Lost...

It has arrived. After a long journey, the anthology to raise awareness about homeless LGBT youth is finally here.

Bridges and Angels by MF Kays
A Ghost of a Chance by Diane Adams
A Chance with a Ghost by T.A. Webb
Protective Instincts by Tabatha Hart
Blessing by Dakota Chase
The Preacher’s Son by Caitlin Ricci
Clay Rocks by T.A. Webb
Sam I Am by Jeff Erno
Thrown Away by D.C. Juris
You Have Never Mattered by Michele L. Montgomery
I Have Always Mattered by D.H. Starr


The profits of this anthology will be going to a charity of the same name (totally by coincidence) - Lost-n-Found - which serves homeless LGBT youth.

Help support our youth and get your copy HERE.

LHNB Story Update 2...ish

How's everyone doing? This has been a month of adjustment for me, but things are getting figured out. I have an update on my 'Love has no Boundaries' story for everyone. The first draft *crosses fingers* should be done today.

Once again, here are Jim, Dylan, and Fred. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. 1976.



Excerpt

Wanting to be fucked meant he was sick in the head. He knew… he knew it was. The situation with his mom was different. His dad had been an abusive ass. He couldn't blame his mom for not wanting to go to another man. Her case was different than his. Special. Fred's reasoning had faults, he could acknowledge that, but it made sense to him. A lot of women were mistreated and shouldn't have to be subjugated to the whims and abuse at the hands of a man.

Fred looked up and caught Dylan's eye. Dylan winked at him. He scowled in return, looking away out the window. He wanted to stick out his tongue but knew better to. If he stuck it out, Dylan would find another use for it later.

Mmm.

Goose bumps erupted all over Fred as he thought about what he could use his tongue for. He shuddered, the images playing over in his head. Whether from disgust or excitement, Fred couldn't tell anymore. The hatred and longing intermingled together now. Fred was no longer sure he could separate the two.

He didn't want to long for another man though. Too many times he'd seen his mom's queer friends after they'd spent the night in jail after a police raid. Their swollen faces, beaten bodies and their sometimes torn assholes were seared into his memory. Then when their pictures were published. Fred's stomach cramped up. Every muscle twisted up, delivering pure agony through him.

How many of those men had lost their jobs? Fred closed his eyes.

The need to have his desires uprooted and cleansed from his soul dominated Fred. How many times would he tell himself he wouldn't seek Dylan out, and lately, every night he had. This short summer music get away hadn't helped Fred shake his need to be fucked. It had only made it worse. At school, he had his escape with the track team. Here there was none.

Coming to Geneva had been a mistake. Even now eviscerating the sandwiches with his friends, Fred could be his ass twitch in anticipation of having Dylan hold him down and pound into him.

"Fred?"

His eyes snapped open, and Fred jerked back. A hand was moving too close to his face.

"Oh, sorry." The hand dropped to be replaced by Jim's worried expression. "You spaced out on us."

"What's up?" he asked, mortified he'd been caught spacing out.

"I suggested we spend the afternoon practicing then maybe swimming out to the raft on the lake later to cool off."

"You sure you want to get in the water?" Panic blanked out any other thought in Fred's head.

"As long as you don't sit on me, I think I'll be fine," said Jim, laughing. "I'm feeling almost one hundred percent again."

"Really?" Fred caught his lower lip between his teeth. Jim didn't always have the best assessment of himself or his surroundings. "Should you wait 'til Dylan's uncle shows up this weekend? Let him check you out?"

"I'm fine. Really," said Jim. He pushed his chair back and patted his stomach. Fred's gaze followed the movement. Jim's fingers were long and agile.

What would it be like to have them touching him? Caressing him? Fred licked his lips and trembled ever so slightly.

A cough drew his attention to Dylan. The cold stare he met with his own sent another set of shivers done his back, but these were different than the ones he just had. Every hair on Fred's arms stood on end, his nipples became hard and erect, his asshole clenched and his stomach went queasy so fast Fred thought he'd throw up at the table.

Disgust churned inside Fred with absolute want. He wanted Dylan. It was fucked in the head, wrong, but he wanted him.

A smile spread across Dylan's face, arrogant and smug. Fred wanted to wipe it off him.

"So? We ready?" Dylan pushed away from the tremble. "Let's rock."

Fred put down his half finished sandwich, no longer hungry. He had eaten two or three already, but they sat heavy in his abdomen.

"Sure, let's hash out Jim's new song. It sounded interesting… something about it… " The words evaporated from Fred as he tried to find a way to describe how Jim's latest endeavor made him feel. He couldn't find them. He made a beat, something for them to keep time. Words weren't his forte.

Excerpt End

Beginning Again... Again

Mischief Corner Books is re-releasing 

April 6th, 2013

in both ebook and print.  eBook will be for $5.99 while the print edition will go for $12.99.

Blurb

Months after waking from a car accident that took everything David held dear, he's trying to settle into a new life at CRU. There's only one problem. Well, three, his roommates: Bobby, Chris and Austin. They want to experience life now that they're out from under their parents' watchful eyes, and for David to partake in the fun with them. David feels he's experienced enough life already and just wants to be left alone.

Bobby sees how David watches him, Chris and Austin. He's convinced their hard-ass roommate just needs a little nudge and David would open up. When Bobby comes back to the dorm unannounced, looking for an English paper for class, Bobby finds out why David's been holding them at arms length and becomes determined to help his roommate rejoin the world of the here and now.The only problem is: David has more secrets he doesn't want anyone to know about.

NOTE: There are references to rape, and some graphic violence, in the story.

PLEASE NOTE: This title was previously released with another publisher. This a reedited second edition.

Excerpt

Junnosuke Ito stared at one David McCourt. The young man sitting in front of him had asked to work in his Biochemistry lab at the university. Dumbfounded and confused—though Jun could never admit to such a thing—he'd swear up and down David looked exactly like Absalom Feld. Jun's driver's license stated his age as fifty-two and Abby would be the same, but the uncanny resemblance his interviewee had to his friend shook Jun. The bright blue eyes, David's thick and wavy dirty blond hair, the lithe build, his average height—all of it, a perfect carbon copy of the friend Jun had lost so many years before. They were so similar Jun almost caught himself calling the young student by Abby's name.

Jun's heart ached and his fingers twitched. He wanted to call Henry Wilson and tell him about the young man in front of him. Henry, Jun's best friend and confidante since Abby's disappearance, was the only other person who had gone through the same loss and pain he had. Henry carried the same gnarled wound that dug into Jun's chest, the one flaring incessantly as a reminder of his mistakes as he looked at David sitting across from him. Only Henry would understand, but Jun couldn't call, not before David left.

The professor listened to David talk about his research and why the young man wanted to be in his lab. Jun nodded at all the right intervals, but he struggled underneath his cool façade. Flashes of Abby slammed into him, making Jun think about how he hadn't done as much as he could have when his best friend's relationship status had been repeatedly rejected and denied by Neil Cook, the fourth member of their close knit group. Jun watched his blond friend go from smiling, loving, and slightly clumsy when they were undergraduates, to quiet and reserved in graduate school. All of it, the whole transformation, just so Abby could hang onto Neil.

But Neil, now the university's president, never acknowledged Abby as the love of his life. Henry and Jun blindly believed things would change. They did. Abby and Neil's lack of a real relationship got to the point where Abby just up and disappeared one day, not long after an incident at a nightclub, an event that left Abby with broken ribs and a black eye. Henry and Jun's friendship with Neil splintered after Abby disappeared. They went their separate ways, promising to never speak with the man again, only to be thrust back together when Neil took the head position at Capstone Ridge University, better known as CRU. A hiring choice Jun fought against, but lost. He did not want his one time friend coming back to his beloved campus. Reconciling with Neil would never happen. When Abby left, the friendship between Jun, Henry, and Neil fragmented, permanently and irrevocably.

Now with David talking enthusiastically to Jun about his research, the past came up and hit him in the stomach, kicking him in the ass when he went down, laughing and taunting him as a world of renewed regret piled back onto him. Jun lost himself in his thoughts until the young man cleared his throat and looked meaningfully at him. Concern and resignation marred the young man's clear blue eyes. Jun returned his steady gaze to David, attempting to clear his thoughts of a friend lost but never forgotten.

"I'm sorry; you said you're a transfer?"

"Yes, I'm starting here as a sophomore after getting accepted from a community college in Flagstead."

Jun looked down at the resume and transcripts David brought with him and nodded, hearing the young man but still struggling with containing his emotions. "So why did you pick CRU?"

A weak smile crossed David's face, one Jun had seen on Abby many times, and Jun's breathing nearly stopped. The slight curve on David's lips didn't show happiness, but loss and misery. Even though the young man grinned, it never managed to reach his eyes—blue eyes desperately trying to keep up appearances and not let any emotion through. But Jun noticed. He had firsthand experience with those kinds of feelings and the fact they came from someone so similar to his missing best friend did a number on Jun.

"I'm not trying to pry, I was just wondering why our science program stood out to you over the other universities," he said softly and pointed at the transcripts. "Your grades are excellent."

David shrugged, wariness filling his face. "I like the Biology program here and the research the university is doing. The college in Flagstead is more of a liberal arts school, easy going and open-minded, but I'm a science major, not an art major. Besides that, it was an economical decision. Paying in-state is a lot cheaper than going out of state."

Jun had to agree. "Yes it is, but CRU isn't exactly an open-minded school."

"No. No, it's not," replied David, a look of irritation crossing his face. "But this one was close to home and it has the specific program I wanted."

"Yes, I'm sorry, you mentioned that," said Jun as he racked his brain, the shock of seeing an Abby-clone affecting him to his very core. Did he even make any sense at all at this point? "CRU is a wonderful school and I'm sure you'll enjoy your time here."

"I hope so." A pained expression flittered across David's face. "My family was really excited when I got the acceptance letter."

"Then you'll have to make them proud, won't you?"

David visibly paled and pulled a tight grimace that was probably supposed to be a smile. "Yeah, I guess I do."

"So, would you like to see the lab?" Jun pushed back from his desk, knowing he should think the offer through a little more, but he couldn't stop himself. He needed David close by, to be able to keep an eye on the kid, to make sure nothing bad happened to him.

Maybe he could atone for the mistakes he made with Abby.

Shock filled David's eyes before he stammered out an answer. "You mean I have the job?"

"Yes."

"Oh! Uh, thanks!"

A grin tugged at the corner of Jun's lips. He knew his reputation, what the kids said, about how hard it was to get accepted into his lab. Obviously David had heard the rumors, too. The look of disbelief spoke volumes. David had not been expecting to get the lab assistant job offered to him on the spot or at all.

"No problem, I think I've seen enough to know a good thing when I've found it." Jun opened his office door and waved for David to follow him.

A faint tint of red appeared on the young man's cheeks, reminding Jun even more of Abby. A sharp tug pulled in Jun's chest. He very much missed his old friend, and with David around, a constant reminder would be walking around the lab daily. Jun shook his head. The minute the boy walked through his door Jun knew he wouldn't be able to let go. Abby was gone and this boy was so very much like his long lost friend.

Jun took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart, knowing he needed to call Henry once he showed David the lab. How would he explain Abby's ghost showing up on his doorstep?

Excerpt End

Link to Book

Mischief Corner Books - Beginning Again

Doing things a little Different

Autism Fact (for April 14th): Dogs have been shown to improve autistic children's quality of life, independence and safety.

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for stopping by. 
*drawing info at the bottom

I am very glad to be taking part of RJ's blog hop for Autism awareness. It's something that is near and dear to my heart for many reasons because there are multiple people in my family along the spectrum.

Now the theme for this year's hop is PREJUDICE, and I'm sure there will be/has been a gambit of blogs about all the different kinds of bigotry in one form or another.

What I wanted to talk about what subtle bigotry, bullying or prejudicial remarks. I caution the post kind of meanders a bit, but I hope you get my point.

It's often the small remarks that can get overlooked and build over a period of time until certain prejudices are ingrained into us before we know it.

Some are easier to see than others, especially when violence is involved. But some biases are more subtle and harder to pinpoint because they aren't outright attacks or the attacks are deemed 'socially justified'.

The kid who gets teased because he's fat. Or the one who gets pushed around or tripped the locker room because he's just effeminate enough for people to think he's gay. Or the snide remarks heard about the slutty girl who had sex at such and such a party over the weekend. Or when a bus full of kids throw food at the one Muslim girl in the back.

Those were all things I was confronted with and had to deal with. All of them uncomfortable but I couldn't just look away. That's not how I was taught.

Often when people are confronted with these kind of situations, they try to avoid it. It's uncomfortable and, especially when we're younger, it's hard to know how/when to step in because of fear and peer pressure. Now I'm not saying everybody does because we wouldn't have 'heros' or 'activists' and so forth if everyone did - but a lot of people do. 

A lot of us do stupid things when we're kids, it's part of growing up. Awareness and upbringing can help curb these kinds of acts, but they still happen and there are still bystanders who watch instead of defend. 

There is actually a name for that: it's called the Bystander Effect.

People can get angry and complain and say 'how can people do that?' We are all taught rights and wrongs, and most of us have a pretty good idea once we hit a certain stage in developed as we're growing up where we know whether or not we're going to get in trouble if we do something. So why makes waves when we don't have to?

I can remember once when I was about six saying I didn't eat all the raspberries off the plants out back. I had, but there was no way I was going to admit to it if I didn't have to.

Too bad I got sick as a dog. Definitely learned my lesson though.

But then there's the next level, the one around junior high or high school (sometimes sooner) when we begin to notice the inconsistencies and the double standards that the adults have but don't tell us about. We notice them treating a person with certain clothing one way while someone else is treated another - the same thing can be said for skin color, sexual orientation and even hobbies. This means we're getting mixed messages about what is right, and some of us get angry while others of us are left to figure out what the adults really mean.

For me, this was a stage where I was glad my parents didn't give me mixes messages like I saw from my friends get. My parents always said this is how you treat people no matter what which is what my grandparents taught to them.

I can honestly remember getting into high school and being confused as to why someone would get picked on because they were gay. I had cousins who had two moms and no one in my family ever treated the relationship any differently than the heterosexual ones. No one told me it was wrong so it never occurred to me to think that it was. I used to walk with a friend to class every day and when I got to the English class we'd kiss. Not the sticking our tongues down each other's throats kind but a peck on the lips and a hug. I honestly didn't know it would mean people would talk about me. When some girl came up to me and tapped me on my shoulder and when I turned around her response was 'I thought so,' I became confused until my friend explained it to me. I asked if we should stop but the response I got was 'You do things differently, everybody knows that.'

Those words hurt.

Because they disregarded a lot of things. 'You do things different' - like that was an explanation in of itself. Like it made everything okay. But what it pointed out was that people saw me as 'odd' or 'weird', and that I wasn't 'normal'.

I smiled and shrugged it off, but always in the back of my head, I wondered whether or not I was being normal. I went about doing the things I liked and enjoyed them, but there were times there were snickers or comments of 'only you', and instead of me feeling proud like I do today, I felt dirty and wrong. 

I was an impressionable youth, and I was given the impression I was a weird and it was bad. 

Now I glory in my weirdness and am more comfortable in my skin. When people say 'only you', I smile. I hold the people close to me that appreciate my many talents, but at 14, it's a whole lot harder knowing you're the one people are noticing but not really wanting the attention. It's even harder to bring it up to your own parents. Mine had told me the same thing over and over again, so I knew what the response would be. 

When we were adolescents, still at a vulnerable age, we were trying to be adults but don't always have the know how. When left to our own devices, you don't know what kind of mixed bag you're going to get.

A little guidance, a kind word, a talk can go a long way in helping figure it out. Sometimes it can comes from unsuspecting places. As teens, we didn't always get those and sometimes we just didn't always listen. But to have the option, to know someone really cares when they talk - that makes a huge difference. It can help take the fine line of what is right or wrong and put it back into focus.

Honesty does, too. Knowing someone will say, 'yeah, that's sucks' or 'it's confusing' can make the insecurities better. Maybe not fix them, but having your voice heard helps work through the feelings.

It's also those small talks that can turn small comments into understanding, and understanding breeds growth.

I got that small word when I was 15 from my high school chemistry teacher. He thought I was a cool kid and my own kind of weird, but in a good way. Whenever I needed to get away he and the other teachers would give me their papers to grade and I'd sit in their office grading as I listened to them talk. For once, I felt normal. I won't say their conversations fixed all my insecurities at once, but one thing stuck after a while: I was a fun, neat kid, and high school lasted for 4 years. It seems like forever while you're in it, but it's over real fast, and I needed to be happy with me.

It was small things said here and there. Positives ones. Constant ones. Words that didn't contradict each other, and actions that followed those words. And it was the adults in my life that gave them to me, not the other kids.

When you're the one sticking out in the crowd, sometimes that's just what you need.

Well, I think I said my piece. Small words, small actions, can make a huge difference in a person's life. Hopefully, they will be used in a positive way and not a negative one.


Drawing
I have a drawing for a free ebook of your choice. I have currently gotten the rights back to 5 of my stories so I only have three available for you at the moment - Cabin for Two: An Anthology, Awakening and Beginning Again: Finding Peace 1. If you have those, I do have some future stories that will be coming out and will be glad to put you down for those.

Leave your email and tell me what small word or action made a difference in your life or someone you knew.

I will draw at the end of the month and pick two winners.

Thanks for stopping by everyone!

Time to Move On

*sighs*

It's basically how I feel. I am beyond done.

I was at done Monday. I was done before that actually.

I am looking forward to having positive energy enter my little bubble.

I hope that all of you have a great night.

I hope you have positive things happen for you tomorrow and the day after and the day after that.

*hugs*

Ignore it and it will go Away

Silver has been quiet in the day since my refusal to bow down to their terms to get my works back to me.

I figure Silver has decided that if they ignore the problem, it will go away, but in this case it won't.

It won't because I refused to bend backward to get my works back to me even though they hold them even though the records on my second account have not me given to me as asked. It won't because I can spread the word of the wrongs taking place. It won't because these posts will be out there for warnings to other prospective authors.

Other authors need to know what is going on.

If the voices of discontented authors are not heard, how will others know that Silver is a place that an aspiring author should not submit to?

Silver is signing new authors with contracts when it cannot afford to properly pay the old authors still stuck in limbo such as me.

I could've taken the easy way out, looked the other way, but that would've only benefited me. And I cannot watch other people's hopes dashed in the process. I cannot remain silent and watch other writers get trapped into the same problems as I and other authors are in.

Words are just that words. Sometimes they are useless. How can they properly convey the heartache of not being able to continue with works that our heart and souls went into? How can they convey the silence and non explanations and proof when it was asked for and not given?

They cannot.

But words can also be strength and that is what they are for me right now. My words can steer others away from the heartache, sadness and disappointment of being lied to, ignored and then disregarded.

There are people at Silver that were kind, treated me with respect and answered my questions. People I genuinely respect. I feel for them because they are in a rock and a hard place not of their own doing.

But staying silent is not the answer. Just like when other injustices are put before us, someone (hopefully someones) must raise their voice against the ills of the world so others do not suffer for it.



This is my voice, refusing to be silenced. My voice will not be swept under the rug like a dirty secret. I am not a dirty secret.


If you're wondering why I've wanted an answer to my questions. Here are my royalty reports for 3rd quarter, posted in succession that they were given to me. Can you tell what's suddenly missing from the last one? And can you see why there has been so much confusion? An explanation was never given as to why the royalty summary stopped being included on the reports.

As you can see. This first report days I earned $231 for July - September 2012. Which was wrong. You will also notice that the royalty for the period does not match the balance owed.

These reports were only given to the authors after a mass protest because our previous reports showed only our books, how many sold (and not where), and royalties.

Here is an updated royalty report saying I earned $638 from July to September 2012. And now the total royalty balance has changed - it's lower than the amount I earned. Also, from this report, we cannot tell what months from different places were got our royalties from so I don't know what months I've been paid up to from other 3rd party sites.

This is because we were already paid 20% of our royalty for the period, however, 20% would be $127. That does not add up and the sums do not make sense. A general email went out saying their had been a glitch but Silver never explained why the amounts varied so much in a report.

Then, this last report was sent out, but now the royalty summary is missing.

Why would a company suddenly remove information they could readily provide?

It's a good question, don't you think?


This is my email requesting a report that is consistent and with all pertaining data. I was not provided with reports to the second account.

But hey, at least I have reports, some authors haven't even gotten those.



My other posts related to this issue:

Why Not to Publish with Silver Publishing

I WILL NOT BOW

*Update: At the time of this post I had not been provided with any information regarding my second account.

At the time I made this blog post, the information was from speaking with other authors with Silver, from the Silver forum, and from my own experiences with Silver. Other authors may or may not have had the same difficulties I have had. Let my warning stand as a precaution. You will have to speak with Silver itself and make up your mind for yourself. 

Things may have changed by the time you have read this.

I WILL NOT BOW

Two hours after I posted about not signing with Silver, their lawyer was in my mailbox with an offer even though it was midnight where their lawyer is. Oh, how nice of you to finally reply.

Did I do something?

I refused the offer out of principle because so many other authors at Silver have had to pay to get their books and rights back. That's right I wouldn't have to pay to get mine back at all.

Huh? Really?

What about all the other Silver authors who did or gave up their royalties?

I'm sorry, but yes, you did have to be reported to the South African authorities. You have not provided documentation on the second account, only words from you and your lawyer.

If I wasn't right about the fact you broke my contract, you wouldn't have made the offer you did.

For all the authors you've wronged, and for all the authors looking for a decent prospective publishing house, I DECLINE.

I WILL NOT BOW.



My other posts related to this issue:

Why Not to Publish with Silver Publishing

Ignore It and It Will Go Away


*Update: At the time of this post, no documentation had been provided to me. 

At the time I made this blog post, the information was from speaking with other authors with Silver, from the Silver forum, and from my own experiences with Silver. Other authors may or may not have had the same difficulties I have had. Let my warning stand as a precaution. You will have to speak with Silver itself and make up your mind for yourself.

Things may have changed by the time you have read this.

Why Not to Publish with Silver Publishing

As some of you may or may not know, I have been trying to get my rights back to my stories from my former publisher, Silver Publishing. I say former because while I met many wonderful editors, writers and people working with Silver Publishing, the silver lining has rotted away leaving a bitter taste behind.

Some are hoping for Silver to 'pull through' while others have signed away their rights to say anything about the situation with Silver, and some of us are still trying to get Silver's clutches out of our backsides.

The authors have turned into three camps:

1. Wait and see - hoping to get their monies.
2. Having to sign away their right to say anything about the situation and buy their rights back/forfeit their monies to get their rights back.
3. Those of us who have been trying to get their rights back and get ignored in the process.


I was formally in group number one while trying to get my rights back, but I can see the writing on the wall in several ways.

1. We have not been provided an external audit that the authors have called for since last fall.
2. We have not been provided with proper royalty reports.

Some authors now have thousands of unexplained deductions on their reports and the reports now exclude certain information they previously provided.

3. Most readers know and books sales for Silver have gone down.

It's like one of those open secrets, everyone knows but no one is saying anything. Kind of like everybody assuming Anderson Cooper was gay but until he said anything, it was still in the air.

4. The 'Big Authors' have left or are trying to leave Silver. 

I am not a big money maker in the scheme of things, but I love my stories. I've had my stories pirated more often than I've had sales. But this kind of situation is not new to the industry or its writers. This goes back to GRL 2012 for Silver authors (and September 2012 really). There were problems, and many of us believed the things were told about the royalty reporting system having bugs. Not much later after GRL the CEO of Silver admitted to having financial difficulties. A slap in the face, and at the time, he said he wouldn't hold anyone who wanted to leave, but he also made a call as a 'family' to stick together.

Some people took the opportunity and left. Others stayed because Silver HAD BEEN a good experience until then.

I will be the first to say I wanted to believe Silver could get back on track. I loved that I could take a story not in the box and get it published. Warning bells were going off but I didn't want to make waves. I wanted to be able to publish within the field and make contacts and be able to share a passion of mine.

5. The authors are getting paid a % of their royalties. Not all of them, but a %, and no new legal contract was offered okaying the deal.



I was scared, just like many other authors were and are. I wanted my stories to be okay and without really knowing what was going on, I was afraid they wouldn't be or they'd get stuck in some kind of litigation. I didn't speak up because I wanted to be able to get my stories back so I could continue to share them with the readers I did have.

For two months I have been asking for the termination of my contracts because they had been broken - not in BREACH - but BROKEN.

Last October I got an email saying I had TWO ACCOUNTS in my name. TWO. And that the second would be deleted.

I asked friends if that could be done and no one had an answer. When we received the email about Silver's financial difficulties I asked for detailed reports on both accounts dating from the start of when I began getting royalties. I was not given reports on the second account and told not to worry about it.

I'm sorry, but you need to be able to provide reports as per our contract and I was refused. That's breaking two terms of the contracts I have with Silver. Not breaching them, but BREAKING them because my accounts cannot properly be audited.

Back in January, after much consideration and taking in the long view with how things were going with Silver - we had gone from a company with great communication and opens lines to nothing. The forum is barely touched and the CEO doesn't send out emails explaining what's going on.

SILENCE is deadly.

I have spent the past two months requesting a letter stating my rights being reverted back to me for the five stories I have with Silver. I even pointed out the contract had been broken because the second fraudulent account was deleted without permission.

Two months, and only when I emailed people not related to royalties in the company did I get a response. The response was that the lawyer had my emails and would be responding to me with due course. I emailed the lawyer only to be ignored yet again for weeks.

When I informed the lawyer and the CEO of Silver I was reporting the company to the South African Revenue Services (http://www.sars.gov.za/), only then did I get a response.




Well, I'm sorry. Silver had its chance to resolve things amicably and forthwith.

Two months of being ignored is not being amicable, or forthwith treatment of me.

They have been reported to the South African government since that's where the company is based.

This is not the first time a publisher has had problems or that writers have gone through these kinds of trouble. I doubt it will be the last. Others can share their stories and those stories are out there.


Chances are I won't be getting my rights back by making this kind of post - and I weep for my stories I love so much - but I cannot allow other authors to fall into the same bad situation. Think of it as a lesson learned by someone else and take your stories elsewhere. Make sure to check your contracts, make sure there is only so many times a publisher can breach the contract, and that it is a contract with a set number of years.


Good luck everyone.

There are those at Silver that are good (one is a friend whom I adore immensely), have tried to make things right, and have worked their hardest to turn things around and do not deserve harsh words. In fact, they should be commended for trying to make things right. I have positive things to say about many an editor, proofer, cover artist, and distributing manager. Do not think harshly of the writers who have not spoken out against Silver. It's a scary and sad thing to have to fight against your publisher and you do not know if that will end your career or if you will ever see the monies owed to you. Some of the writers depend on that money for their lively hoods.

And for those who enter into a contract with Silver - writer beware, bad things happen there.

My other posts related to this topic:

I Will Not Bow

Ignore It and It Will Go Away


*Update: At the time I made this blog post, the information was from speaking with other authors with Silver, from the Silver forum, and from my own experiences with Silver. Other authors may or may not have had the same difficulties I have had. Let my warning stand as a precaution. You will have to speak with Silver itself and make up your mind for yourself.

Things may have changed by the time you have read this.