Hello, dear readers. Something has been going on for a little bit here that I have been ignoring, but I feel that since there are so many domestic violence survivors and so many writers who read this blog, I need to share a cautionary tale. It’s long so bear with me.
Back when I started doing my 50 Shades of Grey recaps, I was approached on Twitter by an author named Eve Thomas. She was intense and passionate about the subject of domestic violence, and I twitter-friended her, because we hit it off and that’s just what I do.
Eve was working on a book of survivor stories she was calling Fifty Shades of Abuse, for a charity called One Voice. The twitter hashtag is #OneVoice. Because we moved in the same twitter circles, she asked me if I could contribute a chapter for her book. I told her that I wasn’t a survivor, and she suggested I write something about the dangers of Fifty Shades of Grey. At the time, I was already contributing an essay to 50 Writers on 50 Shades of Grey, and to be frank, I didn’t want my entire career to become, “Hi, I’m that author who hates 50 Shades!” So, I told her I would consider it, but I didn’t know if I could fit it in to my schedule.
Suddenly, I had all these people DMing me to warn me not to get involved with Eve or her projects. They provided me links to where she had previously called reviewers who’d given her books one star reviews “bullies,” and expressed support for Stop The GoodReads Bullies, a website that uses abusive tactics to silence book reviewers. I was disappointed, but I liked Eve personally from the interactions I’d had with her. I didn’t end up contributing to the book- I couldn’t have if I wanted to, due to a conflicting deadline- but when it came out, I congratulated Eve and tweeted the link. I believed, at that point, that she truly cared about abuse victims and the book would reflect this.
After a few negative reviews on GoodReads, Eve admitted that the stories in the book had not been edited- a fact that these reviewers called out. Her reasoning was to present the survivors’ stories in their exact words, in their voice. Voices that, one review points out, are identical to Eve Thomas’s own voice in many of the chapters. Eve’s online supporters came out in force to argue with anyone who gave the book a bad review. Some of them conflated criticism of the book with complicity in domestic violence and child abuse. I was disappointed to see Eve thank and congratulate these people via Twitter, assuring them that their actions were helping survivors.
At this time, stuff gets kind of hazy, because it was a lot of weird and off-putting coming hard and fast from a lot of different sources. On her blog, Eve continued to interpret the bad reviews as “bullying” and an attempt by abuse apologists and woman haters to silence the victims of domestic violence. She drew a line in the stand against these “bullies” and allegedly called her local police to report them.
One of the “bullies” keeping tabs on all of this was a blogger I absolutely adore, Tez Miller. Tez is a reader, reviewer, and book blogger familiar to basically every genre fiction writer I’ve ever met. She blogged about her concerns related to the One Voice book and Eve Thomas’s handling of the situation. You can read that blog entry here.
I’ve known Tez for a very, very long time, so you can imagine my surprise when this showed up in my Twitter DMs:
“Amazon/Goodreads this time this will not go away. You are permitting the destruction of #OneVoice, you are permitting the destruction of my career, but most of all you are permitting the abuse and bullying of innocent people and turning a blind eye to the sexual role play that goes on with minors present, the threats, violence and attacks all with minors present and you do nothing about it!”
At this point, I’m going “Okay, I really fucking dodged a bullet by not submitting to her anthology.” I was furious that she was trying to discredit people I trusted with such middle school tactics- and more furious that she thought I was dumb enough to fall for them- but she still had a ton of supporters, some of them people I had met through my 50 Shades of Grey blogging, and I didn’t want to hurt those relationships, so I kept my mouth shut. I told Eve that I felt she was out of line and blocked her on Twitter. Out of sight, out of mind.
Yesterday, I was made aware of two things that made me say, “Ah, fuck it, I can’t keep quiet about this anymore.”
Thing #1: Eve Thomas is bullying and abusing people in domestic violence situations. In this link, complete with screencaps, Eve contacts a survivor of a past domestic violence situation and aggressively demands to know all the legal details of the case. She tells the survivor that she shouldn’t be asking for donations to her legal fund because the “chains of the past” are “obviously holding you down.” She is trying to set herself up not just as legal counsel here, but as a therapist, as well. Eve then contacts the police, without any prompting or request on the survivor’s part. This is a hugely dangerous and irresponsible thing to do. Never contact any agency on behalf of someone in a DV situation unless they have expressly asked you to do so. Eve goes on to lecture this person about asking for money for help in her specific case. This coming from a woman running an unregistered charity?
Thing #2: Eve Thomas is stalking and bullying writers who contributed to the Fifty Shades of Abuse book. Remember those very nice people I met on line, who were involved in Eve’s book and who I didn’t want to break contact with? That’s really not an issue anymore.
One writer, frustrated with Eve’s behavior, asked to have her contribution removed from the book (these are copy/pasted from DM responses I received; I’m not going to correct them for typos or anything):
I wanted it pulled because she is bullying DV survivors who have disagreed with her heavy handed tactics, she manipulates and guilts people into not pulling their chapters because “think of the charities!”, she says “that’s all I will say” and then keeps harping on things she tells people to stop “harassing” her and to not contact, but she continues to mention them while telling her side. Man this just keeps going….. She screencaps tweets out of context and posts them as “proof of conspiracy,” and she RTs things people say to her just so that her followers will jump up in defense of her, affirming to her that she is right and the other people are just mean Nasty women who want to silence her. She wants to speak for all women while ignoring and disempowering those of us who disagree with her. Oh, and now her supporters are accusing me of lying even though I truthfully stated that she has yet to pull the book even though we have reclaimed our personal copyrights and revoked permissions on our submissions. What’s flooring me is that she publicly posts these tweets, and when we call her on it, we are accused of abuse and lying, etc.. And her “team” as she calls them goes to bat for her even though there’s proof that she is the one doing the bullying. Blargh!! And if the word “gaslighting” hasn’t been emphasized enough yet, that might need to be in there. About a hundred times.
“Gas Lighting” is a form of mental abuse that involves the denial of valid memories and aggressive attempts to reframe reality in order to make the victim believe the abuse isn’t happening. For example, her repeated insistance that people had contacted her and asked for help, when it was Eve Thomas who initiated contact and offered help.
Another author who wanted her submission removed tried to set aside her differences with Eve in order to get her chapter out of the book. It did not, and continues to not, go well (again, c/ping from Twitter DMs, no corrections):
I’ve just had an email from her, accusing me of emotional abuse (exactly what I suffered through my ex, as she knows) and Warning me that every message I’ve sent to her could be sent to the police as part of a harassment suit against me (despite them all being Sent in response to messages she sent me first). She has warned me never to mention the term “#onevoice” in public ever again or action will Be taken against me. I’m just sat here like… WTF JUST HAPPENED?! Thankfully I’ve screen capped everything, but just… Ugh. she’s still @ mentioning me, but threatening me with police if I mention her. She has also now admitted that she is “monitoring” my tweets, so I’ve had to go onto protected mode. I haven’t felt this violated since I was with my abusive ex. 🙁
When I asked why this writer wanted her chapter pulled, she said:
I’d been unhappy with the way Eve was portraying herself for a while, but had put our personal disagreement to one side. But when I saw how she acted with [redacted], when she contacted the police without her consent and potentially put her in danger, I realised I really didn’t want be associated with Eve in any way. Her subsequent actions/comments made my mind up that I felt uneasy at being a part of a project I now believe is the brainchild of someone who really shouldn’t be putting herself forward as some kind of “saviour” of abuse victims.
By this morning, things had gotten worse:
Just for added info; I’ve blocked all Eve’s email accounts, so she appears to have set up a new one in order to continue contacting me. :-/ I feel tragic saying this, but she genuinely scares me. I told her I was ceasing contact and wouldn’t resond to further emails… …yet they just keep on coming. With more threats of “police action” if I don’t “cease” my “behaviour.” Honestly think she’s bonkers. :-/
Eve Thomas has set up a charity that is unregulated and unregistered. She is selling the Fifty Shades of Abuse book on the platform that all proceeds will be distributed to “charities around the world,” but has yet to offer any proof that the funds are going anywhere but to One Voice. She is misrepresenting and stalking survivors who contributed to that book when they’ve asked to have their submissions removed due to concerns over her clearly deteriorating credibility as a domestic violence awareness campaigner.
So, what can you do, if you’ve become involved with Eve Thomas or her supporters and now you want out?
If you have submitted any material to the Fifty Shades of Abuse book, request to have it pulled and returned. Eve Thomas says that “every penny” of profit from the book will go to charity. We have no proof that this is the case. Do not allow her to use “think of the charities” as a defense or a reason to pressure you into dropping your copyright claims if you did not sign a contract with her or had only a verbal agreement with her (this appears to be the case with a couple of authors). Here is an excellent link that explains how to take the first steps.
If Eve contacts you online about abuse you have experience or are currently experiencing, do not engage. Eve is very friendly and personable, and it’s easy to get drawn in by her “sweetie” and “honey” lingo. I believe she absolutely does care about survivors of domestic violence, but her perception of help is deeply flawed. She also has a habit of retweeting interactions to her supporters, so if you have engaged her on twitter, you may receive harassment from her followers. Do not engage with them, either.
Do not give Eve Thomas any information about yourself, your DV situation, or any pending legal issues. She has displayed a willingness to insinuate herself into these matters and could cause real damage. No matter how she pressures, do not reveal personal information.
If Eve threatens you with legal action, save everything. Save tweets, DMs, emails. If she makes a new account to contact you (as she has done with others), keep track of that identity, too. It might come in handy later if she ever does manage to make a case against someone for “cyberterrorism” or “bullying,” though I find it very difficult to believe that the “international investigation” she refers to her in blog is anything more than a delusion on Eve’s part.
I hesitated to say anything about this whole mess. My interaction with Eve was nowhere near as bad as some people are experiencing. But I know there are writers, readers, and DV survivors at this blog who may have come into contact with Eve through me, either here or on Twitter. That makes me feel horribly responsible. I would not forward any of this information if I weren’t truly concerned about the implications of this woman’s actions. Contacting outside agencies on behalf of DV victims and survivors is DANGEROUS. Bullying, stalking, and harassing survivors is WRONG. And misusing police resources in order to report readers and reviewers as cyberterrorists because they didn’t like your book? That’s a level of self-importance and delusion that is FRIGHTENING.
I truly believe Eve Thomas thinks she is helping people. I also believe her when she says she feels abused, victimized, and bullied by these events. However, the fact remains that the only person doing anything abusive is Eve Thomas herself. I strongly urge anyone to gather as much information as possible before becoming involved with her charity, her publishing projects, or her, personally.
Live and learn, I guess.
I feel like I dodged a bullet here. I was pointed her way by a friend of a friend because my DV story is a little unusual, but I decided not to engage on account of my ex being really really sue-happy and way too legally well armed.
Shudder. FWIW, I think you're doing the right thing by putting up this post. Thanks for sharing.
The longer I spend in writing circles, the more freaky stories like this I hear.
I think you're going to get a lot more support than you thought. I've been aware of you for a while. I've seen your name, mostly on Goodreads, but on twitter, too.
I've glanced at your books, but since they're in a genre I don't normally read in, I haven't taken a good, hard look at them. I will be now.
I was one of the first people to call Eve on her BS on Goodreads, and I didn't trust her from the start. She's been obsessed with me ever since, and considers me one of the worst of the worst on GR, and one of the worst bullies. I've been watching her, just like she's been watching us all, and I've seen her get worse, and worse, and more and more abusive. It's made me feel sicker and sicker to my stomach.
I understand exactly why you were drawn in, though, and why you were reluctant to say anything about her. But the fact that you did makes me respect you a hell of a lot. (Thus the wanting to read your books now, which I know, was not at all what you intended to happen.) And I can't speak for anyone else, but for me, it was soooo frustrating watching everyone praise Eve, or not say anything about her behavior. I swear, I almost cried in relief when I people start to question her on twitter. I felt the same way reading your blog post. Thank you, thank you, thank you for speaking out against this kind of behavior!
This is like a Gossip Girl episode. Only there aren't any pretty clothes to watch and you can't just turn it off:-( Also I think this person will get what she deserves. Karma is reliable. Just don't stress over it too much – it's unhealthy.
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What I *should* have said in that comment there, was a big thank you to you for writing this. Your advise at the end is brilliant too and I hope anyone in a difficult situation thanks to all of this takes note of it and finds their way through. x
Hi Jenny
Thankyou so much for writing this. It's amazing and depressing how many people have come forward since my response came out. Thankyou for redacting my name and respecting my privacy.
Unfortunately, the abuse from my ex is ongoing, but the incident I mentioned to her was historic, which I made clear. If you want to link to my post or use any of it you are welcome to. @SakuraAmelie xx
I've not heard of Eve before, but this story is still … is she even aware of what she's done? I mean, what she could have potentially done to the DV victim? And how it makes any sufferer look/feel in the whole situation?
I don't get the impression that she's totally malicious, just really badly misguided. It still sucks, for you and the contributors of the book, and anyone going through a DV situation that this then undermines.
Although, I'm always suspicious of people who start with the sentimental name-calling from the off … I hate being called honey or darling by anyone I'm not close with, that would've had my back up straight away.
I'm glad you posted this, because it sounds like a situation that needs a balanced view. I know it was a tough call to make, so thank you.
Wow. Very delusional lady by the sounds of it.
Dodging a bullet by the sound of it.
Thanks for speaking up.
Jesus. I'd seen Tez talk about this but I only really dug up the full details today and I'm just…I'm so sad for the people she's hurting and so angry that someone who could really be doing some good is instead acting like this. It's such a stinking mess.
You should also make your readers aware that her actions can be considered stalking, and therefore legal action can, and possibly should, be taken against her. This kind of written harassment and mental abuse of people in such a public forum may also be considered slanderous.
Delusional might be an understatement. You dodged more than a bullet on this one- I think you dodged a whole machine-gun in rapid-fire mode.
Oh my. The more I see of life, the more I see of middle school!
I have no idea about the situation you describe, so let me put that aside. What I DID see was you walking the fine like between making people aware of a situation without inflaming it more. Nicely done. I respect the hell out of you for ignoring the situation until it demanded a response, and then handling that response with grace and calmness.
I'm sure this was a very hard post to write, so go get yourself some chocolate (for the healing flavanoids, of course.)
Lying about money going to charities when it isn't is fraud and illegal. If OneVoice is a 501(c)3 and she isn't doing what she claims she can get into serious trouble. And if it isn't a 501(c)3, then I wouldn't give her a dime.
I have never heard of this woman before, so I'll take your word that she truly cares, but based on this blog post, she sounds more like a con artist than a person concerned about DV victims. The money from those book sales is going somewhere.
I was married to eve thomas / heather simpson / and many more names / she is bad news and declared herself bankrupt .i am at the moment seeking legal advice has to have m6 name cleared of the vile things she has said about me on the news in the papers ect . please dont ever trust her
Wow. Yeah, she is definitely bonkers. And, frankly, really abusive.
This post was a really good way of getting the word out though (I had not idea about any of this until just now.) I think you handled the situation really tactfully and I just hope this all ends well enough.
I do have a question though: What's ABB stand for?
I had the same reaction about the sentimental name-calling. In my experience, when someone does that right off the bat, they are untrustworthy and up to no good. It's condescending and the verbal equivalent of hugging a professional colleague instead of shaking their hand. It made her sound false from the start.
Thanks for speaking up about this. It's much easier to just stay silent sometimes, and I appreciate you bringing awareness to this issue.
Wow. I didn't know that you'd had a history with her – that explains why she warned you in particular about me, rather than telling everyone about me.
Great article by Linda Hilton on the copyright stuff – thanks for sharing it.
familiar to basically every genre fiction writer I've ever met
I am? News to me! Hopefully familiar in a “not a complete d-bag” way 😉
Being sucked into someone else's crazy is horrific. As usual, you handled this perfectly, by addressing it, giving the information needed, and not fanning the flames. Is there any end to your awesomeness?
Thank you for writing this very clear account of what happened. I've linked this post on Amazon, so more people can read it. I think it's that important.
I followed Anna's link from Amazon.
This is just an outsider's view.
You describe a very large, stable pattern of manipulation and abuse. From the outside looking in – I don't believe this woman was ever well-intentioned – I believe she pretends to be altruistic and “good hearted” in order to gain intimate access to people and temper their reactions to her manipulation. I believe you are dealing with a malevolent person hiding behind a pretense of “do gooder”. Watch your backs and thank you so much for writing about it.
The link on Amazon was taken down, they don't generally approve of people putting links in reviews or comments of reviews.
I've been following this for a while, and I honestly believe that while there may be some money going to the charities listed, most of this book is a simple power play on the part of Eve Thomas.
The sheer fact that none of the contributors were even informed of whether or not their work was being used, nor were they informed of what chapter their work is, on top of no names or even pseudonyms being used, means it is a long, uphill battle for anyone who wishes to have their work removed, as unless they held onto every bit of communication between them and Ms. Thomas, they have very little proof the work included is theirs, thus no legal leg to stand on if Thomas refuses to remove their work. On top of all that, it is being said that there were not even contracts between Eve Thomas and the authors who submitted their work.
Eve Thomas has several books out, so it is highly unlikely she is unaware of the need for contracts and such during an undertaking as she is doing.
Her so-called organization OneVoice is not only not registered in the UK as a charity, it is not registered or even has an application for a 501K in the USA.
My suggestion is that we take this blog post and send links to ACTUAL DV organizations. See how the “People” Eve Thomas claims to have chasing down the international bully association deal with that.
Here is the email I have sent in case anyone else wants to copy/paste and send to any REAL DV organizations you are aware of.
I was wondering if you were aware of an issue currently being had with a book about domestic violence on Amazon.
The book is titled 50 Shades of Abuse published by The Eve Thomas Foundation and their charity #OneVoice.
To start, the charity OneVoice and the The Eve Thomas Foundation are not listed as charities in either the UK or the US and Eve Thomas's website only has a list of other charities that they claim all proceeds from the sales of her book are donated to, but due to being unregistered, the organizations have no public record of having made donations to ANY charities.
This is in addition to the abhorrent behavior of Eve Thomas herself, which includes the intimidation, cyber-stalking, and harassment of people who have reviewed her book, DV survivors and people who are still caught in DV situations. You can see more information on those situations on the blog in the link below.
http://jennytrout.blogspot.com/2013/06/abb-warning-eve-thomas-and-onevoice.html
I bring this to your attention as at this point, it pains me to see this work and woman claiming to help bring attention to the cause of stopping DV while causing untold damage through her personal actions and the quality of her book. At best, her work is an ill-conceived attempt to help by someone with no idea what steps need to be taken to create an actual charity. At worst, this woman is an abuser herself, and her book is a scam, siphoning money away from the actual charities she claims to support, on the backs of the DV victims who offered their stories to her project.
I am bringing this to your attention because, as a DV organization, I would hope you know where to send this information so that an investigation could be conducted into the legitimacy of this Foundation, book, and individual. If you know where this information needs to be sent, I would thank you for either forwarding this email on to them or replying to me, to inform me of where to send it. If you do not know where this information needs to be sent, then I will apologize for wasting your time and thank you for reading this email.
Sincerely,
I think this is a great letter, but wouldn't the most direct option be to send it to Amazon and ask them to stop listing her book? I don't know if they'd be responsive, but it would hit her where it matters: in her wallet. I'm sure her adoring fans would throw a fit, but since most of her bullying consists of empty threats on par with Regretsy hate mail, the actual damage might not be so bad.
I don't think that will help too much – IIRC someone looked at books sold and its been a grand total of like 14…
You know, I think you may be on to something there. This blog post is the first I'm hearing of all of this, so I don't know, but I'd be interested in hearing from someone, like Jenny or Tez, who is familiar with it if they think Eve Thomas' actions could be crossing an il/legal line.
For what little it's worth, my thoughts are with those who've suffered, in whatever way, from the actions of Eve Thomas, and I hope that the matter is resolved quickly and without further harm or trauma.
Woooooooooooooow. it's horribly stressful when you realize you've gotten sucked into someone else's vortex of crazy. i can't believe how she treated that woman.. and then to publicly call her a “survivor”.. how horrible!
This woman is an absolute nutbar!
As soon as someone like this starts invoking police involvement, I would counter with your own suggestion of legal involvement. Police or lawyer. I'm certain she's crossed the line far enough there's no disguising the harrassment and abuse _she's_ responsible for.
And sometimes calling a bully out is enough. Suggest that you are sharing her correspondence with your 'legal advisor.'
When my brother's psycho fiance (now ex-) started an unprovoked e-mail war with me, I let her rave for a week or so, then informed her that I had cc'd my brother on all of it. Never heard from her again.
(different Anon from ^) I see shades of my ex in there. She wants to be involved and feel important and make a name and the other people involved are just stepping stones. There's no “helping” of anyone but herself.
Well, that's a relief. At least she hasn't defrauded many people! I like to think that if she were an honest-to-gosh con artist, she'd be more competent. I suspect she's just plain unstable for whatever reason. I hope someone stops her as soon as possible, for everyone's sake.
As much as I really hate fifty shades of grey, I had huge issues with some of the anonymous stories in fifty shades of abuse- the ones that imply that sweet, caring men read fifty shades of grey and turned into abusive monsters is inadvertently taking responsibility from the abuser. When a moral person reads fifty shades of grey, they should be able to discern that what Christian Grey does in the book is unacceptable behaviour.
My issue with EL James is not that she wrote Fifty Shades (although she could have put in more effort with the writing)- there is a lot more shocking (and better) erotica out there- it is her attitude to victims of abuse. I think people would have thought more of her if she just released a statement along the lines of 'look, this is my fantasy and I never expected it to become so popular. The relationship depicted in this book is not a healthy one'. She has said in the odd interview that Ana and Christian aren't a healthy couple, but she has released a statement in the past to say it was 'insulting to people who practise bdsm' to call these books abuse, which makes her look completely ridiculous.
I do see why people feel the need to point the finger at fifty shades- sadly, the best selling book of all time- and say it is messed up.
But for Eve Thomas to say that someone is encouraging child abuse by criticising her writing is disgusting. If she wants to campaign for domestic abuse charities, that is wonderful and a very worthy cause, but when you write a book you should be prepared to receive criticism from your peers, especially in terms of writing. I do not doubt that Eve Thomas is sincere but she is being rabid and very egotistical, acting as if she is the saviour of abuse victims and that they owe her a massive debt. It is shady that her charity is unregistered and I think if you want to help victims of abuse through any official channel then you have a responsibility to gain some relevant legal knowledge, and should also have an awareness of how to talk to people appropriately (which she clearly doesn't).
Don't feel bad Jen- you had no idea what she was like and it speaks volumes about you as a person that you have written a blog warning others to be careful.
Thank you, Jenny, for being another voice of sanity. I am truly honored that you linked to my review and my blog post.
For the record: As far as I can tell, all of Eve Thomas's publishing experience is with Kindle Direct Publishing and/or CreateSpace, which are Amazon's self-publishing platforms, or with PublishAmerica, which is another self-publishing platform. Therefore I seriously doubt she really knows very much about the legalities, in the UK, the US, or anywhere else, regarding copyrights.
My objective was always simply to inform all parties so that their rights would be protected, and that included Eve Thomas's rights as the author/editor/publisher.
It appears now as though anyone who dares to speak out on this issue will be subject to harassment from supporters of Eve Thomas and her project. This is truly a tragedy.
Again, thank you, Jenny.
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This is the first I've heard about this, so my reaction is less grounded in fact and more utterly shocked at the audacity of the whole thing.
Every time I read the word “honey” in one of her tweets, my whole body twitched. It was terrible. And her saying over and over again that the divorce doesn't matter just tweaks my nerves. Where the fuck does this woman come off telling the victim that it's somehow shady to put up a donation site for legal fees?
/frothing
I co-sign this. Maybe it's just that I'm as cynical as fuck but I doubt everyone who sells shit for charity without being a registered charity or with proof.
Here's the link to Amazon's infringement report page.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/reports/infringement
Enough people reporting should get some action taken.
Authors behaving badly.
Wow! I so totally agree. In my long life, effusive name calling by a near stranger is a warning signal…DO NOT TRUST THIS PERSON. When I've tried to express this, I've often been howled down. Thanks for the validation. And the worst cases of child abuse that I know of among my acquaintances has always been by people who repeatedly use terms of endearment like 'love', 'darling', 'sweetheart' to their children. Such repeated endearment are not normal, and are a red flag.
I am pretty sure the “charity” in question is from the UK, so no, it would not be a 501(c) anything.
YES. I had a physical reaction to the “honey”s as well
Apologies. I don't know anything about this woman. I assume, though, that the UK has a similar method for registering charitable, tax-exempt status. Is this charity registered that way?
I've a friend who works for Amazon. She says all the contributors who want their chapters pulled need to report via the feedback link on the book's page. Go into detail and report. More people report, the more urgently it'll be handled.
http://mandireiserra.blogspot.com/2013/06/onevoice-and-spiral-of-abuse.html
Is there really anything they can do? There's nothing marking the chapters of the book as far as who wrote what. Contributors were not told where their work was placed in the book (If their work was used at all). No names or pseudonyms were used in the chapters that I'm aware of, as well, most people that have come forward have said there were no contracts or anything. So most of them have no legal proof the work in the book is theirs. Even Eve Thomas has said that she doesn't know who's work is which chapter.
I use “honey” and “love” all the time. Mostly because my english mother uses them constantly. As far as I know I'm pretty trustworthy (maybe there is a monster hiding in my subconcious forcing my to say these things) and I'm also pretty damn sure I've never abused anyone, particularly a child!!. I think its just more popular in some geographic locations than others.
If enough people complain, Amazon will pull it, like those rape shirts which ended up getting yanked earlier this year.
Emails, tweets and all that sort of stuff could count as proof. Also, I'm sure the various contributors can identify their story by the content, especially if it was left unedited.
Besides, it's the no-contracts thing which will solve it; if Ms. Thomas doesn't have contracts to protect both her and her contributors' rights, then that's enough to get it pulled. If Ms. Thomas can't provide the required documents to show her ducks are in order, then ouch for her.
When I asked my friend about the situation, first questions out of her mouth were if there were any contracts signed and if it's published through Amazon; if it had been, for example, HarperCollins or some other publisher, it'd be their responsibility to deal with the situation, as Amazon would only be the retailer. However, since it's on Amazon's platform for publishing (Kindle/CreateSpace) then that makes it Amazon's job to handle the situation.
Oh believe me she is a conwomon
I was thinking that, too…if it would be wise (it would be fun for me, at least) to counter with her “I'm going to the POLICE” claims with “Good. I'd like to show them what shit you are up to. Please, go right ahead.”
Responding to Anonymous up a couple of comments!
I agree. Of course, I don't know about this person outside of here (this is the first I'm hearing about all this craziness) but she sounds really, really malicious. I guess I would like to think that she does in fact mean well, maybe I've just been burnt by crazy people too many times to trust that any of them have good intentions, but this person sounds exactly like what you said…someone who will pretend to be your friend so they can gain your trust, learn about you, and then take that information and use it to hurt and manipulate you in the end. Rather than being concerned about people who have been abused, she is more interested in abusing them. I don't know…
Dude, you are awesome. As if I needed any more examples of this fact, you keep providing them!
This person's behaviour is so, so appalling and really quite dangerous. It made me sad to read that one of the people Eve had contacted said (sorry, I'm paraphrasing) that she hadn't felt this way since her abusive ex. Eve is aggressively trying to coerce people into talking about things they don't want to talk about, and then gaslighting them later. It's scary, actually.
I am wondering about one thing. Has anyone else stumbled on these youtube comments that warn you in capitals about some people's involvment with satanic ritual child abuse and international conspiracies? and if you follow their google suggestions you'll see badly made youtube documentaries that spin really far fetched stories about people like chuck norris and george bush beeing child molesters. They are crazy. And those clips and comments are very aggressive and kind of this persons behaviour reminds me of them. Like there are people out there who have the same kind of delusion focusing on abuse/warning the world about it on the internet. It's a phenomenon that should be studied by psychiatrist. It deserves a name. And the pattern should be defined. To help people avoid and deal with people like her of course.
Coaz, I first saw you on Amazon. Then you popped up on Twitter.
I've been trying to stay out of the Eve mess and have tried staying neutral, but it's hard. I do think she cares, but she's going about it wrong. I keep thinking maybe her way to eel in control of her own life is to be in control of others. But it's backfiring and hurting a lot of people and needs to stop. 🙁
The exception to not calling 911 without victim consent is if something is actively going on. I called on a neighbor one night because the sounds we that something is extremely wrong. Like more than someone smacking someone around. Turns out he was trying to kill her, and she was saved because I called. The problem is the old push for calling the police if you even suspect something is wrong. Unfortunately abuse victims often feel compelled to lie, and then get hurt more because the police were there at all (been there, done that).
She told me directly that the victim asked her for help. She only told me in a private conversation, but won't say this publicly. Needless to say, I'm disappointed in her.
I don't know what it is, but there is a version of a 501(c)3 for the UK. I don't stroke off a book or something if the author is personally donating part of sales, but when there's talk about it all being a charity, I need to see something. I know it's a pai starting them and isn't cheap, but it needs to be done if you're going to be talking about foundations and charity groups.
“When a moral person reads fifty shades of grey, they should be able to discern that what Christian Grey does in the book is unacceptable behaviour.”
Want to help me out over on Goodreads in the forum section for FSoG where I'm far out numbered by people claiming that these books are just books while in the same breath claiming that Christian really isn't abusive at all? As I see it, these women (and the odd man) are shining examples of how “just books” can alter perception. Readers want to like Christian, and so make try justifying his actions. It's nice to think that moral people can tell the difference, the sad reality is a lot of people truly don't think he's abusive because they're coming up with excuses (“well she said yes earlier that day, so it doesn't matter she said no later”).
Too bad all the crud going on is helping take attention off of the abusers.
She uses “honey” so often it doesn't sound genuine. That's the prob.
True, but then it's a case of discerning a row from abuse. And I know it's off on a complete tangent, but my neighbour is disabled and has a lot of health issues, and every so often her carers (she has at least two at any one time) will knock on our door and tell us she's having a bad day, that if we hear screams or thumping from her house it's from a fit and nothing bad is going on. We might not have heard anything, but it then becomes almost an ethical thing – are they being genuine? Does she have those problems? At what point do you stop trusting what people tell you and act despite that? That's why I was trying not to point the finger, because like Jenny I would want to believe that this is coming from a well-meaning but misguided place.
And it's a personal thing not to like sentimental name-calling, I wasn't saying everyone who does so must have something wrong. In my personal experience, I work with someone who will call me darling, and I've told him to use my name so many times but he refuses. That pisses me off, especially as I'm his superior, it becomes condescending, chauvinistic and a total power play. He also has to touch my arm when he talks to me, and I've said I hate that too. To which he said I was accusing him of being a pervert, because personal space just doesn't exist these days *rolls eyes*
If someone’s response to you enforcing boundaries is to put words in your mouth and play the victim, crying “woe is me, my coworker called me a pervert”, there’s a chance he might be a pervert.
I think women try and justify Christian Grey because they enjoy the fantasy and feel guilty about it- they shouldn't because people fantasise about things that they would not enjoy in reality (for example rape fantasy is common). I do not like Fifty Shades of Grey- it is a terribly written book with no artistic merit- but a lot of literature has disturbing characters and ideas in it some, such as Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights, that people find attractive.
The point I was trying to make is that I don't think a moral person would read these books and think that it would be acceptable to act like Christian Grey.
This woman sounds like she needs therapy. And I mean that in a completely non-joking, sincere way.
Having someone this clearly unbalanced around sufferers of domestic abuse is a train wreck waiting to happen.
What I can't believe is that some authors allowed their work to be used when there was no proof that Eve was giving the money to an actual charity. I understand wanting to do some good, but never donate to someone unregistered! That is a very quick way to get scammed and in this case, have your name dragged through the mud.
People who are too infatuated with the fantasy of a rich, handsome, sexually talented man might this the occasional hitting is okay if there's money and orgasms galore the rest of the time, and the people who fall for the “but he was abused as a toddler” line.
I have a friend right now who both thinks his behavior is okay and who won't leave her boyfriend who is behaving the exact same way.
Anyone else find it fishy that the three 5-star Amazon reviews are written in the same voice and two of the three are by people who have never posted another review?
See this is my view on the whole thing. I wrote an essay for uni not to long ago (quite literally on Tuesday) about why I think the books have become so popular.i think it partly knuckles down to consumerism. The books have/are being prompted as a 'how to manual' and within that it is promoting a cerrtain ideology- one about the ideal 'sex life' and the 'correct' way of sharing intamicy with your partner. It doesn't matter if the material is any good, all that really matters is the ability for the novels to fill in this gap, this void in your life.the books are being marketed as a 'cure' to ones lack of sexual satisfaction.and sadly people are buying into that. They think 'gee I must be doing something wrong if this is what is 'ideal' right now, maybe I should be more like the characters in the book, maybe then I will be happier'. And it doesn't help that the books and el james are crediting themselves to empowering women and allowing women to be more sexually empowered and liberated. It's easy to get sucked into all the hype. It also doesn't help that through the success of the books other industries are cashing in. Now anyone can play out the FSOG fantasy in real life because we have hotel suites, fashion, jewellery etc being offered to the everyday and willing consumer.
I don't agree with the books message. I don't think their is a wrong or right way to be intimate with someone you trust and love. The books and writing is awful but I guess those who do like it just don't care.
@ Shirley Wine:
I too, don't like it, when strangers use 'honey, baby, love' or something like that and I am careful about that ppl, when it happens.
But not everybody who does that is some kind of villain.
Same goes for touching during talk. There are are douchebags like in Zee's case and a lot of them, too. But there are although ppl who do it unintentionally.
I know some ppl with which it is the case.
What I wanted to say is, I understand that part of your opinion, about being careful.
BUT: I feel deeply offended about your statement, that people who use endearments on their children are abusers and using repeatedly endearments isn't normal!
I call my daughter Princess, Froggy, Mommy's little big love, Mama's girl and other things like that. But I am no f*cking abuser! Same goes for my hubby. He adores our little girl to the point, where he would kill anybody who even tried to touch her inappropriatly!
I know, there are 'funny uncles' all over the planet who use endearments. But not everybody who uses endearments is an abuser.
So please stop with this accussation!
Thank you.
I think that Fifty Shades is more a product than a cause of the materialistic mind set we have today. I do sympathise with people who feel as if their lives are incomplete after reading Fifty Shades, but I think it is over the top and ridiculous- the only things Christian has going for him is money, a large penis and good looks.
I do think there are women who have found these books liberating and, although I'm not one of them, I think it's a positive thing. Saying that, I'm also glad that so many people criticise these books because, in terms of the atrocious writing, it is depressing that they were the fastest selling books of all time.
As for the message of the book… I really don't see any. Not that every book has to have a moral message- I just see FSOG as a trashy, shallow book that has unintentionally horrible characters. As much as I do feel sorry for what happens in the books to Ana- as I would to anyone suffering the same abuse- she is herself an awful, judgemental, misogynistic person who is with Christian for utterly shallow reasons.
Ok… I live in a coastal southern area where the pet names are common. I hear them and use them all the time. Around home that is. I don't use them with people I just met on the internet. There are a few exceptions to that but it was in a support group where those types of endearments were used as a sign of comfort. I learned the hard way that not everyone is as genuine as the sound in those situations. But like I said, it's what I grew up with. It is much more difficult for me or anyone I suppose to get a correct gauge on a person's true colors over the net. I'm much better at it in person because I lived through abuse during the first 18years of my life. I trust my gut and my bullshit meter without hesitation. I have 3 children to protect. I can't afford to doubt myself on that measure. Also I'd like to add that as I was being abused as a child I can't remember once being called a pet name by my abuser. And my husband and I both use pet names with all of our kids. That sort of thing comes down to so many variables. Personal preferance, community interaction, familiarity. So I think it os short sighted and extremely judgmental to say that those of us who use pet names and endearments are either abusers or untrustworthy. If it's something that triggers an uncomfortable gut reaction in you then please listen to that reaction and be cautious. But don't just jump to conclusions about a person. We all have those triggers in us. It's the wisest thing to pay attention to them.
On a different note… This woman sounds whacked out. Seriously. I think the lady whose ex Eve called the cops about should sue her ass. What she is doing is committing fraud, defamation, willfull endangerment, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, copyright infringement and possibly a good bit more. Why hasn't anyone had HER investigated yet? It needs to be done or she's never going to stop. She's already shown that mounting support against just fans her flames. She's feeding off of the attention. Both the good and the bad. It's all fuel for her. She has broken laws.That kind of thing needs to be dealt with. I sincerly hope that those women who have pulled their stories and subsequently been harrassed by her are able to gather enough evidence through her communcations to press charges. I definately believe gaslighting is the term we should be going with here.
Dude.
That's fucked.
I know this is a serious issue (both Eve's behavior as well as DV) but when I saw the DM from Eve warning you that this other person is in an international gang, I laughed because it sounded so ridiculous. An international gang of what? Art thieves? Ferret smugglers? I mean, come on.
Eve Thomas is her pen name. That means the Eve Thomas Foundation is based on a non-existent person. That really bothers me.
Where do I sign up to smuggle ferrets internationally?
Yes, but what kind of gang are you involved in? HUH? Also, how does one join? “International Gang Member” would sound kind of cool on my resume, wouldn't it?
A lot of children have nicknames etc. given by family members/close friends and the suggestion this is a sign of abuse is not applicable to the UK where I'm from – nicknames are a sign of affection used by so many friends/families here – teenagers especially love them and spend many hours laughing about them.
I think using an endearment that makes the person uncomfortable may be a warning sign or one that sounds inappropriate, but a happy child being called 'Princess' – no.
This is some scary obsessive shit. I gotta say tho' that reading the twitter background of this story makes me worry for the lady who is trying to raise money for her legal protection. Some of the other gals who have taken up her cause seem to have their own issues with Mz Thomas and seem equally obsessive and a tad worrisome. I hope she gets all the help she needs in the way that helps her feel most safe. I wouldn't care to be the meat in this sandwich.
“Gals”?
I agree and disagree with you there. There is a message in the book (although subtle but none the less it's there. Why else do so many women gravitate to someone like Christian Grey, and why do so many wish they had that lifestyle), but not a positive one. And therein lies the problem that so many people on here, critics and dv victims have issue with the book.
I think more than the books filling a gap in a persons life (I agree, some people after reading it they feel I suppose 'empty' that their lives aren't like that, in much the same way some women pined over to have an Edward Cullen IRL) I think they are perhaps filling a gap in our general society. I think perhaps the books have bridged a gap between women being able to talk freely about reading and enjoying erotica and men being able to talk freely about liking porn without it being taboo. I remember that my mum used to read romance/erotica fiction but it was never something that she would openly talk about with her girlfriends in the same way she would talk about GoT or Harry Potter. And I think that's why the books are so popular and so alluring to many women. I don't know weather it is perhaps society as a whole who wanted something to fill in this gap, and the books came around to serve that purpose or it was just luck. I dunno, but I do think the stuff we consume is somewhat a reflection of our culture, the changes we want to see (now more and more books are coming up with the same themes, storyline etc) and breakdowns in society norms. Unfortunately FSOG came around at the wrong time.
I do think its fantastic that the books have empowered women and have embraced being able to talk about the stuff that turns them on I just wish it hadn't been those books that did that, especially because the books are just awful and the overall underlying message is a complete step backwards to actually doing what it's supposedly doing right now.
Regarding the notifications to Amazon: Because of the nature of copyright, ONLY the actual holder of the copyright can file an infringement complaint with Amazon. That means only the authors of the individual chapters can report it. If 10,000 readers complained, it wouldn't make any difference. No one can file a copyright infringement claim other than the holder of the copyright.
Infringement claims are an entirely different matter than consumer complaints about offensive products. Amazon had no legal obligation to pull the rape joke shirts; they did so because they decided it was the better business choice. They do, however, have a legal obligation to cease selling a book that infringes someone else's copyright once they are provided with the proper notification from the copyright holder.
I think it's important to remember here that the people who contributed their work to Eve Thomas's project are not, for the most part, “authors.” Eve probably couldn't have pulled this off if she were working with people who have any knowledge at all of the publishing business.
These are instead people who have been victimized and in some cases still are being victimized. They've been crying out for help and Eve has provided them a platform. They trusted her, and I won't blame them for that.
Don't believe a word this troll has to say. The Reality is she and several of the other trolls, those supporting her here, are criminals who serial stalk, bully and harass indie writers and are supported by the Big 5 publishing houses and Amazon. The woman they are talking about here took their personal attacks for months and then she snapped on them. This is just more of their harassment of the poor woman, still trying to demonize this writer after nearly a year's abuse. Oh and how it all started? She sent an email about a charity on badreads and tried to apologize afterwords. That justified a year of constant deliberate attempts to destroy this woman's reputation, career and livelihood. But that's what they are paid to do. I know of at least three investigations ongoing into these terrorists for the Big 5 publishing houses.
Yeah… your view of the situation in no way represents reality. I never once attacked Eve. She came to me with lies about someone I knew in an attempt to discredit them for pointing out real concerns with how Eve's “charity” is being promoted and handled. Eve is not the victim here. Eve is the bully.
Also, no one paid me to write this post, EVE. I wrote it because you pissed me off.
I have trouble, too, with trusting people initially, persisting in being on their side when others doubt, only to find they’ve crossed some invisible line I didn’t know was in my head. Since a lot of your posts involve these scenarios (or maybe I’ve just been reading waaaaay too much of this blog at once), I’d be curious to know if you’ve come up with any way to combat the pattern (if indeed it’s something you also find uncomfortable, that is; ymmv).
I like hearing how you work with your mental illnesses, because it gives me hope, and I wonder if you’ve also come up with anything for coping with these kinds of repeated stumbling blocks that I think of as “the nonspecific crazies”. I get sick of going through these kinds of things over and over, but then they happen again anyway. :-/
Eve is still at it. Bullying, lying, making threats. She is now involved with serial stalkers and abusers who have been or are under investigation by various bodies and makes threats to police, employers, colleagues. She doesn’t know when to stop. Her biggest motivation is professional jealousy. Eve likes to think she is the most knowpetson there is but if you follow her you’ll notice she poaches off people. She has no ideas of her own. She is a parasite who feeds on you then attacks. She has been doing what she’s been doing for so long yet still hasn’t achieved anything of value. I’d let her burn herself out but she finds new people to abuse, groom, exploit and that needs to stop.