Ultimate Special Snowflake: BSC YA Author Kathleen Hale

PrettyGirlLost

For those of you that are Goodreads members- beware of the reviews you leave, lest a displeased author goes full psycho stalker on you too.

A young adult fiction author, Kathleen Hale, apparently got butthurt over and fixated on a singular bad review of her novel "No One Else Can Have You" by a member of the Goodreads community.  Hale became so unhinged over the review that she cyber stalked the reviewer and then ultimately paid a background check service to uncover the reviewer's personal information, which Hale then used to physically drive to the reviewer's house.

Then Hale brags about it in The Guardian, incorrectly and ironically using the term catfish in her title: http://www.donotlink.com/framed?565100

And many of her peers and fans think she was justified!  That she was just getting even with a mean, nasty old internet troll and bully.

In.Fucking.Sane.

But this isn't the 1st time Hale has been obsessed with and stalked someone: http://thoughtcatalog.com/kathleen-hale/2013/02/169836/


In case you want to join me down this crazy, internet rabbit hole:
http://jezebel.com/author-stalks-anonymous-blogger-who-gave-her-a-1-star-r-1648545005

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jennaguillaume/this-is-what-happens-when-an-author-tracks-down-a-critic-irl#.xuVXNK0qA

http://bookthingo.com.au/shenanigans-in-social-media-an-author-brags-about-stalking-a-reader/

http://dearauthor.com/features/essays/on-the-importance-of-pseudonymous-activity/

OliveOilsMom

I only read one of your links, but holy shit!  That lady is crazy!  Way to take some criticism!  Many food critics/bloggers are anonymous for a reason, so I can also see why book bloggers or critics would want to stay anonymous too.  God help this author's FI, if he ever steps out of line. 

Also, I can't believe what she did to that poor girl at the movies.  That girl specifically left the area when she saw her and yet, was followed and harassed.  Maybe if the judge didn't give her a slap on the wrists, she would have received better counseling that would have helped her in her adult life as well.

thisismynickname2

So I read just the Guardian article so far. (It's long!)
a) If you put your work out there to the public, get some fucking thick skin and deal with the negativity. 
b) Who cares if you are catfished in this manner? The person put her real thoughts out there I would think; why read a book and think it's great but review it as something terrible? If you review it as terrible, it's because you thought it was terrible. 
c) I never put my real name out there in reviews or internet comments. If I'm going to be Googled for a professional reason, no one needs to see what I think of the latest NY Times Best Seller. I enjoy leaving reviews to help others pick good books, but having my initials or nickname or fake name on the review makes absolutely zero difference to my thoughts expressed in the review. It's weird that Blythe allegedly bragged about being real when she wasn't, but in the grand scheme of bad book reviews, this is no big deal. 

thespeshulestsnowflake

What the fuck is wrong with this lady?! The book blogger one was crazy obsessive and the movie theater one was just messed up. She needs some court mandated therapy. And everyone who comes into contact with her needs a restraining order.

badbnagdway

Last night I watched the Parks & Rec episode where Leslie is running for City Counsel and gets completely fixated on one guy's comment during a focus group. He says something about her not being someone he could see himself going bowling with and she spends the entire rest of the episode trying to prove to this one voter that she IS someone he could go bowling with and have a good time. 

This author is exactly like Leslie Knope (which is a little sad since Leslie is an over-the-top fictional tv character. She completely missed the forest for the tree and got obsessed with just one reviewer (who can't possibly have THAT much power). Geez. 

Also, I do really like that show Catfish and think the concept of people who pretend to be someone else is interesting. So many people these days form these deeply personal relationships with people they never meet who turn out to be nothing like what they said. And that is fascinating and messed up. But in the case of a book reviewer I find it pretty unsubstantial if someone fudges personal details associated with their reviews. If I hear a review of a book on NPR I don't get much or any background about the reviewer and it doesn't really matter. 

Also - I was actually catfished once when I was single and online dating. This guy contacted me and we talked on the phone a bunch but I found it odd that he could never meet up (he claimed to live within a two hour drive of me). A couple weeks in I figured out he was in his 50's, not his late 20's as he claimed, and he was using his son's picture to talk to women! Yuck. 

arrippa

This lady is nutso. It's too bad that she didn't learn her lesson when she assaulted the girl in the movie theater. She continued to stalk that girl, even after pouring hydrogen peroxide on her.

This lady needs anger management help. I just cringe for the next reviewer who dares to give her one star.

spockforprez

I had heard about this, I think! There may have been a longform.org piece about her. She's nuts.

I did think for a second in your title that you were referring to the author of the Babysitters Club, haha.

PrettyGirlLost

spockforprez said:

I had heard about this, I think! There may have been a longform.org piece about her. She's nuts.

I did think for a second in your title that you were referring to the author of the Babysitters Club, haha.

OMG, no, hahaha!

OliveOilsMom

I should also probably say "Hi, Kathleen Hale!"  Cause you know that level of crazy has a google alert on herself!

arrippa

OliveOilsMom said:

I should also probably say "Hi, Kathleen Hale!"  Cause you know that level of crazy has a google alert on herself!

Uhh.. in that case, she is not nutso but the best writer ever. By the way, I live in Russia, yeah, Russia so don't come stalk me all the way over there..err, I mean here.

luvskittles55

spockforprez said:

I had heard about this, I think! There may have been a longform.org piece about her. She's nuts.

I did think for a second in your title that you were referring to the author of the Babysitters Club, haha.

I also thought this! Ha! Next up, SVH.

drunkenwitch

Wow, I just finished reading her barely coherent ramblings thinly disguised as an "article". That woman is deep fried crazy on a stick.

levioosa

Holy.  Shit.