A Truly Despicable Attempt at Bullying

by Frank · November 8, 2023

Censorship sucks.
Bullying sucks.

I will have neither.

On 10/30, my Wrong Place,
Write Crime (Ep #179) interview of Alec Cizak dropped. Later that day, I
received an email that was, I’m sure, meant to be intimidating. It came
from finneganbrogue44@gmail.com and
read:

“Ye got
hell of a nerve ta feature a wank named Cizak. Not on yer goddam life dinna ken
the man. Shameful it is sucking his doozy cock like that laddie. Ye in yers a
be blackballed soon enuf comin up wi ta wank’s book – plenty ye peers see ta
it. Were a young laddie or lass ta ask me should they pub ye
or ta dam Down & Out I’d tell em bout ye brown nosin a wank long side
Beau’s story an say not on yer goddam life. Shameful the lot ye are.”

Ignoring the pidgin brogue
for a second, this is clearly a threat. (It’s an ignorant one, too, threatening
to make sure no one publishes me. As an indie author, there’s not a lot of
teeth there). Confused, I reached out to Alec for any insight. He explained
that this form of harassment surrounding him has been happening for a while
now.

This is wrong. Threatening
me for interviewing a crime fiction author – something I’ve done over 178
previous episodes, talking to authors of various backgrounds—is wrong. It’s
also anonymous, which is cowardly.

I chose to give the email
the attention it deserved – I ignored it. I’d already posted Ep #178 to social
media and the RSS feed had done its job to the platforms, so that was that.
WPWC is pretty low key. I don’t run ads or re-post constantly. The episode was
finished and I was already preparing for my next episode with Gabriel Valjan.

Then, today, I got another
email, this one from finneganbrogue@yahoo.com (note a different
addy):

“Tá béal
ciúin séimh. Feicim nach bhfuil tú ag cur chun cinn an fhóid sin Cizak.
Buachaill maith atá tú. B’fhéidir go gcoinneoidh tú do ghairm bheatha
scríbhneoireachta agus nach ndéanfaimid an liathróid dhubh ort tar éis an
tsaoil. Beidh mé ag faire ort Ladie.”

According to the gmail
translation, it says:

“There
is a quiet mouth. I see you are not promoting that Cizak. You are a good boy.
Maybe you’ll keep your writing career and we won’t blackball you after all. I
will be watching you Ladie.”

Seriously? If the idiot
had left me alone after the first weird email, I’d have done the same. But they
mistook my silence for being bullied and that got my ire up. They don’t get to
have that satisfaction. Moreover, if I say nothing, that only reinforces their
delusion and encourages the behavior. Who do they try to bully and censor next?

This is truly astonishing
behavior. Forget whether or not you like Alec Cizak. You don’t get to tell me
or anyone else who to interview for a podcast. If you don’t like the guest,
here’s an idea: don’t listen to episode! Or here’s another thought: if you feel
strongly enough about the guest to try to bully and censor the host, how about
engage in open discussion about why. You know, stand behind your thoughts,
words, and ideas, in public, instead of trying to be some kind of crime fiction
gangster.

I don’t know who
“Finnegan” is. I don’t know why s/he doesn’t like Alec. Maybe it’s an excellent
reason. Maybe it’s a ridiculous reason. The reason I don’t know is that,
instead of speaking publicly (or even directly to me in a reasonable manner),
s/he has chosen to threaten from the shadows.

I have two final things to
say about this.

The first is directly to
Finnegan, whoever he/she/they may be: go to hell.

I didn’t change a single
action in my life because of your threats, and I won’t. You want to “blackball”
me with your little private mafia, give it your best go. I’ve been in the crime
fiction writing community since 2004. That’s a long history of people knowing
me and who I am as a person. I sincerely doubt many, if any, of them would
listen to the drivel you spew, but go for it. Anyone who would listen didn’t
know me anyway or isn’t someone I’d want in my life. So have at it.

The second is for the rest
of us. We live in a world that, ideally, embraces the concept of free
expression. And we are all part of a community that has shown to be, throughout
my career, a supportive one. That’s the very reason I launched the podcast and
did all those interviews—to support other authors and their work.

I know we are going to
disagree on various topics—that is human nature. But I always thought we were
all grown-ups, who could disagree openly and discuss it with reasoned, or even
heated, debate. Actually, I still think this is the case. Finnegan, whether it
is one misguided troll, or a pseudonym for some kind of cowardly cabal, doesn’t
represent the crime fiction writing community I know.

That’s why I’ve shared
this experience. Because it’s an anomaly. Because sunlight is the best
disinfectant.

Because censorship sucks,
and so does bullying.

And, as I said, I will
have neither.

(Here are the receipts).