“People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”
In a May 6, 2011 post on the Making Light site, James D. Macdonald re-posted an email, from 2007, which was attributed to Strategic Book Group’s President, Robert Fletcher. Without getting into the innuendo (you can read it for yourself here), the implication was that James D. Macdonald has a criminal history. Ironically, there’s no express denial by James D. Macdonald in the posting. The only defense presented by James D. Macdonald was: “First thing is, Bouncing Bobby (since he doesn’t know much about books and writing, or the selling of same to the public) thinks that being a known criminal is a bar. It isn’t. E.g.: Willie Sutton; Edward Bunker.” Sutton and Bunker were both notorious authors with criminal histories. Their criminal histories included bank robbery, drug dealing, extortion, armed robbery, and forgery. (Side bar: Great references if you’re looking for role models.) Are these really the literary heroes that you want to align yourself with?
Is James D. Macdonald a known criminal? It may not be a bar to being a author; but it should call into question a “watchdog’s” credibility and any non-profit affiliations he/she may have. In the spirit of Sutton’s Law, additional research requires one to consider what is most observable and discoverable. Additional research will confirm or deny whether primary source material reveals evidence of this claim. However, James D. Macdonald could have eliminated any suspicion with a simple denial of any history of criminal activity. He didn’t. Now, we’re curious.
Ann Crispin and Victoria Strauss both claimed that the 2007 email was a blackmail attempt by Robert Fletcher. In addition, both avoided comment on whether or not James D. Macdonald does have a criminal history. What is most interesting is that Victoria Strauss would even dare to accuse another person of blackmail. That really took ovarian fortitude Victoria Strauss!
Victoria Strauss has been an ongoing subject of research regarding her clam that American Book Publishing has been the subject of an “investigation.” In her initial blog on this subject, Victoria Strauss was accused of blackmail herself. The purported claim of blackmail against Victoria Strauss suggests that she made a phone call to a police department and then falsely reported it as a police investigation regarding American Book Publishing in a retaliatory effort to distress and alarm authors. It has been suggested that this was in retaliation to American Book Publishing’s denial to put Victoria Strauss on their payroll as contract administrator and when they refused she followed up on a threat to post a false report. Victoria Strauss has yet to produce primary source material to validate her claim. Our extensive research and Freedom of Information requests have failed to produce evidence to substantiate Victoria Strauss’ claims.
A Note to New Authors . . . is Victoria Strauss Lying?
American Book Publishing, “Police Investigation” Victoria Strauss Fairy Tale?
What was Victoria’s Motivation? Missing Pieces to the Puzzle
Letter to the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America
References
“Sutton’s Law.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 07 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton’s_law>.
V6.00.2900.3028, Microsoft MimeOLE. “Making Light: Robert Fletcher, Part VI: The Monster and the Critics.” Patrick & Teresa Nielsen Hayden. Web. 07 May 2011. <http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/011586.html>.
“Victoria Strauss — Someone Out There Doesn’t Like Us (And We Don’t Care).” Writer Beware™ Blogs! Web. 24 Mar. 2011. <http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2006/05/victoria-strauss-someone-out-there.html>.
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