Unacceptable Writer Behaving Badly Reblogged From Book Goggles

So I had half a dozen things flying around in my head to write about this morning, but this news just blew everything else out of the water.

Less than 24 hours ago, agent Pam van Hylckama was attacked in her car. The guy came up and knocked a side mirror off, then when Pam unrolled the window to talk to him, he began slamming her head against the steering wheel. Luckily Pam’s dog was there to help protect her, biting the man and causing him to flee. Pam later called the police at the urging of a family member.

Then they realized that it might not be a random attack. As stated above, Pam works as an agent and as such, both declines and accepts manuscripts and authors on a regular basis. The police believe that the guy that assaulted her (who is unnamed so far) was someone that she turned down. A look through her email showed that she’d received emails that said “The normal I hate you and I want you to die and I’ll kill you”. Pam had sort of just ignored those for the most part since agents get these all the time, but apparently the guy who sent these also had priors against him. The police then used the address the guy gave in his query to go to his house, where they discovered him with a bite mark on him from Pam’s dog. The guy is now officially in police custody. ~Via Book Goggles

Pam is my agent’s agencymate? (is that a word?)–anyway she apprenticed with my agent, the Magnificent Laurie McLean, and she (Pam) is awesome and super sweet.  She’s fine, and her Jack Russell deserves a T-bone IMO.

But seriously, y’all, this is MESSED UP.  It’s unprofessional enough to send hate email to an agent in response to rejection, but to take the time and effort to TRACK HER DOWN and PHYSICALLY ASSAULT HER?  That’s horrifying.  And it really brings home the fact that any anonymity we may feel on the internet is just an illusion.  For anybody with a brain and some resources, you can find out who almost anyone is and where they are.  Thankfully, most people aren’t aware of those resources, and most people aren’t violent and nutso, but still.  Be careful, y’all.

8 thoughts on “Unacceptable Writer Behaving Badly Reblogged From Book Goggles

  1. That is SO crazy! You know, authors also have to be careful of crazed fans. That’s a good reason to use a pen name. Unfortunately, agents can’t exactly use a pen name. And, really, people can still find you, like you said. There are some real lunatics out in the world.

  2. I want to hug her dog and give him his favorite treats and hug her too of course. Crazy story. I hope they adopt a policy of running the jerks who send threats through a background check. The reports are inexpensive and they deserve to know. Ugly times.

  3. Oh my goodness! Some people are absolutely nuts, and there’s no telling when you might come across one of them. I’m glad Pam is ultimately okay, but that must have scared the skin off her.

  4. Oh my god I hadn’t heard this. I’m glad she’s ok. That’s terrifying! Good thing her friends convinced her to the police – what that guy did is disgusting.

  5. That’s what this world has come to. You can say all you want to about the bad old days of the repressed fifties, but most people behaved with more decorum and less violence. How come we’re not acting better now that we’re all enlightened and politically correct?

  6. This is so crazy!. This guy needs to do some serious time behind bars. And you’re right, the Jack Russell deserves a week’s worth of treats!

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