Posting for a necessary but I hope last update to my post of yesterday. The court documents for the lawsuit Sherrilyn Kenyon brought against me were provided to the Washington Post and they accordingly updated their story.
Previously, it said:
Clare, who denied the accusation, claimed on her Tumblr page that the case was dropped, while Kenyon said in her January newsletter that it “was settled outside of court and was not dropped.”
Now it says:
Clare, who denied the accusation, claimed on her Tumblr page that the case was dropped, while Kenyon said in her January newsletter that it “was settled outside of court and was not dropped.” The copyright claims were dropped, court documents show, and a trademark dispute was settled in May 2018.
This may seem like a small difference, but in my situation, it’s an important one. The accusations of “copying” — the ones that shocked me, nauseated me, broke my heart and terrified me and my family that somehow people would believe them though they were patently ridiculous — were dropped when they were proved to be full of inaccuracies and misrepresentations, not settled. I’m glad that fact now appears in a newspaper of record which will hopefully put an end to discussions about this topic.
Unfortunately the repercussions of such terrible public accusations are far-ranging regardless. My stepfather, who I loved very much, had his heart shattered by this lawsuit. He had always been one of my greatest supporters through the years I struggled to get published; he loved my books, and he knew how important being a writer was to me. He died before the lawsuit was ever resolved, in pain because he knew how miserable and despairing I was, and that —more even than knowing there are always people who will want to believe it was true — breaks my heart.
I wanted to say a thanks to Susan Dennard for coming out to say she had also been on the receiving end of a threat of legal action from Kenyon for using the term “Spirit-Hunters.” It was immensely kind of her: I know that many others besides me were also sent C&D letters, warning letters, preliminary (unfiled) lawsuits, etc. It can be hard to speak about such things because even when they are not true, the accusations are humiliating. So I wanted to thank Susan for lessening my feeling of being alone.
The lawsuit Kenyon filed against her husband raises many new questions, but I have to accept that there may be no real answers. I hope to move past this now, though I have hoped that before in the past. But it is time to return to discussing what most people are here for — books! And I will say that one thing that lawsuit did do is remind me to value the fact that I have a job I love and get to share the stories I write with my readers. Sometimes feeling you may lose something forever makes you realize how lucky you are to have had it.
Lots of love to all of you,
Cassie