The Introverted Detective

Bad romance, indeed. Let's talk about what some romance novels tell you is romantic, but shouldn't be.  Courtesy of imgflip.com Today it has come to my attention that our romance novels tell us toxic behavior should be a turn-on - not all, though (just some). When I plugged "toxic traits in romance novels" into Google it immediately brought up the Young Adult (YA) genre. It's hardly surprising, with Twilight being YA, but I'm also going to talk about the books spawned from it (Fifty Shades of Grey and 365 Days). There are also erotica novels that just drip with toxic relationships. You already know it is going to be particularly bad when you pick it up.  We also need to make a distinction between erotica and romance novels. Erotica's point is arousal. Romance novels focus on a relationship between two people. Now that we've established that, we'll move on. The main difference is usually one has a plot (romance) and the other is unapologetic sex on ...

Are there introverts in your life? 50 percent of us are introverts. Yet, the world (though it has changed slightly since Covid) seems to accommodate extroverts more. If you want introverted friends to feel comfortable around you I'm going to share these extra tips.  Courtesy of pinterest.com.mx Introverts have adjusted to an extrovert-focused world since their childhood. The world doesn't adjust to us introverts very often. They tell us to "come out of our shell" and "be sociable" instead of making us comfortable enough to speak. This, of course, depends entirely on your environment. Some places make extroverts uncomfortable, but not many do.  Today I'm going to show you and tell you how to make your introverted friend speak to you more, and you can do this by making them comfortable. The world may be a broken place, yet you can make an introverted soul's day. Ready?  Time and Energy The way I schedule my week is unique. I don't pack in as much a...

Hello, fellow writers! I've hit a wall in my freewriting and did some research on how we can beat writer's block. Let's get into it. No time to lose. I have a book to freewrite.  Courtesy of nederland547.blogspot.com We've all hit that brick wall we call writer's block and we've all gotten to a point, as writers, where our characters stopped talking to us about what they wanted to do. I am flying by the seat of my pants on the current draft I am writing. In case anyone was ever curious, I have an editing project going, a book promotion going on for the rest of eternity, and this freewriting storyline I've currently hit a brick wall on. I'm flying blind on the plotline.  This is where I want to share what I found on the interwebs. We could all use the encouragement, fellow writers. Let's go find the secret door in our brick walls and keep writing.  Why It Happens I looked up more than how to beat it; I looked into why it happens. I'll go through t...

I am currently promoting one book, editing one book, and free-writing (seat of my pants style) another book. On top of that, I decided making a cat couch for my grandmother's cat was a quick project (and has proven not to be), have yet to finish a counted cross stitch from before I got married, and started a huge blog project that requires me to play through every Nancy Drew game. You'll see that project debut when it debuts. No promises on when that happens. My point is this; I have to have all this in an organized list to get it all done.  Courtesy of wereparents.com To-do lists are ages old because humans clearly need to stay busy. Today we're talking about how to make a good, productive list or find an app that helps you do just that. We're starting with the qualities of a good to-do list and going into apps last. I think there is a lot to be said for a paper/pencil journal -especially when your electricity is not functioning or you don't charge devices as you s...

 While women seem to encounter uncomfortable situations more often than men, women can be dangerous, too. Today we're talking about the ones that make you uncomfortable, but you aren't sure if they are misunderstood or dangerous.  Courtesy of imgflip.com So, I hate to tell you the world is a dangerous place, but here we are. The people who make you uncomfortable go into two categories; either they didn't mean to and are harmless, or they aren't harmless. Let's look at key differences based on the research I did.  Strangers or acquaintances can be dangerous. Stanger danger is not the biggest problem. Sometimes others can hurt you as they get closer to you. This is not exclusively about strangers on the street. I'm going to warn you of things you shouldn't be doing and tell you straight up that your gut is worth listening to.  What To Be Aware Of Ted Bundy used to ask for assistance getting to his car and then force the woman helping him into the car. Don'...

Did you ever think, "who thought this was a good idea"? Well, you will now. Take a quick look at this blog, video clips and all, to find out what movies were too dangerous to film - and were done anyway. Courtesy of Blogger Today we're talking about the films Roar, Waterworld, Apocalypse Now, The African Queen, Hell's Angels, Poltergeist, and The Conqueror. There are many films that cost lives out there, but we're just focusing on these. Many stuntmen suffered and died doing films. I would like to honor those who lost their lives or almost lost their lives working stunts on film sets.  Each movie will have a clip of a scene, some of them just normal clips and others show why it was dangerous. One of these is a scene I'll post a horror trigger warning of because it comes from Poltergeist, where a child was nearly strangled to death by a toy clown. The director had to save the child. I'll also note that I'm not going to be talking about set curses more t...