Sun > Status Update

@Francesca - great post.

LenaLena wrote: "Ariadna wrote: "Coltostallion wrote: "I would like to know if AIS has said anything about the situation? I haven't seen much, but I was under the impression she and SH has only been acquainted digi..."

Oh, wow, my heart goes out to her. :(

Cadiva wrote: "@Francesca - great post."

thank you

Susan wrote: "Does anyone know if there are still people out there defending SH or has everyone now seen the light?

I'm really wondering how all his/her supports have responded to his confession that yes, he is..."

Long time Patreon patron of SH here. Two weeks ago I took the Twitter deep dive into this mess, but it seemed so unlikely and deranged that I put no further attention. When Riptide made their announcement of dropping him, I was initially furious.

Then there was that apology the next morning. "I'm legally married" was buried in the middle. Normally I couldn't care less about an author's marital status. Now? It brings up the question, "If he lied about that, what else did he lie about?" I couldn't ignore that. By yesterday the sheer number of people coming forward had me convinced. (Do people make up fake accounts, etc.? Yes, all the time, but it would be *really* reaching to think that these people were all friends of Nikki's or anyone else who was talking about this before this week.)

I'm still processing a lot of this. I never felt solicited for money when I joined his Patreon back when it first started, but I'm old and jaded, and would never give money to someone online. (I'm not faulting those who did, especially the people who hung out with "him" at cons, etc.). I paid for a product/service, and I received it (short stories). I never felt, as some seem to, that Patreon in general is like prostitution/solicitation.

The ripples of this are being felt far and wide, and probably will be for some time to come. As for the co-authors, I think many of them knew about the people behind the author, but not the rest of it. Also, the co-author bullying behavior many of you have referenced... I know that in this era of social media, things can be taken out of context. One wrong tweet can result in someone losing their job. I'd like to urge people to give the co-authors the benefit of the doubt before passing judgment.

Lastly, I'm so sorry for/to everyone who was hurt and conned, especially since this goes back SO many years and involved so many people being turned against their friends, etc. I know how I feel as a reader, and I'm three steps removed from all of this. I'm sorry I didn't give more credibility to this all along. But there you go; truth is always stranger than fiction.

UPDATE on 3/11 at 10:35 p.m.: This is before even more information came to light. Now? I doubt I could read a pamphlet SH wrote. I thought I could separate the two (scumbag vs. their work), but it turns out that I still have a conscience after all.

Original post:
P.S. You can call me morally bankrupt, because I'm still a patron. I want the last two 5B books. I really am just there for the books, and it's unfortunate that this is the only way to get them, but that's what it is. I take full credit for supporting a scumbag,
thanks.

I'm not social, at all, so I don't really consider myself as part of the MM romance community (even though I read a bunch of it) and this would have missed me completely if it wasn't for authors I follow on twitter speaking out about it. Since I've only seen one (KJ Charles) mentioned on here and I think we could all use a few more authors to read/follow that we can trust can I also put forth:

Cat Sebastian
Matthew Metzger
Jordan L Hawk and
EE Ottoman

forward as being on the side of the angels. I don't think any of them have had person contact with SH but they've all supported the victims of them.

Susan wrote: "Does anyone know if there are still people out there defending SH or has everyone now seen the light?

I'm really wondering how all his/her supports have responded to his confession that yes, he is..."

Susan wrote: "Does anyone know if there are still people out there defending SH or has everyone now seen the light?

I'm really wondering how all his/her supports have responded to his confession that yes, he is..."

I have seen a handful of people defending SH: calling all of this a conspiracy, putting the blame on "evil doxxers", etc. BUT, for every person defending SH, many more are speaking up.

TBH, that's about what I expected once the news became more widespread. For one thing, there's a section of people who stay on Facebook/don't use or like Twitter--which is where Nikki and the rest of the #Nastybirds are.

Also, there will always be people who will refuse to accept the fact that the people who they admire are monsters. And there are also people like Sandyco a few comments above who will still give SH money because they luuuuuurve his books and will compartmentalize like hell so they can financially supporting a monster. #YIKES

Still, I am v. glad to see more people speaking up than not. This will, I hope, help all of us with healing the hurt.

Josy wrote: "Thanks for clarifying! I read the comments under her post on her website when Megan Derr and Lisa Henry tried to tell her what's really going on and well... I think there's no way to make her see. "

I replied to her very long-winded response to my initial post, but I think she's deleted it. At the top of the page it says 8 comments but only 7 are showing. But it may be just be a lag? I don't know.

Oh well, she probably doesn't need me to point out how she's victim blaming. It's clearly on display.

She can continue to view this all as some sort of master class in performance art if she wants. I'll continue to view it as fraudulent.

Lisa wrote: "I replied to her very long-winded response to my initial post, but I think she's deleted it. At the top of the page it says 8 comments but only 7 are showing. But it may be just be a lag? I don't know.

Oh well, she probably doesn't need me to point out how she's victim blaming. It's clearly on display..."

Thank you for speaking up and confronting her!!
I can see your response but it says 7 comments.

Thanks so much for trying but I think there's no way she'll ever change her mind.
I've made my choice to never ever read a book by her as a direct consequence. She's victim blaming even after knowing all the evidence gathered so far.

Elena wrote: "I'm not sure if this has been brought up before, but I don't think so. In case it was already discussed and I missed it, just ignore me.

Have you seen the reply Vanessa North made on Amy Jo Cousin..."

She is an opportunistic person who is most probably freaking out at the readers' negative reaction to her lie-pology (at least on Twitter and here in GR. I have no idea what the facebook response was like cuz I don't have a fb account.)

Based on what I've seen, she hasn't apologized. Instead, she's made excuses in which she's centered her so-called pain and placed it above that of SH's ACTUAL victims. :|

Josy wrote: "She's victim blaming even after knowing all the evidence gathered so far. "

That's exactly it. Prior to Riptide's statement and all of this blowing up on FB, I was totally in the dark. But I read this thread, and the twitter threads, and various FB posts...

I mean, perhaps some people still don't know what's happened. But if you're going to blog about it, what the hell is your excuse for not looking into it at all?

Lisa wrote: "I mean, perhaps some people still don't know what's happened. But if you're going to blog about it, what the hell is your excuse for not looking into it at all?"

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS! Just THIS!

Sorry, but what blog are we talking about?

K.D. wrote: "Sorry, but what blog are we talking about?"

http://www.sadiesinsbooks.com/current...

I replied again, and took a screen shot this time. This is my reply:

Is there any reason my previous reply is not showing here?

As i said before, you can choose to see this as some amazing piece of performance art or marketing if you want, but most other people see it for what it is: lying about cancer, and past trauma, and all sorts of things in order for financial gain.

And you're completely ignoring the accounts of bullying, harassment and threatening behaviour.

For someone who claims to love people, you're doing an awful lot of victim blaming.

You called the author "A prop with a brain who once again failed to be the author people expected". You mean the author people expected based on what they were told? By that author? Nobody forced them to tell that lie in the first place. That was a decision the author made. If you tell a lie and you're caught out, you don't get to blame the people who uncovered it.

And you're quite wrong. I didn't come here to change your mind, and I certainly don't need your validation. You blogged about a topic that you didn't care to investigate. Perhaps other people who find this post will make it as far as the comments and realise that there is a lot more to this story and will do their own research. I would encourage them to do that, because clearly you didn't.

Lisa wrote: "That's exactly it. Prior to Riptide's statement and all of this blowing up on FB, I was totally in the dark. But I read this thread, and the twitter threads, and various FB posts...

I mean, perhaps some people still don't know what's happened. But if you're going to blog about it, what the hell is your excuse for not looking into it at all? ..."

Exactly! And there is no excuse!

I haven't known about any of this until a little over a week ago but I spent days reading, reading, reading and there is no doubt in my mind that everything that was gathered is true. Now I'm just trying to get the word out because there is little else I can do and I'm very happy that we have many authors like you on our side who help with that!

Lisa wrote: "K.D. wrote: "Sorry, but what blog are we talking about?"

http://www.sadiesinsbooks.com/current...

I replied again, and took a screen shot this time. This is my re..."

Oh thank you. I couldn’t really read past the part where she says no one is fact checking the ‘Me Too’ movement and poor men are losing their jobs. Honestly she sounds like a moron.

@Lisa, I read your comments on Sadie's blog post & her reply. I was going to post a comment on her blog, but I don't want to engage with her. so I'll refute something she said in her comment, here. She said:
>unless you want to go into personal disputes where
>the writers of 'nutritional/medical/fitness/diet'
>advice leads to pain or money lost, or something.

This exact thing happened in Australia last year. Australian blogger Belle Gibson falsely claimed she had cancer and she cured it with natural remedies. She made a lot of money from her claims and last year a government department fined her $410,000.
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-09...

I wonder if Sadie is posting inflammatory words to send people to her blog & promote her books.

I posted the cancer fraud link previously in this thread, sorry if you've already seen it.

this happened before, but I feel SH took it to a new disgusting level.

K.D. wrote: "Lisa wrote: "K.D. wrote: "Sorry, but what blog are we talking about?"

http://www.sadiesinsbooks.com/current...

I replied again, and took a screen shot this time. ..."
I think she's gleefully lapping up all the attention. I'd never heard of her before reading this.

Clare wrote: "@Lisa, I read your comments on Sadie's blog post & her reply. I was going to post a comment on her blog, but I don't want to engage with her. so I'll refute something she said in her comment, here...."

I'm in Australia, so I'm aware of Belle Gibson--and what a piece of work she is!

I think I'm done replying to Sadie though, if she's only going to delete my replies in any case. And somehow I don't think she's going to let facts get in the way of her narrative anyway.

And she might be driving traffic to her page, but I can't imagine too many people will want to spend money on her books when her entire blog post and all her replies are about blaming the victims.

Victoria wrote: "K.D. wrote: "Lisa wrote: "K.D. wrote: "Sorry, but what blog are we talking about?"

http://www.sadiesinsbooks.com/current...

I replied again, and took a screen sho..."

This blog entry and the video she posted and the way she reacts to the comment make me think it's a huge marketing gig. Provoking to get attention. She probably has more clicks on her little blog than ever.
She deserves to be ignored.

I can't believe people think its ok to use cancer to get money out of others

Clare wrote: "I wonder if Sadie is posting inflammatory words to send people to her blog & promote her books."

The only thing she is succeeding in is putting me in a dilemma:
weather I should add one of her books just so I could put her on my blacklist shelf, or should I just ignore her in order not to give her any exposure.

Tamara (緑) wrote: "Clare wrote: "I wonder if Sadie is posting inflammatory words to send people to her blog & promote her books."

The only thing she is succeeding in is putting me in a dilemma:
weather I should add ..."

I had never heard of her until her name and a link turned up on this post.

So...

Tamara (緑) wrote: "Clare wrote: "I wonder if Sadie is posting inflammatory words to send people to her blog & promote her books."

The only thing she is succeeding in is putting me in a dilemma:
weather I should add ..."

Sadie's posts and replies take condescension and willful ignorance to a whole new level if that's even possible given the events of these past few days...

In case anyone is interested, Amazon will not give refunds for any SH book purchased over 2 weeks ago although Audible, owned by Amazon, have given me credits for 2 of the Cyber Love series that I bought in 2016. I've emailed Riptide to ask about the situation there too...happy for them to credit my account against future books.

As far as Sadie is concerned, I bet she's loving all the attention she's getting at the mo for something that she's completely misunderstood. If her books are of the same standard as her understanding and reasoning skills, FWIW I'd change your job girl. She's now been added to my 'hell will freeze over first' shelf.

Tamara (緑) wrote: "The only thing she is succeeding in is putting me in a dilemma:
weather I should add one of her books just so I could put her on my blacklist shelf, or should I just ignore her in order not to give her any exposure."

Exactly.
I've asked myself the same thing about 3 authors I'd like to put on my blacklist and barely knew existed until a few days ago.

Elena wrote: "Tamara (緑) wrote: "The only thing she is succeeding in is putting me in a dilemma:
weather I should add one of her books just so I could put her on my blacklist shelf, or should I just ignore her in order not to give her any exposure."

Exactly.
I've asked myself the same thing about 3 authors I'd like to put on my blacklist and barely knew existed until a few days ago."

I use the breadcrumb method and just LIKE an existing review with the sentiment, amplify it rather than add another entry for an author--it's super helpful if it is an existing friend since it pops to the top when I scan reviews.

Lisa wrote: "Clare wrote: "@Lisa, I read your comments on Sadie's blog post & her reply. I was going to post a comment on her blog, but I don't want to engage with her. so I'll refute something she said in her ..."

I LOVED one of her books and -IMO- she is the Queen of Taboo smut. However I also contacted her as soon as the email ticked in and asked her to please look at the evidence and survivor-accounts. If she doesn't respond she is off my list, because seriously? That was so freaking ignorant and ridiculous.
I also don't think it's too much to ask that authors AND readers alike, to respect each other.
Having seen SH, Stivali, North (STILL attacking) and ME attack readers and bloggers and other authors, just shows me that they are not kind people.
And I'm not asking that authors bend over backwards or anything like that, but a modicum of kindness, respect and/or professional behaviour is not too much to ask -IMO.

I'm pretty sure Lisa Henry and Megan Derr are my two favorite authors right now. :D
Their posts on Sadie Sins site are the absolute best !

Vivian wrote: "I use the breadcrumb method and just LIKE an existing review with the sentiment, amplify it rather than add another entry for an author--it's super helpful if it is an existing friend since it pops to the top when I scan reviews."

It's a good idea, Vivian, and I was already liking those reviews anyway.
Thanks. :)

Bev wrote: "In case anyone is interested, Amazon will not give refunds for any SH book purchased over 2 weeks ago although Audible, owned by Amazon, have given me credits for 2 of the Cyber Love series that I ..."

I've just had refunds for ALL my purchased Santino Hassell and Megan Erickson books (on Amazon UK) although the daft muppets in customer service clearly couldn't separate out because they're refunded the complete orders, including books not by those two.

@Victoria - apologies if you get something back from the Zon about the Enhanced series, seems the numpties have refunded that too so once the money hits my bank account, I'll be buying it right back up again!

Elena wrote: "Vivian wrote: "I use the breadcrumb method and just LIKE an existing review with the sentiment, amplify it rather than add another entry for an author--it's super helpful if it is an existing frien..."

Haha same. I was just about to go vote me some reviews :3

Idk if this is important or relevant in any way, but SH postsed a tier update on patreon and I noticed that previous updates relating to publishers dropping the books and stuff have now been denoted as for $100+ contributors only. Idk if it’s bc of how many lowuer contributors have left but still see things or as a way to garner greater contributions.

Just throwing that out into this bc comes across to me as a way of controlling the information we’re getting from SH because now you need to be payin $100+ to know what’s going on.

Cadiva wrote: "Bev wrote: "In case anyone is interested, Amazon will not give refunds for any SH book purchased over 2 weeks ago although Audible, owned by Amazon, have given me credits for 2 of the Cyber Love se..."

Cadiva, how did you manage the refund? I contacted Amazon UK yesterday and they blatantly refused any refund of books over 14 days of purchase.

Regarding refunds for SH's books (since this just came up on twitter):

https://twitter.com/RiptideBooks/stat...

"But essentially, no matter the format (ebook, print, audio, or translation), returns won't come out of Santino's pocket; short of a lawsuit that could take years, publishers have no real way of recovering money once it's been paid to an author. (1/2)"

So while asking for refunds from amazon will impact what little royalties haven't yet been paid to SH, the rest of the impact will hit Riptide and other publishers directly.

A big enough hit on these small publishers could push them under.

(Disclaimer: I have a horse in this race, because I've got one book published through Riptide, and it's currently my only source of income.)

Cadiva wrote: "Bev wrote: "In case anyone is interested, Amazon will not give refunds for any SH book purchased over 2 weeks ago although Audible, owned by Amazon, have given me credits for 2 of the Cyber Love se..."

Audible refunded my SH books too, although I made sure to spend the credits on Riptide and Greg Tremblay books, so that the publishing house and narrator will not be as badly affected by any financial loss. (I'm actually spending a bit more money as there aren't enough Greg Tremblay books I'd listen to from Riptide so I'm now buying six books for three returns. Of course I'll be able to enjoy listening to them too but they are/will be extras I wouldn't have listened to otherwise, so hopefully they shouldn't miss out to badly.)

Laura wrote: "Idk if this is important or relevant in any way, but SH postsed a tier update on patreon and I noticed that previous updates relating to publishers dropping the books and stuff have now been denote..."

Yeah, I saw that too. They must be desperate for money, of course, considering how many patrons have left, but it still annoys me. I can't help but wonder how this is going to play out in the months to come. Although I love the 5B books and was looking forward to the last two, if the price goes way up to read them, forget it. This hasn't been mentioned at all; I'm just speculating.

Aryana wrote: "Cadiva wrote: "Bev wrote: "In case anyone is interested, Amazon will not give refunds for any SH book purchased over 2 weeks ago although Audible, owned by Amazon, have given me credits for 2 of th..."

I got all my audible credits back. If anyone is having trouble, you shouldn't be.

Sandyco wrote: "Laura wrote: "Idk if this is important or relevant in any way, but SH postsed a tier update on patreon and I noticed that previous updates relating to publishers dropping the books and stuff have n..."

While I don't agree with giving them any money, at some point, they will have to publish those books because they won't be able to make enough through Patreon alone, I imagine. I suppose if each of their 341 people are paying $100 they will, but, that's a lot to ask and I doubt it'll happen.

More likely, they've up the tier for the time being because they suspect spies are joining.

Laura wrote: "Idk if this is important or relevant in any way, but SH postsed a tier update on patreon and I noticed that previous updates relating to publishers dropping the books and stuff have now been denote..."

It makes me sick to think there are people supporting him with $100 a month.

Cadiva wrote: "Bev wrote: "In case anyone is interested, Amazon will not give refunds for any SH book purchased over 2 weeks ago although Audible, owned by Amazon, have given me credits for 2 of the Cyber Love se..."

Thanks for this. Will be trying yet again. 😕

*edited to correct pronoun* I won't ask for refund from riptide. They reacted promtly and it would seem like punishment, Santino will not be injured and she is the one that should. There are many authors whose work I love like Lisa Henry, KJ Charles, JA rock at RT and I would hate for them to be punished in a roundabout way. Audible refunded me for two audiobooks both purchased two years ago- they said it was an exception. I will spend the credits on audiobooks from the same publisher-narrator. Amazon refunded me too for ebooks that I had purchased up to two years ago. Fortunately they were those co-written by ME and a self-published one by SH. For those that received a negative answer from amazon make sure you state a few things about the issue with the author and the fact that they were dropped by the publishers. I did.

Dani wrote: "I suppose if each of their 341 people are paying $100 they will, but, that's a lot to ask and I doubt it'll happen..."

He's down from well over 550 to 324. That's down from this morning at 330.

If all of his subscribers were at the 5.00 level, that's at least 1100 a month less now. I'm guessing a lot of the high dollar subscribers went first though. IMO, It's easier to hold onto your support at 5 vs 25 a month.

Sandyco wrote: "Susan wrote: "Does anyone know if there are still people out there defending SH or has everyone now seen the light?

I'm really wondering how all his/her supports have responded to his confession t..."
Your sentiments most accurately reflect my own. Though I'll not put another dime in their pockets. I'm just a reader who has loved the books. I don't give a damn about the details of their identity. But the gas lighting, abuse, using details of the lives of people you've gaslit and abused along with the cancer con, make them cruel and despicable.

I'm so sorry, all of you who were forced to endure this pain while being silenced by fear and bullying. I'm so sorry, all of you who were silenced and bullied simply for questioning the veracity of these charlatans.

It has occurred to me, that perhaps there's a rush to judgment regarding those who are most closely associated with the pair. I'd imagine, the closer you were personally to either him or her and the longer that acquaintance, the more difficult to see you're being manipulated and gaslit. I wont condemn people simply because they're still caught in that web.

It's true, that some of them have said and done awful things to people here because they still believe in him (not believe him, maybe not the details, but believe *in*him), as did many on this board while they still believed in him. Putting aside the identity stuff, which not everyone is going to care about; especially another author who understands the struggle to preserve privacy in an age when you must be on socal media to sell at all well, and when people seem to have less respect for boundaries. They have been really careful about not crossing the line, publicly anyway.

They're con artists sure enough. But it looks like they've skirted the very edges of legality when it comes to the money stuff. And I doubt very much those closest to them have had time to take in and process the evidence of abuse. A process made more difficult by, understandably hurt and angry who are now baying for their blood along with the perpetrators'. If it were me and these were my long-standing friends and creative partners, I'd need a minute. And until I processed I'd probably continue to stick up for my friend.

This complicity thing is dangerous territory, because none of our hands are clean. And few of us have anything like a close association of long-standing as an excuse. Most of us were just fans, who either turned a blind eye or turned on each other.

There are few of us in these threads who have grievances that warrant calling for a boycott of anyone who still believes in them, or whose apologies don't measure up to our standards. For those who are personally effected; for me, if mine were the experiences I've read, I have no idea what I would do or how I would feel. I don't know that I'd be willing to forgive anyone (including those in these threads), however good the apology.

For everyone else, I'd just ask to please remember how we got here. One of the ways they flourished was by encouraging the worst in us, taking advantage of the pre-existing toxicity in the community, stoking it and then turning us loose on one another.

Janova wrote: "On the other hand... there's Sadie Sins, who has spinned around the whole issue with SH [...] www.sadiesinsbooks.com/current-mm-aut... "

Wow, I wonder what it's like to be that ignorant. As Megan Derr commented on that, clearly she has no clue what she is talking about. I'm giving the other authors who may have been involved the benefit of doubt, but for someone to spout that kind of bs, who clearly is missing the whole point or just choosing to ignore it, a person like that can consider themselves on my Do Not Read list right below SH.

*Edited to clarify that this post is concerning Sadie Sins in the OP's statement, not Heidi Cullinan*

Shelby wrote: "Janova wrote: "Heidi Cullinan also made an statement and expressed her support for the readers and especialy those affected by SH in a Patreon post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/humble-......"

Why would you say that? Heidi is innocent in all of this, and yet she's offering a free book just because her name was mentioned! How is that wrong in any way?

Sandyco wrote: "Shelby wrote: "Janova wrote: "Heidi Cullinan also made an statement and expressed her support for the readers and especialy those affected by SH in a Patreon post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/hum..."

Sorry, the part of the post that I responded to was about Sadie Sins, so I suppose you didn't read the original post. I'll edit my post to clarify.

Shelby wrote: "Sandyco wrote: "Shelby wrote: "Janova wrote: "Heidi Cullinan also made an statement and expressed her support for the readers and especialy those affected by SH in a Patreon post: https://www.patre..."

Oh! I was wondering as well. I just couldn't understand why you were so mad at Heidi when she's just trying to be nice. This thread it going fast and being at work today I couldn't follow it. I had to skip a few messages so I was completely lost. I loved Heidi and got really worried for a moment I missed something and was about to be disappointed. Again. Glad you were not talking about her.

(edit : thanks to your answer, I now read the blog post you're actually talking about and just... what the actual hell?)

Shelby wrote: "Sandyco wrote: "Shelby wrote: "Janova wrote: "Heidi Cullinan also made an statement and expressed her support for the readers and especialy those affected by SH in a Patreon post: https://www.patre..."

Thanks; I was concerned for a moment there.