AshKKKroft Raids Romance Novelist

[MrBenchley]

What a disgrace....remember Crisco John has yet to convict any actual terrorist....

"The raid took place last fall, pre-dawn, and it lasted three hours. They banged at my front door first, damaged it coming in, displayed weapons and threat-ened to kill my dogs. After that, imagine everything you’ve seen on TV, only worse. There were six male agents. One was in the “bad cop” mode the entire time, trying to intimidate me, yelling at me, threatening me. When I had to go to the restroom, he sent an agent along to the bathroom with me.  It was a multi-agency raid: Postal Inspectors (for the Web site/email end of it), FBI, and three officers who would only identify themselves as Federal Police.  They took so much--computers, photocopier, files, books, discs, computer programs, CDs of the music by which I write, contracts, absolutely everything I had connected to the writing world. They took pictures off my walls, my office television, pens, a case of paper, postage stamps…even now, after all these months, 1 still so to get something only to discover it missing.
SB:  Have you had any success in retrieving items that were taken? 
Dilvn:  They brought my computers back within a couple of months--bugged. I have this great computer guy who couldn’t wait to get inside to take a look, sure enough, they had a program in there to monitor me. I got my discs back, too, all ruined. They still have everything else.
SB:  Is it your opinion that the raid was triggered based solely on your book-buying and library habits?
Dilyn:  The search warrant is specific to items pertaining to my writing and research. plus the agents were absolutely looking for certain books by title--titles of books I had in my possession that were actually included in the warrant."

[Mad_Dem_X]

1. Which novelist is this?

When did this happen? :wow:

[MrBenchley]

18. Sorry...left off the link.

http://home.insightbb.com/~d.lawson/Jungle_Beat.htm#Patriot%20Act%20Hits%20Close%20to%20Home

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Yes, we romance writers are a scourge to das HomeLand.

:eyes:

[wryter2000]

5. I've been waiting for the blue stockings to come after us

After all, we write books about women...gasp...enjoying (I can hardly bring myself to say the word) love and healthy SEX! Oh, the humanity!

Probably the only reason they haven't gotten to us yet is their wives read our books.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. Heh My church would flip if they read what I've written thus far

which by any other regular reader of romance is _quite_ tame.

But then, I go to a rather legalistic church thanks to marrying into a conservative evangelical family.

[wryter2000]

3. Link, PLEASE???!!!

I'm a romance novelist. I'd like to know what this is about. I can't even tell from your post who the writer involved is. Please, provide more information.

[MrBenchley]

17. Oops, my bad....here it is...

http://home.insightbb.com/~d.lawson/Jungle_Beat.htm#Patriot%20Act%20Hits%20Close%20to%20Home

[Wickerman]

4. Hey Mr B, give me a link on this one, 'kay?

Sounds interesting. I was just thinking the other day that its interesting that Elliot Spizer seems to have taken over where Ashcroft has fallen down. Spitzer works as the Nation's AG and John-boy only does bizarre, rights grabbing crap.

[MrBenchley]

16. Here you go...

http://home.insightbb.com/~d.lawson/Jungle_Beat.htm#Patriot%20Act%20Hits%20Close%20to%20Home

It is apalling when you think how many high profile crimes have occured on AshKKKroft's watch without convictions....

[cyr330]

6. Let me present another victim to be harrassed

Doesn't that whore, Lynn Cheney, write tawdry romance novels? Why don't they raid HER home?

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. I thought she wrote erotica?

[cyr330]

10. oh?

Oops. I guess it doesn't matter! Harrass her anyway! :)

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. Well, I think technically lesbian romance novels are still

categorized as such on account of the taboo.

[punpirate]

8. The writer asked to be...

... identified by the name, "Dilyn," so we don't know who it is.

The text of the interview is here:

http://home.insightbb.com/~d.lawson/Jungle_Beat.htm#text

Cheers.

[wryter2000]

13. Hokey smoke

That's from the RWR, the organ (you should pardon the word) of Romance Writers of America. I'll get out my copy. Thanks.

[punpirate]

14. Yep, it's originally from RWR...

... but I find it of more interest in the context of statements made by Ashcroft not too long ago, that the library/bookstore search provisions of the Patriot Act had never been used.

Nat Hentoff had challenged the statement on the basis of his knowledge of several librarians who had said that they had been served warrants.

This certainly suggests that there is a concentrated effort to go after people with particular book buying/borrowing habits.

[Deja Q]

11. More like Vasoline John...

Vasoline is made from petroleum (oil).

I didn't know the * admin was more concerned about lovin' than killers.

Oh well.

x( Just another hypocricon job, as usual.

[MrBenchley]

15. Oops! Here's the link...

http://home.insightbb.com/~d.lawson/Jungle_Beat.htm#Patriot%20Act%20Hits%20Close%20to%20Home

[amazona]

19. it's less convincing than it might be

Since the writer does not allow her name to be used, we can't evaluate the truth of this claim, can we?

I've bought and then re-sold "how dunnit" crime books on the web for years and (knock on wood) John Ashcroft has not shown any interest in my mystery writing hobby. This is a pretty big group of people, you know, and not all of them published, seems that more than one anonymous person would be reporting problems.

[Tansy_Gold]

21. I have to agree with amazona.

Disclaimer -- I no longer belong to Romance Writers of America, though I was a member for well over 10 years. I allowed my membership to lapse in 1999. I was a national conference committee member as well as charter member of PAN and regular contributor to the original PANdora's Box prior to its demise.

There are a lot of unpublished writers in RWA, and it is not unusual for them to use the language of the publishing industry to make themselves look like the professionals they are not.

When "Dilyn" is identified as a multi-published author for an "RWA-recognized" publisher, all the red flags rose in front of my mental eyes. I'm sorry, but I simply can't take this story at face value until "Dilyn" identifies herself. Call me a tin foil hatter, but when an unidentified romance writer claims she's been invaded by Auschwitzcroft's minions and there's no mention of what she's done in response -- no mention of the ACLU, her congresscritter, etc. Only that she's hired a criminal defense lawyer.

I won't say she's lying, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out there's a lot less to this story -- or more -- than is presented here.


Tansy Gold

[Eloriel]

20. This is bad

very bad.

Notice also that it's no longer forbidden to READ the wrong things, apparently you can't write about them either. (Of course, she probably wouldn't have been reading the stuff were it not for research for the writing.) I do have to say, though this ought nt make a difference at all, that her subject matter was an unwise choice.

This ought to get around, folks. Anybody up for making sure some of the blogs and better journalists see it?

[RainDog]

22. First they came for the romance novelists...

and I hated the genre, so I said nothing...

Sorry to be flip, because this is an issue of concern.

Where is the ability to discern what is important and what is not?

As far as finding out who the person is, for those who care, she claims she writes a column for Writer's Digest. The name of the column is mentioned. If someone really wants to know who it is, it would be fairly simple to find out, seems to me.

[Tansy_Gold]

23. I'm not positive, but I don't think she writes a column for WD.

"Dilyn" mentions her "Scene of the Crime" series from WD, but I think this is a series of reference/research titles from WD, not a column she writes for them. And I think she purchased these books, not wrote them.

It's easy enough to check out. I'll hit the WD website.