Let me get this straight: Lanaia is a good sister/friend of Pillsbury, and has been for a number of years. They also share poetry publication together. Pillsbury is a self-proclaimed agent, who is a (four-times) vanity author (PA twice), and is currently Lania's agent. Was it Pillsbury who hooked up Hill to Lanaia?
So then Hill ghostwrites a fantasy book for Lanaia and charges $400 per month for a period of two years, or...it takes two years to pay the bill off, of which the real total to write the book can't actually be determined.
Let me first say, Tri, that it's not my intent to pick on you in this post. I'm just using what you've said above as an example of what seems like a general trend in the conversation about this affair--people are citing information they picked up from other people, who may have picked it up from blog comments based on a mis-reading or misunderstanding of the original source--which in the case of the info above, is me.
Here's what Lanaia told me.
- Hill solicited Lanaia directly in 2005 to become his client. Pilsbury had nothing to do with it as far as I know.
- Lanaia didn't pay ghostwriting fees to Hill for two years. She paid them from sometime in the fall of 2006 through May of 2007.
This is all discussed in my post on the Writer Beware blog. The correct information is out there--it would be nice if people checked it, rather than relying on what they've read second-hand.
It's fascinating in a way to watch this. It's like a whisper line. The story that's taking shape in the Internet consciousness is starting to diverge more and more from the actual facts of the situation (as far as those can be determined).
As I said on my blog, I think one reason that people are heaping so much abuse on Lanaia (who, I believe, has been disgracefully taken advantage of and doesn't deserve the beatdown she's receiving) is that the situation gives them the opportunity to say about her all the things they really think about scam victims and fake-published authors, but can't normally admit to for fear of seeming mean and elitist.
- Victoria