Month: January 2022

This and that January 07, 2022

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I need a little writing therapy so here we are. I don’t have anything in particular on my mind though.

I heard a loud noise earlier, it sounded like something tipped, rolled, and fell over. I went all over the house trying to see what happened. Nothing. I was listening to two guys doing their weekly op-ed type podcast and since I couldn’t find anything in the house I thought maybe one of them had knocked something over at their place. Didn’t seem likely but you never know, right?

In the quiet aftermath of their show ending I heard downspouts rattling on the roof. A storm rolled in when I wasn’t paying attention. The wind must have been strong to make a noise loud enough to be heard over the cranked up volume.

Hopefully the storm won’t blow as hard all night as it is right now. The forgotten bedroom window is open a crack and it’s frozen in place so it can’t be closed. The wind whistling in a narrow space makes a lot of noise, it will be interesting trying to sleep if it keeps this up. Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow and thaw it enough so that it can be closed.

Along with the wild wind tonight we have a blowing snow advisory. That’s one drawback to fine powdery snow, it doesn’t take much wind to move it around. I’m grateful for my neighbor! If the promised amount happens he has plans to clear it out.

Speaking of podcasts, I was listening to another favorite tonight and at one point he was going on a bit of a rant trying to warn his listeners that the people posing as him, asking for money, are scammers. It must happen a lot because he seems to address this on a regular basis. It mostly happens for him on Facebook.

I haven’t had anyone approach me on line but I’ve noticed the scammer phone calls have come up with wild schemes that unsuspecting people could fall prey to. Hopefully people will be suspicious of anyone posing as a bank or some other institution, or of anyone at all asking for money. Never trust someone asking for money.

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So currently I have two things on the go, aside from listening to podcasts. Another read and my Christmas puzzle. The book is a two in one, it includes a full length bonus mystery. I wasn’t sure how I would like them, story one started out like another one from WWII. I was glad to find it was just the introduction, the main part of the story was present day. In the end I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read so far.

A Christmas Eve Promise: a story of hope and joy

It’s December 1941. Thomas is in his third year of college and is about to propose to Emily, his high school sweetheart. But the attack on Pearl Harbor has shocked the nation and is threatening to keep them apart. On a snowy, romantic Christmas Eve, he makes a life-changing promise to her. But fulfilling it will require everything of him and will lead to generational consequences he never could have imagined. Now is the time for a story of hope and joy.

BONUS BOOK INCLUDED: The Lakeside Conspiracy. Max and Michelle Henry had the perfect marriage and an ideal life in the small town of Lakeside, Arkansas where Max is the football coach and Michelle is a teacher. But when Max discovers the police are covering up the death of his star player will he and Michelle uncover secrets someone is ready to kill over?

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One thing for sure; podcasts and puzzles go well together.

Time gets away on me when I find something to get lost in, like two more podcasts. It’s time to quit and get out of here.

It’s been nice chatting with you.

Happy reading…

…and maybe listening to some good podcasts.

Bargain books January 07, 2022

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1531 Entertainment has bargain suggestions for us. Mysteries that look interesting.

The Barrister and the Letter of Marque

As a barrister in 1818 London, William Snopes has witnessed firsthand the danger of only the wealthy having their voices heard, and he’s a strong advocate who defends the poorer classes against the powerful. That changes the day a struggling heiress, Lady Madeleine Jameson, arrives at his door.

In a last-ditch effort to save her faltering estate, Lady Jameson invested in a merchant brig, the Padget. The ship was granted a rare privilege by the king’s regent: a Letter of Marque authorizing the captain to seize the cargo of French traders operating illegally in the Indian Sea. Yet when the Padget returns to London, her crew is met by soldiers ready to take possession of their goods and arrest the captain for piracy. And the Letter–the sole proof his actions were legal–has mysteriously vanished.

Moved by the lady’s distress, intrigued by the Letter, and goaded by an opposing solicitor, Snopes takes the case. But as he delves deeper into the mystery, he learns that the forces arrayed against Lady Jameson, and now himself, are even more perilous than he’d imagined.

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The Domino Effect by Davis Bunn

A Financial Thriller That Will Keep Readers on the Edge of Their Seats

Esther Larsen, a leading risk analyst at one of the country’s largest banking institutions, is becoming more and more convinced that she has uncovered a ticking bomb with the potential to overshadow 2008’s market crash. And as her own employer pursues “investment” strategies with ever-increasing levels of risk, she becomes convinced she must do something. Yet what can one person really do?

The markets are edging closer to a tipping point–like the teetering first domino in a standing row that circles the globe. And when Esther does sound the alarm, she wonders if anyone will take her seriously. But as public support grows for her ideas, so does the desperation of those whose conspiracy of greed she seeks to expose. With global markets on the brink, and her own life in danger, Esther is locked in a race with the clock to avert a worldwide financial meltdown.

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I stumbled over an irresistible Susan Sleeman bargain suggestion.

Night Moves: (Nighthawk Security Book 4)

If you’re in his sights…

County social worker, Natalie Dunn discovers a horrible secret about the father of her juvenile clients. The man not only killed one woman, but Natalie suspects he’s killed several others. She plans to go to the authorities, but before she can, the killer turns his sights on her. Fearing for the lives of this man’s children, she removes them from their home and calls in former U.S. Marshal, Drake Byrd of Nighthawk Security to protect her and the children and help her prove their father is a ruthless killer

You’re as good as dead.

As they investigate, Drake learns the father is a former elite sniper and assassin, and he has done a professional job of hiding any evidence of his wrong doing. Drake vows to protect Natalie and the three children—all of whom he has come to care for—putting everything on the line for them. When bullets start flying, can he save them all from a certain death?

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You know it has been a good day for books when we have popular authors involved. All three look to be great reads.

It’s another cool day here with an extreme cold warning. That usually means there will be a hefty wind chill that will cut right through you. I hear it’s supposed to warm up a bit and bless us with more snow. In this part of the country we don’t complain about snow, the winter sports enthusiasts love it. Besides it’s dry and fine and doesn’t accumulate all that much. It will never reach the top of the doorways like it can with wet snow.

Staying inside where it’s warm, it won’t be a boring weekend with awesome books to read.

I hope you are happy reading too.

Free and bargain books January 06, 2022

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BookBub and 1531 Entertainment have bargain suggestions for us. I’ve read the first one. The second one is new to me.

Runaway Tide (Sea Glass Inn Book 2)

“You meant the world to him, cara mia …”

Meg finds herself at a crossroads when ex-flame, Jackson Riley, becomes her boss. She had made a promise to Jackson’s late father to stay working for the chain of inns, but how can she now?

After years away, Jackson has something to prove … to his family and to Meg. But after mounting conflicts with one of Jackson’s family members bubble over, Meg must decide if her promise is worth keeping.

Will a spontaneous trip to the ancient city of Florence, Italy have the power to reignite lost love? 

Or push Jackson and Meg even farther apart?

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The Dress Shop on King Street (Heirloom Secrets Book #1)

Harper Dupree has pinned all her hopes on a future in fashion design. But when it comes crashing down around her, she returns home to Fairhope, Alabama, and to Millie, the woman who first taught her how to sew. As Harper rethinks her own future, long-hidden secrets about Millie’s past are brought to light.

In 1946, Millie Middleton–the daughter of an Italian man and a Black woman–boarded a train and left Charleston to keep half of her heritage hidden. She carried with her two heirloom buttons and the dream of owning a dress store. She never expected to meet a charming train jumper who changed her life forever . . . and led her yet again to a heartbreaking choice about which heritage would define her future.

Now, together, Harper and Millie return to Charleston to find the man who may hold the answers they seek . . . and a chance at the dress shop they’ve both dreamed of. But it’s not until all appears lost that they see the unexpected ways to mend what frayed between the seams.

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My current read is enjoyable and it is still FREE. I’m not too far into it but I’m definitely engaged in this story with it’s characters.

Her Hope Discovered (Welcome to Ruby Book 1)

Is the sure thing worth risking for the possibility of maybe?​

Charla Winthrop, a savvy business woman seeking a permanent lifestyle change in small-town Ruby, learns that things aren’t always what they appear when she takes up residence in a house steeped in charm and a hint of mystery.

Rumor has it that Sam Packard the town carpenter is her go-to guy for home remodeling, but can Charla convince him to help her—with no strings attached, of course?

Alone far too long, Sam’s prayed that God would send him a wife and a mother for his daughters. However, the new Ruby resident is hardly what he imagined. A new place to call “home,” the possibility of what might be, and the answer to someone’s prayers unite this unlikely pair with the help of the town’s residents.

Nestled in the Ozarks’ hills and hollows is Ruby, Missouri, a quaint, cozy town where “neighbor” is merely another word for “friend.” Ruby will charm and delight as will her quirky, lovable characters who will steal your heart, but hand it right back—with whipped cream and a cherry on top. Savor your new friends’ sorrows and successes in the community where offbeat is perfect and mishaps and mayhem never tasted so good.

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Happy Reading!

Free and bargain books January 05, 2022

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BookBub has a mystery collection for us. There are three books and I’ve read one of them. I’ve met and enjoyed the other two authors, but have not read these books.

The Cost of Betrayal: Three Romantic Suspense Novellas 

In Dee Henderson’s novella “Betrayed,” Janelle Roberts is freed–thanks to people she doesn’t know–after serving six years of a twenty-year sentence for a murder she did not commit. But a murderer is still at large, and Janelle needs to be somewhere safe with someone she can trust. She may not survive another betrayal.

In Dani Pettrey’s “Deadly Isle,” Tennyson Kent is trapped on the isolated island of her childhood by a storm surge, and she is shocked when the typically idyllic community turns into the hunting grounds of a murderer. Cut off from any help from the mainland, will she and first love Callen Frost be able to identify and stop a killer bent on betrayal before they become the next victims?

In Lynette Eason’s “Code of Ethics,” trauma surgeon Ruthie St. John saves the life of Detective Isaac Martinez. After a betrayal leads to him getting shot and then attacked while in recovery, Isaac is now a key witness determined to testify. But someone is intent on silencing him–and those around him–forever. Together, Ruthie and Isaac go on the run, desperate to escape the killers hunting him. 

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BookRunes has a FREE suggestion with an author new to me. After reading the first few pages I’m excited about reading this one.

Her Hope Discovered (Welcome to Ruby Book 1) 

Is the sure thing worth risking for the possibility of maybe?​

Charla Winthrop, a savvy business woman seeking a permanent lifestyle change in small-town Ruby, learns that things aren’t always what they appear when she takes up residence in a house steeped in charm and a hint of mystery.

Rumor has it that Sam Packard the town carpenter is her go-to guy for home remodeling, but can Charla convince him to help her—with no strings attached, of course?

Alone far too long, Sam’s prayed that God would send him a wife and a mother for his daughters. However, the new Ruby resident is hardly what he imagined. A new place to call “home,” the possibility of what might be, and the answer to someone’s prayers unite this unlikely pair with the help of the town’s residents.

Nestled in the Ozarks’ hills and hollows is Ruby, Missouri, a quaint, cozy town where “neighbor” is merely another word for “friend.” Ruby will charm and delight as will her quirky, lovable characters who will steal your heart, but hand it right back—with whipped cream and a cherry on top. Savor your new friends’ sorrows and successes in the community where offbeat is perfect and mishaps and mayhem never tasted so good.

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Visiting with four tall grandsons for a day was a wonderful and exhausting experience. I can hardly wait to do it again.

Sleep is looking very attractive right about now though, so I’m going to say…

Happy Reading!

Until tomorrow.

Bargain books January 04, 2022

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1531 Entertainment has bargain suggestions for us. Several authors I’ve read and one new to me. The new one first.

Texas Twin Abduction (Cowboy Lawmen Book 1) 

This twin’s past is a blank…

And she might not have a future.

Waking up in a bullet-ridden car with a bag of cash and a deputy insisting she’s his ex-fiancée, Ashlee Taylor has no memory of what happened—or of Lawson Avery. But with her twin missing and someone hunting her down, she must trust him with her life.

Can Lawson save her and her sister—even as Ashlee’s forgotten secrets become an inescapable trap?

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Sean Donovan (The Californians Book 3) 

Caught in his first bank robbery, Sean Donovan is sentenced to hang. But Charlotte Cooper, who needs a blacksmith for her livery, has other ideas.

By law, a woman of good standing in the community can save a man from the gallows by marrying him. Humbled by the dramatic rescue and renewed in his faith, Sean’s heart goes out to his new bride, a woman whose past has prompted her to guard her heart.

Could the talk around town be true? Is the fiercely independent Charlotte falling for Sean Donovan?

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All She Ever Wanted

All She Ever Wanted is the emotion-packed story of three generations of women: Kathleen, her mother, Eleanor, and her grandmother, Fiona. Each woman left home to escape her family’s past and to start a new life.

Kathleen has been estranged from her family for 35 years, and she is torn between the need to forgive and the urge to forget. Hoping to find answers that will patch the wounds of her tattered heart and salvage her relationship with her daughter, Kathleen embarks on a journey into her family’s mysterious past.

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My thoroughly enjoyable current read:

Crime Strikes a Chord (The School of Hard Rocks Mysteries Book 2)

With Christmas fast approaching and Grand Isle Music Conservatory’s big show to oversee, Camryn Paine has plenty to keep her occupied. Add a request to locate a stolen—and possibly cursed—Stradivari violin into the mix, and she fears it’s more than she can handle. After some pressure from her boss, Camryn agrees to investigate.

Things take an alarming turn when a suspect is found dead. Then someone from Camryn’s past appears with a secret that turns her world upside down. Suddenly, her busy Christmas seems perilous as well.

The more clues Camryn uncovers, the deeper she sinks into danger. With the holidays upon her, and both her past and future feeling uncertain, Camryn knows she can’t rest until she has answers. But the cost may be more than she’s willing to pay.

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Happy Reading…

…on this cloudy, slightly warmer inter day.

Yesterday I heard a rumor that my grandsons and their dad are going ice-fishing today.

Sitting beside a hole in the ice while the wind blows does not sound like my idea of a good time.

Judging by the number of times they do this each winter, I have to think they must love it.

Brrrr.

I’ll stay home cuddled up in the warm with my book, thanks anyway.

They know better than to even ask 🙂

Why relationships fail and what to do about it. January 04, 2022

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Do you ever wonder if as a traumatized person you could break the dysfunctional cycle and connect with a healthy person. I’ve wondered, many times.

I found this podcast had so much hope and inspiration to share. There was a wealth of helpful information and advice on how to become a healthier person, equipped to recognize old patterns and ways to avoid them.

Pitfalls in partnering with a healthy person were also addressed. We gravitate to the familiar. To the abused and traumatized, dysfunctional is familiar. Healthy is not. It would be easy to reject the unfamiliar to our own detriment.

Psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb has written a popular book called Maybe You Should Talk to Someone.

I am teetering on the brink of buying her book.

Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed

One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose of­fice she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
 
As Gottlieb explores the inner chambers of her patients’ lives — a self-absorbed Hollywood producer, a young newlywed diagnosed with a terminal illness, a senior citizen threatening to end her life on her birthday if nothing gets better, and a twenty-something who can’t stop hooking up with the wrong guys — she finds that the questions they are struggling with are the very ones she is now bringing to Wendell.
 
With startling wisdom and humor, Gottlieb invites us into her world as both clinician and patient, examining the truths and fictions we tell ourselves and others as we teeter on the tightrope between love and desire, meaning and mortality, guilt and redemption, terror and courage, hope and change.
 
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is rev­olutionary in its candor, offering a deeply per­sonal yet universal tour of our hearts and minds and providing the rarest of gifts: a boldly reveal­ing portrait of what it means to be human, and a disarmingly funny and illuminating account of our own mysterious lives and our power to transform them.

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For me, another take-away from the podcast was an unexpected point of view on narcissism.

I’ve decided on the book. I’m going to enjoy it if it’s anything like the podcast and I think it will be.

Happy Viewing and Reading

Free and bargain books January 03, 2022

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LPC Free Books has several FREE suggestions. They both showed up in 2019 and they are on my read and enjoyed list.

Hidden Things (Faded Photographs Book 2)

Kylie had her life all planned out—with marriage to Matthew and a “happily-ever-after” in their sleepy Wisconsin hometown. But when she opens a wedding invitation and a decades-old faded photograph falls out, she uncovers a side of her mother Kylie never suspected.

As she digs into the past, Kylie uncovers a whole world of hidden surprises, including grandparents she never knew existed. Suddenly, Kylie faces a choice between two worlds—and doesn’t feel she fits in either. As the past changes, so does her future with Matthew.

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A Place Called Morning

Mae Demaray retreats from life after her young grandson dies accidentally while under her care.

What was once a quiet life in an old clapboard house on a quiet Minneapolis street, rich with the hues of security and love, is now shattered. But a decades-old family secret, based on an unlikely friendship over the years, brings redemption and restoration once it is revealed.

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1531 Entertainment has a bargain mystery for us. I’ve read and enjoyed this book too.

Threads of Suspicion (An Evie Blackwell Cold Case)

Evie Blackwell’s reputation as a top investigator for the Illinois State Police has landed her an appointment to the governor’s new Missing Persons Task Force. This elite investigative team is launched with plenty of public fanfare. The governor has made this initiative a high priority, so they will have to produce results–and quickly.

Evie and her new partner, David Marshal, are assigned to a pair of unrelated cases in suburban Chicago, and while both involve persons now missing for several years, the cases couldn’t be more different. While Evie opens old wounds in a close-knit neighborhood to find a missing college student, David searches for a private investigator working for a high-powered client.

With a deep conviction that “justice for all” truly matters, Evie and David are unrelenting in their search for the truth. But Evie must also find answers to the questions that lie just beneath the surface in her personal life.

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Happy Reading y’all

Have you experienced trauma? January 03, 2022

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How can you know? One in four women and one in six men have experienced trauma/abuse with many of them not recognizing that they have. Even more recognize the abuse but have not acknowledged or shared it.

Unaddressed trauma is often the root cause beneath many health issues. Heart disease, auto immune disorders being the most common.

Yesterday I discovered a popular podcast dedicated to helping people live better lives and I enjoyed it enough to subscribe. Today’s interview is with an experienced psychiatrist and author of a new book on the subject of trauma, and it deals with today’s question.

I’m sharing this because helpful resources are so important in our healing journey.

I hope you find this as helpful as I did.

We can never see too many of these podcasts. We need to hear this information over and over again. Partly because we are in a different place with each step forward and we are able to take it in in a way we couldn’t on an earlier step.

And, we need to hear the information again because it reinforces earlier hearings and eventually is able to take dominance over the negative narrative we’ve lived with forever.

Happy Viewing!

Free book January 02, 2021

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BookRunes has a FREE suggestion for us. I have read one other book by this author, This story doesn’t look to be a frivolous read, which is always nice.

The Ruthless Billionaire: A Clean Billionaire Romance (California Elite)

He needed to marry one of the women on his father’s list. She wanted to find her missing brother. Neither of them counted on falling in love.

Lucas Armstrong didn’t believe love existed. He was a ruthless man, ready to follow in his father’s footsteps. When he received an ultimatum to marry one of the women on his father’s preapproved list or risk losing his inheritance, he set out to win over a self-absorbed socialite, vacationing in Kauai. He wanted a marriage in name only so he could take over his father’s empire. Separate lives. No love. No attachments.

When Aria Dasher accepted a position cleaning Lucas’s house in Kauai, she had no idea she would fall for him. She was there for one reason only: she needed to save enough money to hire a private investigator. After she and her brother, Chase, were separated in foster care, he ran away and hadn’t been seen in four years.

Aria had to keep her eye on the goal and couldn’t allow any distractions in her life. She was determined to keep Lucas at arm’s length, and he was equally determined to push her away. A connection developed that neither of them anticipated, one that drastically changed everything.

But Lucas would have to do the unthinkable in order to be with Aria. He would have to give up his inheritance. And then there was that one issue with the secret he held. Once Aria found out, it would rip apart their relationship before it even had a chance.

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This romance may be a needed break after the intensity of my current read. I’ve barely started this book and have no real opinions yet but I’m liking it so far.

Silent Night, Deadly Night by Richard Mabry

The colored lights on the snow gave it a holiday appearance, but the dead woman’s body in the yard added a grisly touch. How did Ina Bell Patrick die?
Who killed her? And why?

The dead woman had no direct heirs, so two nephews and a niece stood to inherit. Dr. Laura Morris was left to make all the arrangements, attorney Roger Morris could certainly use the money, and Zack Morris had disappeared two years earlier. Then there was neighbor and “best friend” Fay Autrey, who was certain the woman intended to leave her some money—a great deal of money.

The police were still looking for the killer who left the frozen body in the snow when it became apparent someone was trying to pick off the heirs, one by one. Who would win the race—the police or the killer?

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It’s a slow book day and one new one is all we have today. Tomorrow may be better.

Happy Reading…

…on this day that is somewhat warmer than yesterday.

I am an introvert January 02, 2022

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Photo by Arkhod on Pexels.com

The writer of the quoted article (whom I’ve never met) knows me really well and I want to be able to find this again.

A blogger friend has a weekly writing prompt and today’s prompt was Introvert. I am one but have nothing of value to say so this little discussion doesn’t qualify as the post he is looking for.

Aaron, at Sunday Scribblings is also an introvert and quoted an article that describes folks like us so well. The link to his post is here

The article is excellent but I won’t quote all of it even though I’d like to. I will share the headings though. There are ten myths the author addresses and from my perspective, he is right on.

Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk. I totally agree with this one. If you can get me started, you may wish you hadn’t.

Myth #2 – Introverts are shy. The author says we aren’t shy, we just need a reason to talk. Yup.

Myth #3 – Introverts are rude. He says we want real and authentic and this doesn’t always go over well. I find telling it like it is is not usually socially acceptable. This one gets me in trouble sometimes.

Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people. He says we don’t have many close friends but intensely value the ones we do have. True

Myth #5 – Introverts don’t like to go out in public. He says we do, we just don’t like it for as long a time as extroverts. I agree.

Myth #6 – Introverts always want to be alone. He says we are comfortable in our own skin but we crave authentic interaction with one person at a time. Agree.

Myth #7 – Introverts are weird. He says they don’t follow the crowd. I find I march to the beat of my own drum and usually don’t fit in with the crowd. Always have. Even in high school.

Myth #8 – Introverts are aloof nerds. I can remember a high school experience. Walking home a neighbor girl and several of her friends were ahead of me on the other side of the road. I heard them comment, calling me stuck up. I was in my own little world and they seemed to be enjoying one another. I saw no indication I was wanted in their group and I was happy where I was.

I’m not good at picking up on subtle social cues and it usually backfires when I do try to act on my interpretation of them. I’m not rejecting anyone I just assume my presence is not desired and do my own thing.

Myth #9 – Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun. The author says there is so much going on that we are on sensory overload in a crowd and shut down. True, true, true.

Myth #10 – Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts. I wish. No we can’t.

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The explanations in the article are so much better but at least these brief comments give me a reminder of what was said.

Being an introvert is a pain in the butt sometimes. On the other hand there are qualities we find useful in society.

Introverts are thinkers. We do need some of those every now and again.

I am what I am. There is no changing it so why fight it.