Welcome to my weekly feature where authors share about the hobbies, careers, or passions of their characters.
I’m pleased to introduce today’s guest, Marilyn Barr…
Dear Readers,
It has been a difficult few months on the job but I have finally found my bearings at Bergan Pharma. Despite my multiple FDA filings for innovative drug products and tireless hours working for pennies, nothing prepared me for the unique (dare I say supernatural) challenges as their Director of Regulatory Affairs. My new coworkers have worked their magic to take the world stage as the leader in biologics despite choosing to have their headquarters in the middle of nowhere: Strawberry, Kentucky. I have three new biologic drug products to bring to market in the coming months and if we work around the clock, the company will make more money then we can spend in a lifetime. It is these leadership qualities they wanted when they hired me. No one can drive a pharma company like me.
It was a hard sell to my wife and son, but eventually, they saw the benefits of living over an hour’s drive from the nearest school or town center. I am so excited they are moving into our new home tomorrow. I can hardly stay away even though I relocated to Strawberry Kentucky alone months ago. Gifting my wife a giant plantation home with acres of gardens was a stroke of genius on my part. No more sensory overload from her job at the garden center. She can manage her sensory processing disorder in isolation. I assume it is what she wants but our truce right now is shaky at best. It is my hope that a new town and a fresh start will bring us back from the brink of divorce.
Perhaps she will be happier with no more meetings with the principal about our son’s disciplinary problems. He will be homeschooled by her. I am grateful to Brad and the Board of Directors of Bergan Pharma for their generous signing bonus, so I could make this happen, including my new BMW. They simply made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. If only I had known the unwritten job duties and how they would turn my world upside-down, when I signed on. How did I score such a deal? I explain it on my drive home through the hills of Kentucky in Strawberry Shifters Book 1: Bear with Me:
“It had been an early Christmas present when the head-hunter called me about Bergan Pharma. They needed someone to get their products approved by the FDA, which is my specialty. You could say I possess a certain set of skills coveted by the industry, but less James Bond and more Bob Cratchit. Up until that call, I hopped from one slave driver to the next. Every company promised innovations but really, they were all the same.
First, a trust-fund kid parties through undergrad who uses a nerdy “friend” to barely slide through with a degree in something dumb like underwater basket weaving. Next, they build a start-up pharma company and the nerdy friend drives a group of employees into the ground for the success of “their” invention. Finally, the partners have a happily ever after of saving a little slice of the world while making the big bucks.
They marry and have kids to start the cycle over. It’s my job to make all the bar napkins, lab books, scrap paper musings, and alcohol-fueled business models into a cohesive professional package. Sometimes I am assigned a minion to help me, like a blue-haired neighbor or barely legal “friend” of the boss to manage the dozen boulder-sized binders.
I have over forty New Drug Applications— miracle-working piles of binders otherwise known as NDAs—somewhere in the FDA pipeline. They have been filed with five different companies. My name is all over their site as a name for inquiries only, never profit share. My bosses have always obliged with a signature for that part.”
My wife asked that I learn to listen to her in our months apart. When she arrives in Strawberry tomorrow, she will see I’m a changed man. No more struggling to get by, no more putting work before her, and no more tuning her out. I have it all: the dream job, the flashy car, the plantation home, and a fresh start for my family. What could possibly go wrong? Follow my family on their adventure in the wilds of rural Kentucky in Strawberry Shifters Book 1: Bear with Me.
Best regards,
Grant Luther
Amazon Buy Link: Amazon
Author Bio:
Marilyn Barr currently resides in the wilds of Kentucky with her husband, son, and rescue cats. When engaging with the real world, she is collecting characters, empty coffee cups, and unused homeschool curricula.
She has a diverse background containing experiences as a child prodigy turned medical school reject, biodefense microbiologist, high school science teacher, homeschool mother of a savant, and advocate for the autistic community.
She would love to hear from readers via her website: http://www.marilynbarr.com.
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