in Yorkshire England in the 1940s, at the age of four his father, a Navy officer was called to fight as World War II broke out, leaving my father in their Mothers care, his older brother was moved off to boarding school. One night the famous Barton Docks were bombed, including the house they lived in, and they were lucky to be pulled out alive!

My father and his Mother moved to Manchester to live with his Aunt, time passed and his mother became more and more unwell, she was admitted to hospital for the foreseeable future. This left his elderly Aunt and Uncle to look after him, when his Uncle got sick and required more care the Aunt could no longer look after my father and sent him to a place called "Oxley Hall." A Lord and Lady lived there and helped out families of Naval officers in need.


It was not long before events beyond my father's control meant he was kicked out and moved on again. My father was now moved halfway across England to a place he referred to as "The Institute." My father seemed to have nowhere to call home, he suffered from loneliness and felt he didn't belong anywhere at the tender age of just fourteen. The "Institute" was a strict old-fashioned boys home, which my father described as prison! No one was allowed to leave the isolated country premises unless they had a visitor or went home for the holidays. My father never received any visitors and had nowhere to go during the holidays. He was stuck there! Until one day he decided to change that...

Elise Brooke

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INTERVIEWED an exiting employee, and here are 10 insights I would like to share with you:

1. Mental resignation happens long before. The physical resignation is the final act of a loss of hope.
2. You can’t try to appreciate someone on their way out. It is a little too late.
3. Money motivates only to a point. People rarely leave just for money.
4. Career progression is one of the biggest factors to retention. Every job plateaus. Create a career          path for each employee to ensure they stay motivated.
5. Once trust is broken, it's hard to regain.

6. Ensure managers in place uplift and coach employees, rather than criticize and belittle them.

7. Take time to listen to your employees input.

8. Happy employees will produce more than abused employees.

9. Boost employee morale by acknowledging and praising their good work as well.

10.Be empathetic not condecending. No one can look up to someone they cannot respect. 

Your employees are your most valuable asset. Don't take them for granted or treat them poorly. Loyalty is a two-way street.

Unseen (Latest WIP)

 

Unseen on Wattpad

Grace Thompson has had her life turned upside down in a blink of an eye. That morning started out like any other morning, her mom once again getting on her case about school and her failing grades. "I hate you" being the last words she uttered before her moms car was hit. 

The impact knocking Grace out and killing her mom instantly. No time for good byes or apologies. Her life and the one person she loved most now gone and with that so was her eyesight. Darkness now a part of her and the unseen a mystery she will never be able to shake.

Seven years later Grace makes her way into the workforce and still has a lot to prove as she faces new challenges and the unexpected feelings she seems to be developing for her boss, Maxwell Parker that she must fight at all cost. Can she, or will she give into the desires she so desperately wants to succumb to?

All Rights Reserved

NYS COVID 19 SICK PAY & GUIDELINES

Per NYS DOL guidelines employers are to provide employees who have tested positive up to 80 hours, 2 weeks sick pay in hopes one can recover and return to work without the fear of losing their own time or worse losing their job. Sadly employers are not conveying information on these leaves correctly and are basically forcing one to go out on disability or request paid family leave to avoid paying them at their regular paid rate for 10-14 work days.

They are counting your isolated days of quarantine. 10 total, as the days allotted and then including weekends when they know you only work Monday-Friday. Employees are currently working remotely so isolation at home isn’t a problem and you aren’t risking others but you still need more than ten days to recover fully from Covid 19. Symptoms do defer from one person to another but one should be allotted sufficient time to feel better before having their days depleted before even taking said time needed to fully recover.

As the CDC & NY State Department of Health has suggested since the onsetof Covid 19. Individuals who have tested positive can succumb to the following symptoms, which in actuality can be felt during onset of beng comntaminated or can begin days after testing positive. This in itself makes it impossible for one to recover within ten days. Coughing, Congestion, fatigue, body aches and fever can remain with you for weeks. Using the suggested isolation of 10 days as part of the days paid is egregious and even more so when the weekends are counted within said days allotted.

Case in point... Employee tested positive on 4/15/2021, was able to work until 4/21/2021 before the symptoms and fatigue became unbearable and time off was rquested. HR representative in charge of leaves requests written confirmation of positive test result, employee provides it, to then be told. "Your 10 days begin the day after you test positive. If you choose to take remainder of days left you are to take off going forward and must return to work on the 26th." Keep in mind employees symptoms did not begin right away, and they worked during the initial start of quarantine because they are working remotely anyway. The 21st was a Wednesday, so therefore HR is granting you the rest of that day, Thursday and Friday and including the weeend in your ten day total. Employee returns as suggested and has not had ample time to recover more or less focus. The employees stance is that HR should not be counting the days from isolation start but the day request for days were requested. Allow the 10 day count to begin as of onset of request if time requested was within the 10 day isolation period suggested by proviing a positive result, and for HR to follow the guidelines as outlined within the attached links.

It is to my understanding that a work week is based on the days one is actually paid for. Hence if you work Monday-Friday, weekends should not be counted as days paid. or alloted. Employers need to understand and convey empathy to those they employ. Covid 19 is not a simple cold. It takes a lot out of you and employers should be sympathetic and knowledgeable as far as fair treatment and ones health and mental state is concerned.

Employees should be led and guided as needed by their employers, but should also be very familiar with all guidelines in place. See PFL leave and read Overview section carefully, some employers will be able to suggest you have option of working from home so some benefits will not be available to you nor shared. Transparency as far as leaves go is never conveyed in a matter that will not meet employers need to produce, and sometimes they need to be reminded of their errors, so best to come at them with facts and knowledge that will assist you if you ever have to report or file a grienvance.

To the many who have suffered a loss, have gotten sick with Covid 19 and are still stuggling to get back to feeling normal I send you my heartfelt condolences, good vibes and healing prayers. This past year has been a strain but you are certainly not alone. ~ Susan B. Anna

"The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy." ~Meryl Streep

NATIONAL LAW REVIEW COVID 19 SICK PAY

NY PFL LEAVE FOR COVID19

Diversity, Inclusion & Equity in Today’s Workforce

 

In the wake of BLM, a new election and COVID-19 we seem to hear a lot about diversity, equity & inclusion as many employers try to diffuse what has been overlooked and ignored for years, their integrity and the lack of acknowledging the good employees that have diligently sat by and carried the weight of all the inadequate leadership teams they have been forced to call management.

To go from a wonderful employer, one once appreciated and boasted about due to room for advancement within, to a company that one just basically wants to meet the required years of service to retire from does not say much about you as an employer.  As laborers we understand there are a certain few who deserve to remain where they are. These individuals do not anticipate nor want change, so they don’t mind not having to tip the scales, but when you overlook the ones that work hard. You can guarantee that eventually you will deplete them and their desire to produce.

Diversity, Inclusion and Equity means all employees are treated as equals.  Seek your employees opinions and input and hold off as classifying it as a complaint. Ensure they belong by letting them have a voice that is heard and not ignored. Demonstrate you have their best interest at heart by hiring one within their peers to advocate on their behalf, so they do not feel intimidated or pressured. Provide them with all tools needed to ensure their job duties are performed with ease and most importantly stop micromanaging. You work with adults, treat them as such.

Show them you appreciate them by giving them comp time, a needed day off on you and recognizing their accomplishments. Send them off with a lasting memory once they put in for retirement, some have dedicated more than 30 years to your company. They deserve more than an exit package. They deserve to be in the spotlight and most of all praised. Take a look at the two quotes below. What type of employer are you? One who believes in true Diversity, Inclusion & Equity or one that is only following a recent trend. “We Achieve” greatness, when we have the right leaders paving the way.

 

“Inclusion is not bringing people into what already exists, it is making a new space, a better space for everyone.”  ~ George Dei

 

“Gender and racially diverse teams perform better, innovate more and improve economic equality.” Stephanie Lampkin  

                 

 

 

DAYS OF OUR LIVES

     As much as I hate to admit the fact I still watch Days of Our Lives after 37 years I hate to admit even more that the writers have been nothing more than inconsistent and unbelievable for the past few years.  Characters come back from the dead, years after they have been killed off the show, and ressurected by mad scientist. Characters go to jail for murder, kidnapping and rape and get to go free after a few months and don't let me get into the fact they have unlimited free time to call anyone they want and get a multitude of visitors while being held for questioning at the Salem Police Dept and even more so in prison. They escape prison, get caught, no solitary confinement and still allowed visitors so no additional time given. The list goes on and on. The stories become more and more unrealistic and the writers seem to think all viewers are clueless or lack the intelligence to see they are struggling to come up with acceptable and realistic story lines.  The ratings cannot be that great in recent years and these are the key points why.

Kristen DiMera, stabs Victor Kiriakis, goes to jail and is taken away from the love of her life Brady Black, the daughter she just recently got back as she was switched at birth with a stillborn and raised by another for a year. In prison she is allowed to make constant phone calls, escapes by holding her brother at gun point as she grabbed a gun, very easily I may add, from a correctional officer and is able to walk out of the prison with no one else noticing. Kristen later turns herself in, gets put back in jail to then come up with another plan. Pretend to be ditzy Susan Banks again as she feels being in prison will open up the door for her love to move on with another. The entire Kristen D'Mera plot is tiring. No one can get away with all she has and still be free to continue to wreck havoc. Her character is pathetic, selfish, insecure and downright insane. 

Ben Weston & Ciara Brady Weston, separated for months as she is assumed tohave died in a car explosion. Months later she resurfaces behind a glass partition wheere she is being kept against her will. The connection between her and Ben so intense they appear in each others dreams. He finally rescues her after nw being in areal explosion and can remember everyone else except him when she comes out of surgery. 

Clare Brady, wants so much to be loved. Tries to kill Ciara as she feels the only ones available to be with her are ore interested in Ciara, goes to a mental instituttion and once released falls for th first guy she meets who then ends up being a rapist who eventualy gets killed off. Find someone for her she can stay with, open up the door for additional supporting characters. This swapping men thing must also stop. 

To the writers currently in place I ask, please do better or hire someone who can make the characters shine.  You have thirty seven years of viewing experience here speaking, but my mental capacity can't take the bs you guys are continuing to put out. It's not only repetitive, but also a bore. 

All rights reserved ~ Susan B. Anna 

SWEET TYMES IN GOSHEN NY

 

As small businesses struggled during a citywide shutdown to make ends meet and remain open after a three month hiatus it was wonderful to see our local shops opening and our city begin to flourish, and even more so to get out of the house. explore our surroundings and become a bit more familiar with the small businesses that make Main Street pop.

A FLASHBACK IN TIME

Sweet Tymes in Goshen New York was one of our first stops and what a true delight that venture turned out to be as we were greeted instantaneously and the shop took you back to your childhood years and memories of the penny candy shop you frequented every time a family member gave you a quarter. They had everything from Charleston Chew to Plenty of Honey, an assortment of organic and regular jellybeans, and let us not forget Fudge for every season ready for one to sample.

The customer service was incredible and since that first visit I have returned with my son, my niece and a third time with a friend who quickly grew interested once I told her about the many delectable candies one cannot easily find anywhere else. Each visit was better than the last and each person I brought in had the same wow experience I had.

If ever in the Orange County NY area it is highly recommended that you make some time for Sweet Tymes, you will not be disappointed, and you certainly will not leave empty handed. Did I mention they also serve locally made ice cream? Come in person or visit their website at shoplocalocny.com.  Holiday treats also await. Support our local businesses. It is up to us.

All rights reserved ~ Susan B.Anna

Author Spotlight

~ Elise Brooke

My story from survival to thrive

 My name is Elise Brooke, I grew up in Hawkes Bay NZ.  My parents moved to NZ from England and South Africa to create their New Zealand Dream, this quickly turned into my New Zealand nightmare. I have written and published two autobiographies in my book series, "The New Zealand Dream,” by Sheila my pen name, I wrote this book to inspire and give hope to others.  

    Writing is a very powerful healing tool, sharing your story can  help others as well as help you on your healing journey. I am a writing mentor who can help people write their own story or with any writing project they are creating.

My passion is creative writing, I’ve been writing for 24 years in fiction, non-fiction, poetry and content. I have published many articles and guest posted on various sites. I conduct interviews on my website which I built from scratch to help promote my fellow writers and host guest postings to collaborate with other writers.

My website is mynzdreamblog.com. One can follow me on Instagram at mynewzealanddream, facebook at fb.me/mynewzealanddream or join us in the group “A Journey of Transformation.”

A brief about my books

    “The New Zealand Dream” is a story and account of my life so far.

You take a journey from birth, growing up in a beautiful countrytown. Moving to the suburbs, discovering New Zealand’s underground in book one; "The Seeds are Sown." Life has been astruggle and a uphill climb, I was born with learning difficulties that caused me challenges every day. My mother, who single-handedly raised my brother and I suffered from mental health problems. Idove into the drug and alcohol scene at a young age, growing up surrounded by violence and gangs. I escaped a religious occult, got married and had children. In book two; "Growth and Destruction,"before I hit the age of thirty, I was a divorced single mother. My support network passed away, and I sank into a world of abuse. I stayed trapped in an abusive relationship for over eight years untilone night he nearly killed me and I finally escaped.  Within these books  you will meet characters you may relate to and characters that will shock you.  "Come on read my story, it is aimed to assist and attest to one being able to cope with setbacks and bounce back."  Elise  

Visit me at my blog if interested in being mentored or just want to collaborate. I have other writers share their work and post, you can too @ mynzdreamblog.com

A message from Susan B. Anna, I met Elise via FB and was instantly a fan. Can't wait to read her work and continue to collaborate and grow with her leadership and guidance. As writers/authors it is important to continue to uplift and support fellow artists.  Thank you Elise for sharing your work with Bella Newsletters, Reviews & more. Interview coming soon as can't wait.  ~ Susan

All rights reserved ~ Susan B. Anna