The Introverted Detective

 Today is a joyous day! The hardcover edition of Wrenville has arrived at the party. I am here to tell you all about it.  In case you were wondering what the new cover looked like, this is it. You are no longer left in suspense (not that I left anyone in suspense, really). I decided to do this because it needed to be done. It was crying out to be done. I changed the ebook to this cover and released the hardcover edition with the alternate cover you see before you. I can't wait to see how this shakes out! Can you still buy the original paperback cover? Sure, you can buy the paperback version. I'm leaving that cover as it is so any collectors who want all the covers can have that one, too. There are also people like me who don't care as much about the cover as they do about the story inside it.  Where can I get the hardcover edition? That's easy,  just go to Amazon at this link.  It'll take you directly to the hardcover edition of the book. Obviously, this post wi...

 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....