Tropical Tales No. 12 - Vol. 1.
- Censorship?
For those
readers who expect me to write romances, or
other novels with a slant towards American
morality or their particular agenda, you will be
slightly disappointed, as I am European, who
having grown up in South America am very
familiar with diverse cultures, so consider
myself a free-thinker. I tell stories the way I
see the fantasy, or the reality, or a
combination of both, but I do not prostitute my
intellectual integrity. This was perhaps the
main reason I left law school. The right side of
my brain was more in gear when turning in a term
paper in legal writing. I finished my first book
in six months. Recently, I finished writing,
Murder by Roses, in just four months. It was
hard work but I had to meet a deadline, so it
was twelve hours a day at the computer. The
story takes place in Ceylon, or Sri Lanka, and I
hope this does not prompt a bashing down of our
front door at twilight.
In this month's issue of Romance Writers
Report, November 2004, Volume 24, No. 10, I read
a very disturbing article which should alarm all
of us writers. "Patriot Act Hits Close to Home,"
told by "Dilyn" - a pseudonym - she tells how
she, a multi-published author was raided in her
home, and her writing materials confiscated. Her
interview continues something like this: she was
doing some research at her library because she
was writing a women's fiction adventure set in
Cambodia, all about theft of antiquities. She
bought and checked out books from her library on
Cambodia and surfed some related websites. Her
neighbors had told her that they had seen an
unknown person lurking about her house, her mail
had gone missing; she caught someone searching
her trash and saw a prowler in her yard. She
called the police. It turned out that the man
had been taking surveillance photos of her home.
They raided her home and removed her
computer, damaged her front door, (if they do
that to me I will kick them in the area that
gets no Florida sunshine) as we just spent a
fortune buying a hurricane, metal door, and had
to wait forever for permits.) She continues
saying that there were six male agents yelling
and threatening her, and even threatened to kill
her dogs. (Now that is where I draw the line.
Touch my poodle and say hello to St. Peter!!)
There were Postal Inspectors for the website
email end of things, FBI and 3 Federal Police.
Quite impressive a guest list of uninvited
houseguests. Yes, they had a search warrant, but
it was specific to items pertaining to her
writings and research, plus looking for certain
BOOK TITLES - does this remind anybody of
Crystal Nacht?
Was her publisher helpful? Yes, they were
extremely supportive, and I hope they were on
the phone to not just lawyers, and congressmen,
but to writers' associations. The frightened
romance writer had to hire a criminal defense
lawyer, who specializes in federal warrants and
issues of search and seizure. I don't need to
tell you how expensive, and disruptive to her
poor nervous system this can be. I hope she had
tranquilizers at hand.
Her computer was returned to her but her
computer man had to remove a surveillance bug.
Poor romance writer, you have my sympathy, and I
hope you win your case. Don't settle! We need a
precedent case on the books here. If this is
what they are doing to us, can you imagine the
treatment that the writers of detective stories
and spy novels will get? They will probably be
put in a torture chamber that only Dumas could
write about. I am sitting here trembling,
because my family was given similar treatment in
Poland during WWII; my father died fighting
tyranny, and with no apologies to anyone I am
picking up his sword but I think the pen is
mightier than the sword!
I would like to refresh everybody's memory:
AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION ARTICLE I.
Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the FREEDOM
OF SPEECH, OR THE PRESS; OR THE RIGHT OF THE
PEOPLE PEACEABLY TO ASSEMBLE, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances.
ARTICLES II. III. etc., (deleted for space
but email me if you want the entire copy.)
ARTICLE IV. THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO BE
SECURE IN THEIR PERSONS, HOUSES, PAPERS, AND
EFFECTS, AGAINST UNREASONABLE SEARCHES AND
SEIZURES, SHALL NOT BE VIOLATED, AND NO WARRANTS
SHALL ISSUE, BUT UPON PROBABLE CAUSE, SUPPORTED
BY OATH OR AFFIRMATION, AND PARTICULARLY
DESCRIBING THE PLACE TO BE SEARCHED, AND THE
PERSONS OR THINGS TO BE SEIZED.
Please Vote! If you do not use your civil
rights, you lose your civil rights.
Alinka Zyrmont
