The Introverted Detective

 Today is a discussion, a discussion on whether I should change the book cover for my ebook and create an alternate version of my paperback version. Today I need your comments and opinions. I only get a few comments on my blog posts, but today is the day if you want to comment. Let's get into it.  This image to your left is what I designed today in Canva. I like it better than my original cover creation, but would not eliminate the original cover if I uploaded this version onto KDP. I would, however, replace the ebook cover entirely. Ebooks are less likely to be admired on a shelf, thus I feel okay with just replacing the cover image.  Why do I want your comments? I want to know whether you would buy this cover over the original cover. For real, I need your opinions. I couldn't do this without my village. My blog readers are part of my village. My family, friends, and coworkers are part of my village. If you are reading this you are a part of that village. I am asking fo...

Stop and turn off all the background noise. You hear that silence? That lack of sound hitting your ears? Do you want it to stop? Do you like it? For me, it depends on the time of day. Today we're talking about the fear of silence. Let's get into it. Deep dive time! Courtesy of medium.com I can deal with silence for a long time while reading a good book. It is at night when that silence starts to frighten me. This is probably true for most people you know. I also have a substantial theory on one reason I get interrupted while reading: Society teaches us to be uncomfortable with silence. This is why introverts get frustrated and readers get annoyed while being interrupted while reading in public.   Shut off all your background YouTube, ASMR, TV, and Netflix at night for five minutes and feel the silence. We feel a need for constant sound. But do we really need it? No, not all the time. Camping proves that. To be fair, though, nature is nearly never silent - it just isn't over...

I love a good story that you can sink your teeth into and discuss at length. I need depth in my media. At times that means a story isn't sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns. Here are some of my suggestions for good books that are not light reading. Courtesy of booksnap.blogspot.com By "not light reading" I mean that they involve sex, the old west that has its own rules, revenge, murder, the poor on the streets, prostitution, war, a handful of suicides, and probably a lot of death. We are talking about Les Miserable, the whole Lonesome Dove series, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Tolkien in general. Light? No, we aren't speaking of what you read your kids at night. Some of it also includes older English words (archaic words, sometimes). Strap in. I will put the trigger warning for each book individually, as well.  Les Miserables by Victor Hugo It translates to "the miserable ones", so I think you know what to expect. Jean Valjean gets out of prison and steals fro...

 I have heard mixed reviews on the Barbie movie, only to come to the conclusion that I would like to actually watch it myself rather than blindly believe reviewers. I have loved books others have hated. I have loved TV shows that others don't like. We all have different opinions on different media and books. Let's talk about the pros and cons of legitimately reading reviews on anything.  Courtesy of Business 2 Community While it is beneficial to know whether a product is a scam (Amazon reviews) and know how much nudity is in that TV show that looks kind of interesting (IMDB Parents Guide), not everyone sees the same genre as great or the same tropes as awful. Yes, you want to know whether you could be running into sex scenes you didn't ask for, but some plotlines that aren't x-rated may be loved or hated, garnering mixed reviews. Do you believe every review you read? Why You Should Be Checking Reviews Let's use Guardians of the Galaxy 3 as an example. I love the fir...

 I was watching booktubers (Youtubers who talk about books) on Youtube and came upon a reading challenge entitled "Read it or unhaul it" on several booktuber channels. I have a long list of unread books on my shelves that need to stay and be loved or leave because they take up too much space. Let's just jump into it with both feet.   I picked three books at random to read. The rules go as follows: 1. I pick the book based on how they are numbered in my Excel sheet using a random number generator. 2. I read the three books and review them in this blog. 3. I decide to keep or unhaul them based on those reviews.  Ready? Let's go!  Book 1 - The Murder House by James Patterson / David Ellis       I started this book and loved the first two chapters, then they abruptly changed over to a character that lacked personality. I didn't care about the character, so after nine chapters I was not enjoying myself. I DNFed (did not finish) it. It hit my unhau...

 This last blog is where I conclude this Nancy Drew Replay Series. Without further adieu, I continue into the two dossiers and Midnight in Salem.  Courtesy of adria.ign.com These three games are in this blog because they are a different play style than any other Nancy Drew Herinteractive games out there. Dossiers are the quick-play version of Nancy Drew and MID (Midnight in Salem) is a category all by itself due to being a different system and play style. There is a lot to say, but we'll put the dossiers first because they were released before MID.  Dossiers - Resorting to Danger and Lights Camera Curses The first dossier released is Lights Camera Curses and the second was Resorting to Danger. I had to play the first on the spare Lenovo because my HP wouldn't let it launch, but would let it install (much like games 16-20 because it was most likely released around that time). Resorting to Danger was fine for my HP, though, so it must have been released after the 20th game....

 This is part three of me replaying the whole Nancy Drew Herinteractive series of games.  Courtesy of Pinterest Spoiler alert! I have to talk about the games to prove what era they are. You have been warned.  Hello again! I promise this series won't be ten million segments. This last era (minus the dossiers and Midnight in Salem- MID) is the only one left. There will be one more post about the dossiers and MID because they are categories by themselves. Otherwise, I'm almost done.  Drama Era - Captive Curse to Sea of Darkness Let the relationship issues begin! Ned can be super helpful (Alibi) or cause all sorts of drama (Captive). This also begins the Francy (Frank and Nancy) hints, which actually come straight from the super mysteries books. Nothing new here, just a less helpful Ned at times and a bit less separation from Nancy's relationship reality. The drama is now built into the plot, thus it is unavoidable. That has been happening slowly since the last era. That...