I can't read that article you've linked - because I'm blocked. Normally I agree with your assessment but on this one I'm going to stand my ground.... because I have had exactly two interactions with Tessa. In her first interaction she told me I couldn't write, then she blocked me before I could respond. So I wrote an article about it. In our second interaction, she arrived on my wall to tell me her daughter was a writing genius and writing was an inherited trait rather than a skill to be learned. I was surprised she had returned to my page and requested she refrain from putting those same sort of posts on the walls of less experienced writers. Then I was blocked again. Perhaps rightly, perhaps wrongly. Either way, she and I have never had a dialogue.

There are many reasons why people can't communicate effectively and I'm sure she has her reasons - but as I've said before, you have to take responsibility for what you put into the world. She may have some form of autism etc and I have been told that much by others. My brother-in-law is similarly aspergic and occasionally throws up communication difficulties for my partner and I, as well as my partner's parents to navigate.

I don't care how neurodivergent you are, walking around being nasty to people- and then being protected by well-meaning defenders isn't a good thing. You don't function well in society if you're protected from the consequences of your behaviour. That's why my request for her to stop was unambiguously worded. I've been as clear and as pleasant as I can be. More pleasant than most I suspect.

I wish the woman no harm, she's a good writer with a decent following - but that doesn't mean I won't be holding her accountable for her behaviour, ASD or not. When my brother-in-law left nasty comments on my business Facebook page after taking offence at my existence, I wrote him a letter and told him I'd take him to court for libel if he ever did it again. He was twenty seven at the time, old enough to know better. It made for an awkward Christmas dinner later that year but he now knows where the boundaries are. Tessa is pushing seventy, old enough to know better.

And no, it's not really a battle... and I'm not particularly emotionally invested in the Penguin/Tessa showdown. I enjoy hyperbole as a writing style. As for this article - why not? It was an easy write, I enjoyed the catharsis. Not every article can be buckets of rainbows and love. Sometimes people piss me off and I get petty. Aside from pretending I can't spell her name - I haven't really been all that nasty. Snarky perhaps - but not nasty.

If she's unsure about what I've said, or she doesn't understand what I've written or why she has the reputation she does across certain places in Medium, she's welcome to come back and talk it over. I haven't blocked her and the door is always open. She isn't batshit enough to be blocked - but she isn't delicate enough to be given a pass on her behaviour either.