In which I thank the bullies

There is a repulsive website whose sole purpose for existence is to "protect" those poor authors who can't handle a bad/sarcastic/meanypants review of their book, whether on GoodReads or Amazon.  (I will not link to their site - the last thing I want is more traffic to them.  If you must find them, feel free to Google 'em.)

They claim to want to "stop the GoodReads bullies", and then turn around and break so many of their own rules that I wonder why their heads haven't exploded from their inconsistencies.

For example, here's their list of what compromises a bully:

And yet, completely ignoring their own lovely list, they have harassed many reviewers, humiliating and insulting them, gossiping, calling them names, and teaming up on anyone who seems to be getting too big for their britches.

When I first discovered the site and began reading up on their "activities", I was pretty much like this throughout:

Well, except for being black and having facial hair.  Otherwise we could be twins.

But in the art of war, one must know one's enemies.  Sun Tzu probably said that; he was pretty badass.

So I read more of their site.  I found a wonderful, farcical "review" that Kat Kennedy did tongue in cheek and the STGRB posted on their website as being 100% straight up and not a farce at all.

Poor Kat.  Although with "enemies" like these, I'm sure she's not losing much sleep over them.

But to get to my point, they have links along one side of their homepage with names of authors/bloggers/reviewers to avoid.  They don't include the actual links, so I had to do some homework, but thanks to STGRB, I now have at least seven new blogs that I follow and greatly enjoy.

A sampling of them:

Stop the STGRB! Fun place for all your popcorn and drama needs.

Sweaters for Days and Moves Like Jagger. One of my favorites.

Cuddlebuggery  Another favorite.  This one has GREAT reviews, great reviewers, and a fun online community.

The Romantic Goldfish  One that STGRB considers "scary/run/fast".  I admit I just found her, but I'm having a great time reading the archives.

Dear Author  This one has a lot of reviews, because it's a collective of people writing.  Reviews are honest and never bullying, and they're always fresh and interesting.

The Bawdy Book Blog  Ooh, here's one I like!  Keep an eye on them, because I'm hoping to have some of my stuff posted there for one of their Indie Spotlights.

So THANKS, STGRB!!  I know you didn't mean to, but you guys have found me a bunch of GREAT new blogs to enjoy and meet new people on.

(Plus, any excuse to put the Hiddles on my blog.  Because YUM.)