Problematic bookcons

….are getting out of hand.

I debated with myself for a few days whether or not to make a public statement about this, and after much soul searching, decided I just couldn’t let it slide and simply let others in the book community say their piece without adding to the discourse with my 10 cents ( adjusted up for tariffs and inflation!).

So, if you are in the know, you know that last weekend a bookcon took place in Boston called Sinners and Stardust. It’s a romantasy bookcon, so obviously, I didn’t attend because I don’t read or write fantasy or romantasy or any of its genres like dark romantasy, mafia, etc.

Apparently, several problematic behaviors occurred from the “fans” attending. Just stop for a moment before I continue and consider this: the word FAN comes from the word FANATIC, which means, a person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal, especially for an extreme religious or political cause; [often with modifier]; a person with an obsessive interest in and enthusiasm for something, especially an activity or person.

Let that definition sit for a moment. Notice the words OBSESSIVE INTEREST and SINGLE-MINDED ZEAL.

Okay, to continue.

There was a ball attached to this con where actors and cosplayers dressed up as favorite “characters” from some of the books represented by their authors at the con. Demons, warlords, overlords, all kinds of “Lords” from dark romantasy books were present and amenable to photo ops with “fans.” And yes, I am putting the word in quotes again for a reason.

One of the characters – and please forgive me for this because I don’t read the books or know the character – is, apparently, a favorite among the dark readers. So much so, that the actor portraying him was mobbed by a group of women at the ball, secured into a corner where he was summarily groped, fondled, a hand was shoved down the front of his pants to “fist him” and – believe it or not – an air tracker device was planted on his clothing. Why, the air tracker? Because the people who planted it wanted to find out what hotel he was staying in and his room number.

I’m going to let you figure out why they wanted that information, but if you need any help doing so, remember: his genitals had already been groped, which, as a definition, is called sexual assault. It’s just a hop, skip, and air track locator away to doing something even more egregious.

WTF???

This was a group of WOMEN. WOMEN!!!! If a man or men had done this to a female cosplayer they would have been tarred, feathered, and burned at the stake by the women attendees present. So please explain to me when it became acceptable for WOMEN to do the same thing to a man they all are fearful of having done to them??

Reportedly, the gentleman had a panic attack and had to be treated by EMS. It’s a wonder he didn’t need to be put into a mental health facility for a few days. I can’t imagine the flashbacks he’s going to have over this.

It’s indescribable the anger that is burning inside me at this disgusting display. And I don’t want to hear anything about alcohol causing or fueling the behavior. And I definitely don’t want to hear anyone blaming the AUTHORS for writing stuff where these kind of actions are “doable.” This is fiction, people. FICTION!!!!!! Make believe. The authors had nothing to do with what happened to that man. They didn’t write a scenario saying to sexually assault him and then put it into the ether for these women to perpetrate.

Another thing that happened was one of the authors was speaking to a group of her friends and she was approached by a group of “fans” who proceeded to grab her. From what we’ve heard, they were very aggressive and said many inappropriate things to her about her characters and her writing. The author said NO repeatedly about leaving her group and the “fans” didn’t listen. They just disregarded her pleas and basically carted her away.

The author stated, afterward, that she felt threatened, unsafe, and was fearful, so again, I am going to ask when did it become acceptable to women to treat one another the way they are always in fear of being treated themselves??

Dark romantasy and dark romance is predicated on FANTASY -which, if you need a defintion of is:  the faculty or activity of imagining things, especially things that are impossible or improbable.

Pay attention to 3 words: imagination( imagining), impossible and improbable in that definition.

The books are make believe. They are not real. The characters are make believe. Once again, they are not real.

The coup de grâce in my opinion, though, was one of the attendees “won” a huge plastic dildo from one of the authors present. I’m not going to interpret why the author thought this was an appropriate item to giveaway – I’ll leave her to figure that out, but the women who won it did several things that she could and should be arrested for. One, she strapped it on to her genital region under her dress and went around asking people, “Wanna see something?” and then lifting her dress and shoving it at them, while she cackled with laughter. OKay, can you say the word ASSAULT? The other thing that has been reported is that she was having oral sex with it in the lobby of the hotel – where people not attending the conference and their children were walking. Simulating oral sex with a fake penis in a public place. Public lewdness as an offense doesn’t come close to what she should be charged with.

That person needs intense psychological help if you ask my opinion. Not that anyone is, but still…

All of this behavior, isolated and disgusting as it is, adds fuel to the general public’s disdain for romance readers and writers in general, claiming we are all sex-starved, nymphomaniacs who can’t write REAL fiction.

All over social media the day after this occurred, idiots – and I use that word descriptively and pejoratively – posted things like “what did you expect to happen? These books promote sick behavior like that?” and “Not surprising because those books are trash and when people read trash they act it out.” And my favorite: ( Note the sarcasm in the word) “He ( the cosplayer) probably loved it.”

Okay, again, WTF??

I write all levels of heat – everything from sweet to steamy, so I ‘ve got a broad range of sex on and off the page in my books. I’ve had people come up to my table at books cons -mostly men, but some women too, – who have said things like, “I bet your husband is a happy man,” and “Where did you do all your sex research?” And my favorite, “You don’t look like a romance writer.” Which was followed up by the man adding, “You don’t give off a slut vibe.”

How many times can I say WTF in this piece??

All the stuff that has been going on for the past 6 months with bad bookcons ( One Million LIves, Once upon a CON) and now this, has justified in my mind that I am done doing big author and genred events for the foreseeable future. As authors, we pay a ridiculous amount of money to attend these cons with table fees, hotels, travel, swag, giveaways, and I have never even broken even on the back end with what I’ve laid out. The most expensive one I attended a few years ago cost me $1000.00 and I never sold one book.

You can’t sustain a business if you are always in the red. That’s just fiscal soundness.

The bad behavior and poor reputations these cons are getting has now made me see that I am done being a small cog in a big wheel. I will still do my local bookstore booksignings, and library events- which I lovelove love doing – but the big, mulitauthor, genre-ed events are over for me. I’m too old and too damn tired to worry about my own personal safety and mental health and that of my readers’s in a space where they – and I – should be safe, sound, happy, and feel protected.

And as far as the women who did what they did at Sinners and Stardust: you all need professional help and should be arrested.

Rant over…