Roqoo Depot

An Author Behaved Badly…Very Badly

Disclaimer: I do not review YA books, post reviews on Goodreads or use a pseudonym for my reviews.  Also, I have cordial-to-great relationships with authors.  So there’s that.

 Last week a corner of the internet blew up.  Short version: YA author, Kathleen Hale, read a one star review of her first novel on Goodreads, became obsessed, did some online and real life reviewer stalking over a number of months, then got a piece about it published in the Guardian.  Some people, who have their own issues — I’m looking at you, Anne Rice —  drank the Hale kool-aid, tweeted support for Hale and applauded her for standing up to bullies.

Which would be all well and good if Hale or her supporters had a grasp on how the internet really works.  And by “how the internet really works” I mean that if you piss off enough people in a really public way, those people are going to start digging around the internet. Of course, that’s what Immediately happened because, by stalking a real, live person who happened to review books in a snarky manner, Hale angered a lot of book blogger/reviewers and, incidentally, a number of authors.  The fact that, in her article, Hale cast Stop the Goodreads Bullies in a favorable light did not go unnoticed either.  Using STGRB in conjunction with your bad author behavior is a major red flag to reviewers.  You might as well paint a target on yourself, jump up and scream, “Come and get me.” Continue Reading An Author Behaved Badly…Very Badly…