Category: the writers life

Yep, he is.

You gotta be kidding me.

Don’t they ever go away?

The “Nigerian Prince” is still popping up in my inbox too like we’re long lost friends. I almost feel bad for that guy. Maybe that’s the point?

I dunno anymore.

I thought I had gotten rid of Micheal but it seems otherwise. I want to make a correction to my earlier post, always important to correct your mistakes. His email address is michaelmonroelewis@gmail.com but it’s the name in the header that reads Micheal Lewis. I still say that’s suspicious. So’s the email address. But then again his website hasn’t been updated in 11 years so…..

So I went there today. After getting this:

Hi ,

Hope you’ve been doing well. I wanted to check in and see how things are coming along with your writing. The journey isn’t always easy, but every word written is progress and it all adds up in time.

Keep nurturing your creativity and trusting your voice. The world always needs more authentic stories, and yours has the power to resonate with readers in ways you might not even realize.

Wishing you inspiration and momentum,
Michael Lewis

Like my “Nigerian Prince” this guy is wearing on me. I’m tired of it. I have definitely had my fill of being gas-lit in my life (in case you can’t tell from these posts) and the stench of propane is all over this Mr. Lewis. While he’s nice and polite he’s vague as hell. Throughout this whole thing he has never referenced a book or series or character of mine by name. Not once. He hasn’t said what genre I write in. Most of all, he never ever ever answered the simple question: How did you find me?

I thought; I can’t do this anymore. I’m putting an end to it.

No, not by blocking him…not yet…because we’re not finished…yet.

I wrote a really witty email that I’m sure will be lost on him but then that deep voice in my head said;

You know we need to be absolutely sure or you’ll regret it.

Ok. Fine. He knows me very well. While the Aries in me is screaming for vengeance, the Libra in me is screaming out for that before we irrevocably tip those scales and we need it far beyond a Reasonable Doubt.

The only way to do that is on that outdated website belonging the Real Michael Lewis. At the bottom of the page is ‘contact information’ or what passed for it in 2014. No, you can’t contact the author or even the webmaster. So I had to choose between contacting the person in charge of either; Media Inquiries, Lecture Inquiries, Bulk Orders, or WHO IS GOVERNMENT. The latter is his latest book and that email address is Random House. It took everything I had not to click that friggin’ link. Instead, I went with Elizabeth Riley (good Irish name!) who is in charge of Media Inquiries. I figured that’s the closest fit. I tried to compose my email as politely as possible for me and I think it came out alright. Here it is.

Hello,

 I believe that I have been being scammed by someone claiming to be your client, Michael Lewis. So far, this has gone on for over 30 emails which I will provide to you if you’d like them.

 If the real Mr. Michael Lewis’ email address is not michaelmonroelewis@gmail.com and ‘Susan’,  his “marketing person”, is not located at susan.naylor.books.expert@gmail.com the real Mr. Lewis might like to just say a little something publicly to acknowledge and denounce this scam and, of course, strongly state he has nothing to do with it.

If that actually is Mr. Lewis’ email address, I apologize for this email and hope you understand my need to double check things. This is one of the strangest email conversations I’ve ever had with anyone, especially with a scammer of which there’s a plethora as of late. So again, I’m sending you this email just to end any confusion on my part once and for all. If you could just be kind enough to respond with ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as to whether or not that is Mr. Lewis’ legitimate email address I would appreciate it. 

Thank you so much for your time and attention. I’m sorry to interrupt your day.

All the Best,
Lisa

Whether or not she answers me, who knows? But I took my shot and I tried to sound as sane and civil and polite as possible.

But, you know, should she be kind enough to send back just one word; No. As I said earlier, I have my witty response all set to go.

My sense of humor seems lost on this guy. Bummer.

OH! WAIT! WHAT’S THIS????

While I’ve been tapping on the keyboard, Ms. Riley answered me. I want to assure you that the email from her is 100% legitimate. I will not divulge the contact info but you can find it on this site.

Ready?

Hi – Yes, this is not Michael Lewis!  We’ll see if we can do anything about this scam.  Hasn’t been easy.

So, while jumping in my seat, I typed back just one sentence; OMG! Thank you so much for, literally, verifying my sanity. Thank you!

Many thanks to that nasty little insistent little voice in my head for pushing me to send that email to end the gaslighting…in my favor…once and for all. I am NOT crazy. I am STILL on the ball. But it is getting harder to tell. My head isn’t soft, not just yet anyway.

It ‘hasn’t been easy’. Damn! That sucks! For Mr. Lewis and everyone this SOB(s) is scamming. Mr. Lewis really should just put a little note at the top of his website about this, especially if ‘it hasn’t been easy’. Just a little note; we know this is happening, we’re so sorry for the authors experiencing this scam but we have nothing to do it and want you all to watch out for it. Please report it to your email providers as ‘spam’ immediately.

That’s all. Or, you know, thereabouts.

The first place a smart person goes upon getting one of these emails is the author’s website. Ok, maybe second, maybe they hit the Amazon page first but it’s the website that’s going to start unraveling the tale. If Mr. Lewis and any other legitimate high profile author out there currently experiencing this ‘hasn’t been easy’ PITA would just put a little acknowledgement on the top of their site….with a current date, please…it would cut these scammers off at the knees.

In the meantime, if you get an email like this, I hopes put your mind to rest knowing that it really IS utter bullshit.

Oh, yes, my email to Mr. Lewis. Do you want to read my very last one before I send it and block his address?

Hi Micheal,

So nice to hear from you again. I’m sorry, I thought I told you about my upcoming release, “Harvest Coomb”. You know marketing and it’s hard to write and launch a book at the same time you’re crafting the next great American novel so  my writing was On Hold while I was getting “Harvest Coomb” ready for release. But just after I announced the pre-orders for the book, out of the blue, just as with you, Stephen King started emailing me. YES! Stephen King! Believe me, I checked him out as thoroughly as I did you, Micheal. You know, just to be sure of what/who I was dealing with. His initial email would have been enough to make me faint dead away but he had so many wonderful things to say about “Obsession”. He went into great detail about the story, the plot development, the characters, and most of all my successfully pulling off getting into the mind of a serial killer, which he loved! Long story short, I told him about “Harvest Coomb” and he asked for an ARC! Of course I sent it right to him and he was so impressed he sent it off to his editor and now, suddenly, I’m in email negotiations with Simon & Shyster! It’s all so….unreal.

All the Best,
Lisa