The petition deals with Amazon, DAM’s gaming of their system and her bullying of Reba Belle. That is the issue. Signing it or not is certainly a personal choice. But I’d hope it’s signed or not signed for the right reasons.

The truth is not a defense here because there is no truth in Amazon.com. The truth and I are victims of Amazon cyberbullies and cyberterrorists who wear white robes and hoods. I folded my tent having been forced out of Amazon by them.

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Really? Coming from her?

Reba is being bullied, stalked, and pilloried in an organised fashion because she dared to exercise her right as a consumer and voice her opinion that a book she’d handed good money over for, wasn’t as good as the previous book she’d read from that author. Now, to Deborah MacGillivray, that was the same as ‘dragging her name through the mud’ and she is waging a vicious war to silence the criticism. All it’s doing is making her look worse.

Tess owned up to her mistakes. No one denied or denies her right to express herself, or is criticising her as a person. However everyone – you, me, her, Nora Roberts, George W. – who expresses a view in public, is likely to attract attention and at times criticism for those views. That’s just part of the job of being a public person, and at her level of success, Tess Geritsen is very much a public person when she offers opinions, especially on something as ragingly controversial as the situation with Amazon reviews.

I wish you and your fellow fans could see what Deborah MacGillivray cannot – disagreement does not equal personal abuse. I’ve read here and at Tess’ blog outright accusations that those disagreeing with Tess are failures, jealous, frustrated wannabe authors, don’t have a life, want to suppress dissent – and that’s just the polite stuff. There’s no need to make it personal. Tess said something, the commenters here and elsewhere have said their piece. No one is offering to track Tess or her supporters down, track her children and her grandparents down because their opinions are contrary to other people’s – but that’s what is happening to Reba.

This isn’t about Tess Gerritsen. It’s about fraud, bullying, and unconscionable behaviour by a small number of thuggish authors and their supporters. Tess is undoubtedly ruing the day she stepped into the mess. I for one wish she hadn’t because it’s been a huge distraction from the real issue, has caused her distress and led to massive ill-feeling on both sides. But please, set aside your wish to defend Tess and try to see the big picture. If you don’t condone DAM’s behaviour, then sign the petition. Signing the petition is not supporting Tess’ critics. It’s saying DAM’s kind of bullying behaviour needs to be stopped. That’s all it’s saying.

But I just dont see how dragging Tess Gerritsens name through the mud for giving her opinion or her views on the subject on her blog.(which last time I checked everyone has a right to voice their opinions and views freely)

obviously haven’t read her work on there from start to finish and actually taken it all in.

By the same token, you (and a few others) obviously haven’t read all the issues surrounding the petition.

Otherwise, you would see that it has pretty much nothing all to do with your idol Ms Gerritsen, and a helluva lot to do with fraud (on the readers who rely on reviews from amazon to purchase books and other items there), to threats against innocent children and other family members of Reba Belle–whom you (and others) apparently don’t consider important enough to even mention.

Go figure, what with truth and honesty and all that being so important to Ms Gerritsen and her fans.

I think Tess Gerritsen is a remarkable Author and the people who take offence to her blogs obviously haven’t read her work on there from start to finish and actually taken it all in.

You came to the conclusion that people are just being petty. Obviously you didn’t understand the gravity of the situation. If you’d been threatened the way that Reba Belle has been threatened, you wouldn’t think it was petty. You say that you will not sign the petiton. Maybe if you look at the threats to Reba, you will reconsider.

As to Tess Gerritsen, she made a bad choice of words originally, giving the impression (wrongly, as she subsequently made clear) that MacGillivray made a bigger mistake in getting caught than doing the nasty deeds she was caught for. Personally, I never thought Tess really meant it to be interpreted that way and I am sad that she decided to cease blogging, but it should teach us all a lesson that we have to be very careful what we write on the internet.

Nowadays, we have to be so careful, walking around on eggshells for fear of upsetting people with our words. Everyone gets offended so easily.

It’s a shame that Tess now feels the need to close her blog down — I for one shall miss it. I never found anything she had to say offensive.

Tess, in my opinion, has the last laugh … all the way to the bank.

Don’t let them grind you down, Tess.

Reviews personally don’t bother me. They don’t sell books though half as much as word-of-mouth does. In fact if someone’s book gets a stinking review it makes me want to read it more!