Butler, Octavia E. Positive Obsession.

Shyness is shit.

It isn't cute, or feminine, or appealing. It's torment, and it's shit.

I spent a lot of my childhood and adolescence staring at the ground. It's a wonder I didn't become a geologist... I believed I was ugly and stupid, clumsy, and socially hopeless. I also thought that everyone would notice these faults if I drew attention to myself. I wanted to disappear. Instead, I grew to be six feet tall.

(I'm sure I've babbled about her before. I read a LOT of science fiction/fantasy when I was a kid - I still have a sneaking fondness for Robert Heinlein, retrograde gender constructions, slightly stupid political ideas, and all. But her writing - her awesome creativity, her sly humour, her unwavering moral compass - remains compelling. So go track some down - I particularly recommend Fledgling.)