Special Event Online Read: by Arlene James

She sounds so painfully shy. I wonder if she has one of those phobias or something. It'll be interesting to see how they draw her out of her shell.

Now you have me feeling guilty, because she was so uptight that I was annoyed with her. *sigh* I guess I'll have to practice patience.

For those of us who are very outgoing (and I thank you for those kind coments, Dream) it is difficult to understand shyness. I always equated being shy with a lack of confidence, but it's more an extreme sensitivity to the feelings of others

The lady who spoke to me about her lifelong battle with shyness is a successful businesswoman in her 70s. According to her, it was the reaction of others to her sensitivity toward the feelings of those around her that made her wonder if she might be inadequate or odd. She also told me that she married her husband because he always treated her "like a normal person." She was quiet, she said, for fear of always saying the wrong thing, something that might hurt the feelings of another.

I think we get "uptight" when we get burned, and perhaps the shy, quiet ones not only get burned more often than we outgoing/ outspoken ones but also feel it more. 

Having been in the business world does force a shy person to develop a side that is more outgoing... and people generally perceive me as being quite friendly and outgoing, but I am also very shy.

I can totally relate to Becca's shyness around Davis.  She has not had any experience (it appears) with men, so this is a very scary and foreign thing.   I also took piano lessons... though I never reached any level of accomplishment... one time my piano teacher (who was also our church organist) thought I had played one of my assigned numbers well and asked me to come early to church to play it on that piano.. there was nobody in there, but just imagining that someone might walk in had me making a total mess of it.... so I think you got Becca exactly right, Arlene!

These new experiences are going to be chock full of conflicting emotions for her!

Thanks for sharing your experiences, ladies. It's very gratifying to know that I might actually have gotten close with my portrayal of Becca. This character did stretch me because her personality is so opposite of mine.

What courage it must take to overcome an innate shyness to perform publicly. We extroverts, even when much less talented than our introverted sisters, have little problem jumping out in front, sometimes to our detriment!

God bless.

Isn't it wild how our minds work? One of my best friends is a 6th grade math teacher. She says she has no problems with the kids, but she can't seem to make herself understood with their parents and her peers. She's a great teacher and always gets great results from her students, but she says she has trouble even talking to her adult siblings--other than her twin. She teaches an adult Sunday School class, however, and I find that her insights are always much more sensitive than my own. God's creations are wondrously eclectic, aren't they? Or should I say, aren't WE?

Thanks for that comment, Papaya. Becca does need to grow. Difficult to achieve in 10,000 words, believe me! That is why she sort of spills over a bit into Book 3 of the series, THEIR SMALL-TOWN LOVE. My shy friend, however, urged me not to change her too much, saying, "Everyone should get to be who they really are."

I sort of went into this planning to turn shy Becca into a mini me, I think, but my friend's comment brought me up short--and put me on a bit of a tightrope. Becca had to grow without changing who she really, naturally is. I pray that I accomplished that. After all, I wouldn't want to change even one iota of my dear friend who kindly shared her experiences with me.

God bless, 

This is wonderful!  You have nailed the shy-person's personality and traits!  While most people don't believe me, there are things I'm shy about.  I'm typically naturally outgoing, sometimes almost bombastic, but deep down, there's a shyness about some things.  I have friends who are painfully shy, and I know it's hard to overcome, or even just accept, tendencies that are ingrained for so many years. 

I'm looking forward to Becca AND Davis' growth, along wtih waiting anxiously for the rest of this story!!!!

Frenchie, you are so me. The two of us must be kin. I'm so don't-sweat-the-small-stuff-and-get-it-done, which may be why I agreed to marry my husband on our first date--32 years ago. No shy miss here! That being the case, I'm especially delighted with April's kind comments.

Oddly enough, Kit, the one reporter with whom I have a personal relationship is a quiet, shy, retiring individual, who also happens to be an elder in our church and has a long, notable career. Hang in there. As my friend says, we need strong Christians in that business.

Thank you all for reading and commenting. God bless. 

Arlene, you are doing a great job with this story showing what Becca is going through in being shy.  I'm not quite as shy as she is, but it's a close call.  I used to be, but have grown out of my shell a little bit.

I can hardly wait to see how Davis draws her out of her shell.

Is it Thursday again, yet?  LOL!

bearsfan and CathyP, how gratifying to know that you are enjoying the story and that I've done better with the characterization than I had originally feared. Writing this story was such fun, but reading your comments is even more so. Authors rarely have this kind of immediate interaction, and I have to say that it is priceless. Thank you for reading, for commenting and for your kind words.

(By the way, bearsfan, I agree with Kristen.)

God bless

Again, I'm very grateful for kind remarks. As for feeling sorry for Becca, I understand that. I try to take the approach that my grandfather used to council, however, that goodness is its own reward. In other words, doing the right thing provides solace to the soul even if it costs us in other areas. It takes strength to do the right thing at a cost, especially for a painfully shy person. In the end, I came to admire Becca, and I hope my readers will, too. God bless,

A sneaky minister? Now really. Clever. He's clever. Cleverly, happily...okay, sneaky.

The age issue is not something that would ever bother me personally. The way I figure it, you're either both adults or you're not, and that doesn't always have much to do with actual age. I'm always surprised by the number of women--and I have to say it is more women than men--for whom this is an issue.

I'm blessed to have many friends who are in ministry, and these days I think they're teaching them to be happy in seminary! It's a joy to see so many young ministers who don't take themselves too seriously and actually enjoy what they do. Davis is sort of a composite of several young ministers I know or have met in the last few years. One of them drove a vintage Corvette until he married. (Then again, so did my hubby. I still regret having to let that thing go, but kids and Corvettes don't mix too well, alas.)

Here's to youth, delight and fun cars.

God bless.

Thank you for that high praise. I had such fun with this, and I pray that the rest of the three-book series (HIS SMALL-TOWN GIRL, HER SMALL-TOWN HERO and THEIR SMALL-TOWN LOVE) lives up to this story of Becca and Davis. God bless,

I have to admit, i'm a shy girl and I find Becca annoying, but I still can't wait to see what the hot pastor will do next. Can I say even hot for steeple hill?

Hmmm, the man is even sneakier than I originally thought!

The twins are right her talent should be shared, but I so understand where Becca is coming from.  My mom has a beautiful alto voice that would have made a great soloist, but she will only sing in a choir and if she knows someone is paying particular attention to her singing she will clam up (except if it's one of her six kids that is!).  She couldn't even introduce herself among friends at a party because a microphone was thrust in front of her.  She just froze!

Even those extroverts with alto voices (contralto, in my case) can experience difficulty going solo. In fact, I'm quite sure that everyone has some difficulty in some situation being the center of attention, which ought to give us extroverts an understanding of what the truly shy go through.

A point comes for everyone, however, no matter how shy or extroverted, when a step forward must be taken in some area of life. For some really shy persons, just allowing themselves to be pushed forward by others takes real courage. For Becca, I had to choose her moment to step forward very carefully. I'm wondering if my readers will even recognize that moment for her when it comes. At this point, she's still allowing herself to be pushed, ever so adroitly, toward something that she's afraid to want.

My shy friend has admitted to me that she's allowed me to push her at times when she wanted to do something but didn't have the courage to step out at that point on her own. Other times she's been very adroit at avoiding my hopefully gentle shoves. Sneaky is as sneaky does, after all, and we all have those sneaky shoes, even my friend. Besides, I prefer to think of it as robust diplomacy .

Thanks for those kind comments, CathyP. I think the Internet allows a lot of folks who would normally never speak up to do so because it allows us to speak without being visible. Even I often prefer that, and I've never had much difficulty getting up in front of a crowd. Neither, however, do I relish the limelight. A very puzzling thing to me is that often those who truly crave the limelight are very shy people who actually escape into the limelight and a public persona, which is just another way of hiding themselves. I guess, in one way or another, we can all use a little invisibility from time to time. But no one can hide forever, as even Becca knows.

God bless.

You're telling me! I grew up on a ranch outside of a small town, population 3,000, in (of course) Oklahoma. While the pace may be slower, the lives were not.  Lots of interesting stuff goes on in small towns. Thanks for reading and commenting. God bless,