Fantasy Author Alexandra Rowland Accuses Scott Lynch and Elizabeth Bear of Grooming and Abuse

[TheRightDeal]

Author Alex Rowland has accused Scott Lynch and his wife Elizabeth Bear of grooming and abuse. : https://www.alexandrarowland.net/single-post/2020/06/25/On-Scott-Lynch-and-Elizabeth-Bear

My caring continued to be exploited at every step, and my boundaries continued to be disregarded even by myself. That's what grooming and abuse does to you--it fucks up your ability to even NOTICE when you have a need that's being ignored or when a boundary is being violated. From house-sitting for them for four months to working 30+ hours over the course of a weekend to make their backyard DIY wedding happen, I moved heaven and earth to try to make them happy. That was my 2016.

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They also mentions that they're not the only one. Good on them for speaking out, she mentions they live 15 minutes away from so I can't imagine how hard it is to come out with this. I would guess most people know Lynch from the Gentlemen Bastards series. I only saw this because Lynch himself mentioned he had a statement coming on twitter, as always, believe accusers.

Edit: Bear claims the opposite, seems like a bit of a mess right now:

 

[Jag]

Saw this on r/Fantasy

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

 

[BrokenFiction]

Elizabeth Bear's thread saying the opposite:

 

[BringBackSonics]

Elizabeth Bear's thread saying the opposite:

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Other authors are corroborating the accused's side of things:

 

[Aegus]

What a bastard.

Part of me selfishly wants this to not be true as I really like his work, but goddamn what the fuck. Why can't people not be manipulative creeps.

 

[entremet]

Question, I thought the term grooming was mostly for minors?

I'm not denying that narcissists and predators can target adults obviously. Nor denying the seriousness of the allegations.

 

[Interested Observer]

I've read the blog post, and I've read the twitter thread, and I don't know who the fuck to believe.

I've enjoyed Lynch's books, was it him who had a long break from writing to deal with personal or possibly mental health issues?

 

[ProfessorLobo]

I'm going to wait out on this one as it seems there will be a lot of people that can possibly collaborate on either side. But it sounds like a mess.

 

[krazen]

Question, I thought the term grooming was mostly for minors?

I'm not denying that narcissists and predators can target adults obviously. Nor denying the seriousness of the allegations.

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Yeah, we eventually have to have a discussion about this.

I am not comfortable with the use of grooming when it comes to adults. There's still a mile wide written in dark black paint line between a pedophilia and other forms of sexual abuse.

 

[Interested Observer]

Yeah, we eventually have to have a discussion about this.

I am not comfortable with the use of grooming when it comes to adults. There's still a mile wide written in dark black paint line between a pedophilia and other forms of sexual abuse.

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Yeah. She was 25.

 

[entremet]

Yeah, we eventually have to have a discussion about this.

I am not comfortable with the use of grooming when it comes to adults. There's still a mile wide written in dark black paint line between a pedophilia and other forms of sexual abuse.

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The person who revealed the allegations used the term herself, so I don't mind ppl quoting her. I just see the term used with full-blown adults more. Again, adults can obviously be targeted by predators, but it does a disservice to the term, where power dynamics are more apparent with minors.

 

[deepFlaw]

My understanding is that "grooming" is not exclusively meant to be used for actions manipulating minors, as there is more to the kind of power dynamic it's used for than just being younger than 18? And while I can understand how it has been used in shaky ways in some situations, I think "someone decently older with more professional sway in your industry" is enough of a power difference to merit it.

 

[entremet]

My understanding is that "grooming" is not exclusively meant to be used for actions manipulating minors, as there is more to the kind of power dynamic it's used for than just being younger than 18? And while I can understand how it has been used in shaky ways in some situations, I think "someone decently older with more professional sway in your industry" is enough of a power difference to merit it.

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The other case I've seen it used in is sex trafficking. Not all potential sex workers groomed are underage. However, it is clearly grooming power dynamics. Many are poor, without support systems, without skills (common with immigrants who are targeted and so on).

 

[krazen]

My understanding is that "grooming" is not exclusively meant to be used for actions manipulating minors, as there is more to the kind of power dynamic it's used for than just being younger than 18? And while I can understand how it has been used in shaky ways in some situations, I think "someone decently older with more professional sway in your industry" is enough of a power difference to merit it.

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It's a toughy. Maybe we need more terms/unique language.

Like the terms are used interchangeably but the experiences are not. Someone coercing and gaslighting an adult w/ threatening their livelihood after they've trapped them is abhorrent.

But it's a different type of abhorent from tricking a 12 year old into sexual favors under the guise of fun, nahmean?

 

[selfnoise]

Was Elizabeth Bear the "racefail" author or am I misremembering my internet drama?

EDIT: Yes, it 100% was. You can google that term for the explanation but there's prior form.

Also, the SF author community is an incredibly cliquish place, especially if you are associated with Tor in some way.

 

[Westbahnhof]

Was Elizabeth Bear the "racefail" author or am I misremembering my internet drama?

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I have no idea, but can you give me a rundown what that is/was and how I can read up on it?

 

[selfnoise]

I have no idea, but can you give me a rundown what that is/was and how I can read up on it?

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Here you go, but it's kind of a long complicated story.

RaceFail '09 - Fanlore

fanlore.org

 

[smileyforall220]

That isn't the term for grooming as it's most commonly u defat oof. That's a much more severe offense since it's literally grooming a minor into some sort of a relationship. I don't like the accuser using that at 25, it cheapens the word and devalues it

 

[Glasgow Mega-Snake]

Messy situation for sure. Both sides seem to agree that Scott and Alexandra started dating against the wishes of Elizabeth, (after Scott either lied about being in an open marriage or misunderstood his SO). Other than that, not really clear who manipulated who.

They were 25, but of course power imbalances are still a thing

There's also this Twitter thread (and attached Tumblr post)



Using personal connections to network is fair game, I guess. But the way they write positively about getting a book deal by way of knowing Scott Lynch sounds different from the exploitative relationship described in the post

 

[anamika]

I hate it when women blame the other woman when their husband cheats on them. Bear should have focused her anger on her 37 year old husband cheating on her with a young, impressionable 25 year old, instead of blaming the young woman for breaking up her marriage.

Yeah, I believe Rowland in this. Bear comes off as mean-spirited and vengeful in her response. And of course her cliquey author friends are going to be supporting her against Rowland.

And yeah, there was a power differential between an established 37 year old author and the 25 year old he mentored.

 

[Spinluck]

I hate it when women blame the other woman when their husband cheats on them. Bear should have focused her anger on her 37 year old husband cheating on her with a young, impressionable 25 year old, instead of blaming the young woman for breaking up her marriage.

Yeah, I believe Rowland in this. Bear comes off as mean-spirited and vengeful in her response. And of course her cliquey author friends are going to be supporting her against Rowland.

And yeah, there was a power differential between an established 37 year old author and the 25 year old he mentored.

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I see it all the time. Women not holding men accountable for their actions after being cheated on. I'm going to wait this out till we have more info but I'm not dismissing Rowland's accounts.

 

[bluexy]

Another account of Alex Rowland being the abusive member of this relationship.

 

[Veelk]

I've been following this as it's being outed. I was going to do a thread on it once Lynch's response came through if no one else did, but in a way I'm glad I don't have to be the one to write all this out.

Right now, between Bear and Rowland specifically, there is a She said/They said situation where not only do are two women accusing each other of bending the script, both of them have friends confirming/supporting their side of the story. The fact that CD Covington has come in with screenshots of her conversation with Rowland leans me towards Bear's side of the story, but it's very messy either way.

The core problem here is Scott Lynch himself, because one thing both sides agree on is that whether Lynch sought to manipulate Rowland or Rowland sought to manipulate Lynch, they were both eager to get with each other and violate Bear's boundaries. If we take Bear's side of the story, it takes away some of the sting of Rowland's accusations of Lynch being a predator, and comes off as more of a guy who made the bad decision of pursuing a relationship he probably shouldn't have but hasn't crossed over into truly vile territory...

But no matter what, both Bear and Rowland agree that Bear set boundaries for Lynch as his wife, and he ignored them. That's bad. That's super shitty and I'm honestly surprised that they're still together and I deeply hope that Bear isn't being taken advantage of. I feel regardless of what anything, Scott Lynch almost certainly did major wrong by his wife.

But as for Rowland herself, it's harder to say. Rowland mentions that he's done this to 3-4 other young woman authors. If any of htose come forward, that would lend more credulity to her story.



And this suuuuuuuucks because Lynch wasn't just an author I liked, he was one of my absolute favorites. I love the gentlemen bastard series. I can't say that I'm unbiased in this, I'm really hoping Bears version of the story ends up being more credible than Rowlands, but even in bear's story, that's some shameful shit.

 

[Alavard]

Bear's response is terrible. She's focusing on all these random aspects, like food gone bad being left in her fridge, and thinking Alex was moving more than an hour away - this is somehow important because she was letting Alex stay with her while looking for a new place, but wasn't comfortable with them living close by, for some reason.

Her examples of Alex's 'stalkery' behavior include "leaning against the back of my chair in a convetion lobby to have a conversation with somebody else.", which she refers to as the 'chair incident'. Huh?

 

[bluexy]

Bear's response is terrible. She's focusing on all these random aspects, like food gone bad being left in her fridge, and thinking Alex was moving more than an hour away - this is somehow important because she was letting Alex stay with her while looking for a new place, but wasn't comfortable with them living close by, for some reason.

Her examples of Alex's 'stalkery' behavior include "leaning against the back of my chair in a convetion lobby to have a conversation with somebody else.", which she refers to as the 'chair incident'. Huh?

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Imagine being abused by someone for a very long time, not having it publically known, and then being at a convention with them. Then this person you've cut entirely out of your life, a person who triggers nothing but awful memories of abuse in you, inserting themselves into a situation with you and then getting in your personal space, provoking you. This should be a very easy situation to imagine being traumatizing.

In this situation, we have two different parties alleging abuse from the other. Just because one came first does not mean the second's perspective deserves to be dismissed or mocked.

 

[Veelk]

Imagine being abused by someone for a very long time, not having it publically known, and then being at a convention with them. Then this person you've cut entirely out of your life, a person who triggers nothing but awful memories of abuse in you, inserting themselves into a situation with you and then getting in your personal space, provoking you. This should be a very easy situation to imagine being traumatizing.

In this situation, we have two different parties alleging abuse from the other. Just because one came first does not mean the second's perspective deserves to be dismissed or mocked.

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Isn't this a kind of micro-aggression? It's an intentional action made to bother a person....but if Bear actually complains about it she sounds ridiculous. "She's leaning into my chair", like she's making something of nothing, and rowland can deny that she even intentionally did it, so she's forced to stay quiet about it.

 

[Alavard]

Imagine being abused by someone for a very long time, not having it publically known, and then being at a convention with them. Then this person you've cut entirely out of your life, a person who triggers nothing but awful memories of abuse in you, inserting themselves into a situation with you and then getting in your personal space, provoking you. This should be a very easy situation to imagine being traumatizing.

In this situation, we have two different parties alleging abuse from the other. Just because one came first does not mean the second's perspective deserves to be dismissed or mocked.

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While that could be traumatic, as you're describing it, that's not quite what Bear was saying. She's using it as one of her only two examples of Alex's pattern of 'stalkery' behavior. The other being interacting with another Twitter account Bear has.

She also suggests further down in the twitter thread that Alex chose yesterday to make the story public because it is the anniversary of Bear and Lynch starting to date. This is an unbelievably petty leap of logic, when the past few days have been filled with accusations about various authors.

 

[bluexy]

Isn't this a kind of micro-aggression? It's an intentional action made to bother a person....but if Bear actually complains about it she sounds ridiculous. "She's leaning into my chair", like she's making something of nothing, and rowland can deny that she even intentionally did it, so she's forced to stay quiet about it.

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Exactly. It's no surprise that it would stand out in her mind. It'd be like experiencing the trauma all over again after having spent so much time recovering.

 

[Doc Kelso]

While that could be traumatic, as you're describing it, that's not quite what Bear was saying. She's using it as one of her only two examples of Alex's pattern of 'stalkery' behavior. The other being interacting with another Twitter account Bear has.

She also suggests further down in the twitter thread that Alex chose yesterday to make the story public because it is the anniversary of Bear and Lynch starting to date. This is an unbelievably petty leap of logic, when the past few days have been filled with accusations about various authors.

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You begin seeing logic in what others may see as coincidences when dealing with an abuser/someone that has been an incredibly toxic influence on your life.

 

[BrokenFiction]

It's been a hell of a 48-72 hours in SFF. Everyone is being accused of inappropriate behavior. A short list:
Sam Sykes
Myke Cole
Mark Lawrence
Chuck Wendig
GRRM

 

[falcondoc]

If anything, Lynch comes out looking like a major scumbag

 

[Memento Mori]

It's been a hell of a 48-72 hours in SFF. Everyone is being accused of inappropriate behavior. A short list:
Sam Sykes
Myke Cole
Mark Lawrence
Chuck Wendig
GRRM

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What's GRRM being accused of?

 

[Veelk]

It's been a hell of a 48-72 hours in SFF. Everyone is being accused of inappropriate behavior. A short list:
Sam Sykes
Myke Cole
Mark Lawrence
Chuck Wendig
GRRM

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I haven't actually heard any specific story on GRRM. I've heard his name thrown around, but I never found who said what. Are there any links?

And Myke Cole is the one that hurt me the most after Scott Lynch. He wasn't my absolute favorite author, but I supported him for being a good guy that often spoke on issues many in the military wouldn't. And unlike Lynch, there's no ambiguity with Myke, what he did was inexcusably inappropriate.

 

[RulkezX]

It's been a hell of a 48-72 hours in SFF. Everyone is being accused of inappropriate behavior. A short list:
Sam Sykes
Myke Cole
Mark Lawrence
Chuck Wendig
GRRM

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If you are going to come in here with that you should probably expand

Sykes and Cole are both accused of sexual assault/ inappropriate behaviour and have both admitted to the same (COle has been dropper by publisher and agent)

Lawrence is accused of allowing his twitter fanbase to attack another author in 2016. He did this by retweeting a review from V.E Schwab who had read 17 pages of his book before talking about how bad it was on twitter. He acknowledges he has to be careful how he uses his platform and accepts that it clearly it had an effect on Schwab . Of note Lawrence was a relatively new author in 2016 and had a much smaller following than Schwab (still does 28k to 125k) there are screen shots of twitter threads but no actual siccing of his followers on her, however that isn't an excuse for being ignorant of how social media works and not thinking about what retweeting the review might cause.

Chuck Wendig and GRRM there is basically nothing by an author who "opened her DM's" for folk to share stories, sharing a list of authors she has allegedly had reports about with no further context.

Wendig specifically is a frequent target of the alt-right and consideration should be given to any vague allegations.

 

[BrokenFiction]

If you are going to come in here with that you should probably expand

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Yeah sorry, on my phone and between calls. If you search their names on Twitter there's tons of info out there.

I think GRRM and Wendig are peripheral, but the others don't look good.

 

[Veelk]

If you are going to come in here with that you should probably expand

Sykes and Cole are both accused of sexual assault/ inappropriate behaviour and have both admitted to the same (COle has been dropper by publisher and agent)

Lawrence is accused of allowing his twitter fanbase to attack another author in 2016. He did this by retweeting a review from V.E Schwab who had read 17 pages of his book before talking about how bad it was on twitter. He acknowledges he has to be careful how he uses his platform and accepts that it clearly it had an effect on Schwab . Of note Lawrence was a relatively new author in 2016 and had a much smaller following than Schwab (still does 28k to 125k) there are screen shots of twitter threads but no actual siccing of his followers on her, however that isn't an excuse for being ignorant of how social media works and not thinking about what retweeting the review might cause.

Chuck Wendig and GRRM there is basically nothing by an author who "opened her DM's" for folk to share stories, sharing a list of authors she has allegedly had reports about with no further context.

Wendig specifically is a frequent target of the alt-right and consideration should be given to any vague allegations.

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Oh, also your missing Paul Krueger. This one is actually a bit hard to find because I only heard about it shortly before he went nuclear.

But Paul Kruegar apparently had many women speak up about how he propped up a feminist image, but abused BIPOC women in private. He posted a bad apology on his twitter no one bought, his agent and publisher dropped him, and he deleted both his twitter and his website. There's basically no trace of him on the internet now except by third parties.

 

[Alavard]

Yeah sorry, on my phone and between calls. If you search their names on Twitter there's tons of info out there.

I think GRRM and Wendig are peripheral, but the others don't look good.

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My understanding is that the Wendig is accused of having known of Cole's behavior for some time, and defending/covering for him.

 

[Veelk]

Apparently there's someone on patreon that is documenting everything that's been happening with links RulkezX BrokenFiction

Over the last week several prominent genre authors have been accused of sexual harassment. First, Paul Krueger was accused of harassing numerous women in the publishing industry. Suzanne Walker wrote a thread about what happened to her, as did Alyssa Wong, and Wendy Xu. Krueger eventually wrote a unspecific apology before deleting his Twitter account.

In response to the allegations Krueger's literary agent DongWon Song wrote about the situation and later announced he was ending his relationship with Krueger.

The second author was Myke Cole, who apologized after Cara McGee described what Cole did to her. Cole blamed being drunk but, as was pointed out, that doesn't negate the harm done. In addition, Alexandra Erin and others questioned the apology, especially since Cole made a similar apology in 2018 over different allegations. Even Cole said he was "reiterating my 2018 apology here as it's still germane." (Update: Kate Welch has also written a disturbing thread on Cole's actions.)

A number of people have spoken out about the different treatment of Krueger, who is a person of color, and Cole, who is a white man. Krueger lost his agent and was generally shunned, while the same treatment has so far not happened to Cole. (Update: Cole's agent Joshua Bilmes says they have now "parted ways.")

Finally, there are now emerging allegations against author Sam Sykes, including from Megan O'Keefe. Alexandra Erin discusses additional allegations against Sykes, as does Matt Wallace.

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Lots more at the link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/38610062

 

[BrokenFiction]

Apparently there's someone on patreon that is documenting everything that's been happening with links RulkezX BrokenFiction



Lots more at the link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/38610062

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Oh good find.

 

[Glasgow Mega-Snake]

Seems like GRRM is only mentioned by name without any details

That said, and I love ASOIAF, at least as far as inappropriate comments or touching it wouldn't surprise me.

He's big in the worldcon scene which seems pretty insular and stuck in the seventies, that's like the prime environment where older dudes don't realize that social norms have changed
Even on his blog there are some posts that openly screamed horny old guy, like this one

A Casting We Will Go

• Jun. 9th, 2010 at 12:23 PM

Auditions continue in Dublin, Belfast, and London for a whole bunch of parts, both major and minor, on HBO's GAME OF THRONES.

Sometimes it is a very hard job.

I've just reviewed the tapes of twelve young women reading for the part of Shae.

Excuse me. I need to go take a cold shower now.

• Current Mood: horny

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Like, maybe don't sexualize the actresses trying to get a job on your million dollar show?

 

[Veelk]

Like, maybe don't sexualize the actresses trying to get a job on your million dollar show?

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I'll offer the lukewarm defense of pointing out that any scene any Shae actress be performing that would involve a sexual/seductive tone. It's kind of the core tenet of her character, like a commanding presence is to Tywin or solemnity is to Eddard.

But that aside, I agree, he's giving off "hehe, let me see the sexy casting couch but for an actual show" vibes, which could be read as levity and humor if your being generous, but given metoo, it's clear that the time to be joking about this shit has passed.

 

[DanGo]

I'll offer the lukewarm defense of pointing out that any scene any Shae actress be performing that would involve a sexual/seductive tone. It's kind of the core tenet of her character, like a commanding presence is to Tywin or solemnity is to Eddard.

But that aside, I agree, he's giving off "hehe, let me see the sexy casting couch but for an actual show" vibes, which could be read as levity and humor if your being generous, but given metoo, it's clear that the time to be joking about this shit has passed.

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It's a little grosser when you remember that they ended up casting someone who had done some porn.

 

[Interested Observer]

It's a little grosser when you remember that they ended up casting someone who had done some porn.

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I don't get it, so what if she'd done porn?

 

[RugoUniverse]

Lawrence is accused of allowing his twitter fanbase to attack another author in 2016. He did this by retweeting a review from V.E Schwab who had read 17 pages of his book before talking about how bad it was on twitter. He acknowledges he has to be careful how he uses his platform and accepts that it clearly it had an effect on Schwab . Of note Lawrence was a relatively new author in 2016 and had a much smaller following than Schwab (still does 28k to 125k) there are screen shots of twitter threads but no actual siccing of his followers on her, however that isn't an excuse for being ignorant of how social media works and not thinking about what retweeting the review might cause.

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Perhaps in the US, but Mark Lawrence is a pretty big deal in the UK SFF publishing scene as Prince of Thorns was given out for free with any orders of A Dance with Dragons (at Waterstones) when it released in 2011. That was, as one would imagine, an enormous stepping stone for his career. There have been several smaller incidents where he has certainly used his clout online to influence discussion over the years, on Twitter, r/Fantasy and other smaller forums. I have been largely disassociated with the scene for the last 5 years or so, but Mark Lawrence was certainly a difficult person to 'cross' long before 2016.

 

[RulkezX]

Perhaps in the US, but Mark Lawrence is a pretty big deal in the UK SFF publishing scene as Prince of Thorns was given out for free with any orders of A Dance with Dragons (at Waterstones) when it released in 2011. That was, as one would imagine, an enormous stepping stone for his career. There have been several smaller incidents where he has certainly used his clout online to influence discussion over the years, on Twitter, r/Fantasy and other smaller forums. I have been largely disassociated with the scene for the last 5 years or so, but Mark Lawrence was certainly a difficult person to 'cross' long before 2016.

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In 2016 Victoria Schwabb had 30k followers, Mark Lawrence has a shade over 10k

Schwab is simply a bigger author with a bigger following (unsurprising given YA vs Grimdark)

I'm not trying to dismiss her experience at all, and I know Lawrence can be thin skinned, it just seemed out of place throwing him in with guys who admit to sexual assault when his crime is RTing a review from a larger and more successful author (even in 2016). Especially given her own history of being lax with how she uses her platform and unintended weaponisation of her platform.

Edit: I have had my own dealing with Mark, back when PoT was released I left a less than glowing impression of SFF Forums after my 1st attempt at reading it resulted in a DNF. He PM'd me explaining his thought process and while I disagreed he wasn't aggressive or anything. Years later I finished it and he messaged me on Goodreads thanking me for giving it another go.

He clearly pays too much interest in what people say about him but it appears to be a character flaw rather than him being a women hater tracking down all negativity towards him.

 

[RugoUniverse]

In 2016 Victoria Schwabb had 30k followers, Mark Lawrence has a shade over 10k

Schwab is simply a bigger author with a bigger following (unsurprising given YA vs Grimdark)

I'm not trying to dismiss her experience at all, and I know Lawrence can be thin skinned, it just seemed out of place throwing him in with guys who admit to sexual assault when his crime is RTing a review from a larger and more successful author (even in 2016). Especially given her own history of being lax with how she uses her platform and unintended weaponisation of her platform.

Edit: I have had my own dealing with Mark, back when PoT was released I left a less than glowing impression of SFF Forums after my 1st attempt at reading it resulted in a DNF. He PM'd me explaining his thought process and while I disagreed he wasn't aggressive or anything. Years later I finished it and he messaged me on Goodreads thanking me for giving it another go.

He clearly pays too much interest in what people say about him but it appears to be a character flaw rather than him being a women hater tracking down all negativity towards him.

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Yeah overall I don't disagree with you, there's just a very definitely different perception of frankly a lot of SFF goings-ons in the UK as compared to the US, and pointing that sort of context out is useful in my experience. The scene is even more insular over here, so things can get messy (in a professional and personal capacity!) A lot of my own interactions with Lawrence (and friends' interactions) were certainly before V.E. Schwab really 'blew up' in popularity. In the UK, Lawrence became a bit of an overnight sensation because of his connection to the ADwD publication, which was a couple of years before Schwab's first major publication. Mark Lawrence has also been a bit of a golden child of certain online fantasy communities outside of the Twittersphere (such as r/Fantasy, and his connections with the self-published author competition he used to have a hand in running - I forget the title (SFPBO maybe?)). So he's certainly not without considerable 'power' in various contexts, and as someone who certainly spends an awful lot of his time online, probably knows how to wield it when he wants to.

But yes, I think having the discussion is fine, however the thread is supposed to be about the Lynch/Bear accusations for now and should probably stay on topic, or else be retitled. I'm not sure if there were separate threads for the other accusations going on in the wider SFF scene this week or not either though.

 

[DanGo]

I don't get it, so what if she'd done porn?

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Nothing against her past at all, but GRRM actively talking about getting horny watching tapes of the actresses in conjunction with that fact... It raises some questions that shouldn't come up about the interests of him and others doing the casting.

 

[Veelk]

I'm adding this tweet because this changes the interpretation of the power dynamics significantly. A student/mentor relationship is a very unbalanced. An established author dating a new author is significantly less so, though not entirely equal of course.

 

[arkon]

Bear's response is terrible. She's focusing on all these random aspects, like food gone bad being left in her fridge, and thinking Alex was moving more than an hour away - this is somehow important because she was letting Alex stay with her while looking for a new place, but wasn't comfortable with them living close by, for some reason.

Her examples of Alex's 'stalkery' behavior include "leaning against the back of my chair in a convetion lobby to have a conversation with somebody else.", which she refers to as the 'chair incident'. Huh?

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I don't think it's random aspects. It's Bear's attempt to tell her side of the story. Rowland says they were house-sitting for four months. Bear says they were living rent-free while shopping around for a house. Maybe those were referring to different periods of time. The food going bad being an example of an incomplete picture of the house-sitting scenario being omitted by Rowland.

Perhaps Bear was having reservations about her friendship with Rowland after letting them stay in her home and was more comfortable with the thought of them being an hour away.

Rowland's statement has its own inconsistencies, particularly in regard to how their relationship with Lynch starts, the convincing it took for an apparently unwilling Bear to be okay with it and then their participating in it to appease Bear?

It's a messy situation all round, with people coming out in support of both Bear and Rowland.

 

[Interested Observer]

It's a messy situation all round, with people coming out in support of both Bear and Rowland.

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Which probably means there's two of them at it.