Bullying is NEVER okay

Bullying -- /ˈbʊliɪŋ/ a noun meaning "behavior that frightens or hurts someone smaller or weaker"

I'm working on a couple of projects at the moment, one of which is a novella for the Behind Barres anthology. This story is a spin-off of my Dani Spevak Mystery Series, and it features my heroine's friend Analisa. The story is at-yet untitled, but it focuses on cyber stalking and online bullying (among other issues).

I'm not going to get into the details, but several years ago I was the victim of a cyberstalker. It was terrifying and I felt powerless. So it's extremely troubling to me to read about a website aimed at naming and shaming so-called Goodreads "bullies." Writing anonymously, the site exists solely to punish reviewers who write snarky or negative book reviews by posting their handles, real names, locations, and photos in one place. The authors of this website assert that these reviewers are "bullies," yet they're the ones doing the ganging up and shaming.

Bullying is NOT synonymous with criticizing someone's book, no matter how much you might disagree with their critique or how sad it might make you feel. Even if it ends up hurting your income, that's not bullying.

Bullying IS using your power to bring someone someone else or frighten them into submission. We here at Killer Fiction deplore these tactics.

And bullying is NEVER okay.