Robin Roseau/Joseph P. Larson & the 2013 Rainbow Awards Cheating Scandal

2013 Rainbow Awards Scandal
involving Robin Roseau aka Joe Larson and Henriette Meissner aka Henrietta Bookgeek aka Philologus - Amazon Reviewer, pictured below.

Side Note: Our les fic community also has Ms. Meissner to personally thank for bringing this predator into our midst. She is the one who added him to the majority of our lesbian only groups on Facebook and elsewhere. It is well known that Ms. Meissner has advocated strongly for the inclusion of men into our lesbian only groups, which was denied and refused by the moderators/group owners, yet she still added him as Robin Roseau. As of today Robin Roseau/Joe Larson is still a member of the VLR Yahoo group so my advice to the lesbians in that group is to be careful. 

When I first started looking into possible cheating by judges in the 2013 Rainbow Awards, I did so on behalf of a les fic author who had contacted me with concerns about it. Her book was in the same category as Robin Roseau. I, along with several of the same ladies behind this blog investigated and we discovered that her concerns were valid. There was cheating and I immediately contacted Elisa Rolle, the owner of the awards.

I not only demanded my money be refunded for the three books I had entered, although my books were not in the same category, but I also demanded that Robin Roseau’s awards be stripped and voided. I also called for the disqualification of the two judges in question and that their scores be thrown out for every book they took part in judging. I've since learned that there is actually a third judge involved as well. I even took it one step further and rescinded the Rainbow Awards that I had won in both 2012 and 2013. One of the main reasons that it was agreed that I would be the one to go public and expose the fraud was because I had won awards and if the author who contacted me had been the one to complain, she would have been accused of having sour grapes and being jealous, thereby diminishing the seriousness of the situation. Plus I did not care what people thought about me going public and exposing the fraud and I took a public beating for it, especially from Robin Roseau’s friends and supporters. I was called a liar and quite a few other choice names and defamed by Robin Roseau. Because of his lies, I had friends and fellow authors turn their backs on me. 

Someone needed to stand up and speak out about it and demand that it be fixed. We decided I would do it so that there would be one less thing for them to use in order to take the focus off of the real issue, which was award fixing. 

Instead of Elisa Rolle investigating the fraud, she defended all of those involved (whom she's friends with) and without looking at the evidence, she sent out an email telling everyone who had entered books that her committee investigated my allegations and after a review of the evidence, they found no fraud had occurred. She lied in both cases. Not once did she ask to see the evidence and there was proven fraud. Also worth noting is that some of those on this so-called committee were also authors in the awards, who were not only judges who got a free entry for their book, but some of these judges also won awards, multiple awards.

2013 was the first year that the outstanding organization, Romance Writers of America partnered with the Rainbow Awards as indicated on Elisa Rolle’s blog. 2013 was also the first year that a fee of $25.00 per book was charged to enter. They collected over $6000 in entry fees, which they said would be donated to two LGBT charities.

I had made a post on my Facebook wall where I stated that I had rescinded the acceptance of my awards. I also stated that I would explain why I did so and below is the exact post from my wall:

January 2, 2014

For those of you who have wondered and asked why I declined and rescinded my acceptance of the 2012 and 2013 Honorable Mention Rainbow Awards, I’m going to give you an explanation and show you why I did what I did.
*
When I was made aware that beta readers/editors/friends had judged an author’s book in the Paranormal category (Robin Roseau AKA Joseph P. Larson), I confronted the author and one of the judges. I also wrote to the creator/administrator of the awards and demanded my money be refunded for the three books I had entered ($75.00) Additionally, I officially declined and rescinded my acceptance of the Honorable Mention Awards that I had won in 2012 and 2013.
*
My hand was forced when Elisa Rolle, the Rainbow Awards owner/administrator, sent out an email to all of those (except me) who had entered the contest. In this email, she stated that after reviewing the process and evidence, the committee had concluded that no fraud was committed. She stated this without having asked for or having seen any evidence from me. Still today, those involved, continue to deny that fraud had taken place with the author in question (Robin Roseau AKA Joseph P. Larson). Who mind you, went so far as to call me a ‘lunatic’ on “her” FB wall and threaten me in an email with defamation. This left me no choice but to go public and show you a few screenshots that I possess, out of about 20 I’ve collated, which proves the fraud.

* 

The screenshots below contain an email between me and Robin Roseau where I ask “her” if she is telling me that the person who submitted her book was not her reader or a judge. You will see “her/his” answer to me where “she” claims that the person who submitted her book was not “her” reader or a judge in the awards, and that the person who submitted “her” book was just a fan from Italy. At that point, I did not care who submitted the book. What I did care about was that the author’s beta readers/friends/editors were allowed to judge the book regardless of the stage it was in. 

The next screenshot is from an author interview that Robin Roseau had done in the VLR yahoo group prior to me emailing Robin about who submitted/nominated her book for the Rainbow Award. The interviewer asks Robin what made her enter her book and you can see that "she" admits that "her reader" who is also a "judge" is the one who did it. I find it a little more than ironic that this person who was a just a fan gets hugs and kisses and an I love you too from Robin. 

Now worth noting here regarding the above admission. The person of whom Robin was referring to as being a fan of hers from Italy is Fernanda Elmiger whose real name is Luiz Elmiger. Fernanda is from the same place as Elisa Rolle and is a regular judge in the awards. Fernanda is one of three judges that is/was Robin's FB friends/Editor/Betareaders.  Fernanda/Henriette/Jodie all judges/betareaders/editors have given 5 star reviews on Amazon for Robin's books, including the one they judged in the Rainbow Awards, prior to the awards.
*
As with most authors, including myself, we put credits in our books where we thank our beta readers/editors, and the author in question (Robin Roseau) is no different and does the same thing by thanking “her” beta readers as well – the same readers who judged “her” book in the competition. In fact, they did judge “her” book because their comments about the book as well as their names are on the Rainbow Award site for everyone to see. Our industry is small enough that most of us authors know who each other’s betas/editors are. Robin Roseau is no different and it was well known who they were.
*
The screenshot below is from where Elisa Rolle thanked the participating judges and as you can see Henriette, Jodie, and Fernanda are all listed.

The next screenshots are of the dedication/thank you pages inside Robin Roseau's books where the names of "his" betareaders/editors are listed. He even acknowledged Elisa Rolle in the one below as well as those in the VLR yahoo group. The "Lady" he refers to is/was?? his heterosexual girlfriend Lori C. After Robin was outed as Joe Larson, Lori removed that she and he as Joe Larson were in a relationship on Facebook and he wiped all mention of Lori from his wall posts, of which we still have screenshots of--Smoke and mirrors I'm guessing. The two screenshots below have one person's name blacked out to protect the innocent.

This is a screenshot from one of Joe Larson's latest books of which Henriette is still listed as his betareader/editor. 

This screenshot shows Fernanda aka Luiz's 5 star review on Amazon dated before the awards for Robin Roseau's Fox Run book which won.

The screenshots below show the actual comments on the Rainbow Award site by Robin Roseau's judges (Henriette and Jodie) in the Rainbow Awards, which proves that they did in fact judge Robin's book. The screenshots posted are the awards given to Robin Roseau. Also worth noting, this book is so poorly written and filled with typos, that it's insane, yet it beat out top authors like Radclyffe, S.Y. Thompson, Linda K. Silva, Yvonne Heidt, etc.

The screenshots below are in regard to Elisa Rolle and her comments to and from Robin Roseau in the VLR Yahoo group regarding the award and entering "her" book.

The screenshot below is the email that Elisa Rolle sent out regarding my fraud allegations and her denial that it had taken place. She sent this email to everyone who had entered the awards, everyone but me. As you can see, which is amusing, is that in that email, she actually states that the judge who was called on to judge it in the first round, did not nominate it. Since they had to scramble quickly to find a judge from Italy (Fernanda) that they could say nominated the book and if that judge didn't judge it in the first round, then exactly which judge is she talking about? Henriette, Jodie?   

The screenshot below is of the actual posted rules for the 2013 rainbow Awards. By the evidence I have provided here, it clearly shows that the rules were not followed, let alone adhered to. According to the rules and how the books were judged, it is not only possible but undeniable that if all three of Robin's judges judged in the first round or the second, not only did they have the power to make sure Robin won, but they had the power and influence to make sure others didn't and that is exactly what happened here.

Now we have the finale. The screenshots below are from an email I received in February, 2014 from Elisa Rolle regarding submission for the new 2014 Rainbow awards and the rules, which as you can imagine, caused me to laugh. I have blocked out the email addresses to protect the innocent. The email is very long so I have made screenshots of different sections of it.

 This next screenshot states that a judge can nominate or submit a book providing they are not reading for that category. My thoughts is that they had this same rule last year and it was broken so it's still bogus. 

This next screenshot states that judges will not judge books they have published, written or edited. I know for a fact that Ms. Meissner was indeed working for Robin/Joe in the capacity as an editor because I personally have FB inbox messages from Robin Roseau where he tells me how he met Henriette and that Henriette was the one who contacted him first. Because his books were so poorly edited, she offered to help work with him and as an editor would fix the typos and errors. That makes her his editor. At that time, Ms. Meissner also brought him into our community and started adding him to our "Lesbian Only" groups on Facebook. So below, it's the same rule as last year, which was broken. Once again, bogus.

This next screenshot is Ms. Rolle's attempt to downplay the role of a betareader as just a support person, which is disgraceful because they are so very important. As an author of which I am and which Ms. Rolle is not, betareaders to us is no different than having an unpaid editor, they are an essential part of our career. My betareaders go beyond reading my books for entertainent value. They look for typos, errors, plot holes, sentence structure, etc. That is the equivalency of an editor but they only get paid with free books and most tend to be our friends as well. So for anyone to call my betas or betas in general simply a support person is to demean the vital role they play in our careers. My books would not be what they are without them. 

Once again, the rules below were broken. That makes them still bogus.    
 

This next screenshot is the one where Ms. Rolle blames me for the charities no longer getting any of the funds. She also makes it out as if it was "her" decision to cancel the partnership, instead of telling the truth and stating that they were dropped because the attorney for the RWA (who was the only person to see and review the evidence from me because she asked for it) decided they did not want to be connected to this fraudulent award. Once again, I get the blame. How about stating your judges cheated and you did nothing to correct the problem other than lying and denying it. That's where the blame lies.

The final screenshot shows they have looked closely at the process and refined them for clarity. The only thing clear here is that not one single thing has changed. The award is bogus and screams of ethical violations by not only the judges but by the person running it. This scandal pertains to just the les fic side and if it happened there, what does that say may have happened on the Gay fiction side? Just for my own satisfaction, I took a look at the judges on the gay side of this award. I randomly picked 8 judges of whom I knew were authors. What I found was that all 8 judges had books submitted for free and all 8 had won awards and some of them even won two. How this award can be considered legit or respectable, is beyond me.  

I stand by everything I have said in this post, and I still believe that Robin Roseau's award should be considered null and void and all scores by the two judges should be thrown out for every single book they took part in judging. In addition, all money that authors and publishers had paid to enter books in the categories of where these unethical and morally bankrupt judges participated, should be refunded. 

As Ms. Rolle so eloquently stated, yes, our industry is small and there will be judges who are familiar with the authors of whose books they will judge but here is the caveat and I feel that it pertains to all awards. When you refuse to have transparency in your process, it gives off and fuels the seeds of impropriety even if there is none. One step that all of these awards could take to make sure this doesn't happen again is to list the names of the judges in the awards as well as the categories in which they took part in judging after the awards are over. This may not eliminate all fraud but it will send a clear message to those who volunteer to be judges that if they take part in judging a book unfairly that they have close ties to, we will know. I think this level of transparency would make judges think twice and give them a concrete reason to disqualify themselves from said book or books. 

Bottom line: It is unethical for any judge who has a close relationship with an author, to judge that author's books in any type of competition. The judges in this mess, should have done the right thing and disqualified themselves.

As an author of lesfic, I find what happened to be demeaning to our genre. To those authors and publishers whose books were judged by those people, I’m sorry that this happened because it was not right, and I, for one, am not going to tolerate it. My wish here is that the authors and publisher's in the les fic community boycott this award. If they submit their books in 2014, that sends a clear message that what I did by exposing them and taking a public beating for it, was in vain and integrity does not matter. So, I implore them to take a stand and just say no.   

Regardless of personality differences or whether authors or those in the industry like me or not, we are still colleagues and when something like this happens, it does not affect just one person, it affects all of us as a whole. We need to stand up and speak out and demand that the wrongs be righted—that’s what I’ve done and I paid a high price for it both personally and professionally. If I had it to do all over again, I would in a heartbeat.