About the Author -- FINAL version

Anne Shier has been writing short stories since the mid-1990s but has mainly focused on them since 2004.  She published her first book, My Short Stories (Book One) in 2011.  She is currently employed full time as a teacher at Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute in Scarborough, Ontario, and primarily teaches computer studies subjects.  This coming year, she will be teaching business, as well.

          She has taught full time for more than thirteen years.  Prior to this, she taught at college part time for more than two years.  She attended university and college full time and did well in her English, social science and computer science courses.

          She is proud to be a mother and grandmother and currently resides in Ajax, Ontario, where she has lived for the last three-and-a-half years.  She has two roommates who are as much family to her as her own family members.

copyright 2013 – Anne Shier – all rights reserved.

Since December 2013:

Anne retired from full time teaching at Albert Campbell C.I. in June 2015 due to health issues and a desire to work further on her authoring activities.  Although she still loves teaching and the computer world; nevertheless, she feels the need to spend more time promoting her second book, My Short Stories (Book Two) in Canada and the United States.

          In April 2017, her second book is being promoted and sold in the LA Times Festival of Books.  Pacific Book Review had earlier done a thorough, impartial and excellent review of her book.  In fact, Pacific Book Review gave it a 5-star rating, good enough to be eligible for nomination for the Pacific Book Award.  And, at the same time, her book is also being promoted and sold in the Chapters and Indigo book stores throughout Canada.

          Anne only wishes that her readers will read her book and gives them the best way to obtain her book without paying shipping charges:  by buying the e-book or the audio book, readers can get the full benefit of her short stories without having to order, and pay for, a soft cover or hard cover version.  Check out her author web site for details on how to order the e-book or the audio book:  www.anneshier.com.

copyright 2017 – Anne Shier – all rights reserved.

(As written by the editorial staff of Authorhouse in 2013, the first part of this synopsis appears on page 211 of her book.) 

Introduction to "My Short Stories (Book Two)" - FINAL version

(as published by Authorhouse in 2013, it appears on pages ix and x of the book)

This book was written because I have an ongoing interest in people and their relationships.  I’m a people person.  I’ve worked in industry for at least 25 years and in schools for at least 13 years. The jobs that gave me the most satisfaction and happiness, by far, were those that dealt with people, such as serving customers over the counter, dealing with suppliers over the phone and teaching students in high school.  Whenever I had a job in which I had a considerate boss and friendly co-workers, that fact also contributed to my job satisfaction.  Sometimes I think about what the word “career” means to me, and I’ve decided that it includes all the collective experiences in life that contribute to who you are and make you a valuable person in society – someone who is happiest when contributing to the betterment of one’s fellow man.  In essence, as a teacher and author, all I really want to do is make other people’s lives better.

Although I don’t like to talk about this part of my life much, I’ve been married and divorced twice.  If there’s anything this has taught me, it’s that, just because you get married, it may not last forever, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still be happy.  You must find out who you are, accept yourself fully and be happy with yourself before you have any hope of making anyone else, such as a significant other, happy as well. 

     

The bottom line is that if you’re not happy with your job or your life, in general, it’s probably due, at least in part, to the quality of a relationship that you have.  I want to share my extensive life experiences with my readers in a fictional mode, as well as include some other experiences that I believe are valuable lessons to learn in life: nothing happens without a price to pay.  However, you can be happy if you are willing to put the time and energy into becoming the person you need and want to be.

A few of the stories in this book are sequels to stories that appear in my first book, My Short Stories (Book One), published in 2011.  The sequels are indicated by a “II” after the title.

Please visit my blog:  http://annie-myshortstories3b.blogspot.com. 

copyright 2013 - Anne Shier - all rights reserved

About the Book, "My Short Stories (Book Two)" - FINAL version

My Short Stories (Book Two) is a fictional collection about people, their relationships and the many things—love, sex, marriage, divorce, betrayal, seduction, and murder—that affect their daily lives.  The author delves into other topics as well, including alcoholism, drug addiction and identity theft, with the primary emphasis being the impact these things have on people’s lives.

My Short Stories (Book Two) is a glance into the lives of everyday people, and her insights will deeply move you.

copyright 2013 - Anne Shier - all rights reserved

(As written by the editorial staff of Authorhouse in 2013, this brief synopsis appears on page 213 of the book.)

Introduction to "My Short Stories (Book Two)" - FINAL version - by Anne Shier

(as published by Authorhouse in 2013 - on pages ix and x of the book)

This book was written because I have an ongoing interest in people and their relationships.  I’m a people person.  I’ve worked in industry for at least 25 years and in schools for at least 13 years. The jobs that gave me the most satisfaction and happiness, by far, were those that dealt with people, such as serving customers over the counter, dealing with suppliers over the phone and teaching students in high school.  Whenever I had a job in which I had a considerate boss and friendly co-workers, that fact also contributed to my job satisfaction.  Sometimes I think about what the word “career” means to me, and I’ve decided that it includes all the collective experiences in life that contribute to who you are and make you a valuable person in society – someone who is happiest when contributing to the betterment of one’s fellow man.  In essence, as a teacher and author, all I really want to do is make other people’s lives better.

          Although I don’t like to talk about this part of my life much, I’ve been married and divorced twice.  If there’s anything this has taught me, it’s that, just because you get married, it may not last forever, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still be happy.  You must find out who you are, accept yourself fully and be happy with yourself before you have any hope of making anyone else, such as a significant other, happy as well.   

   

          The bottom line is that if you’re not happy with your job or your life, in general, it’s probably due, at least in part, to the quality of a relationship that you have.  I want to share my extensive life experiences with my readers in a fictional mode, as well as include some other experiences that I believe are valuable lessons to learn in life: nothing happens without a price to pay.  However, you can be happy if you are willing to put the time and energy into becoming the person you need and want to be.

          A few of the stories in this book are sequels to stories that appear in my first book, My Short Stories (Book One), published in 2011.  The sequels are indicated by a “II” after the title.

Please visit my blog:  http://annie-myshortstories3b.blogspot.com.

 copyright 2013 - Anne Shier - all rights reserved.

My Recent Book Review by Pacific Book Review

Here is the link to my author web site --> www.anneshier.com.  Visit the REVIEWS page on my web site, which contains the link to the book review of "My Short Stories (Book Two)" click on the link, and read the review.

Anne's 30-Year Computing Career (Parts M - R --> from 1985 to 2015)-- by Anne Shier

My 30-year Career in Computing from 1985-2015 -- by Anne Shier Part M I was convinced by this time that teaching computer science was what I was meant to do with my life. I liked the kids in my classes; they appeared to like me back; and, I would not have had it any other way. Teaching was enjoyable and, through it, I could develop the kinder side of my personality - the part I liked most about myself. In the fall of 2000, I was finally offered a full-time teaching job at Don Mills C.I. and was thrilled to accept it.  I would spend the next 3 years there teaching a lot of different courses related to computers, but not necessarily computer programming - computer engineering, for one thing, was just another brand new thing I had to learn so that I could teach it. Fortunately, I was very interested in the course material (computer networking) and embraced this new task in my career quite happily.  Two years later, I had passed all of my teaching performance appraisals (4 of them) and was then given the much-coveted "permanent" status that I'd been seeking for so long.	Part N In my third year at Don Mills C.I., the Ministry of Education decided to do away with OAC (Ontario Academic Credits), which used to be known as Grade 13. I suppose it was thought that OAC was a wasted year in high school and that the entire high school curriculum could be taught in 4 years instead of 5. That was the year I was declared surplus (a procedure done in every public school annually).  Only now, I was in a position in which I had some documented teaching experience; I just had to hope that another school had a need for my particular skill set as a teacher. It was almost the end of the summer of 2003, just before the Labour Day weekend, when I got the telephone call to report to Albert Campbell C.I. I got this position for only one reason - because I could teach the Java programming language, a language I had managed to learn while teaching at Don Mills.
Part O I started teaching computer science at Albert Campbell that fall, thrilled to have been sent there.  I continued to be assigned to teach computer science courses, mostly to Grades 10 and 11.  Later, I was asked by the Business department to teach business technology, which consisted of teaching user software like Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint), Internet, and web page design to Grade 9. That was perfect for me.  Even later, I was asked by the head of computer science to teach computer engineering, a course that was included in the CS roster of courses at the time. A few years later, I was asked to teach Introduction to Business, which was not considered a computer-related course at all; still, I made it one by creating several PowerPoint presentations on the chapters of the Business textbook and uploading them all into a PickUp folder under my name, "Shier", for this course. Every student at Campbell has access to the PickUp folder no matter what courses they take. It's a very handy thing for students to have.  My teaching career was going gangbusters. In other words, I was having the time of my life at Campbell.	Part P While teaching at Campbell, I earned 2 additional AQ courses at UT-OISE during the next 3 summers (I took one summer off), finally earning my Computer Science Specialist certificate. I also made a decision to enroll in a certificate program in Information Technology at Ryerson U. that would span 3 years of part-time study. In fact, my IT and CS Specialist certificates allowed me to eventually reach the top of the salary grid. In conclusion, although I've had some setbacks and disappointments during my computing career, the moments that mean the most to me are my students' achievements.  I reasoned that if they succeeded in my classes, that meant I also succeeded as their teacher.  It's been an amazing feeling to have accomplished so much in just the last 15 - 17 years of teaching computer science as well as other courses. (I had also taught computer studies at Seneca College night school for a couple of years). Without any hesitation, I can say that teaching (especially teaching computer science) is, and has been, the best career I’ve ever had.
Part Q  Public school teachers in Ontario have suffered much in the last few years because the Province of Ontario is broke; the TDSB is broke; and, when it comes to looking for scapegoats, teachers’ salaries, benefits, and working conditions have all traditionally come under attack. So far, we are hanging together since our union, OSSTF (Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation), has instructed us very wisely about how to act as a group during these hard times.  We know we are a strong group and we will not capitulate easily to external, or even internal, employment pressures.	Part R I am just one of those very lucky individuals who was in the right place at the right time and was thus able to take advantage of an opportunity to teach that I'd wanted for a very long time.  But, I cannot say that up-and-coming teachers in the future are going to have the same kind of opportunities I’ve had; nevertheless, I wish them all the very best.  I'll soon be retiring with a full pension that reflects the fact that I finally made it to the top of the salary grid and stayed there for at least 5 years, so I guess you could say, I am very lucky indeed to have had this wonderful teaching career for as long as I have.

Anne's 30-Year Computing Career (Parts G - L --> from 1985 to 2015) -- by Anne Shier

My 30-year Career in Computing from 1985-2015 -- by Anne Shier Part G After I graduated, with honours, from Seneca College, I was hired for 1 year at Seneca College (Don Mills campus) to tutor first year students of the CPA diploma program in Math and computer programming.  That year, I learned more about how to teach program-ming than I ever could have expected.  It taught me that I could teach programming for one thing, and that I wanted to teach programming full-time.  It was only a question of whether I could get a job in a college or a high school.  Since I was still a qualified high school teacher, I applied to the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) in the hopes that they were in hiring mode, if not for teachers of teenagers, for teachers of adults enrolled at day school. I also applied to other places while waiting to see what lay in my teaching future.  I sent my job application to RBC-FG (Systems & Technology) and, a week later, I got a call to attend an interview with a man named Jeff.  He hired me right away to work for him in RBC's Telephone Banking System.  I had never had any exposure to telephone banking or to mainframe computers, only to the COBOL programming language that RBC used.  However, I was to learn a great deal about mainframes, banking systems, and computer networks while on the job at RBC. This company was working on automating a lot of its employee (human resources) functions so that employees could apply for and modify their own benefit packages online. I was working in a state-of-the-art computer network environment that involved mainframes, PCs, and Mac computers.  It was an awesome experience that would benefit my computer career for years to come.	Part H That was year 1 of being at RBC. Then, my boss, Jeff, got transferred to another department by his boss, Danny, and I got a new male boss, Mike. Neither Mike nor I saw eye-to-eye about anything from day 1 of his sojourn with the Telephone Banking System (TBS).  I'd been getting along with all my colleagues and bosses (like Danny on up), but Mike was on my case from the moment he arrived at our department.  I did my best to do my job thoroughly and accurately, but somehow, it was never enough.  Mike continued to give me barely acceptable performance appraisals (we had to have at least 4 per year) and I was getting more and more frustrated with him and with RBC as time went by.  Finally, push came to shove and, after explaining my situation to Danny and his boss, Len, I was finally given permission to look for another position somewhere else, either in another RBC department or outside the bank.  Danny told me that I would keep my seniority and employee benefits if I stayed at RBC, but I would also get a good reference from him if I could not stay.  It was no-brainer; I had to go somewhere else, anywhere else, in order to survive.
Part I One day, I got another interview at RBC, this time with a woman named Gwen. She and I liked each other immediately and she hired me to come and work for her. This time, I would be working in the Indirect Lending System (ILS), with which I was also unfamiliar. So what? I thought. I can do this. I can do new and challenging jobs that I've never done before.  And, I was very successful in this group, considering that Gwen left RBC just a couple of weeks later. That left me in charge of the technical part of ILS and I was thrilled, mostly because it was like a promotion except that I sort of inherited the position. Nevertheless, I did very well as the sole Technical Systems Analyst for the ILS group for the next year or so.	Part J However, as the economy was still deteriorating, RBC had to make some tough choices right after their required Y2K testing was completed in preparation for the arrival of year 2000. In November 1999, I was informed that my services were no longer required at RBC, along with 2,999 other technical employees.  I got a lump sum severance payment equal to half a year's salary and I was determined not to waste that money or my time in waiting around for another job to just drop into my lap. It was now time to re-visit my old application at the TDSB to see if there was still hope of becoming a teacher (half- or full-time, I didn't care which). I wanted to teach computer science, but to get any recognized teaching experience, I had to land a teaching job somewhere (in Toronto, hopefully) - supply teaching was not going to get me what I needed anymore. And, landing a teaching job was going to be the biggest challenge for me yet.
Part K When I followed up on my TDSB application, which for some reason was circulating around various high schools, I got an offer I couldn't refuse. The head of the computer science department at Winston Churchill C.I. called me and asked me to come in for an interview, barely three weeks after I'd left RBC. His name was Doug. He and the principal wanted to discuss a predicament they were in.  They had just fired a teacher in the CS department for incompetence and they now needed a certified teacher who knew computer programming, specifically the Turing programming language. It turned out that I fit the bill as far as they were concerned and they offered me a long term occasional (LTO) position, which would only last until the end of the semester (2 and a half months away), but (most importantly) would give me required documentable teaching experience - something I sorely needed in order to move ahead in my "new" teaching career. I accepted their offer gladly.	Part L My LTO position at Winston Churchill, though challenging to complete, set the stage for my next LTO, which would start immediately after this one.  It would be at Stephen Leacock C.I. and would also involve teaching Turing, which by now, I was comfortable with. But, after suffering a horrific car accident on the way home from work one sunny afternoon in April 2000, I spent the next 8 months recovering from it and, during the summer, took what is normally referred to as an AQ (Additional Qualification) course so that I could become a fully qualified computer science teacher. This AQ course would allow me to be hired on as a full-time contract teacher, ultimately. It had taken me almost 25 years to accomplish this feat, which is saying a lot considering that I had graduated as a teacher in 1976.