I don't know, let's take a look and find out together, shall we?
The screenshot you just read was an email from one Athena Parker, and it was sent to one Rick Carufel, who was kind enough to show me. It's an email I sent her back in early November of 2013.
Ahem, Athena dear, if you're going to attack me at least have the decency to do so to my face. Don't you have a website you can utilize for such purposes?
Unfortunately Athena, you're a day late and a dollar short. Your feeble attempt of trying to stir up trouble has failed, I'm sorry to say. (Or maybe I'm not sorry? Tell you what, I'll look into that and get back with you on it later, okay?)
Meanwhile, back on the ranch ....
You see, I have already made a mention of it in my last post. Had you read it, you would have seen it. What? You don't believe me? Okay, allow me to post a screenshot of it.
Aha! I did mention it. Told you so.
And yes, you know as well as I Athena that we were both a little concerned about Rick when he went through that "phase" of his. I was very much concerned on many levels. First, I thought my friend had lost it. Second, I feared he may have left to the other side. And had he done so, and I found proof of it, I had every intention of outing him on it. The cause would have left me no choice. Not to mention, my readers expect me to tell the truth. If I falter in that, then they expect me to "own it", and I try to not let them down. You see, honesty is what matters the most in the end. Speaking of which ....
There was a slew of strange socks popping up all over the place and the consensus in the WIN group at that time was, that it might be Rick.
And yes, I wanted to find out if it was .... or .... if it wasn't.
But instead of just jumping the gun, and "assuming" that it was Rick, like many of those in the group were quick to point the finger at, I wanted to go stealth, as it were, to try and find the answer. I mean, let's face it, it's one thing to accuse someone of something, and a whole other thing to actually have proof of it. Am I right?
Since I am not one to knowingly and falsely accuse people of things, I went out in search of the truth for myself. And I searched .... and I searched .... I poked .... I prodded ... time was my only ally .... and I searched some more.
Conclusion? .... I found nothing. Zero. Nada. Zilch. So maybe my investigative skills suck, that or there just wasn't anything there for me to find. I don't know.
Anyhow, all I know is, I came up with nothing.
Now for the mouse trap.
The best way to find out who you can trust is to give them ammunition for their gun, and see how long it takes for them to use it against you. I can see by the evidence presented before me, it didn't take you long at all Miss Parker. (Any kin to Bonnie? No? Okay then. Are you sure? ... Okay then.)
Hey Athena, why did you think I made a mention of it in my post? You know, without divulging any deep rooted details? Didn't you think I was aware of that email I sent you? Didn't you ever stop to consider that there may have been an ulterior motive for it? Perhaps you should have.
Besides being concerned for my friends "mental" well being, and me wanting to know the truth in regards to these mysterious sock puppets, and his possible defection to the other side, I also had suspicions of you sweetheart. (But that's another post for another day .... if need persists.)
In a world where it appears that everyone has a hidden agenda, except for me, it's just my nature not to trust anyone. Unfortunately, I trusted you. It's not often someone can get the better of me, but you certainly gave it a good shot, didn't you?
When you suddenly announced this raw-raw spirit towards Goodreads, that was so uncharacteristic of STGRB that I held some reservations about it. Seriously though, when Goodreads announced a ToS "upgrade" back in August of 2012, wasn't you and STGRB who led the charge of suspicion? Let's face it dear, you doubted them more than all of us put together. And with good reason, because GR could not be trusted. What was that you and the rest of us were saying? Oh yeah, now I remember, "Seeing is believing" when it comes to Goodreads and their ToS. Am I right?
Of course I am.
So call me crazy when, back around that time, you and STGRB were instantly on-board with Goodreads "new policy" in 2013.
Not one shred of doubt, or anything. Your faith meter in GR went from zero to 100 percent in a snap. So my first thought was, "Why the change of character here?" - Let's just admit that it didn't add up. This is why I had some back thought suspicions of you.
People warned me about you. They said you would turn, and not just from the bullies either. They said you would go behind my back and do something like this if I ever really pissed you off. Is it fair now for me to say that those people were correct? And even more fair to assume that I have really pissed you off?
Hey, sorry I'm a free thinker, and not a minion.
Hey again, if it's an email war you wish to partake in, just let me know. I wouldn't have any problem going into mine and pulling up ALL of our email correspondence from start to finish, take snapshots, and then post them here on The Glass.
Let's consider the benefits of me doing this, first, it would save you some time from having to sort through yours to find that perfect email from me to send to send to that very someone special, in an attempt to .... to .... to accomplish whatever it is you wish to accomplish by doing so. Also, by doing what I suggested, I might be able to save you from yourself, and your inner desire to back stab.
I don't know .... what do you think?
I knew that by carefully placing that little tidbit on my post that you would catch it, and it would give you some clever ideas. (Ha! You did read my my post. Good for you.)
So, what about it Athena? Should I go ahead and start posting every last one of our email correspondence? Or have you gotten it out of your system?
What to do? .... What to do?
Oh crap! I hear the twiddle of tiny little feet again. Time to catch me another mouse.
But seriously Athena, is this how it's gonna be?
Really?
Next time, just attack me to my face ... please?
I'm Carroll Bryant ... and this is ... *snap* ... Hey, I caught another mouse.
P.S. - I wonder, how many more people have you did this to? And how many others have you sent my emails to? What are you, another Jude Henderson? Are you and WIN planning to attack me too like the bullies did? Are you all working up a clever little scheme right now?
Just because you now think of me as an enemy, is this how you're playing it? So can I safely assume that if anyone else pisses you off, this is how you will get your revenge? Imagine all the secrets of other people you hold in your inbox. Let's just hope for their sake, they don't piss you off either. Because if you can get mad at me for basically nothing, then imagine your wrath when you wake up one day and decide, "It's your turn" with someone else.
Of course, that would only come after trying to blackmail them, right?
How did Batman turn into "Two Face" so quickly?
Maybe I'm the real Batman? O_o
Hold onto your seats folks, this might be a bumpy ride.
Another great blog post. It has been my experience that whoever make an accusation of someone using a sock, they are the culprit. They use the sock to attack someone and then accuse their targeted victim of being to blame. So look to whoever first mentioned it was me using a sock and that's the villian. I knew all along that Athena's was a troll. I never wanted to be involved with her or have her in my group. I only allowed it after a few of my so called friends talked me into it. from the very beginning I couldn't see any difference between what the trolls did to authors and what STGRB did to GR members. I have been contacted repeatedly by people who claim Athena is none other than disgruntled author Melissa Douthit trying to improve her ratings and sales by attacking GR and their members. I notice that many of the WIN members have voted up Melissa's books on GR. I have also noticed that although hers sales are ranked around 9k on Amazon that the majority, 70%, of her 5-star reviews are from people who are not verified purchasers. I find this unusual and intend to call Seattle in the morning to inquire about this. There is no doubt either that there is no-one but Athena at STGRB and many of her regular posters are her too. She plays all the roles and plays everyone else too.
ReplyDeleteWell, I have decided to go ahead and play "Let's Share Our Emails" game with Athena. I will soon be working on grabbing screenshots of mine and Athena's emails, starting from the beginning in 2012 and all the way through to the last emails we sent to each other.
DeleteWe are going to find out how many other people she betrayed like that, and we'll get to read about some secrets shared. That should be fun. But you know, since she wants to play that game, why not?
Of course, I am a rebel and I play by my own set of rules. Instead of sending them to third and fourth parties, I will be posting our emails right here on The Glass.
But if she can find some way to let me know she isn't playing anymore, and can convince me of it, then I won't do it. But you know, trust is a very big thing. The question I have to ask myself is, can she ever convince me to trust her again? That's a sketchy picture right there. But then again, maybe she will take to STGRB and "own it", what she did to me, and apologize, and speak against that kind of practice.
I know what she will say, "You did it to Lucy Flood."
Yeah, well, I was trying to something good. I made a mistake. Plus she did post it in the WIN group. Not to mention, I publicly owned it, and apologized. I didn't mean any ill will like Athena's intentions. There was no malice in what I did like she is doing.
Anyhow, thought I would throw that out there.
She will be contacting you, if she hasn't already, and try every angle to convince you not to expose her for the vicious, petty troll she is. She thought for sure I'd snap and turn on you when she sent that email and now she'll somehow try to blame me for betraying her confidence, a confidence that never existed. She truly is a BBA possibly the very first and part of the reason we have this troll problem today. Someone told me she was kicked from GR for having no less than 28 socks. STGRB may have brought attention to the problems on GR but also stirred up a lot of shit that other authors have paid for.
ReplyDelete