Sun > Status Update

So thrilled with that statement. Now hoping others follow suit. Patreon needs to shut this person down too.

Optimist ♰King's Wench♰ & MANTIES Champion wrote: "I’ve been hesitant to comment on this because I wasn’t bullied or gaslighted and I wouldn’t consider myself a Shams superfan, but the latest tweets are unacceptable.

So. (this could get long) Sham..."


Thanks for sharing your story. As for the MF as endgame, I have a feeling that it WILL go that way. SH has said that he was contracted for 3 MF books. So he can just use a different pen name and emerge as MF author under same literary agency and publisher (the contract is for Berkley Intermix not Riptide)

Lyra wrote: "Oof. And I just finished reading a bunch of Hassell's works, too. I guess I'll remove my ratings and so forth. *sigh* I guess it's nice that I just figured out how to do that?"

I didn't waste my time. I just deleted all the books from my bookshelf. Reviews auto deleted with them.

Aissa wrote: "I originally made a small post earlier but under an anonymous name. I deleted it. But Jenn said I need to tell my story. I would feel better. I love you, Jenn, but I feel like throwing up.

I'm no..."


Alissa! <3 I asked about you when I saw you were gone. And no not for him. But bc you always made me laugh and books! Welcome back chicka! And don't let him/her/they make you cower. Its what they want.

Ok so I'm just going to share something here that's maybe a little bit of good that we can all use. I was just chatting with a friend of mine who like me was fortunate to not have been directly victimized by the machinations of SH and his chronies and she has no idea that I'm sharing this (so I'm going to let her stay anonymous) but she has a pre-order of one of his books at Riptide and rather she told me that what she's going to do is ask them to donate her $5 to The Trevor Project and I just thought that was an awesome way to bring a bit of good out of all this.

Aissa wrote: "I'm not going to go into details but I realized Alisha Monroe was Alicia Torres wife of Mike and roommate to Santino. I confronted her in her DM's (Alicia's rant over this is well documented by Nikki). All I told her was I knew who she was and did "they" laugh at me at RT. I told her I would never bother her again. I did not threaten her. I then deleted my FB, GR and twitter accounts because I was afraid of what she would do to me. That she would go after my friends.
"

So you're saying Mike's the husband and Santino is the roommate?

Sandra wrote: "Aissa wrote: "I'm not going to go into details but I realized Alisha Monroe was Alicia Torres wife of Mike and roommate to Santino. I confronted her in her DM's (Alicia's rant over this is well doc..."

No. There is no roommate. At that time, I was going on what he told me. It wasn't until I saw Nicki's post that I realized there is no Santino. That "Mike" and Alicia are him.

Sonny told us of the names of his "roommates" a long time ago.

Alissa, you have no idea how sorry I am. I can’t imagine what you might have gone through with Alicia threatening you and instead of being by your side, we stood beside them. Unknowingly of course, but still.

These is a statement of what an awful person he is. He was responsible for our fallout. It is on us too, obviously, but if he hadn’t been involved, nothing like this would have happened.

I could have sent you a private message, but I’m not hiding anymore. Enough of secrets because it was secrets that got us into this.

I am sorry and I’m glad you found strength again to come forward. We are here for you this time. And we are not going anywhere.

I just spent two hours reading the 10 pages of this thread and looking to info on the internet. I'm appalled. To think that I defended him last week because I didn't know of this situation and genuinely thought that Kai was our regular troll (I mean, it's GR after all). Thank you all for speaking up.

Aissa wrote: "I originally made a small post earlier but under an anonymous name. I deleted it. But Jenn said I need to tell my story. I would feel better. I love you, Jenn, but I feel like throwing up.

I'm no..."

I just found Susan's status and have been reading the comments with no intent to add my own comment, but after reading your post, Aissa, I had to comment and applaud you for your statement. Good for you.

Steven wrote: "Optimist, your post made me cheer. Thank you for your honesty, for your humility, and for your dogged willingness to fight for what is right. As a gay man who was thrilled to find a gay male author..."

I'm sorry you were deflated by Sham's deception & thank you for the kind words.

Monica wrote: "Alissa, you have no idea how sorry I am. I can’t imagine what you might have gone through with Alicia threatening you and instead of being by your side, we stood beside them. Unknowingly of course,..."

Thank you for fighting the fight. I would never have been able to tell my story without you. I too am sorry. Sorrier than you will ever know. We all did regrettable things but I see this as a chance to start over. I have missed you all.

I don't have a pony in this race because personally Santino didn't do anything to me per say. I've been part of all his groups, H&H, Get Hasselled and Swole. Interacted on DMs. Sent books to my blog. So in essence all was fine. But Im a watcher. I watch things. I listen. So when the group sent Santino the housewarming gift I was watching my dad slowly die in a hospice bed from cancer while I held my new grandson. When a year ago? he came to a few and told us Jenn and Alissa were doxxing him I just couldn't deal. Sorry ladies, I just didn't care cause my world was in with my family and Santino's drama just wasn't part of my sphere at that time.. I didn't realize what was happening all through twitter in Jan with Nikki and team. I only saw Santino's Show Ma Face post and liked the post. And then I was all like pssshhhhh this is what girls have been fighting over? Cause you know thats what I was made to believe. everyone wanna ride that. And then I went on my merry way doing whatevs. Cause in essence I have not communicated with him since he told me about Alissa/Jenn. I never jumped on the Megan wagon, I never jumped on any of his co-authors wagons and I didn't see all the abuse that was happening. So in essence yah for the watcher that I am I was living under a rock. But I've been following Nikki and team going on 2 weeks and things just starting adding up and up and up and up and I'm still kinda reeling from all the lengths and lies and OMG everything. Ladies who were hurt/abused/scared and lonely I'm sorry. Jenn I wish you would have told me more of this in Seattle, I had an ear for you and am unsure of where things went wrong after the fact.
All in all if Santino came out as a woman I would have been cool, but the whole cancer thing to me was the straw that broke the camels back. I wonder Santino, have you ever watched someone die from cancer? Have you? do you know how much it sucks for them and the living? When they turn yellow cause of their liver? When they take gasping breaths? To lie about that is the upmost shittiest, I actually don't have words for what that is. its the douchiest move ever and seriously just go eat a dick.
Mare~Slitread

Steven wrote: "Optimist, your post made me cheer. Thank you for your honesty, for your humility, and for your dogged willingness to fight for what is right. As a gay man who was thrilled to find a gay male author..."

Ugh I'm so sorry Steven.

Mare SLiTsReaD Reviews wrote: "I don't have a pony in this race because personally Santino didn't do anything to me per say. I've been part of all his groups, H&H, Get Hasselled and Swole. Interacted on DMs. Sent books to my blo..."

Thank you for your honesty, Mare. I believe all of us did something we are not proud of but we shouldn't be blaming ourselves even though it's so damn easy. It's on her. And him. Or is it them? I get confused with the pronouns.

Alissa, I can’t properly reply cause I’m on my phone, but girl, we are good.

I’m just so glad that you are fine. There’s still time for us. We can find a way to evolve with all this. You, Jenn...I’m so sorry. But I’m sure we will come out on the other side of this better people.

Hugs to you. And if you feel like, I’m here. Just hit me up on twitter or messenger or even here. Let’s talk. 😘😘

Alissa, I am so proud of you. Thank you everyone. 💜

Aissa wrote: "Mare SLiTsReaD Reviews wrote: "I don't have a pony in this race because personally Santino didn't do anything to me per say. I've been part of all his groups, H&H, Get Hasselled and Swole. Interact..."

Slim Shady.

So Riptide has severed their relationship with this author. I've emailed Dreamspinner and Penguin to ask them to follow suit.

Aissa wrote: "I originally made a small post earlier but under an anonymous name. I deleted it. But Jenn said I need to tell my story. I would feel better. I love you, Jenn, but I feel like throwing up.

I'm no..."

Alissa! You've been in my thoughts so much lately. {{{HUGS}} to you. Thank you for telling your story.

Jewel wrote: "Aissa wrote: "I originally made a small post earlier but under an anonymous name. I deleted it. But Jenn said I need to tell my story. I would feel better. I love you, Jenn, but I feel like throwin..."

I've missed you. Especially at GRL. I will be there this year!

Giulio wrote: "Thank you Susan, Jenn, Dani, Francesca and all the others who have helped revealing the truth that lies behind this ugly individual(s). You are very brave.

I had a major author crush on "him" bac..."

Julio, dude, you were harmed. You should have seen the shit he talked about you behind your back. I can't remember now why I got pissed off at you on goodreads a few years ago, but I am pretty sure "he" was in the middle of that. I'm not saying we would have been good friends otherwise, but I am sure he colored many people's view of you.

I think Julio is the only one I have ever been bitchy at on this platform, but I do know I did take a step back from my friendships with Jenn and Susan and many of the others SH claimed were 'crazy'. So many crazy people, it eventually became clear to me who the common denominator was, but that should have happened sooner.

I was just downloading all my facebook messages, because there were some long conversations on there about the cancer and also him slagging Alexis Hall (this was before he started a Facebook group with him, to my surprise) and various other people, but it looks like he deleted his Facebook account just as I was doing that. Maybe it's just as well all that shit has disappeared.

Susan, Sandra, Wench, so many of you here: thank you for speaking out, on behalf of those who have been duped, and beyond. Such strength.
It also does the heart good to see admissions, apologies, and the reaching out, especially between those who were once in close friendships. Humility in this form is a good thing. Y'all are doing yourselves much good. 💖

Aissa wrote: "I've missed you. Especially at GRL. I will be there this year!"

You will?!?!?!?!?! Fuck YEAH! I've missed you too! Can't wait to see ya. I want to give you hugs and buy you drinks! ❤❤

Sandi ♥'s way too many M/M books wrote: "Alissa, I am so proud of you. Thank you everyone. 💜"

Thank you for your support! I love you and the girls. Our chats mean everything to me.

So in light of all the negativity that this person has wrought, I thought I'd end my participation (for now) in this thread with some good news.

Looks like many of us re ready to let bygones be bygones and start fresh and anew. I see old friendships starting up again. I myself have reached out to old friends because of this thread and am feeling safer on social media.

When I first posted, I thought I was gonna get hammered. I'm so glad that, instead, we grouped together and were kind to each other. We lost a good writer today. It sucks. But we gained a metric-f**kton of good.

I'm sad that I lost a friend. I'm happy I gained 10 others back.

I'm still catching up on everything that's happened since midday today, but once again, and in the loudest voice I have:

My deepest and most honest affection to you all who have spoken up about Santino Hassell. I am listening. Absorbing every story, big or small, anonymous or not. You have my support. Your courage is endlessly appreciated.

Barb wrote: "Separate from the issue of whether or not Santino is a catfish, can people PLEASE stop using ableist assumptions when it comes to discussing health issues? Just like many are stating harmful/bigote..."

Uhm, Barb, while I appreciate your concerns, your statement that "I say all this without taking a stance on the situation." rings a little false when your page here on GR is full of want to read books by this very same author and has a direct quote from one of the pieces of their work.

I get that you are trying to remind folks not to judge those who are chronically ill and commend you for it but the fact remains that Santino Hassell actually did the most harm when he/she/they CHOSE to claim an ILLNESS THAT WAS NOT TRUE.

I think some of your apparent anger should be directed at the author in question first and those who were injured second.

Sammy Goode wrote: "Barb wrote: "Separate from the issue of whether or not Santino is a catfish, can people PLEASE stop using ableist assumptions when it comes to discussing health issues? Just like many are stating h..."

Amen!

Alissa, I remember meeting you at GRL! You are awesome and funny and genuine. I am so incredibly sorry you went through all that; what a horrible, hateful thing.

This thread makes me happy. I hope it is empowers more people to come forward and speak to each other. To be solid in ways a community is meant to be. Just know when you speak out against injustices, there are people behind you. Never feel alone again because it is clear across multiple platforms none of you were alone. You were manipulated to feel that way. Nasty Birds flock together. ❤️

I also want to add that I received a personal call from Amelia at Riptide today. She was exceedingly apologetic and gracious, and, even though I still hold that Riptide jumped the gun with no evidence, I will say that I understand where they were coming from.

They had a longstanding relationship with SH and weren't in the business of investigating their authors. When Shamtino came crying wolf over someone "doxxing, harassing, and smearing" him, well, they did what they thought was right. All of that was a lie of course.

I'm glad they made the statement. I'm glad they got rid of Shamtino's book. And I am really fucking happy that the truth has been revealed and that people were willing to speak out.

Sammy Goode wrote: "Barb wrote: "Separate from the issue of whether or not Santino is a catfish, can people PLEASE stop using ableist assumptions when it comes to discussing health issues? Just like many are stating h..."

Thank you for saying that so politely. Her twitter is similar to her GR page.

Thank you to everyone who posted information and stories, especially the hard to share and personal ones. Many hugs to you all! <3

~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "Alissa, I remember meeting you at GRL! You are awesome and funny and genuine. I am so incredibly sorry you went through all that; what a horrible, hateful thing."

It's good to see you, Dani! I miss reading your reviews!

I also want to add one more thing about authors complicit in the lie:

I'm willing to withhold judgement against Avon Gale and Roan Parrish. Yes, they were in pictures with "Santino," but I'm not sure of the extent of their involvement.

Piper Vaughn and Karen Stivali - I'm confident that they knew. Karen Stivali was another of SH's watch dogs. Piper was cowriting a book with "him."

Amy Jo Cousins - whom I met and hung out with at GRL and talked to since then on FB; she did nothing to me, didn't even unfriend me, but in light of Alissa's statement that Amy Jo was one of the authors who threatened her, I can no longer support her work.

Vanessa North - I have no words for the level of viciousness this woman possesses. She's a liar and manipulator. She wants attention desperately. I don't want to get into details, but let's just say she was a friend, someone I hung out with in person, talked to on a regular basis, who came at me (and my friends) with teeth and claws the second Shamfuckingtino was threatened. She went beyond that and made vile, completely unfounded accusations against our blog. She is on my NEVER EVER list.

Megan Erickson - I saved the worst for last. I considered Megan a friend and loved her work. When I posted my review of one of her first MM stories, the first In Focus book, she emailed me to thank for for the review, said my review made her sales go up. Since then, she always sent me ARCs of her books, which I reviewed the hell out of, but the second we questioned (mildly and without naming names!) Shamtino, she went crazy. She unfriended me, made thinly veiled threats on Twitter, and played Shamtino's guard dog. She is as complicit as Shamtino and is now throwing out the victim card. Don't fall for it! She's a liar and solicited money for SH. She was SH's cowriter. She KNEW about the lies and scams, and she covered it up for the sake of being a cool kid and making profit. It's despicable. Because I had a personal relationship with Megan, I feel particularly betrayed. I know she's going to try and manipulate everyone to feel sorry for her, and I truly hope no one falls for it.

Aissa wrote: "~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "Alissa, I remember meeting you at GRL! You are awesome and funny and genuine. I am so incredibly sorry you went through all that; what a horrible, ha..."

Honey, I miss you. You were my Texas girl. (((HUGS))) I missed you, and if you ever want to talk, I'm here.

Karen wrote: "Ok so I'm just going to share something here that's maybe a little bit of good that we can all use. I was just chatting with a friend of mine who like me was fortunate to not have been directly vic..."
That's lovely. Thank you for sharing it.

~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "I also want to add one more thing about authors complicit in the lie:

I'm willing to withhold judgement against Avon Gale and Roan Parrish. Yes, they were in pictures with "Santino," but I'm not s..."

Piper and Megan know. There’s documentation Santino and Megan have both said on social media (screen shots ARE forever) Piper and Megan know his legal name. So you’ll never convince me they weren’t part of the lies.
Karen S....well I’m convinced she knew as well, she went after people on Facebook and twitter like Megan.

~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "I also want to add one more thing about authors complicit in the lie:

I'm willing to withhold judgement against Avon Gale and Roan Parrish. Yes, they were in pictures with "Santino," but I'm not s..."

Yes. Appreciate these thoughts and hate this happened but agree with your assessment.

This is my favorite post on internet forever. I have so much to say but it’s hard to find words...

First of all, I knew that once we compared notes the truth would come out. I told my girls on our messenger group that once we stopped being afraid and just come forward, we would see there was really nothing to be afraid in the first place. I knew Susan and Jenn had a lot to say, because I was friends with them and with Scamtino at the same time. I knew the vicious things he has said about them, cause he said those things to me as I am sure he has said awful things about me to them and/or others. I wish we had came together sooner. But I’m still glad we all finally found our voices.

All these stories of how he manipulated us they make me sick. I want them to pay for it but I don’t think they will ever admit to it. Alicia won’t lose her money. Their Patreon is still going and he’s there playing victim, saying how Riptide let him go because others authors threaten to boycott Riptide. Meaning: IT IS NEVER HIS FAULT. As Daniela said in one of her comments, awful things are always happening to him. All the crazy stalkers of the world get together to ruin him, specifically him and more than once. Poor Santino. And it’s sad that there are still more than 400 ppl eating his lies.

As to his “sunshine squad”, we won’t forget how you all stated that you knew his legal name and by that you were admitting you know who he really was. I’m talking about Megan, Piper, Sarah Lyons, Avon and Roan.

I will be waiting to see what they have to say about him now. And all the other that defended him and vouched that he was real and accused was repeatedly of doxxing, I still remember. I’m talking to you Vanessa North and Ed. We see you.

Ladies, I’m so proud of all of us. And if anyone need to talk or ask anything, my DMs on twitter are open or you can add me here. I will always listen. Always.

Megan Derr's FB
https://www.facebook.com/meganaderr/p...

When we're talking about his "crew" don't forget Karen Stivali. She's been with him and Megan and his wife at conventions. She's been an aggressive bulldog in defending him. I saw her going off on people just yesterday in his defense.

I'm very happy to see Riptide make the statement they did. I hope though that you all will forward your stories and your concerns to Intermix/Penguin Random House. He has books upcoming from there and if he is truly planning to jump to m/f (which I totally think he is) that will be where he goes. Don't let him jump to another community to trash/abuse them too.

Lucy wrote: "~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "I also want to add one more thing about authors complicit in the lie:

I'm willing to withhold judgement against Avon Gale and Roan Parrish. Yes, the..."

I have zero doubt about Megan. She was every bit as involved as Shamtino in the lies. Disgusting. And now she's crying the "I have kids" song. Yeah? Well, so do I, and the many, many people you and your posse harrssed.

Sammy Goode wrote: "I hate to say this but look for Santino to reinvent themselves under a new author name and publish (read SCAM) people again."

Sadly, I think you're right :'(

Alisa wrote: "I hope though that you all will forward your stories and your concerns to Intermix/Penguin Random House."

I've emailed both Dreamspinner and Penguin, linking them to the Riptide statement, this thread, as well as other victim statements and info.

OMG YES to the person who mentioned Karen Stivali. SHE IS IN ON THIS FOR SURE.

Angela wrote: "Hey Alissa! It’s been a while! Thanks for sharing your story. You’re one of the reasons why we fought so hard."

I'm a shaking, crying mess! Thank you so much for that. For helping prove my innocence. You ladies are relentless!

~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "I also want to add one more thing about authors complicit in the lie:

I'm willing to withhold judgement against Avon Gale and Roan Parrish. Yes, they were in pictures with "Santino," but I'm not s..."


Your information on these authors is much appreciated. I've been trying to piece together who's who and outside of ME I wasn't 100% sure.

Many sided with him. But I wondered who conspired with him (them). Whatever. The pronouns are killing me.

~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "Lucy wrote: "~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~Lucy wrote: "I have zero doubt about Megan. She was every bit as involved as Shamtino in the lies. Disgusting. And now she's crying the "I have kids" song. Yeah? Well, so do I, and the many, many people you and your posse harrssed. "

kelgar01 wrote: "Megan Derr's FB
https://www.facebook.com/meganaderr/p..."

We just need to make sure we don't confuse Megan Erickson who is SH's co-author, with Megan Derr, who herself was targeted. Just a small observation. I'd hate to see the wrong author getting caught up in all of this!