I’m not sure what it is about writing fiction that results in a very few individuals blurring the lines between reality and fiction, but there have been three interesting cases lately of authors behaving badly that both horrify and fascinate me. It’s true that the most interesting thing on the planet is people…

This is about three cases where authors have catfished readers and/or other authors to help them sell books. TW: Suicide and Cancer

The first was Susan Meachen who faked her own death.
Article from the BBC here

Then there was Magnolia Robbins who faked cancer and gained US$16,000 in donations to a GoFundMe
Read about it here

And now there’s Adam Gaffen/AC Adams who is a cishet man pretending to be a lesbian woman to sell books.
Read the whole saga here on Jae’s blog and here on Adrian Smith’s blog.

Readers are naturally curious and if something doesn’t add up, they will go investigating. While none of this nonsense behaviour is about me, it does potentially affect everyone who uses a penname. So a quick reminder: I use a penname for my fiction because my real surname is tricky to spell. My real name is no secret (it’s on most of my social media) and I write non-fiction under that name in the specialised field of horse racing.

Read more about me on my ABOUT page, or if you are curious, read about my horse racing non-fiction writing over here.