Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Happy pub day to DUPLICITY!

RHYS BOWEN: By now you all know that we have two wonderful new Reds. Last week we celebrated the release of Jenn's latest book and today I'm delighted to announce the release of Ingrid's fouth book in the Fina Ludlow private investigator series. I should add, because I'm sure Ingrid won't, that this series has won the Shamus Award for best private eye novel and is being turned into a TV series by ABC. And Booklist has said, "“Thoft’s fourth Fina Ludlow outing (after Brutality, 2015) finds the tenacious Fina in fighting form, juggling personal and professional demands to attain justice despite the cost. A winning addition to an entertaining series.”—Booklist  

So we're hoping for good things for this new book, Ingrid. The stage is yours for your first Jungle Red post!

INGRID THOFT:

I'm thrilled that DUPLICITY, the fourth book in my Fina Ludlow series, hits the shelves today! 



Fina is a private investigator in Boston who gets most of her jobs from the Ludlow family firm of personal injury attorneys.  DUPLICITY features a slightly different kind of case for Fina:  Her father has asked her to investigate an evangelical church as a favor to an old friend, Ceci Renard.  Lead by a charismatic pastor and his wife, the church seems to have tremendous influence over its congregants, one of whom is Ceci’s daughter. 

Fina tries to dig into the church’s practices and finances, only to be thwarted at every turn, and the situation grows more serious when a congregant turns up dead.  The investigation raises questions about faith and power, and Fina is forced to contemplate these concepts within the context of her own life and complicated family.

A top-notch investigator, Fina relies on her intuition to steer her in right direction throughout the case.  When her gut clenches or the hairs stand up on the back of her neck, she pays attention.  Everybody has intuition (not just investigators,) but some are better than others at heeding it.


Listening to one’s intuition is a critical skill for investigators, both fictional and real.  Talk to cops who have been on the job for a few years, and they’ll tell you that sometimes something will pique their interest, even when they can’t explain exactly what it is. 
Not convinced?  You need to read “The Gift of Fear” by Gavin De Becker.  One of this security expert's most important points is that we value logic over intuition, and we shouldn’t.  Our erroneous assumption is that intuition isn’t based on data when, in fact, it is.  The problem is that our bodies and unconscious have evolved to signal danger in the blink of an eye, but our rational brains don’t want to accept the conclusion without the proof.  De Becker writes “Intuition is the journey from A to Z without stopping at any other letter along the way.  It is knowing without knowing why.”

So, how’s my intuition?  I think it’s pretty good, but you tell me.


Many years ago, my mom and I were in Colorado Springs to attend a memorial service.  The last night of our stay we were moving from a friend’s house to a Holiday Inn.  I like Holiday Inns and have stayed in them all over the world—from Kansas to Sydney, Australia.  But when we drove up to this particular Holiday Inn, my gut kicked in.  There was nothing overtly wrong, but I didn’t like the feel of it.  My mom didn’t object when I balked at spending the night there, although there was a little teasing that perhaps I was being persnickety. 


Some weeks later, I looked at the news online and a particular item jumped out at me.  I called my mom immediately. 

“Still think I’m persnickety?” I asked.

It seemed that two members of a group of dangerous prison escapees—known as the Texas Seven—had holed up in the very same Holiday Inn.  Apparently, the criminals’ guts had told them that it was the perfect place to evade capture from federal law enforcement! 

What got my Spidey senses tingling that day at the Holiday Inn?  Why had I sensed that it was a great place for murderous felons, but not for me and my mom?  I can’t explain it, but I know I didn’t imagine it.  And charges of being too particular about my accommodations?  Those have been laid to rest. 

So tell me readers: Do you follow your intuition?  Is there a time when listening to your gut kept you safe or influenced a decision?


I have a signed copy of DUPLICITY for one lucky commentator!


 

39 comments:

  1. Happy Book Birthday, Ingrid!
    I am looking forward to reading your book . . . .

    Your Holiday Inn story is amazing; it’s a good thing that you and your mom went elsewhere and so were safe.
    We pay attention to intuition and hunches around here. I can’t begin to tell you the number of times my husband [a retired Los Angeles police sergeant] has told a story that included “It just didn’t seem right” or “I had a hunch” . . . and since the story is invariably about some investigation, I know his hunches helped to keep him safe.

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  2. Ingrid, it sounds exciting that your series will become a television show . . .as the author of the series, are you involved in the adapting of your books for the series? Can you tell us a little about that?

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  3. Congratulations on your book birthday, and on the TV series. What a thrill. I'd love to hear more about the process of securing that deal. Did you and your (or a Hollywood) agent work really hard to get it, or did the TV people come knocking?

    I don't think my intuition has gotten me out of danger (yet), but it's guided me exactly right on some personal decisions. One was seeking out a Quaker congregation after I moved twenty-eight years ago - and I'm still a member of that Meeting. The other was to quit my day job to write mystery fiction full time almost five years ago. The results of that decision is going swimmingly, too! Neither decision was fully grounded in logic, and some might say not reasonable at all. But I felt I had to do what I did and it was the right choice.

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  4. Ingrid: Congratulations on the release of Deplicity! I have enjoyed reading the first 3 books and look forward to Fina's newest investigation and continued family drama! And a TV adaptation sounds exciting, although I don't have cable TV.

    Good for you about listening to your gut about the Holiday Inn. Something so dramatic has happpened to me. Just some minor incidents to avoid getting in close contact with strangers during my travels.

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  5. Ingrid, congratulations on your book birthday! I look forward to meeting Fina and following her adventures. First question, how did the character's name come about? I love 'Fina.' Second question, like Edith, I'd like to know if your agent hustled up interest in your books as a series or if someone came knocking?

    As to intuition--I've ignored it in favor of logic to my chagrin and dismay later. Could have saved myself a bunch of heartache if I'd listened to my gut! Joan, your husband is a smart man!!

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  6. Your Holiday Inn story is a good example of why we should always trust our instincts! I'm glad you mentioned The Gift of Fear. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell is also good.

    I'm looking forward to reading your series! Welcome to the Jungle. :)

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  7. Congratulations Ingrid! we're so happy to have you here at JRW. About the instinct--I know I've suppressed an uncomfortable feeling occasionally because I wanted to be nice. I think that's a special problem that women need to pay attention to...

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  8. Hurray! Ingrid, I loved DUPLICITY. It is terrific, and compelling ,and Fina is marvelous. And I love how your books are written so you can start with any one of them.

    Intuition? Ha. You can't be a reporter without it--so many times I've said: let's go to the back door. Let's just show up and see what happens. Let's ..well, all the time.

    TWo things: I woke up one night, sat bolt upright, and said, oh no. I called my friend Bill, because I was in a panic about him--a PANIC. He didn't answer the phone. I panicked more. I finally called his sister, who I barely knew. But I was so afraid! SHe said their brother had just taken Bill to the hospital with a ruptured appendix.
    There are more like this. It happens...all the time. (Not often as dramatically, but enough so that even Jonathan is a little spooked.)

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  9. Good morning, all! It's early on the west coast, but it's hard to sleep on pub day! Thank you so much for all your warm wishes!

    I'll be in and out on the blog today since I'm traveling to CA, but I'll try to answer all your questions.

    First things first, the deal with ABC Studios is actually no longer, which is pretty much par for the course with Hollywood deals. It's a long story, and not even the first time the books were optioned (that's a whole other story,) but Fina is back on the market. Hopefully, she will find a new home before long! Edith and Joan, L.A. came knocking both times, so fingers crossed third time is the charm.

    Joan, it's interesting to hear that your hubby listened to his instincts. I think it's such an important skill in law enforcement!

    Thanks Grace and Cathy, and FChurch, I'll get back to you about the origins of Fina's name. I need to get my brain in gear and try to remember!

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  10. ANd the other thing: I used to be a little worried that I would start imagining intuition--you know? Like wondering if a simple passing thought was "a sign." It was so disquieting that I told my mother about it. She didn't bat an eye. "Don't worry, honey," she said. "You'll know the real ones."

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  11. Hank, that's eerie! I like your mom's advice!

    Lucy, if you haven't read "Gift of Fear" I highly recommend it. I often give it to the women in my life. Men should read it, too, but I don't think men are socialized like we are to be polite, regardless of the circumstances or our gut feelings.

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  12. Congratulations on the new book, Ingrid! It sounds terrific.

    My Spidey sense is defective. I constantly think something is wrong when it isn't, and vice versa. I'd make a defective detective. Could be a good title, though.

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  13. Happy book birthday, Ingrid! Looking forward to seeing you here next week, weather permitting. I just finished Loyalty and liked it a lot.

    Being, well, you know, a guy, and having grown up with a classical education, I almost had my intuition beaten out of me. Besides, it's for girls, right, because they can't do the heavy intellectual lifting (tongue almost sticking out thru cheek here)? But there was a time forty years ago when *something* told me I should get to know a certain young lady in my MA program better. We celebrated our 38th anniversary this summer.

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  14. I love that title, Hallie!

    Good thing you listened to your instincts, Jim. Imagine the different turn your life may have taken if you hadn't!

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  15. Happy Pub Day, Ingrid!

    A few years back, I read THE UNTHINKABLE: WHO SURVIVES WHEN DISASTER STRIKES AND WHY by journalist Amanda Ripley. She looked at people who survived hotel fires, plane crashes, 911, and other extreme crisis situations. One of the things that stood out was that survivors trusted their gut instincts enough to ignore social norms or the group consensus and act - to move while others waited for instruction or to get out while others were still debating what to do.

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  16. Ann in Rochester, another nasty womanJanuary 10, 2017 at 9:40 AM

    Happy book birthday Ingrid. And congratulations!

    I know that intuition is valid. There were so many times in my travels as a visiting hospice nurse that I suddenly knew I had to make an unplanned stop at the home of a patient. Every single time there was a need to be filled, all the way from changing a catheter that was clogged to being present for a death. And when I was a Labor and Delivery nurse, I could tell the doctors who was going to need a C section later in the day or who was going to deliver within the hour, so get some lunch and tell your office to cancel the afternoon appointments. I think this is because our brains can observe and process much faster than we are aware. It's a super computer.

    (My intuition tells me your newest book will be a best seller.)

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  17. Happy launch day, Ingrid! That Holiday Inn story is freaky.

    I can't think of a precise time I paid attention to my intuition - but I must have done so at some point.

    My father is a die-hard true crime fan. He sent me a text after one show. The first officer on the scene had suspicions and wrote JDLR on his report. Just Didn't Look Right. Pure gut instinct and it turned out he was right.

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  18. Congratulations on your pub day, Ingrid. I can't wait to start reading.

    Although I am a firm believer in intuition, I can't claim to believe nearly as firmly as my mother did. She was always saying, "My little voice told me I should . . . " Her little voice told her many things: where or when to go; what she should or shouldn't do. That little voice got super involved in all aspects of her life, and we respected it when it spoke. It was such a hallmark of her decision-making process that, when she died, we combined it with her love of humorous epitaphs. Her grave marker now reads, "My little voice said this would happen."

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  19. Julia, That's going on my TBR list right now! It must be the "control enthusiast" in me (as my husband calls it) that is drawn to those kinds of books.

    Ann in Rochester, The doctors must have loved you, and I imagine your patients felt very reassured and safe in your care. I like your intuition about DUPLICITY; let's hope you're right!

    Mary, Do you share your dad's love of true crime? Do you two exchange books?

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  20. Happy Book Birthday, Ingrid! I am really looking forward to DUPLICITY. I love the post about intuition. I don't
    think I've ever had it about a place but I definitely get it about people. Working in the public sector for 20+ years,
    I know to listen to my gut when it signals danger about a person when they're approaching. Of course, when
    the person approaching is flossing their teeth with their own hair, the gut doesn't have to work quite so hard to
    convince, but still, I agree that the rational mind needs to take a back seat to your intuition sometimes. And, yes,
    the flossing hair thing really happened!

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  21. Congrats on your fourth Fina book, Ingrid. I am just reading the first in this series, and am enjoying getting to know this fiery PI and her family. It's always great to know that there more great reads with this character ahead of me. Enjoy your publication day!
    I have no intuition, so will just skip that part of the blog question/answer today!

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  22. Happy book birthday!

    I don't tend to listen to my intuition since it creeps out over every little thing - a by product of years of reading mysteries. If I get a super strong feeling, I will pay attention, but I can be creeped out by the most innocent of things, and I have been.

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  23. First off, Happy Book Birthday, Ingrid. I'm so looking forward to beginning the Fina Ludlow series. Besides it sounding like a great read, I have to keep up with my Reds' books. Same for you, Jenn.

    I am a great believer in intuition. I will always remember when both of my kids had pneumonia. I stood outside talking to my husband and our pharmacist friend who both scoffed at the idea that the kids had pneumonia. I took them in to the doctor anyway, and, yep, they had pneumonia. I think a mother's intuition can be especially strong, but as you say, it has a basis in facts.



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  24. First of all, congratulations, Ingrid, on your Book Birthday -- may you have many more! Living in Dallas at the time, I remember the Texas 7 -- I can't remember if they escaped from the Dallas County Jail or the prison in Huntsville, but it was a frightening time. I agree with Lucy that we can get into trouble just because we are afraid of not being nice, even when our gut is telling us to run in the opposite direction.

    I'm definitely going to read the recommending books, because I also agree about the importance of listening to what your intuition is telling you. There are two intuition moments that come to mind -- one was when I lived in DC and was commuting home, and decided that I needed to stop at a yellow light instead of going through like most of the commuters there did (I was lucky I didn't get rear-ended). There were a angry motorists behind me, then a loud CRASH, and the car that had been in front of me was sideswiped by a van, and the driver was killed.

    The other intuition incident came from someone else -- I was getting my hair cut when I was 8 months pregnant, and the French Stylist working next to me asked my due date, and I said "in a month," and she said," you are going to have the baby this week." Two days later I had my wonderful daughter who was a blessedly healthy 6 lbs 7 oz, had fully developed lungs, and didn't even qualify as premature. The doctor said that if I had carried her to term that she would have been at least 9 lbs -- egad!

    Again, Happy Book Birthday, Welcome to Jungle Reds, and I cannot wait to read your books!

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  25. Happy Book Birthday! After you were officially welcomed as a new Red last week I started getting your books for my Kindle. They sounded too exciting for me to wait for the stores to open! Thanks to you, Ingrid, I am getting to bed so late! Last night I started the third book, I will definitely get the fourth one and I hope there will be many more. And count me in as someone who hopes they become the basis for a TV program. I'm already trying to decide who should play the part of Fina.

    As for intuition, I know I've used it successfully in undramatic situations. I've also made mistakes from not believing my intuition. The most dramatic instance of following my intuition happened many years ago. The job I had at the time required me to be on the road throughout Fairfield County in CT. I was driving to Greenwich on I-95 and felt that a bridge I was driving over didn't feel right. I used that bridge regularly and I'm not afraid of bridges, but I decided to take a different route back to my office. Less than a week later that bridge collapsed late one night.

    Deb Romano

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  26. Happy pub day, Ingrid!! I am loving Fina, too, and can't wait to get to Duplicity!

    Such great intuition stories. I'm going to look up The Gift of Fear, and especially THE UNTHINKABLE: WHO SURVIVES WHEN DISASTER STRIKES AND WHY. My ex-cop husband is always telling me I'm handicapped by being too nice, and that you should NEVER just follow the crowd in a crisis/disaster situation. And I can think of several times when I haven't followed my intuition because I didn't want to be rude. Big mistakes!

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  27. Happy Book Birthday, Ingrid! It's going to take me a while to get to DUPLICITY but I'm enjoying the series.

    That hotel story is freeky. I can't put a finger on any occasion that I used intuition. I do remember people who made me uncomfortable for no known reason and I tended to avoid them. A great idea in a few cases.

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  28. Happy book birthday, Ingrid. A great start to the New Year and a fabulous welcome to your role as a Red!

    Yes, I completely believe in intuition. Your hotel story is a perfect example of following your gut. I think the best/worst situation was in the 1960s in NYC. My chum and I had skipped school to go to the Village. We were happily walking down streets people watching and I stopped dead in my tracks at the head of a street and turned around. One of our favorite coffee shops was down the street and I flat out refused to go there. We went to another coffee shop and were just getting our order when we heard the explosion. A pipe bomb factory in a brownstone on the other block had blown up. The coffee shop we were going to was destroyed.

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  29. Happy Book Birthday, dear Ingrid!
    I too believe in intuition. When we were in Cabo San Lucas over Thanksgiving I had these paranoid thoughts about my family flying home on the same plane. I kept thinking that the plane might crash. I don't normally react like that and agonized over whether I should say something and beg them to take another flight. I told myself I was being paranoid and ridiculous. The plane took off. They got home safely. I heaved a sigh of relief and... Woke up in the morning to find that the plane carrying a Brazilian football team had crashed into a hillside in Colombia!

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  30. Ingrid, he doesn't so much read it anymore - he watches shows on the Investigation Discovery (?>) channel (I think that's the one - I don't get it in Pittsburgh). His favorite is a former detective and I cannot for the life of me remember the name. Joe something. Detective Joe Kenda, that's it.

    I have a complicated relationship with true crime. I've read two books that were really good. One was Homicide: Life on the Street, which is what they based the TV show on. The other was an investigation of the Bike Path Rapist in Buffalo, NY. For me, true crime has to be more than simply relating the details of the crime. That's just disturbing to me. It has to be about the emotion. I keep intending to pick up Kate Flora's books, but...you know.

    I watch the TV show when I visit, but the format annoys me because they seem to go over the same things multiple times. Especially the dramatic build up at a commercial break, then the "recap" after the break. Just get on with the story already!

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  31. Hurray Ingrid! I'm going to have to catch up on Fina. Intuition. I know I have crossed the street to avoid walking by a group of young men just standing around doing nothing. Paranoid? Maybe. Years ago when we had moved to another state for my husband's job I was looking for one myself. I went to a place that did tax returns, thinking it might be fine for the short term. As I waited for the big boss to interview me I asked the receptionist questions. Mind you, this was a huge room full of desks where people were sitting with clients doing their returns. I got a bad vibe about it. Turned out no one checked any of the work, the boss was a bully and an ass.
    When reminded I was there to interview he told the receptionist to give me a desk and put me to work. I told her no thank you and walked away. Several years later he was arrested. For murder.

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  32. Greetings from sunny, dry...wait, gray and pouring Southern CA! How did this happen? Didn't I just leave gray Seattle?

    Gigi, That is the best headstone ever! I love that you all honored your mother's nature and sense of humor. Not to be macabre, but have you given any thought to what you might choose for your own headstone?

    Jenn, People at SeaTac looked very strangely in my direction when I burst out laughing at your comment. So gross. Good on you for being so observant! ;)

    Thanks, Amanda for your warm wishes. I hope you continue to enjoy getting to know Fina and her family. I find them entertaining to write certainly.

    Mark, Now you have to tell us one of the silly things that creeped you out! Spill!

    I think it can be hard when "experts" question your intuition, Kathy. There supposed to know better after all, but I think we're each experts of ourselves and our kids, too. Pneumonia can be extremely serious; lucky for your kids, you listened to your gut.

    Isn't amazing how many of you avoided clear and present danger by following your intuition? Celia, Deb R., and Kait: those stories are scary! And Marianne, I think it's incredibly important to pay attention in relationships. If someone gives you a hinky feeling, run in the other direction!

    Deb, I agree with your husband. Women, in general, are way too nice to detriment of their own safety, and I have Fina exploit this in a couple of the books. She gains access to what are supposed to be secure environments by feigning that she belongs. That's a fake it til you make it moment!

    The plane crash story is scary, Rhys. I wonder what might have actually kept you from boarding the plane. I always hope that when it counts, my intuition will be really intrusive and obnoxious, so I can't discount it.

    I'm not familiar with the Joe Kenda show, Mary, nor do I know Kate Flora's books. More for my TRB pile!

    Important question, Pat D.: Did he murder and employee?

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  33. Happy Book Day!

    Yes, I believe in intuition. Like Ann Mason, I'm a retired nurse. More times than I can count I acted on my intuition when caring for critically ill or injured patients. I knew that intuition was my subconscious picking up on those subtle physical changes that would be near-impossible to objectively describe. Yes, I'm sure experience played a role in integrating what started with seeing and learning the more obvious symptoms, but then it became an integral part in my practice. I suspect it's much the same for law enforcement, firefighters, EMS personnel, and soldiers. And they all rely on their intuition as well as experience.

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  34. No, he killed his wife or ex-wife. It has been many years since this happened. I think it was in Kent, Ohio.
    Hey Reds! My local PBS station is airing the opera based on the book Bel Canto this Friday evening. You might want to check your local stations.
    Now I have to go get ready. We are taking Mom out to dinner tonight to celebrate her 97th birthday.

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  35. Congratulations on pub day. I am looking forward to reading Duplicity.
    As far as intuition. i insisted my daughter call and speak to her father. She did. He died a few days later.

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  36. Happy bday to your mom, Pat D!

    It's interesting hearing from the nurses and medical people. I've always thought of intuition in terms of personal safety, but of course, it makes sense that it would play a role in health and well-being in general.

    So I wonder, are there times our intuition is just off-kilter, not that we're ignoring it?

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  37. Wow, Coralee! I think you guys could write a book on intuition! I imagine that you're daughter was glad she listened to you.

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  38. Coralee--you are connected. xoxo Both people were changed by that..and you, too.

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  39. Ingrid,

    Happy Book birthday!

    Right now I can only recall one instance. I am not sure if it is intuition. I was in middle school. I had just transferred to the local public school from the school (aka "hell on earth"). I was going to school that morning and all or a sudden I got sick after breakfast so I wound up staying home, Turned out that one of the bullies from the hellish school visited my middle school the day I stayed home at the last minute! I found out the next day when I was fine and went back to my good public school.

    Great question!

    I remember my brilliant sixth grade teacher told my class that even if we have a problem, we leave it at home and do not take it out on other people at school. I have tried to live by that standard.

    I had this gut feeling that someone did not like me or was jealous of me. People made excuses for that person. That person was always polite to me but I knew that person did not like me. After we became friends, I thought maybe I was wrong. Unfortunately, I was right.

    Though I attended her wedding and we stayed in touch even if we got together once a year, she did NOT invite me to her baby showers. I had forgotten that first impression and I just realized that now. I was really hurt that she did not invite me to her baby showers, including one given by her best friend. And she rejected my FB invites. So I got the hint that she did not really like me. She was just being polite. I really thought we were friends.

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