Michele Lee

From SFWA:

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Retaliatory lawsuit against Writer Beware staff dismissed
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March 26, 2009

A Massachusetts Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Ann Crispin and Victoria Strauss, the principal operators of the Writer Beware website, filed by a purported literary agent.

Writer Beware is a publishing industry watchdog group sponsored by Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) which “shines a light into the dark corners of the shadow-world of literary scams, schemes and pitfalls.”

The suit, initiated by Robert Fletcher and his company, the Literary Agency Group, alleged defamation, loss of business and emotional distress while making claims Fletcher had lost $25,000 per month due to warnings about his business practices posted by Crispin and Strauss.

The suit was dismissed with prejudice March 18 by the Massachusetts Superior Court due to Fletcher’s failure to respond to discovery or otherwise prosecute the lawsuit. Crispin and Strauss, through counsel, intend to file a motion against Fletcher and the Literary Agency Group, Inc., seeking recovery of their legal fees incurred in defending what they believe to be a frivolous lawsuit.

The case dates to February 2008, when Fletcher and his company filed for a temporary restraining order pending a preliminary injunction against Crispin and Strauss in Suffolk County Superior Court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. During a subsequent hearing Feb. 19, the temporary restraining order was dismissed for improper service (Strauss wasn’t served until 42 minutes after the time of the hearing, and Crispin was not served at all), but the supporting complaint was allowed to proceed.

Currently, Fletcher and his companies remain the subjects of an active investigation by the Florida Attorney General’s Office.

“I’’m very pleased that the case was dismissed. Knowing how hard those involved with Writer Beware work – and how important the work they do is to writers, both within SFWA and outside of it – it’s very good news, indeed,” said SFWA President Russell Davis. “Writer Beware is one of the most important and valuable services SFWA provides, and knowing that this frivolous case was dismissed, and that Mr. Fletcher is now the subject of an investigation in Florida only validates the work done by Ann Crispin and Victoria Strauss.”

Crispin and Strauss have volunteered countless hours of their time to advising, educating and warning aspiring and established authors about dubious, questionable and outright criminal business practices on the fringes of the publishing industry. They maintain the Writer Beware website (writerbeware.com) and are major contributors to Writer Beware Blogs! (accrispin.blogspot.com).

Something Wicked is a dark genre magazine out of South Africa. It features good art and a mix of dark fiction offerings that vary from complete misses to overlooked gems…. Full review at The Fix.

Paperback: 978-1435732490, $19.95

Valerie McCormick believes in family above all else, a fact that’s obvious when she wins a trip to Seattle and ends up spending it doing research on a boat for her husband’s company. However, on her free trip she witnesses the murder of two FBI agents and is thrust into a multinational court case against a cartel that puts her life in terrible danger.

Dead Witness is a self published debut thriller with a touch of love story. Valerie is understandably upset by her predicament, and surrounded by daughters who seem sweet, but oblivious, a husband who is using her and various FBI agents who bumble around and ruin her life. The bad guys are evil. The heroes are not quite perfect and over all the book is close, but not quite ready to be on the must read shelf.

Butler is a solid writer, with good potential, but there are several things that end up distracting from the story. To begin with it’s hard to connect with Valerie, the lead character. Her personality seems less than three dimensional and while she’s understandably emotional, hearing her upset over being in protective custody, and her willingness to be dead rather than without her family made her hard to sympathize with. The FBI procedure in the storyline isn’t entirely convincing, leading to mistakes that certainly add to the plot, but can make a reader question the storytelling. Readers will likely also wonder why Valerie’s brother, an intelligent, skilled investigator, is smart enough to consistently break through the FBI’s cover, but doesn’t consider that the bad guys might be watching him.

Finally, it’s clear that Valerie is the main character, not just because the story is her story, but because all the secondary characters seem to reiterate what she thinks and feels, as well as that she’s a strong, lovely person, in the sections of the story told from their point of view as if they, too, are trying to convince the reader of Valerie’s worth. Unfortunately, this ends up feeling insincere, contributing to a disconnect between the picture readers have of Valerie, and the picture Butler is trying to paint.

Butler shows promise, however, and is likely to show up with a stronger work down the road.