Please Hold by Tricia Stewart Shiu

This book is just such compelling reading, I just could not put it down.

We all have been victims of haughty secretaries, the ones who guard their boss better than the most highly trained Rottweiler. Treat him like he is God, and they are the handmaiden honoured to be in his presence – when he needs something.

Perhaps you have been there, got the tee-shirt as they say. Or, have you ever considered what it was like to be that person, the executive assistant, at his beck and call? What are the women in these positions REALLY like? What did they have to sacrifice to get there?

Well, this book gives us a fly on the wall peak inside. The main character in this extremely entertaining story is Sarah Marks. At the beginning of the story she is assistant to Lance Cheroux, one of the Executive Vice Presidents of worldwide Feature Productions.

The saying that those who listen at doors only hear ill, is certainly true for Sarah when she overhears two ‘friends’ discussing her imminent transfer to the dreaded Building 99. Apparently, however, the rumours are true, Mr Cheroux’s career is about to take a tumble, and she is there, right alongside him. So they are caste out to the farthest reaches of the lot, somewhere only talked about in whispers.

Sarah is a complex young woman, hardworking and dedicated to her career, how can this be happening to her, she asks, her mentor Mary Tyler Moore. Someone she talks to all the time.

Why Mary Tyler Moore? Well Sarah has a troubled childhood, drunken father, eternally young mother… but the Mary Tyler Moore show was always there, offering advice, with Mary being a role model. So, who can blame a girl if she idolises her, literally…

However, the trials and tribulations of executive office life offer a bundle of laughs as we learn more and more about Sarah, her hopes, her dreams, and what makes her tick. We follow her as she rises from the ashes and is resurrected into the higher echelons once again.

That her life is difficult is an understatement. As we walk in her shoes, we finally understand what it is like to be an executive assistant in this high flying world, dealing with rivalry and back stabbing from all directions, oh, and of course those dreaded blisters from wearing high heels every day.

This is the first book by award winning author Tricia Stewart Shiu I have read, but it certainly won’t be the last, I just loved every page!

About the Author: A creative spirit from a young age, 25 time award-winning author, Tricia Stewart Shiu experimented with acting and wrote one-woman shows and plays. She produced a short performance piece, DOING LUNCH, which eventually made its way into a short film trilogy that won “Best Dramatic Short” at the Houston Film Festival. Shiu also directed a staged reading of a play she’d written called MARY, which was hosted by the Women’s Artist Group of Los Angeles. That play eventually became the award-winning novel, PLEASE HOLD. Not only does PLEASE HOLD offer a rare glimpse into the world of top tier gatekeepers, it also serves as a reminder that spirituality comes in many forms and no one should judge another before knowing the full story. Everyone’s journey to her own truth is layered and we all choose our path based on the highest form of guidance available. As we grow, so does our guidance. In this quirky slice of life story, Shiu draws from her extensive experience as a veteran, high-level executive assistant at one of the top six entertainment studios in Los Angeles.

About the book: FOREWORD BY HULU CEO, MIKE HOPKINS - Underdog Hollywood Executive Assistant battles big budget boss and receives miraculous aid from an unlikely source—a shrine to Mary Tyler Moore. 25 time award-winning author, Tricia Stewart Shiu's New Adult novel PLEASE HOLD, Winner of Best Unpublished Manuscript at the Southern California Book Festival and best first Chapter at the WildSound Festival, offers an insider’s look at the world of high-level studio executive assistants and one woman’s struggle to make sense of it all. Has she come a long way, baby? Only Mary knows. Not only does PLEASE HOLD offer a rare glimpse into the world of top tier gatekeepers, it also serves as a reminder that spirituality comes in many forms and no one should judge another before knowing the full story. Everyone’s journey to her own truth is layered and we all choose our path based on the highest form of guidance available. As we grow, so does our guidance. In this quirky slice of life story, Tricia Stewart Shiu, draws from her extensive experience as a veteran, high-level executive assistant at one of the top six entertainment studios in Los Angeles.

Available from Amazon in Paperback http://www.amazon.com/Please-Hold-Forward-Hulu-Hopkins/dp/099688160...

and Kindle format http://www.amazon.com/Please-Hold-Foreword-Hulu-Hopkins-ebook/dp/B0...