HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2014 From Carroll Bryant

Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year To Everyone. Be Safe And Have Fun.

 

Navy Carz

A friend of mine on Facebook posted this picture of me from when I was in the navy. To date, it is the only picture of me from when I was in the navy to surface. I haven't found any in my photo albums and I don't think my mother, or any other family member, has any pictures of me from that time in my life. (I never was one for taking pictures of myself because I already knew what I looked like - plus - selfies were not invented yet. lol) I could have done without the red-eye effect, it erases my baby blues. lol But this was me waking up with a hangover - as it was the theme of my life back then. Drinking, women and more drinking and women,. lol

Carroll Bryant

  

Thanks to my friend Julie for sharing it with me. 

No Bullying Dot Com

Cyber Bullying on Goodreads

Frank Chavez: A Fantasy Football Bully

Who would have thought that I would be writing about a bully in fantasy football? Certainly not I. And yet, here I am with another bully story to tell. Go figure.

Fantasy football for me is kind of like an escape from everything else in life. It's kind of like therapy for me. I love playing it. This year, I decided to cut down the number of teams I play from 12 to ten. I also decided to play all of them in ESPN leagues. I really love their "flex" option.

Anyhow, after my drafts were complete in late June, everyone sat back to wait for the season to start in September. To kind of lighten the mood a little, and just for the heck of it, I decided to post something in all ten of my leagues. A little ditty I wrote once and thought maybe a few people would enjoy reading it. I have done stuff like this before, in the past, and have gotten a fairly favorable and polite response from other league members. Most people I encounter in fantasy football are actually pretty nice.

But for some strange reason, this year has turned out to be a little bit different. This year, someone decided to cause a little trouble. But first, let me show you what I posted in my leagues.

If you'll notice, I posted this on June 26th. On that same day, a few hours later, a man by the name of Frank Chavez quickly posted a response, however, there was nothing in that response box. It was blank.

I never went back in to even look at the responses until late August. But then on August 14th, some fifty days later! Frank Chavez posted another response. He said, "This crap you wrote makes no sense at all. Stop it ..."

Why would he respond like that? It makes no sense. 

Now, the moment I read this I knew, I was dealing with a bully. And you guys know that I can sniff out a bully an "internet" mile away. And what made me realize that Frank Chavez was a bully wasn't because he called what I wrote crap, that's just an opinion, and he is certainly entitled to that opinion. Not to mention, I really couldn't care less if he likes what I write or not. But what made me realize that I was dealing with a punk bully was the fact that he demanded that I "stop it".

You see, the moment I read that I knew he was trying to intimidate me. I knew he was trying to "Ray Rice" my ass. (That would actually come into play later because I would discover that he thought I was a girl at first.)

Anyhow, to tell someone to "stop it" demonstrates a desire by Frank Chavez to "control" me and my future actions in the league to suit his desires and satisfaction. A typical bully trait. I also knew that if I were to respond, he would begin calling me names and attack me more harshly, and with curse words and calling me names, like a bully does. My knowledge of bullies would not let me down. I did make a response. I wanted to send a message with my response. That message was, "You don't intimidate me, punk." Only I wanted to get that message out there using a different phrase of words. I wanted to rattle his cage just as harshly as he tried to rattle mine with his angry dominating behavior. So I responded.

"Don't get your panties in a twist Pedro."

But if you notice the date of when I responded, you would see it was ten days later on August 24th. This is when I finally went into the message area of the league to see if anyone responded. And finally, 19 days later, Frank Chavez responded. He said, "I got your Pedro right here check it out panty stain." 

At this point, I'm thinking Frank Chavez might be gay. And while that is up for debate, him being rude isn't. Simply put, he's just not a friendly kind of guy, gay or straight. But he did exactly what I knew he would do. He did exactly what a bully does, he called me a "panty stain". Check it out. 

Now, after dealing with internet bullies for as long as I have, this response came not as a shock to me. Actually, I thought it was kind of comical. I do enjoy being able to predict what bullies will do and say and how they will respond. So I fired back with this: "This crap you write makes no sense, stop it ..." And yes, I was mocking him and what he said earlier. And that's all I said. Nothing more and nothing less. 

At this point, any normal person would have just left it alone by now, but bullies are not normal people. And you guys also know me, I do not allow bullies to get the last word. They get the first word, which is usually rude and disrespectful and usually leads to confrontation, but I never let them get the last word. And I knew that Frank Chavez wasn't going to let that response go. After all, I knew he was a bully. He has it written all over his actions and words. He came back with another insult and demand - saying, "You should know about writing crap, stop it ..."

And my response at the bottom of that last screenshot? .... "Stop being a tampon or I'm gonna write something new just for spite." .... And the reason I posted this response was to now go a little bit on the offensive. I knew by indicating that he was acting like a tampon, he would get all fired up. And boy did he! He called me "Butch" (LMAO) and called me a "J.K. Rowling" wannabe. And oh, so much more. Take a look and also take a look at my response. 

At this point, I am just basically laughing at him. I already know who and what he is, and in true bully fashion, he responds. 

And obviously, by the time I read his response, I knew that he thought I was a female. This would explain why he responded the way he did to the post in the first place. He did think I was a girl and he did think he could "Ray Rice" my ass because of it. This is how I was looking at it. But in reality, we already know bullies don't really care about sex or race or anything like that, they just do that bully thing they do because ..... because ..... well, because they are psycho's. And in true bully form, he asks me to "jump off a bridge" and "kill myself" and that nobody would miss me. How many times have we seen bullies wish death onto others? Onto me? LMAO And to think, a few weeks ago that wish almost came true. Ha-ha. I guess the bullies didn't wish hard enough. 

But also notice in that response he made that he admits and actually celebrates about the fact that he is a bully. He said, and I quote, "For your information, sometimes it's good to be a bully so that you don't get intimidated by someone like you with personal issues."

Ahem! But who was trying to intimidate who here? Who responded to my little ditty, calling it crap and demanding that I "stop it"? The answer is of course, Frank Chavez. But this is classic bully behavior, isn't it? Deny that you did anything wrong despite the evidence and then turn around at some point in the conversation and blame the victim when in fact the whole thing was started by Frank when he responded to my post in the manner which he responded. 

But why him? Why did he respond? Nobody else did. And as I mentioned earlier, I have posted stuff like this the past few years in other leagues and no one ever had a problem with it before .... so why now? Why Frank Chavez? 

The answer is because Frank Chavez is a bully. 

I responded with the following. 

Now I'm just playing with him. He has long shown that he is a bully and now, I am just being Carroll. Some would say that's the same as saying I'm being an ass. Either way, I don't back down from bullies and I sure as hell wasn't going to back down from this one. So he responded. 

And like a true bully, he keeps attacking me as a writer, even though he has never read anything I ever written - except for that little ditty. A typical bully attack method / strategy. And he continues calling me names like "pussy". And he says he isn't picking a fight despite the fact that he did and the evidence supports that. And he claims that he didn't admit to being a bully nor gloating about it despite the fact that in screenshot #5 he does gloat to being a bully. 

Are we getting the picture yet? 

Finally, someone else chimes in. 

That "Pedro" joke was racist? Well, perhaps, I don't know, but it was a joke - and prior to that, Frank had basically insulted me and told me to "stop it". Had he not done that, my response would never have been posted. Let us never forget how this whole thing started. It started when Frank Chavez responded to my little ditty. He didn't have to respond. No one else did. If he doesn't like it, then he doesn't have to read it, right? And he certainly doesn't have to respond to it and he doesn't have to be mean and rude and crude and disrespectful in the process, does he? But instead of Jaime mentioning that, he or she only mentions the "racist joke"? 

Then again, look at the last name of Jaime .... it's Menendez. Are we getting the full picture here? Well, I know I am. But here is how I responded nonetheless. 

And now we have a new post for The Looking Glass. And we have a new bully to admire and shame. LOL And it just goes to show that book reading sites aren't the only places where bullies reside. They are all over the internet. 

As for Frank Chavez, I am pretty much done with him. I think. I might do a part two, I don't know yet. But hey, I did find out I play him twice in this particular league. We actually play against each other this weekend. And I also found out he is in two other leagues of mine too. He and I actually squared off last week as my Waverly Thrashers destroyed him 109 - 67. I only play him once with that team. I do play him once with my Columbus Bandits in the other league. So, we are in three leagues together and play each other four times. I am already 1-0 against him and I will write an update Tuesday on the result of this current match-up. This is why I like fantasy football. Even when you bump into a bully, at least you get the chance for some type of revenge. 

 I also wrote another little ditty in that leagues message area.

I did run into a few bullies in one league in my first year of playing ESPN leagues. They were buddies and after I started the year 0-3, they began laughing at me and mocking me when I wouldn't make any trades with them. I ended up winning a game before losing for the 4th time, then I went on an 8 game winning streak to end the season and finished 9-4 and the 4th seed in the playoffs. Two of the guys who bullied me also made the playoffs. I ended up playing them both on my way to winning the league championship. 

I believe in karma. Now you know why. As little and insignificant as fantasy football is, it was still refreshing and oh, so satisfying to beat those guys - just as it was to beat Frank last week and hopefully, beat him again this week .... and the other two times we will meet up in the games. I am hoping that karma continues. Ultimately, winning these three specific league championships will be the big karma I am hoping for. 

Meanwhile, this is my message to Frank Chavez: "Stop being a bully, you douche."


I'm Carroll Bryant .... and this is The Looking Glass.



UPDATE #1:


Here is his response to my last post.

A real charmer, isn't he?

Here is my response to him.

 

Driving The Young Boys Insane (Carroll Bryant Song)

It took a few delays and a heart attack later - but now that it's done, I can look forward to the next one. Once I finish my rehab and the holidays are past, I will hope to get back and start on a new one. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this one.

Life After Bullies: Change Your Name

Well, it's no secret that I recently suffered a massive heart attack. Just another dance with the angel of death for me. I've had a few dances with him in my life. I'm also pretty confident that I have disappointed many bullies too by surviving. I know how badly they wish me dead. That aside, I do have an announcement to make.

Prior to the heart attack, and I won't reveal when or how long ago exactly, but I released a book under a different name. It was a story that I had written many years ago and decided to release however, I wanted to do an experiment of sorts and see what would happen if I released it under a new name and sure enough, it is doing quite well. In fact, a few of the bullies have actually given it five and or four stars with glowing reviews.

Imagine that!

Not that I really want their money, but I think it's kind of funny, don't you? 

So to this point, I would say that my experiment is something of a moderate success. Maybe this is how victims of these bullies can get around them, by changing your author name. I have noticed several other authors who were victimized by them do the same thing and reporting increased book sales, so .... good for them. Hell, good for all of us, right? 

Even before my heart attack, you may have noticed a decrease in my posts on my other blog, and of course, here on The Glass. That's because I have been focused on my other "name" sake and blog related to that new author name. I have also been roaming Goodreads with that new author identity also. Although, I haven't been as active as I was before when I was on there as Carroll Bryant. Besides, whatever sales I am getting isn't really coming from Goodreads as much as it is coming from the bullies and their good reviews of my work. 

But again, for any other author who may have suffered at the hands of the bullies, perhaps you should consider the ultimate revenge ...... and publish some books under a different name. Now that you know how the bullies work, it should be easier to manipulate them into buying into your work as a different author. I say, if you can pull it off, then take full advantage of it. 

Just thought I would let you know, in case any of you would like to try the same thing. 

I'm Carroll Bryant .... and this is The Looking Glass.

Carroll Bryant Quote: September, 2014

"I'd rather live while I'm alive than to die before I am dead."

- Carroll Bryant

Responding to criticism regarding his smoking, drinking, and eating habits leading up to his heart attack.

Goodreads Member Karl Jones Sentenced For Sex Crimes

In September of 2013, I posted an article ( Goodreads Pedo Alert: Karl Jones ) that warned about an active pedophile living in the UK lurking on Goodreads. He was also actively involved in sexual role-play groups on Goodreads.com and interacting with minors. In fact, the very first story I posted here on "The Glass" was ( Goodreads: Or Good Pedophilia ) which covered the high volume of sexually charged role-play groups on Goodreads and the involvement of adults and minors within those groups.

Only later, and most recently, did I learn that this man, Karl Jones, who posed as an "author" was actually plagiarizing author Geraldine Evans. ( Karl Jones Plagiarizes )

Today, I would like to wrap up that story by announcing Karl Jones has been sentenced to 49 months for his sexual crimes of sexually assaulting a four year old girl and for having child porn images on his computer. ( Writer Jailed For Molesting Girl )

One can only wonder though how many other under-aged girls Karl Jones has interacted with on the Goodreads website. Perhaps we will never know that answer. More concerning is: How many other adult sexual predators are on Goodreads right this moment in a sexual role-play group and sexually role-playing with a minor? Perhaps we will never know the true answer to that one either.

When you have a website like Goodreads that caters to readers of all ages, and that site also allows highly charged sexual role-play groups to exist, it is only inevitable that these sexual predators will prey on the young within that website. My article regarding this issue clearly shows that not only could it happen, but it did hapen and is happening right this minute, even to this day.

It is up to the parents to monitor their children's activity on the internet, and their activity on Goodreads.com. This conviction of Karl Jones is proof positive that all of my warnings were nightmares that came true. And the final questions we (you) have to ask is: How many other "Karl Jones" are there on Goodreads preying on children, flying under the radar? And, is that child your child?

When the Pandora Box of sins is opened, this is exactly the kind of thing one can expect. It is up to you the people to make the difference and call for change. It is up to you to contact Goodreads and demand that all sexual role-play groups be banned - PERIOD! And to report this activity to authorities when you stumble across it.

As for Karl Jones, he will be in jail for the next four years. However, what happens when he is released? Will he return to Goodreads again to stalk under-aged girls once more? And if so, who will stop him? Goodreads? ..... I doubt that. They are too busy counting their money. And let's face it, Karl Jones will be released eventually, and he will attempt to join back up on Goodreads - and perhaps under a different name. He will join back up with them because he is a sexual predator. He knows there are minors on Goodreads. He knows there are sexual role-play groups on Goodreads. And he knows there are minors participating in these sexual role-play groups. He also knows that Goodreads is doing nothing to stop him. Only you the people can stop him.

I will do my best to keep you all informed and updated regarding Karl Jones and his release. But in the event it slips my grasp, perhaps preventive measures can be implemented. But if this is to occur, the only people who can ensure this is you, the Goodreads members.

I'm Carroll Bryant .... and this is The Looking Glass.

Pedophile Karl Jones Plagiarizes Author Geraldine Evans

Plagiarism is a serious thing. For what does it say of a persons character when they are caught red-handed, and knee deep of plagiarism? Recently, John Walsh, a United States senator from Montana was caught plagiarizing. He tried to use the excuse that PTSD may have played a role in what he did. I scoff at the notion. A man of his education and position within society knows better than to plagiarize.

I'm no expert in the inner workings of the mind and what leads one to copy another person's work of the written word, nor am I going to try. Nor shall I attempt to understand how one may think he or she can get away with such a thing in today's technological world where everything and everything is posted on the internet as a matter of record. It seems to me that with our technology, it would make discovering plagiarism more obvious. It's not a question of "if" a person will get caught doing such a thing, but "when" they get caught. Trust me, if you plagiarize, you will get caught eventually, and then what? What becomes of YOUR reputation and character when that discovery is made?

I think for myself, I believe that people who plagiarize don't even care about their reputations in the first place. They live in a delusional world where they truly believe they are something they clearly are not. In this case, writers. In my opinion, a writer is nothing more than a very deep thinker with a very active brain. Being a writer myself, I often times find myself just sitting and pondering so many things. My brain is always searching for something to say, and how to say it cleverly. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. Sometimes it pretty good, and sometimes it bombs. But that is the life of a writer. Not everything you write will be a masterpiece.

Speaking strictly for myself, as a writer, I never worry over whether someone out there will try and steal my words. I just figure I don't have much worth stealing. And after meeting author Geraldine Evans, I get the feeling she feels pretty much the same way too. Or at least, she used to feel that way. Geraldine Evans is an author who humanizes her craft with her most humble of ways. She writes what her active brain comes up with. She spends countless hours honing her writing skills and working on her stories. Exactly what a writer should be doing. Not stressing over concerns related to plagiarism. And I now wonder how I would respond to making the discovery that she made - that someone out there is plagiarizing her hard work.

And while I have to continue to wonder how I would respond to such a thing, Geraldine Evans has to deal with this discovery everyday of her life now. And the perpetrator of this act is none other than Karl Jones - a wannabe author who hasn't the author skills to write his own stories, oh no, he has to plagiarize the hard work of Geraldine Evans.

Now, if the name Karl Jones strikes a chord with you it's probably because he does more than plagiarize. He first appeared on my radar a way back, when I broke the story of sexual role playing taking place on a book website known as Goodreads. These sexual role playing groups consist of both adults and minors. With the help of a few people, I was pointed in his direction and discovered that Karl Jones was a convicted child molester. He was, at that time of when I broke the story about him, a member of some of these sexual role play groups, and was an active participator.

Unbeknownst to me at the time however, was the knowledge that he didn't even bother writing his own books, and that he was plagiarizing the work of author Geraldine Evans. And because I broke the story here on my "Looking Glass" blog about this pedophile, I felt it was my responsibility to also inform everyone about his plagiarizing ways. But instead of me simply telling you the story of what he did to Geraldine Evans, I thought it best if I allowed her to tell her own story - and to do so right here on my blog.

So, without any further ramblings from me, here is Geraldine Evans herself to tell her story, in her own words, regarding Karl Jones and him plagiarizing her work.

----------------------------------------------------------------

 FAME AT LAST ... JUST NOT THE FAME I WANTED - By Geraldine Evans.

It was just another day – you know the kind of thing – trying to sort out an urgent legal matter with tardy lawyers, heaving about a hundredweight of heavy plant pots away from my back wall so work can be done on a damp problem, wading through the usual bumf in my email inbox.

And then I opened an email from a lady who turned out to be a fan of my novels. She was writing to tell me that a man named Karl Jones had plagiarised two of the books in my Rafferty & Llewellyn mystery series.

My first reaction was one of astonishment that he’d bother! I’m hardly a household name. Surely, I thought, any plagiarist worth his salt and intent on stealing an author’s work would pick on someone other than a midlister like me.


Anyway, I checked this Jones character on Amazon and there he was, with his name as the author on the first two books in my 15-strong series. Clearly, an idle sort of thief because pretty much all he’d troubled to change to conceal his theft was names and places. Beyond that, there was little that’d troubled to alter in my stories. He’d just stolen my words wholesale in a totally brazen manner.

To add insult to injury, the rankings for ‘his’ books were better than mine!

My dander was up now. I’d worked long and hard to get a publishing contract. I wrote a book a year for six long years before I got a publishing deal all while holding down a full-time day job. I was no stranger to 7-day working weeks. How dare this man who lacked the industry and perseverance to do likewise, steal my work?


I was in no position to sue him as I couldn’t afford the expense I’d incur as I thought it likely that I’d end up paying my own legal expenses for a case that dragged on and on (like Charles Dickens’, I too have a horror of ‘going to law’—a law that, too often it seems, punishes the innocent while giving the guilty a mere slap on the wrist). Even if I chose to pursue Karl Jones through the courts, I doubt such an underhand individual would leave money conveniently in an easily-traced bank account. Besides, apart from stealing my work, this man had also stolen a considerable chunk of my time. I felt no inclination to allow him to steal more of it when all I was likely to get for my trouble was a lot of stress and a large bill.

Instead of contacting a solicitor, I immediately wrote a post for kboards.com/Writers’ Café, a place where authors gather, to warn other authors about the multi-published, multi-genre ‘writer’, Karl Jones, as I suspected he might well have stolen other authors’ work, not just mine. I also notified all the retailers about this man.

Fortunately, I’m one of life’s hoarders and was easily able to prove that I had the rights to publish my books by emailing copies of the letters from Macmillan and St Martin’s Press returning my rights in these two books.

I must praise Dan at Draft2Digital (a business that distributes digital books to retailers). The response from D2D was impressively prompt. They immediately asked retailers to remove Karl Jones’s fakes of my work as well as all his other books from their shelves. Amazon turned out to be the slowest to react. They were also the only retailer to ask me to provide proof that I hold the rights in these books (that must be around the fourth time I’ve had to provide such proof to them. Shame they didn’t ask Karl Jones to provide some).

I must also mention that the sympathy and support from every author who commented on my post on kboards was tremendous. The thread to my original post grew a very long tail (here’s the link if you’d like to have a browse: K-Boards Forum

But then fates decided to do what they do best and put a spike in my wheel. My internet connection died shortly after my post on kboards and I was unable to keep up with what was happening. I was only reconnected on Sunday 27 July.

I’ve managed to respond to most of the comments by borrowing a kind friend’s computer for a few hours (thanks Chrissie!). But before my internet connection went kaput, I also received a second email from another Rafferty fan. She sent a link with the name ‘Karl Jones’ on the UK and Eire Paedophile Register. A kindleboarder had posted the same link. But I don’t feel able to comment on that as I have no way of knowing if this Karl Jones is the same one who plagiarised my work. If he is, he’s an extremely unpleasant character whose other ‘P’ crimes are far worse than plagiarising.

As well as sympathy, several kboarders offered more: Carroll invited me to write this blog post about my experience and I was also invited to do a podcast for letteschat (which I’ll be doing live at 8.00 PM New York time on 31 July). Fingers crossed my internet connection cooperates!

One kboarder even offered to organise a whip-round in case I changed my mind and decided to sue and several authors said they’d be happy to chip in. What a lovely gesture. I was moved to tears that people I had never met should offer to help in this way.

Why did this man pick on my work? I’ve no idea. I’m not one of the writing world’s stars. Nor do I earn a fortune. Although many of the public, who read about writers like J K Rowling, imagine all authors earn spectacular amounts, it simply ain’t so. I live in a small terraced house and drive a second-hand car. I often buy my clothes from charity shops and sometimes (especially when my income doesn’t quite stretch to the end of the month) dinner is beans on toast.

I rely on my writing income to live and to pay my bills. I turned indie towards the end of 2010 after refusing to sign the latest contract from my publisher as I thought the demand for the digital rights to my entire back-list was a demand too far and they refused to publish my latest work unless I signed on the dotted line. I’d followed the indie revolution and the blogs of a number of authors who’d already taken the decision to go independent and publish their books on Amazon’s Kindle and elsewhere, so I was aware that digital rights could be a valuable commodity. Why should I sign mine over to my publishers and receive a meagre share of the digital income when I could earn a far greater percentage by publishing myself on Kindle?

After studying the reports of these authors’ progress and sales which they generously shared (Joe Konrath’s posts in particular), I felt encouraged to follow suit. I was fortunate in that I mostly write about series characters and that I have a substantial back-list (fifteen in my Rafferty& Llewellyn series and two in my Casey & Catt series, as well as other, standalone books), so I decided to take my chance and go it alone.

To be frank, I didn’t think I could do any worse by publishing direct with Amazon, Smashwords and the rest of the retailers/distributors than I’d done with various traditional publishers over the years. I’d never earned enough from my writing to be able to give up my day jobs and write full-time. My work was marketed in a minimalist fashion that meant it sank without trace. I was never given the support that would enable me to rise above the mid-list, which meant my sales were as minimalist as the marketing my books had received. It’s the same for the vast majority of authors, not just me (see this post on the Reports of Authors’ Earnings: WriterlyWitterings. Before Kindle, if we wished to be published, we had no other option but to accept these less than generous contracts.

But Amazon changed all that. Imagine my astonishment when within six-eight months of uploading as many of my novels as I was able, time wise, to publish on Kindle, for the first time in my writing life I was actually earning a full-time living. I could scarcely believe it.

Yes, the heady early days on Kindle of large (large for me, anyway!) sales on Kindle when everyone put a Kindle on their Christmas list, have long gone alas and my sales have settled down to a regular, far from enormous number.

I get by—just—most of the time. But after all my years of striving and working 7-day weeks, to have the products of my industry lifted by a man too lazy to write his own books, was galling.

Thankfully, the copies of my books that he stole have been removed from Amazon, Draft2Digital, Createspace and Smashwords and D2D has, as I said, removed Jones’s ‘work’ in its entirety. It might take a little longer for ‘his’ books to be removed from the shelves of Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo and other smaller concerns; it usually takes a little while for such instructions to filter through and my internet access is still intermittant at best so I’ve been unable to check.

Now I must just hope Jones doesn’t start over with a new ‘author’ name and a new email account and begin his plagiarism all over again, as I imagine it was his intention to steal all fifteen books in my Rafferty series.

I don’t know if there’s any sure-fire way of stopping plagiarisers like Karl Jones, but I’m a firm believer in ‘what goes around comes around’. In time, the fates, karma, whatever one chooses to call it, will deliver to Jones the punishment he so richly deserves and when that day arrives, I’ll be the first to applaud.

But until then, it is only by being vigilant that authors can protect their work and hard-won income from predators like Karl Jones. I’ve already made clear that most authors, me included, don’t earn a lot; but we’re doing what we love and getting paid a fair sum for our efforts (which is, for many of us old mid-listers, akin to a miracle). So when we finally achieve the dream we’d worked so hard for—a liveable income—it’s tough indeed when thieves like Jones take the bread from our mouths. My baked bean dinners taste far nicer with a slice of toast, after all.

I urge other authors to check out Karl Jones’s claimed novels, many of which, in various genres (the last time I was able to check), remained on most retailers’ shelves.

I’d like to thank all the readers and authors who voted down his reviews and ‘outed’ him to the world. His name is now well and truly known, but not in a way I imagine he much likes. Thanks also to Carroll for the invitation to write this guest post; it’s helped me to write about my experience as will doing the podcast I have also been invited to do.

Lastly, I’d like to thank the lovely ladies who emailed me with the tip offs about this man’s reprehensible activities. If it hadn’t been for them I’d have carried on in ignorance of his theft and he’d have been able to continue to profit from my labour. Readers—ain’t they just great?!

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I understand that Geraldine Evans isn't the first person to have her work plagiarized, and unfortunately, she won't be the last. But if you can go to the K-Boards Forum through the link provided above and give her some support / advice, I know she would be most grateful. 

As for Karl Jones, let's hope he rots away in prison like the pedophile monster that he is. Like the plagiarist that he is - as I am getting word that most of his work has now been removed from most of the book sites where he had them listed and posted. That is good news. Especially for Geraldine Evans. 

No author should have to spend his or her time dealing with people like Karl Jones, they should be spending their time writing new stories for readers to read. And as for Karl Jones and people like him, if you can't write, find another profession to pursue. There's no shame in conceding to the fact that you're not a writer, but there is a ton of shame for those who plagiarize from writers - and get caught. I hope Karl Jones is now feeling the shame. But I doubt it. People like him have no shame - or morality.

I'm Carroll Bryant ..... and this is The Looking Glass.

Painted In You (Mark's Version) Carroll Bryant

Here is Mark's version of my song.

The Simple Life (Song) Carroll Bryant

It's always good to get back to your country roots. I wrote this at my parents lake house on the porch one summer Sunday evening, after supper. What a wonderful memory!

The Anne Rice Agenda - Part One

In my previous post Questioning Anne Rice - I mention my concern of just exactly where she might stand in her battle against bullying. I question whether she really is concerned about actual author bullying or just simply against one star ratings and or negative reviews, in general, of books. (Most directly, her books.)

I have yet to conclude a definitive answer or opinion. However, I did stumble onto something recently that could raise a few eyebrows. A screenshot on a blog that captured a comment on the Amazon Forum Boards by Ms. Rice and has since been deleted from the Amazon Forum Boards. I will post this at the end of this writing, but when you read it, perhaps you will come away thinking the same thing that I thought, which is, WHAT THE FREAK?

It is a rather long rant by Anne Rice, attacking negative reviews of one of her books. It left me scratching my head in wild wonder. It also makes me wonder even more that perhaps her crusade against bullying is more a smoke-screen for trying to ban negative reviews. But as I stated earlier, I still haven't reached a decision. But if I continue to stumble onto things like this, maybe that answer will come more into the light. I don't know. I mean, I truly want to believe she is against cyber bullying of authors, yet, her passionate rant captured in the screenshots below leads me to think she could just be against negative reviews. It's perplexing to say the least.

Then I think, 'If it really is about bullying, and not about negative reviews, then why did she delete this comment from the Amazon Forum boards?' - Because, quite frankly, these comments of hers appears to be more about negative reviews, and not about bullying. I'll continue to seek out more of her comments to try and gauge her position a bit more clearly. If I find anything interesting, I'll post it here on The Glass in a "Part Two" etc, post. Maybe together we can get to the bottom of the Anne Rice agenda. Is it really about bullying, or negative reviews?

I'm Carroll Bryant ... and this is The Looking Glass.

Questioning Anne Rice

I have been sworn to secrecy which is why I will not reveal my sources for this post. It appears, despite Athena Parker's claims, Carroll Bryant can keep secrets, and there are some who know this to be true. There are plenty of people out there who trust me just fine. That being said, let me fill you in on some thoughts and questions I have been having lately regarding Anne Rice's involvement with this fight against author bullying, and show you some evidence of Ms. Rice's own words that leads me to question perhaps her own agenda.

Back when Anne Rice first started to get involved with this fight, I just naturally assumed, like others have done, that she did her homework on all the players involved. At the very least, I figured she did / or would do soon enough, her homework on the primary players anyway. But I was wrong. She didn't. Not my words, but hers. You'll see them for yourself shortly in this post. Meanwhile, when she appeared onto the scene, my first thought was: "Great, now we will get big-time media attention and maybe other well known and well established authors will follow her lead."

That never materialized either. 

So here we are, six months later after Anne Rice got involved and still, no other big time author has joined the fight. No major media attention. Not on the major news media outlets on the internet nor on the major news stations on TV like Fox, CNN, or even MSNBC. It would appear as though the great Anne Rice can't inspire others to get involved. But why? It should be major news, right? It's cyber bullying we are talking about here and cyber bullying in general is big time news! So why all the crickets surrounding Anne Rice's involvement? The answer is simple. The answer is obvious. (At least it should be.) The answer can be found in Anne Rice's own words. 

But first, I sent out some emails to various websites / news sites to try and make contact with someone who might be able to help me with this question. Lucky for me, a few decided to FINALLY respond. To those people I say, thank you very much. 

While I had already came to my own possible conclusions to that question, I was elated to learn that I wasn't the only one who saw it too. Now let's kick this off and get right to the nitty gritty of it all. We'll begin with this screenshot from Anne Rice's Facebook page. (These screenshots no longer can be found due to the fact that Anne Rice herself has already deleted them.) 

You see, it all looks good on the surface, doesn't it? I mean, Anne Rice trying to explain her position and why she supports STGRB. Unfortunately, and what you will soon learn, this is more a case of the blind leading the blind. The fact is, Anne Rice doesn't have a clue as to why she is supporting STGRB and soon, her own words will demonstrate this. Truth be told, because of her own words, I, like many others more important than myself, question the Anne Rice agenda. You'll see what I am talking about shortly. 

Now, in her post, she shows a screenshot of Nenia Campbell "carpet bombing." And while I totally agree with Anne Rice in her post, and support ending fake ratings and reviews of books, my primary objective was to help STGRB stomp out the attacking of authors in book reviews. (Real reviews or fake reviews.) That to me is where the real bullying aspect derives from. 

While I also would like to end fake ratings and reviews altogether, I am realistic enough to know that this is a slippery slope. The slippery part being how to prove a rating of any kind is indeed a fake rating? There are times when a bully will confess their fake one star rating by saying they never read the book and yet they still leave a one star rating on it. These obvious fakes should be deleted by Goodreads and Amazon period! But too often times they are not. And where Anne Rice and I differ (as well as STGRB and Athena Parker) is that I am also against 5 star ratings. We'll get into that later in the post. (Like right now.)

This next screenshot raises that very issue. 

Mary Ingles mentions fake 5 star reviews.

Here is the Anne Rice response.

Did you see it? Anne Rice doesn't assume that 5 star ratings are fake. She also asks why should fake 5 star ratings be considered a problem? Evidently, she sees nothing wrong with fake 5 star ratings. Unfortunately, Anne Rice, fake 5 star ratings are just as bad as fake one star ratings because ... because ... wait for it ... because ..... THEY'RE FAKE! THEY'RE FRAUDULENT! 

In my book, fake 5 star ratings are just as much bullying as fake one stars. They do just as much - if not more - damage than fake one stars. The reason is because they are still misleading potential readers. 

But as I stated earlier, fake ratings and reviews are difficult to prove unless the person doing the fake rating / reviewing admits that they never read the book. Beyond that, it's a tough call. A slippery slope. I have mentioned before that if I had to choose between a fake one star rating and trashing of my book or a book review / rating (real or fake) of the reviewer trashing me on a personal level in a book review, I would choose the fake one star. It's the attacking of authors on a personal level in a book review that I consider true actual bullying. You know what I'm talking about. The ones that say, "I hate this author. This author is a stalker. This author is a rapist. This author is a pedophile." - And so on and so forth. 

But after reading that comment by Anne Rice, I am led to believe that she only stands against fake one stars, but fake five stars are just peachy keen?

This is not right. This is flat out wrong. And this is why questions of Anne Rice's agenda come to the forefront of my mind. Is she really against author bullying or just against one star reviews? Over the past few weeks I have discovered that I am not the only one who asks that question and or is confused by what it is exactly that Anne Rice truly stands for. On top of that, it seems to be okay with her that people who leave five star reviews needn't leave an in-depth review of the book to prove they actually read it, yet she seems to be against one star ratings where the reviewer fails to leave a full in-depth review of the book to prove they read it. And again, I find this terribly wrong and hypocritical of her. 

Now Zarah Robinson comes forth to ask a question. Anne Rice responds. 

At this point, it is apparent that Ms. Rice isn't aware of Zarah's history. Zarah posts again and then Athena Parker chimes in. 

Now the two seem to work things out. The conversation goes on a little longer, but my point with this is that even in the heat of the war, there are innocent casualties. My point of reason is that there shouldn't be. STGRB needs to be more careful. It is apparent that even Athena Parker makes mistakes yet I get the feeling she doesn't want to be condemned for it like she condemned me for my one time mistake. After all, we have already seen first hand on this blog how much of a liar and hypocrite Athena really is. 

Now we come to an interesting slew of comments. It starts with Yvonne Mason then leads to an outright battle between Yvonne and Flora Bellini. (Not to worry, we're getting closer to some sketchy comments made by Anne Rice.)

On the surface, it would appear that Flora makes an interesting case. On the one hand, if authors don't want to be bullied by reviewers, then maybe some authors should stop bullying reviewers. It makes logical sense except, where Flora is concerned, it's none of her business. None of Yvonne's comments towards those other reviewers have anything to do with her personally, so my question to Flora would be, what business is it of yours? Whomever Yvonne picks a fight with it is strictly between her and that reviewer. Not between Flora and or any other person, bully or otherwise. Wouldn't you agree? 

Personally, I think authors are perfectly justified to question any reviewer's review. The bullies seem to think that after an author writes and publishes their work, that work now belongs to them and or readers and reviewers. Nothing could be further from the truth. That work still belongs to the author. And I don't think that authors truly believe their books are their children, that would be borderline dementia to me. But it's still their work. No different than if I built a house and someone came along and began telling me where I went wrong in my design. I have every right to turn to them and say, "Shut the hell up." if I so please. From that point on, that little battle is between me and that person, not me and that person and their friends. Catching my drift here? 

There lies the problem. When an author gets into it with one of their readers or reviewers, backup is always called in and then the proverbial shit really does hit the fan. And that's where the problem truly lies. All of this bullying is nothing more than others, who have no business with other people's squabbles, get involved. So while I understand where Flora is coming from, and to a certain point, I agree with her, she has to understand that whatever takes place between an author and someone else is of no business of hers. Even if the reader / reviewer involved is a friend of hers. It is, flat out simply, none of her business.

But in this next series of comments, I can really begin to see Flora's point even more when Yvonne comments back to Flora. 

Yvonne says the absolutely wrong thing here. She tells Flora that she (Flora) - "should have asked her (Yvonne) before she (Flora) went looking" for information about her (Yvonne.)

Seriously Yvonne? Still, Flora lets her have it. (Keeping in mind that this is still (or was) on Anne Rice's Facebook page which she later deleted.) I now wonder why Anne Rice deleted it? Maybe because it made her argument look bad. You know, Yvonne's attitude was more out of line than that of Flora. (And Yvonne is the author here.)

The only problem I have with Flora's response to Yvonne is: "... Sure she was wrong posting one star reviews on your book, but you provoked her ..." 

Just because two people do not get along and someone provoked the other is still no excuse for that person in question to falsely rate and review books one never read in the first place. That is a bully maneuver plain and simple. If the person who was provoked by an author wants to retreat to their blog and or group and bitch about an author and their behavior, fine, but to falsely lie about reading a book and or attacking that author by way of their books is one hundred percent wrong - end of story. In my world, there is absolutely no defense what-so-ever to lying about reading a book when you didn't, no matter the situation. Unfortunately, Flora doesn't seem to understand this. As for the rest of Flora's comment? I totally agree. 

And as for Yvonne's behavior to this point? Huge fail! 

Now let's move on to another comment. 

There's no way to confirm Nettie's comment, but in short, I do agree with her assertions that it is hard to stand behind STGRB when they resort to using bully tactics themselves. And I can relate to her position. Before they covered my attack, STGRB did doc drop. Sure, they deleted it afterwards, but they still doc dropped. I saw the screenshot first hand once. Even Rick Carufel has evidence / screenshots of where STGRB doc dropped - posted on his blog. And as we seen earlier, even STGRB leaves casualties of war behind like Zarah Robinson. 

The comment by Mysti Parker (any relation, Athena?) is a bit concerning though, and I'll tell you why. It has a little bit to do with my opening to this post where I question Anne Rice's reason for fighting this fight. You see, Anne Rice gave the appearance that she knows why she supports STGRB when in truth, and as we are about to see, she doesn't know why. Poor Mysti thinks Anne is telling the truth about everything, unfortunately, we are about to discover that Anne Rice herself doesn't really know the truth about STGRB. And it all starts to come out when Autumn Turner leaves a comment. At this point, Anne doesn't realize that Autumn has been covered by STGRB as a bully. 

My problem with Anne Rice and her "truthfulness" is; she is not very truthful here in her comment. STGRB are NOT the only ones out there trying to do something about the filth on Amazon. I do posts about the bullies and news flash! So does Rick Carufel. (Sorry if that bursts the Anne Rice "truth" bubble for you, Mysti.) So when I see Anne Rice asking; "Who else is doing anything about it?" - The answer is clear. I am. Rick Carufel is.

The only difference is, Rick and I use our real identities. That takes a lot more courage. Plus, he and I do not attack and or bully others who might simply disagree with us like STGRB does. And Anne Rice would know this if she ever did her research. But she doesn't. (Her words, not mine.) 

In her second comment, Anne Rice states how much the bullies lie. That is true. They lie at every turn. However, had she ever done her research about STGRB, she would see that they lie too. Just saying. Now we get to the meat and potatoes of this post. 

Anne Rice is thinking the exact way I used to think when it came to STGRB using fake names to fight the bullies. However, what I later learned is, there is a reason why Athena Parker is using a fake name. And that reason isn't exactly what Anne Rice thinks it is. The cause would be better served if everyone knew who STGRB really was. And in fact, through my sources, one of the reasons why the major media outlets won't pick up this story despite Anne Rice's involvement is because STGRB uses fake names to fight the fight. 

You see, there is too many questions revolving around Athena Parker being Melissa Douthit. And it is a fact that Melissa Douthit was caught on Goodreads using in excess of 20 sock puppets. This is why she got banned from Goodreads in the first place. And no reputable news outlet or author will join the "fight" with Anne Rice because of this. And this is why, six months later, even someone as widely famous as Anne Rice isn't able to get the mainstream media to cover it. Evidently, from what I have learned, these reputable news sites share the same concern as most others do. That STGRB is now a "liability" to the integrity of the fight. And let's face it, at this point, it would only benefit the fight if STGRB finally, once and for all, revealed themselves. But maybe the reason they continue to not do this is because their identities alone would kill their credibility, and that of the fight against the bullies. It's something to think about. 

Then Anne Rice lies again. She says she has been to the STGRB site and that she has read their posts, and in doing so, she doesn't see STGRB attacking or bullying people. I guess she missed the part where they called Rick Carufel a "coke monkey"? Sounds like an attack and bullying to me. But only when you consider that Rick isn't going around bullying people and you know, STGRB is an anti-bullying site? Nor does she see where they attack me. So again, I struggle with the accuracy of her words there. Especially in some upcoming screenshots where she confesses that she doesn't keep up with everything. That's coming. Meanwhile, we also saw Autumn, to her small credit, inform Anne Rice that STGRB did a post on her and labelled her as a bully. Why is this significant? You'll see. 

Yes, Athena Parker jumps in to update Anne Rice (publicly) about Autumn Turner. (Why she couldn't have done this privately? I don't know. Just saying.) 

Then Athena states that their hosting company didn't ask them to leave. Instead, Athena left them because she didn't agree with their ToS. 

Really, Athena? And was this the same ToS you read before / when you signed up with them? Or did you not read their ToS prior to signing up with them? I may not be a smart man, but I do know that if I am going to sign up with a host for my website, one of the first things I am going to do is read their ToS. If I have a problem with it, that would be the time to NOT sign up with them. Especially after I just left a host prior to signing up with the second host after having problems with their ToS too.

If you all recall, back at the beginning of 2013, STGRB left their first host because they didn't agree with their ToS. The bullies were making so many complaints that the host kept taking them off-line periodically. So STGRB made a switch. I would think, after dealing with those ToS problems, the first thing I would have done when switching to the second host, I would read their ToS. But apparently, Athena Parker didn't do that. Perhaps she has done this with her current host, her third host in three years.

In this next screenshot, we see Anne Rice going off the rails and laying into Autumn big-time. 

First off, Anne says; "It's all so dense and hard to follow." - Really Anne? But I thought you were following everything just fine? What is so difficult? Hearing truths about STGRB? Is that what is so dense and hard to follow for you? Just asking. 

Then Anne rips Autumn for having so many "identities". Funny, I don't see her ripping Athena Parker / Melissa Douthit for having so many identities. *Scratches head*

Apparently, if you're a fake and a fraud, and passing yourself off as a good guy, you're okay. But if the fake good guy posts about a fake bad guy then ..... you know what? These shenanigans are confusing me. 

Anne's second comment accuses Autumn of not informing her that STGRB has posted about her when she started asking questions and leaving comments on Anne's Facebook page. But wait! Sorry Anne Rice, but you lie again. To her credit, she did mention it to you. Here, let me show you. Please read the last comment.

You see Anne, she did mention it. So maybe next time you will slow your roll a little. Just saying. And she mentioned it actually before Athena got involved with the conversation. Normally, I don't agree with bullies, but in this case, you were actually wrong here, Anne. Maybe that's why you deleted this thread? Just asking.

Then Anne reiterates her support for STGRB while ranting on about all the games being played. She leaves it with a saying that she actually got wrong. She says: "What a tangled web we weave when we purpose to deceive."

Actually, it goes like this: "What a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive."

Just saying.

Any hoot, perhaps that's a question she could ask STGRB? Good guys or bad guys, it is wrong to hide behind a fake name or multiple fake names. Credibility for either side is questionable both ways. I like to look at it like this: Would you support a website that condemns child molestation? Of course you would. But what if that website was run by an anonymous owner? Probably yes, right? You would still support their cause of condemning child molestation. However, what if at some point it was revealed that the owner of that site was a convicted child molester? See what I mean? Wouldn't you have liked to know about that person ahead of time? Now translate that to the anonymous folks over at STGRB. 

But that fact that Anne says everything is so hard to follow tells me that perhaps she isn't doing her homework on STGRB or the situation. Perhaps she jumped into the water before testing the depth. If you remove your emotions from the equation, it's not very hard to follow at all. Perhaps if Anne Rice did her research, she would be more knowledgeable about the players involved. The thing is, Anne Rice simply sees the surface of the water and not what lies beneath it. Heck, she seems to think that STGRB are the only ones fighting and reporting on the bullies. That should be the tell tale sign of her lack of research. 

And again, this is why after six months of campaigning, no major news media outlet has jumped on the train. Because, from what I was told, not only are there lingering questions surrounding STGRB, Athena Parker and others, but nobody is really sure where Anne Rice stands. Is she against author bullying, or one star reviews? (Fake or otherwise?) And if she is against author bullying, why support a website that evidence shows they bully authors too? And leave innocent victims (casualties of war) in their wake? And who uses fake names? 

If it's a stand against fake ratings and reviews, then why are one stars not allowed and yet, fake five stars are okay? 

You see Ms. Rice, it's really not as complicated as you make it out to be. The thing is, you got too close to a fake person and bought into her lies based on what you see on the surface. Perhaps it would be wise for you to don your scuba suit and go below the surface of the waters and investigate. Perhaps it's time to start doing your research? Better late than never. I was fooled once too, and for over a year, which is why I am holding out hope for you to come around and face the ugly truth. That yes indeed, STGRB really is a hate site. You just can't see the forest because of the trees. I was like that once upon time also. 

Perhaps if you read other blogs and posts regarding STGRB then you would realize your situation. Yes, I am with you that these bullies are horrible people. No argument there. I fight them head on using my real identity. So does Rick Carufel. And yes, for the most part, STGRB has done a lot of good. But they are not completely innocent. They are like a good cop who breaks the law just to nail the bad guys. I could never support such a cop or that kind of method. If you're going to fight the good fight, do so in the proper manner. You need not have to become a crook to catch a crook. And that's exactly what STGRB has resorted to. Their tactics have come under scrutiny. The rest of the reputable media sees this, so why can't you? Your love affair with Athena is blinding you from the truth. 

And the reputable media outlets will not cover you and your campaign because they know that you will lead everyone to STGRB .... and STGRB is cluttered with controversy and question marks galore. And no reputable media outlet will risk their reputation for a website full of anons. And that's what my sources tell me. 

I am not defending Autumn Turner in the least here. But if she insulted you in the beginning, Anne, then why didn't you state that in your first response? And again, as for her hiding the fact that STGRB did a post about her, why should that even matter? Just because STGRB says someone is a bully you just believe it at their word? You don't investigate the facts? Wouldn't it stand to reason that sometimes, STGRB could be wrong? And again, Autumn did mention that STGRB labeled her as a bully. I showed it twice. It just seems to me that you are jumping off a diving board with your eyes closed, and into an empty pool. The reputable media outlets will not do this. They did their research on STGRB. They have concluded that STGRB is not reputable. And the primary reason is, because you simply can't trust an anon from either side of the fight. 

As always, I wish you luck in your quest to fight the bullies. But my advice would be, do your research first. Make sure you know who the good guys really are. Support those who are brave enough to fight the bullies using their real identities. If you really are a spokesperson for authors, or hope to be, then support the authors, not a website full of anons. Support authors who were victimized by the bullies, not a website of anons who attack authors who were victimized by them, and call people "coke monkey". Not a website of anons where the owner has been proven a liar right here on this blog. Maybe you should try reaching out to various people and take a look at their evidence against STGRB. I tried to do that for you once upon a time but you refused to look at it. Don't get so hooked on the good cop gone bad, this isn't one of your novels. You can't write the happy ending to this story, fortunately, it will write itself one day. The fact is, if you want mainstream media outlets to pick up this story and assist your crusade against these bullies, you are going to have to do your research on STGRB. And then, you are going to have to accept the findings of that research and do the right thing. But only do your research when you can come down from your girl crush with Athena. It worked for me. I'm quite positive it will work for you as well.  Just saying.

I'm Carroll Bryant .... and this is The Looking Glass.

 
UPDATE:

I just learned of Rick Carufel's latest post regarding STGRB's lack of professionalism. Without any evidence to support their claim, they accused author Gavin Hetherington of being a thief. Because of their lack of responsibility for getting the truth, Gavin suffered at the hands of both the bullies, and STGRB. To make things worse, STGRB refuses to apologize to him for their mistake. Instead, they announced that Gavin! apologized to them? Yet another example of how STGRB leaves behind innocent victims (casualties of war) in the wake of their hate. And their disregard to any damages they may have caused him or emotional distress. 

This attack on Gavin, by STGRB, didn't happen because Gavin attacked an author or anything, oh no, they attacked Gavin after stalking the bullies and watching them "eat their own". They proceeded to mock the internal battles of the bullies by doing a series of posts titled, "Once Upon A Time In The Land Of Booklikes", as if they were trying to pick some kind of fight. This aggressive behavior by STGRB also led them to do a post titled, "Gavin The Thief Fiasco". 

While it is always humorous to watch the bullies turn on one another like animals, and we have seen that plenty of times the past couple of years, for STGRB to jump on that bandwagon and accuse Gavin of being a thief without evidence is a clear indictment on how STGRB lacks the proper training and qualifications to haphazardly call themselves an anti-bullying site. It also demonstrates why major news outlets and websites refuse to cover the great Anne Rice and her campaign to fight the bullies. It's also why Bullying.org doesn't want to be associated with them also. 

After condemning me for my mistake of writing a post about Mr. Lucy Flood in my effort to try and help, she goes out and hatefully (and wrongfully) accuses an author of being a thief, and we're all supposed to be okay with that?  Athena now sits upon her golden throne and accepts an apology from Gavin when in truth, she is the one who should have been apologizing to him. But that has always been my point, Athena never apologizes for her actions. Never! And she never will either. She never will because in truth, and as the evidence continues to show, she simply doesn't care. She's operating for her own personal and private agenda, which continues to roll on as she hides behind a fake name. I guess when you're sock puppet, you are entitled to operate that way. There's no accountability what-so-ever. Must be nice to be a sock. I wouldn't know. You would have to ask Athena Parker about that. Maybe even Anne Rice. But be fore warned, don't be surprised if Anne bans you for asking. Just saying. 

More than anything else, this should be further evidence that STGRB and Athena Parker simply can't be trusted. They are causing more harm to authors than helping them anymore. They are also hurting the fight against the bullies. They need to be held accountable for their indecent indiscretions against Gavin, and since they won't hold themselves accountable, you the people need to do it! 

Myself and Rick Carufel have been trying to warn you all about STGRB and their new practices. I hope now many more of you will start paying attention. You could be next on their hit list. And as for Gavin Hetherington? I don't know you. We have never interacted. Nonetheless, I am truly sympathetic to your unfortunate plight and encounter with the hate-site known as STGRB. I hope their premeditated assault on you didn't hurt your book sales. Not only do I hope you demand an apology from them, but I also hope you get it. You deserve it. 

On a lighter side, you'll never see myself or Rick Carufel do this. But that's only because we are motivated by truth, and justice .... not hate. He and I are fighting for a cause, not a hidden agenda.