[Guest Post] Just Kelley

Kelley, the author of  Death by Diploma (pen name Kelley Kaye), Poison by Punctuation, and Down in the Belly of the Whale is celebrating all those great releases. Read her guest post about the difference between shy and introverted.

Guest Post

A former student of mine shared this article with me:

 https://introvertdear.com/news/introverts-dont-hate-people-hate-shallow-socializing/  

 I'm pretty sure, no, I'm totally sure, if you asked anyone who knows me to slap a label my way, it would unquestionably be extrovert. I am annoyingly extroverted, in that I start conversations with complete strangers just for fun, and I love speaking in front of people--put me in a room with 200 people, and I'm all over it.

 But this article made me reconsider the definitions, or the way the terms "shy" and "introverted" seem to be so often synonymous.

 But what if they're not?

I am most definitely a homebody. I'd much rather curl up with a book than go to a party--would rather put on a pair of slippers than a party dress, and much prefer sitting in front of a movie screen as opposed to a computer chat room.

Maybe I'm just "not shy." Small talk gets on my nerves, and I have been known, on occasion, to pretend I didn't see someone I knew at the mall or whatnot, just because I couldn't bear another 'let's do lunch' from somebody I KNOW, for a FACT, has no intention of asking me to lunch. Or for those friends who would maybe want to have lunch with me at some time, but whom I know are way too busy to do that, I just feel like why bother saying stuff like that? Drives me nuts--because I mean it. If I say I want to do lunch, I'm literally ready to break out my calendar. When we tell people to come visit us in San Diego, because it's the finest city in America (the on-record motto of San Diego? "America's Finest City" Just sayin’.) and because we have room for four guests AKA wall bed and pull-out couch, we mean it. But no one ever does. Small talk. Sheesh. So I try to avoid it altogether, even if it means sometimes pretending I am an undercover operative who cannot be recognized at any cost.

Maybe I really like performing but I don't like relating? Like, put me out in front of people and I love it, but start a conversation...?

No, that's not true either, not exactly. At a recent baseball BBQ, I had a really nice time talking 80’s music (best decade EVER), holding an adorable 7-month-old-baby girl who never stopped smiling or wiggling (practically unclothed me in public climbing up and down my shirt), and finally having an ULTRA-IMPORTANT conversation with the baby’s mommy about which Stephen King book was appropriate to use to introduce her 12 year old son to adult books (he was interested in horror). No joke, in my book (pun intended) this is a life-altering decision: finding the books that will turn another person into a reader for life. Not upsetting their parents, that’s important too . . . 😊 Anyway, it matters. I finally sent her a text last night with my decision: start him with THE SHINING. Am I right? Don’t start a beginner with an 1,100 page tome (he was asking about IT), so, relatively short, super scary, consummate King. Not small talk at all. Momentous.

I will say this, though—that party exhausted me. I came home and crashed into bed like a fallen tree at 8 p.m. That may argue the point of me as an introvert, though.

So that is the question: am I a closet introvert that just happens to be not shy? Or am I the extrovert people have always called me? I think, if I can find someone at a party who wants to talk about things relating to books (or music, really any type of music but if it’s from the 80’s—you had me at ‘Hungry Like the Wolf’—I’m ready to go!)

Otherwise, give me a good book and my squishy down pillow any day!

 I'd love to hear your thoughts! Until then...Stay Mystified!

Kelley

Links

Kelley's Website

Kelley's Chalkboard Outlines Cozy Series

Down in the Belly of the Whale

Kelley Kaye's Kozy Korner on Facebook

Kelley Kay Bowles on Facebook

Reviews 

Death by Diploma (Chalkboard Outlines #1)
Poison by Punctuation (Chalkboard Outlines #2)
Down in the Belly of the Whale

About the Author

Kelley Kay Bowles is the pen name for the YA fiction of Kelley Bowles Gusich. Kelley taught high school English and Drama for twenty years in Colorado and California, but a 1994 MS diagnosis has (circuitously) brought her, finally, to the life of writer and mother, both occupations she adores, and both of which were dreamed of clear back at stories surrounding her Barbie and Ken. Her debut novel, cozy mystery Death by Diploma (pen name Kelley Kaye),was released by Red Adept Publishing February 2016, and is first in the Chalkboard Outlines® series. Book 2, Poison by Punctuation, was just released. Down in the Belly of the Whale is her first traditionally published YA novel, and she’s currently working on a paranormal series with a working name THE MELD. She has two wonderful and funny sons, and an amazing husband who cooks for her. She lives in Southern California.

Kelley is active on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and GoodReads. Her website is www.kelleykaybowles.com where she aspires to blog once per week.