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For those who wish to share their experiences of SH and his fans anonymously, this google form has been set up by a Twitter user. Please share this link. It's important that those who have been bullied and hurt have a voice.

I haven't personally experienced any of this, but could someone please let me know who this is, because I don't want to unknowingly support an author like this.

Tiuri wrote: "I haven't personally experienced any of this, but could someone please let me know who this is, because I don't want to unknowingly support an author like this."

Hi, Tiuri. The author is Santino Hassell. They more known by their M/M romance novels.

This is so sad to hear. I was looking forward to reading his/her books. :( Is there an authors watchlist out there for us readers? So that we don’t unknowingly support authors like this.

Thanks! I've only read one co-authored book, so I do know and recognise the name.

Alisa wrote: "One of the things I'd like to see be discussed in all this is what about his author buddies/co-writers? Did they know? I'm not sure how someone goes to conventions and on vacations with someone but..."

You make some great points, Alisa. Unfortunately, in this case, the publisher has been culpable in the coverup. I understand that publishers have certain legal obligations to the authors and certainly can't disclose personal information. I don't expect them to.

But the publisher in question has immediately blacklisted anyone (and blog mates by association) even daring to whisper a question about the situation. It's been so disheartening to see, as I've been a big supporter of this publisher and have reviewed hundreds of their ARCs.

~✡~Dαni(ela) �� ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "Alisa wrote: "But the publisher in question has immediately blacklisted anyone even daring to whisper a question about the situation..."

Which publisher? I know the books with Megan Erickson were self published, but there is a known M/M publisher blacklisting bloggers? Please name them as I want to make sure I don't buy their books.

Shana wrote: "~✡~Dαni(ela) �� ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "Alisa wrote: "But the publisher in question has immediately blacklisted anyone even daring to whisper a question about the situation..."

Which publi..."

Riptide.

Elsa wrote: "Riptide"

Yes

Jesus Christ on a cracker.
Thank you for the info Susan!

~✡~Dαni(ela) �� ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "Elsa wrote: "Riptide"

Yes"

Really? Blacklisted?? What fucking rock have I been under????

Susan wrote: "What makes this different is the elaborate stories that SH himself has told about his life. As a reader, I didn’t ask his sexuality. I didn’t ask about his childhood. I didn’t ask about his financial situation or his health situation. I didn’t ask about his children. He offered ALL of those amazingly touching stories on his own. But somehow, he always seems to blame readers for invading his privacy and demanding this information whenever he gets hot under the collar and unable to answer questions about discrepancies."

This, right here, is exactly what made me start wondering if it could possibly be all true.
Thank you, Susan, for sharing all this with us.

All because of a twitter follow....to seek answers...the person and her blog were threatened publicly and I assume much more behind the scenes.

Sheri wrote: "All because of a twitter follow....to seek answers...the person and her blog were threatened publicly and I assume much more behind the scenes."

Yup. It was literally nothing, and ironically the follow was accidental.

I feel like I don't want to read anything. I feel like somehow I am supporting evil. I have two ARCs at the moment from two authors who I believe are standing by this thievery. I just don't know what to do and feel sick about this.

And the fact that said publisher has yet to make a proper statement speaks volume imo: and not some platitude about "privacy" at this point I expect both the publisher and the agent to come out and counteract every single fraudulent claim he has ever made. But tbh this publisher has a long history of backing this person and others who behave appallingly and I wouldn't hold my breath.

����ԲԾ��ڱ��☠P������ wrote: "I feel like I don't want to read anything. I feel like somehow I am supporting evil. I have two ARCs at the moment from two authors who I believe are standing by this thievery. I just don't know wh..."

I hear you. I've been feeling sick about this for weeks.

I've been a huge supporter of said author's and their main co-author's work, not to mention others in their close circle (writing dozens of 4 and 5 start popular reviews), and to be treated so appallingly is depressing.

����ԲԾ��ڱ��☠P������ wrote: "I feel like I don't want to read anything. I feel like somehow I am supporting evil. I have two ARCs at the moment from two authors who I believe are standing by this thievery. I just don't know wh..."

Yup, that's exactly what I felt when I started to sift through the information so I could make up my own mind.

The more I found, the more heartsick I was. That is, until I realized that there are tons of other authors who are real people that don't lie and manipulate their audience into giving them money and support.

I know I'm done with SH and Megan Erickson. Now my eyes turn to the rest of the so-called squad. At this time, I'm v. conflicted about Roan Parrish since I've loved her books. Yet, at the same time, how far am I willing to go and accept that the possibility that she's known about SH for a while?

Not v. far, that's for sure.

SH and his squad aren't the ONLY M/M authors in the world. Yes, they're popular and (used to be/still are) well-liked. But, like I've said, there are other authors.

<3

Sheri wrote: "All because of a twitter follow....to seek answers...the person and her blog were threatened publicly and I assume much more behind the scenes."

It was ridiculous, unfair and hypocritical, since literally everyone and their mother was following Nikki's tweets. To pretend otherwise... Is... Blargh.

Riptide and the authors that attacked the blogger & blog, owe them an apology

For me, I won't and don't read SH anymore. I am done with that mess and I'd only read one book from Erickson that was with SH but nope. No thanks. I have a reasons shelf for the authors I won't read.

Some authors who actively support the idea of SH and the mantra that readers aren't owed anything blah blah blah. Yeah, they are highly questionable.

To make it simple I see it this way; any author that has taken a picture with the person they claim to be SH is off my reading list. You can't tell me they met this "gangly gritty NY romance writing bisexual single father of two with cancer" in person and aren't complicit.

Just playing devil’s advocate for a moment, and maybe I’m just being too naive, but it’s really hard to believe so many other authors have known for sure and kept quiet.

I can believe it for co-authors who had constant contact with her/him and who clearly had something to gain from SH’s good name, but I don’t see why others would have kept quiet and kept associating with him/her. Unless we assume they’re all dishonest, which I can’t believe to be true.

Do you think it’s possible that some authors have suspected or realized something was wrong and avoided talking for lack of proof and/or fear of repercussions? Or maybe, like many of us, they’re realizing it now that is all coming out and are cautious to speak up?

If it’s all true, even if a little part of it it’s true, we’re talking about a master manipulator here, so I don’t think it’s impossible that other people (authors) might have been played just like many readers were.

From what’s emerging of this person’s behavior, it seems safe to assume that he/she wouldn’t have any qualms in using personal information gathered from a close personal relationship with fellow authors to damage their careers or reputations by sharing confidences or opinions they rather not be made public.

I’m not defending anyone, just trying to understand WHY they would cover such a thing.

In sink with what many of us have been saying about a clique of other authors enabling this gas lighting behavior here is the thing that SH's current co writers and circle are doing right now: blocking all of the people who are standing up to the bullying; if that very action doesn't speak of a guilty conscience I don't know what else will....
Cancel your pre orders folks, return ARCs and protest with your wallets: there are literally hundreds of other, honest and in many cases better authors to spend money on.

In case anyone is wondering what other authors are involved, this is a picture that SH posted of a weekend trip to New Orleans in November 2017. That's Avon Gale, Piper Vaughn, SH, and Roan Parrish.

Elena wrote: "Just playing devil’s advocate for a moment, and maybe I’m just being too naive, but it’s really hard to believe so many other authors have known for sure and kept quiet.

I can believe it for co-a..."

Actually even before they ever met in person and even before the astonishing facts that have been brought to light now these particular group of authors (maybe not Roan Parrish) have a long history of supporting/initiating gaslighting, intimidating, bullish behavior. So tbh? yes I think they'd know and cover it up and if they don't know they sure don't listen to readers. Like an old roman proverb used to say dog doesn't eat dog

Amy wrote: "In case anyone is wondering what other authors are involved, this is a picture that SH posted of a weekend trip to New Orleans in November 2017. That's Avon Gale, Piper Vaughn, SH, and Roan Parrish..."

Let's not forget Megan Erickson.

Suzanne wrote: "I stopped reading SH over a year ago because I saw how he and certain author friends would treat people on Twitter. It made me so uncomfortable and I really couldn’t believe what I read. At that ti..."

you are not wrong. He was in AA. And NA. I saw those posts as well. there are so many stories that h/she have said and then contradicted that it makes my head spin. I have personally been in his 2 groups for years and also had my own convo's with SH. I know the stories of the doxxer from h/her side, to 1 of the accused.
There are 3 sides to a story. His/her/the truth. his/her's didnt add up.
These are the things that bother me the most. Straight from SH's mouth in group convo's.
IF SH IS A WOMAN WRITING THESE BOOKS. HER BULLSHIT ABOUT HOW WOMAN FETISHIZE GAY MEN BECAUSE WE READ MM.
WHO REALLY HAS A FETISH HERE THO???????????
SOMEONE WHO PLAYS TO BE A BI FUCKBOI all over grindr and sharing those grindr stories?
WOMEN WRITING MM. DO NOT GET ME STARTED. And then go and co-write with alllllllllllllllllll females
And the cancer. i just cant. with that bullshit

Suzanne wrote: "I also thought I remembered him/her saying they were going to AA meetings but then they talked about drinking and drugs soon after. I could be wrong about those posts because I haven’t followed this person in over a year but I am pretty sure I read that."

Those posts existed. I saw the LJ ones with my own eyes about a year before SH's LJ was quietly deleted. So, no, you're not wrong or misremembering things at all.

Ariadna wrote: "Suzanne wrote: "I also thought I remembered him/her saying they were going to AA meetings but then they talked about drinking and drugs soon after. I could be wrong about those posts because I have..."

Yep, no one's imagining it. He said those things in public, and in private. About all of it. The AA meetings, NA, the cancer, and i vaguely remember one post about the transplant. He told me about it in private, but i don't remember it being addressed a lot in public. Then, out of nowhere, the transplant thing was buried, and never brought back up.

I was told that he is changing the descriptions in his social media bios. Apparently, most of them no longer say bisexual? Add that to the fact that most blog posts he wrote (including that one for Huffington Post) are gone, and yeah.. why delete something that can be proved to be true?... because it isn't.

Mymymble wrote: "But complaining that they've pretended to be a bi single father who lives in N.Y. when they're a female living elsewhere and 'horrors of horrors' self medicating by drinking and smoking while they are suffering from chronic back pain?"

I don't think anyone is judging the drinking and smoking per se, Mymymble, just noticing that it sounds peculiar, someone might call it suicidal even, from a person claiming to have liver cancer and doing chemo. And apparently he/she asked for financial support from readers because he supposedly was a single father of two with health problems.

The issue regarding pen names and gender has been discussed before. My stance has always been:

It’s fine to use pen names. I don’t even care if the pen name is masc and the author is female, but fully pretending to be male/gay/trans/bi/Black when you’re NOT and making up an entire backstory to bolster the persona is not okay.

It's appropriation.

Anyone remember Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who pretended to be African-American for years? Does anyone think that's okay, because I sure as fuck don't.

As an example, Cardeno C uses a masc name but doesn't use a pronoun. CC has never claimed to be male/female and hasn't made up any backstories. I have ZERO issue with that. Whether CC is a he/she/they matters not at all; it doesn't change their work. I don't care.

Josh Lanyon was in the gray area. The author, who has acknowledged that she's a woman, uses an undeniably masc name and didn’t deny that she was a man for some time, but she didn’t make up a backstory from which she profited. She never even came out and said, "I'm a guy." She also didn't pretend to be seriously ill and solicit money for this fictional illness.

There is a HUGE difference between using a masc name vs. inventing an elaborate fictional persona that you use for personal profit.

Imagine donating money to, for example, a children's charity and finding out that the charity was a cover, that no children will benefit from it. What a betrayal. That's really what it comes down to.

Gaby wrote: "I was told that he is changing the descriptions in his social media bios. Apparently, most of them no longer say bisexual?"

I just checked and it's true, there's no reference to it anymore. Well, I guess that answers any remaining doubts...

I'm sorry but I judge the drinking and the smoking.

It's a slap in the face to anyone who is an addict or who loves an addict. It's a slap in the face to cancer survivors or anyone who has lost a loved one to cancer. It's a terrible thing to claim being that sick and flaunt the drinking and smoking.

When you repeatedly post your woe's about your health and ask for money to pay your medical bills? Yeah, I am judging the "bisexual writer of LGBT books who is currently working in education, being a single dad to two kids�� who will someday conquer the world��"

My copy of After Midnight still has that in the bio though now, it's all about the #gaysofinstagram and no bisexuality. Wait, is that SH's own bierasure?

Elena wrote: "I don't think anyone is judging the drinking and smoking per se, Mymymble, just noticing that it sounds peculiar, someone might call it suicidal even, from a person claiming to have liver cancer and doing chemo. And apparently he/she asked for financial support from readers because he supposedly was a single father of two with health problems. "

I don't care at all what an author does or doesn't do in their spare time. Drinking, smoking, drug use . . . don't care. Seriously, I don't judge.

But if I say I'm a drug addict and do a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for a stint in rehab, but it turns out I'm NOT an addict and never went to rehab, well, that's a big fucking problem.

Likewise, let's say that the entire time I've been on GR (six years now), I presented myself as a gay man. I used pictures of my brother (who, incidentally, is a gay man) and made up a backstory about my parents kicking me out and having to live on the streets, etc.

Even if I haven't asked for money, I am still garnering sympathy and attention based on a fabricated persona. Readers connect to me because they can relate to my situation. And all of it is a lie.

That's catfishing, and it's incredibly manipulative and hurtful, even with no money involved.

Gaby wrote: "Then, out of nowhere, the transplant thing was buried, and never brought back up."

There was also the lawsuit against someone who had "doxxed" SH. SH went on and on about it for a while, posted a copy of the case, and said "he" would share the outcome.

But the outcome was not shared and the lawsuit never mentioned again.

A friend of mine pulled a copy of a lawsuit filed by a woman (I won't mention a name because I don't want to be accused of anything), and it's the same lawsuit WORD for WORD. That lawsuit was dismissed for lack of evidence.

This is all public record.

~✡~Dαni(ela) �� ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "

There was also the lawsuit against someone who had "doxxed" SH. SH went on and on about it for a whi..."

He actually posted a copy of the case? and changed the names? what the bloody hell, dude. I completely missed this.

Gaby wrote: "~✡~Dαni(ela) �� ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "

There was also the lawsuit against someone who had "doxxed" SH. SH went on and on about it for a whi..."

He actually posted a copy of the case? an..."

I have to admit I did not see it. I've never really follows SH at all. A couple friends saw it, and I guess it was just excerpts from the language that was filed. I don't think it had names.

Thank you so much for summarizing the whole issue so clearly, Susan.

~✡~Dαni(ela) �� ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "Gaby wrote: "~✡~Dαni(ela) �� ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "

There was also the lawsuit against someone who had "doxxed" SH. SH went on and on about it for a whi..."

He actually posted a copy of..."

Still, it's mad manipulation when the actual lawsuit was filed by someone else.

I just finished reading all this.
It feels like a mind fuck story, the ones I usually read and end up staring at nothing with a WHF face.
I.HAVE.NO.WORDS.

~✡~Dαni(ela) �� ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "Elena wrote: "I don't think anyone is judging the drinking and smoking per se, Mymymble, just noticing that it sounds peculiar, someone might call it suicidal even, from a person claiming to have l..."

Agree a thousand times.

Amy wrote: "In case anyone is wondering what other authors are involved, this is a picture that SH posted of a weekend trip to New Orleans in November 2017. That's Avon Gale, Piper Vaughn, SH, and Roan Parrish..."

Is it a coincidence that they all are represented by the same agent? And Amy Jo Cousins and Karen Stivali as well.
#justwondering

Thank you for the enlightenment Susan! This is very disappointing.

~✡~Dαni(ela) �� ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ wrote: "The issue regarding pen names and gender has been discussed before. My stance has always been:

It’s fine to use pen names. I don’t even care if the pen name is masc and the author is female, but ..."

whoa, there's a lot of stuff I didn't know - I need to pay attention LOL

So, is Peter Styles really male or is he also female?

Are we about to prove that men really can't write good romance? Ha!

Wait! What about the 2013 twitter pic you posted with the same dude baking? This was featured by the twitter account blasting this situation.

I have no pony in this race. I read the twitter feed with horror. Not sure what to believe. The one pic, out of all them posted, that gave me pause was the one of your twitter feed. It’s included in the link above. In light of your posts here I find the pic makes me question your knowledge and involvement. This is the same person in your twitter post going back 5 years. What does this mean?

First, I want to thank you Susan for this thread. But I also want to give a huge shout-out to the people who started questioning and posting against waves and hordes of people bad mouthing them.

Second, a part of me (a petty and bitchy part) wants to scream I told you so . A little over a year ago I tried to articulate how bad wrong Santino Hassell and some other personalities of romancelandia seemed to me. I admittedly made a lot of mistakes while trying to talk about it. But what strikes me the most now is that if I feel that way I don't want to imagine how some others do. Nikki, of the infamous Twitter account, specially.

So, I just wanted to say that to anyone who was wronged or hurt in any way by Santino Hassell, I hope you are getting your vindication now. And I wish that it helps in at least a small way to know there's many of us with you.

Here's hoping the consequences for SH are harsh.

Those you removing your reviews.....don't forget to delete the ones on Amazon too.

��ó�Ծ����� wrote: "First, I want to thank you Susan for this thread. But I also want to give a huge shout-out to the people who started questioning and posting against waves and hordes of people bad mouthing them.

S..."

People who know me know this is my seperate account for reviewing and I am author Isobel Starling. I was wronged last year because I wrote a blog post about author/reader boundaries and Santino decided it was all about him and used it as a vehicle to bully me and also get money from his fanbase. And while it is good to be vindicated, there are a whole bunch of authors in M/M who are complicit in this.

Whether or not Santino is a woman, man, couple, bi, straight, or Cancer fraud, one thing I know for sure is that he created the kind of toxic community that is against everything the LGBTQI community strives to be. I wouldn’t treat anyone the way I, and many others have been treated for seeing and questioning reader manipulation and extortion of money to pay for his lifestyle choices.

Authors who unquestioningly had his back need to ask themselves some serious questions. The M/M community is supposed to be all inclusive, where everyone is welcomed with open arms. It is supposed to be a SAFE SPACE, and yet, what is being revealed is that the safe space was only for certain people, for the rest of us it was an illusion and it was only safe if you did not question those niggling gut feelings about back stories that did not add up.

So, authors, because I know you're reading this, will you take a look at your relationship with Santino and ask those niggling questions? Will you accept that you and many other authors were part of the problem? What will you do about it? The silence from those usually championing him is unacceptable. Santino, his publisher and his agent Courtney are making things worse. Readers are confused, hurt and betrayed. They want to know who they donated money to. They deserve answers.

You know, if an author wants to be mysterious, keeping their private lives just that, completely private, using a pen name of a a different gender than they are, why would they create social media and interact with fans, knowing that sooner or later the truth is going to come out? If they're going to do the social media thing and keep everything private, then they should just use it to promote their books, with no interaction with fans. But nooo, they have to friend their fans and create these elaborate lies about themselves and then get butt hurt when they're outed.

Susan wrote: "I understand if you want to brush this away as another GR drama. Or as SH puts it “haters gonna hate��. Maybe this is just a person hurt by him (or multiple persons, actually) that are trying to get..."

��ó�Ծ����� wrote: "First, I want to thank you Susan for this thread. But I also want to give a huge shout-out to the people who started questioning and posting against waves and hordes of people bad mouthing them.

S..."

It's perfectly fine to think "I told you so." I honestly had no idea about any of this until a few weeks back when a friend mentioned something to me, and I used my critical thinking skills to decipher the damning evidence.

I've never been a member of SH's Patreon, and I didn't read any of their books until The Community and The Barons series, both of which I really liked.

The fact that SH is undoubtedly an excellent writer is insanely frustrating. SH writes real situations, interesting characters, great dialogue; their books are creative, sharp, and truly well-written.

The Cyberlove series that SH and Megan Erickson co-wrote is one of my all-time favorite series ever.

I HATE that I have to give up on their work, but I can't continue to support the many, many lies, not to mention the harassment and gaslighting.

I wish SH had just let their work speak for itself.

Amy wrote: "In case anyone is wondering what other authors are involved, this is a picture that SH posted of a weekend trip to New Orleans in November 2017. That's Avon Gale, Piper Vaughn, SH, and Roan Parrish..."

Let's not forget Karen Stivali.