Long-time readers know of “writer” Lawrence Dagstine, who, in the Legion of Nitwits, stands shoulder-to-shoulder alongside Nickolaus Pacione and that guy who thinks Stephen King killed John Lennon. (And if you’re a writer, editor or publisher, and you’re not aware of any of them, then may I recommend The Rusty Nail — a blog that keeps track of such individuals).
Recently, Dagstine was caught selling previously-published stories to various markets and misrepresenting them as originals. This is a big no-no in publishing (and it’s just the latest in a very long line of things Dagstine has done). A number of editors called for him to be blacklisted. Then, someone named “Vance” posted to Dagstine’s Facebook page that Dagstine had apparently killed himself. A number of well-meaning-but-ultimately-clueless people felt bad about it. A thread was started on Shocklines (because apparently there are still a dozen or so people who post there regularly). Ramsey Campbell, David Riley, myself, and a few others expressed skepticism regarding the “death”. And then Matt Schwartz did what Matt Schwartz is famous for — deleting anything that might provide a valid, logical, researched and reasonable warning to anyone wanting further details, including a multitude of links offering not only detailed proof of Dagstine’s offenses, but also proof that he had been in contact with people as recently as this morning, and had therefore hoaxed his own “death”.
Anyway, here’s what I posted, re-posted here for posterity (since Matt deleted all of it):
Consider:
1. He faked his “death” once before.
2. He was recently outed as serially selling reprints to markets as originals.
3. According to The Rusty Nail, his estranged wife had recently sworn out a PFA against him.
4. He’s admitted previously to stalking at least one female within the genre.
5. He has a long, documented history of creating bogus online identities and engaging in the exact behavior demonstrated here.
6. He has, in the past, used those false identities to stir up other mentally-ill individuals and cause trouble for various professionals whom he sees as “enemies”.
7. He faked cancer in an effort to get free books.
8. Etc. etc. I’d list more, but my post would end up deleted.
So, no. I’m not buying it. “Vance” is Larry. It’s yet another desperate and troubled cry for attention. My bet is that he’ll claim his account was “hacked”. And if it is true, then apologies to his loved ones, but it will be one less crazy thorn in my side, and the sides of other professionals who he’s harassed and burdened over the years. Mental illness and emotional conditions are sad and troubling (and I know this first hand) but he’s had plenty of help and guidance and advice and second chances and welcoming hands offered to him over the years. Regardless of whether it’s true or not, he could have taken a different path.
And then Matt said:
This is not the place to make derogatory comments or accusations about Lawrence, hence messages being removed. If you have definite news about his death, or about him being alive and this being untrue, post here or let me know. Otherwise, it’s best to take it to another message board.
And then Jodi Lee said:
He’s not dead.
1 – as stated by Brian, he’s pulled this before.
2 – he’s been caught screwing over not one, but several editors and at least two have called him out on it.
3 – I happen to know he was emailing people this morning. If he wants to fake his own death, he needs to learn to do it after using his email account to whine about unfair treatment and misunderstandings.
PS Nice to see I was in good company when my posts were deleted. Cheers Ramsey, Brian.
As I said I SL:
If true, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Fuck’em.
It is *so* good to have you back. Can we hope you’ll be rattling Lovecraft Press and the others that sprang up in your absence?
Thanks for the mention. I found it incredibly funny that I just happened to be finishing a bowl of Moose Tracks as I was reading this entry.
Something finally happens that makes me wish we still had TODP.
Yep, and I am one of those well meaning and ultimately clueless people. Although I smelled something rotten from the original ‘Vance’ post. I was however clueless as to who this ‘Lawrence Dagstine’ person was until I read your post on Shocklines. So as usual, thanks for the heads-up Brian. I wasted entirely too much time feeling bad about an completely fictional scam artist this morning. 3 hours of my life I can’t get back.
Dagstine is clearly not dead.
He has harassed me, lied about me, and gone so far as to post my home address and unlisted phone number on the net. He has threatened to phone me, come to my door step, and so forth.
You guys are all terrible, heartless people. What’s wrong with you?!
I for one am going to rise above this disgusting lack of compassion, and contact his grieving widow to offer my support.
If any of you would like to do the same, you can contact Dagstine’s widow at nickolauspacione@vampirefreaks.com.
Unlucky for me I made an amateur mistake 6 years ago with NP (Brian knows of this mistake and gave me great advice with it soon after it happened) and lucky for me I learned my lesson. So ol’ Larry isn’t fooling me with his pussy way out of trouble. It seems that he is worse at faking his own death than he is at passing off reprints as originals. Epic Fail!
Oh, snap!
Don’t they ever come up with new scams? I thought they were supposed to be ‘creative’…
There’s been one question that’s been gnawing at me ever since you made this post, Brian…
What kind of ice cream did you have?
And Bo and Lehold, not only has the SL thread been locked it was steamed, cleaned and deodorized along with a final slap on the butt to all the third grade posters.
Thank god Shocklines is out there to give professional writers a place to offer advice and talk about the business, and for new writers to learn from those that are professionally published. Thankfully Matt runs a tight ship, where no nonsense from any delusional nutjob who writes stories about ghost bees using crayons and scribbling their screed on discarded newspapers, while threatening anyone that might have looked in the general direction of their state of residence in the last one hundred years.Oh wait…
Yes, amazing job there, Shocklines. Keep it classy! I can’t believe this sad excuse for a message board is still around. I think at this point you’d get better writing advice from that chicken farmers’ board. And that one is likely not moderated by someone that acts like they’ve been dropped on their head a thousand times a day for the last thirty years.
And TODP was destroyed by idiots, just like Shocklines. It just took longer.
That Nick guy’s website is hilarious. I love this bit right on every page, his bio … “I am a horror writer who’ve been published” … who’ve been published? Really? That’s comedy right there, y’all!
Lookie, he’s not dead:
John Cashin *UPDATE* I have spoken with Larry, who is with his father, and he has authorized me to release the following statement: Due to circumstances of a family dilemma and clinical depression, Larry did abuse ‘Tramadol’, which he takes for Fibro. He was resuscitated and is currently being monitored at Coney Island Hospital. I told him that many of you are concerned.
Wow, I’ve really been out of the loop, especially since Matt and Shocklines were pretty respected when I was in the loop. Or so I thought…
Aha! See that! He’s not dead! Don’t you feel foolish now Brian and others? Do Matt’s words not fill you with shame for thinking it was all a scam, and for doubting the trustworthy Dagstine in general? See now why he deleted your posts?
Don’t you feel guilty and wrong for doubting the news that he died, when it turns out in reality he really hadn’t die….
Uh… Oh.
Alright then. I’m just going to go back to enjoying The Last Zombie and let you folks be.
Damn those fancy doctors and their gol dang resuscitation.
Jed Clampett
Guess what? I’m not at all concerned.
And you know what? This part of that statement sticks out in my head, “Larry did abuse ‘Tramadol’, which he takes for Fibro. ”
He “abused” a drug? This from the guy who followed me around for over a year posted statements about me like “Once a junkie, always a junkie” when I have been clean since ’88?
*SIGH*…this is only another reason to add to the never-ending list of Why I Haven’t Joined Shocklines.
Thanks for keeping it classy here Brian.
Epic!!!!! I have no idea who dagstine is, but this makes fail blog childs play
This is interesting. Look at the auther, look at the review.
http://www.amazon.com/Nycropolis-john-Cashin/dp/1413441963
Now that he’s miraculously not dead, everyone’s being all cuddly and sympathetic on FB. No one’s asking “Who’s Vance and why and how did he post what he done posted?” I’m sure he’ll turn out to be “just some well-meaning guy from the neighborhood who has LD’s passwords but isn’t a FB friend and got the wrong info second-hand on the street.”
Just so everyone knows – Cash-in is appearing on FB as Dagstine’s brother.
I’ve known about Shocklines message board for at least 6-8 years and I’ve never felt the urge to post there. And I never will – what a wacked up job Matt does over there.
I’ve known Lawrence only through Silverthought over the years, and remember him coming up in a discussion with Brian and John Everson at Hypericon last year. I almost fell for this announcement myself. Thank you for enlightening me. I guess for as synical as I am about the human race I still end up hoping people turn out good. Ahhh…the zombies will get us in the end.
Ahh yes…time to get back to my book….I’m in the middle of Ghost Walk…Brian, you have me hooked and corrupted!!!
From Dagstine’s email, a shot at Keene
“BRIAN KEENE IS A HERB. Call Lawrence at Hosp.: 1-718-616-6116. (please pass around on Twitter how KEENE is not only a terrible writer but wants to say hi Bitch from his hospital bed.”
“Herb” is a word Lawrence, and only Lawrence uses to describe someone in a derogatory manor, usually on Shocklines, making it ironic that Dagstine just “Keene’d” himself in order to insult…Keene. >__< ^__^
Did you know that a “Dag” in Australia is a lump of feces crusted into a lump after becoming entwined in a mass of hair around one’s gluteus maximus?
Just sayin’…
I’m appalled that anyone would pull this sort of crap. I didn’t know the cat well but any death diminishes, so I felt bad for his family. Having recently lost both friends and immediate family, I take death very seriously. What a fuck-wit!
Oh noes! I have been unfriended! (After being called a herb — from the hospital!)
Damage control! Damage control!
He’s dropped the phone number and parenthetical smacktalk down to just the all-caps Keene-herbing. I commented “Nice editing!” For this I got a herbing on my FB wall — from the hospital! And unfriended.
I deleted the herbing, a fact of which I am ashame-ed.
Unbelievable. No wonder a few called me a nut for giving one of his collections a decent review. I had no idea about more than half of what I’ve read about him in this post alone. Pretty sad.
From Lawrence Dagstine to me, via Facebook message: “I was hacked. I tried to take my life because my ex wont let me (even with court documents) see my son… Take that back to shocklines, brian keene, and rustys place. I’m still in the hospital a week and aint leaving too soon. Take that message back to the three places I mentioned above and I’ll re-add u.”
@ Jason…so ‘Dag’ is a ‘dingle-berry’? LOL
Thank you David Bain for exposing who ‘John Cashin’ actually is, as he emailed me a few times this morning about his ‘brother’, Lawrence.
Also, did you notice as I did before I unfriended the idiot, that his ‘brother’ had posted on Lawrence’s wall ‘Vance is a HERB’ ?
Vance, Lawrence, and John…all one and the same person.
What a fucking loser.
I hope after this shambolic affair Dagstine’s reputaion will be universally recognised as in tatters – if it wasn’t already! To put out fake death notices about himself is about as low as you can get. The only thing that has come out any worse has been Shocklines, where the code of protecting brain-damaged morons has reached new heights.
“I was hacked. I tried to take my life because my ex wont let me (even with court documents) see my son… I’m still in the hospital a week and aint leaving too soon.”
Except that he wasn’t hacked. Proof exists, in his own words. Ditto his “hospital” stay. If he wants to push the issue, we can go ahead and post that proof. It is, shall we say, overwhelming.
And he calls *you* a herb?? That’s rich.
I think we should talk to Penzey’s Spices and see if we can a “Brian Keene Herb Mix” — maybe a steak seasoning or something like that.
To my knowledge, I’ve never read a piece of Dagstine fiction (maybe slush when I edited for The Company That Shall Not Be Named?), and I don’t really plan on it. Can anyone tell me: Is the horror as inconsistently plotted as the drama?
Ahhh the good old “I was hacked” excuse, works in any situation when you paint yourself into a corner on any social networking site/forum. BTW I live in the Bronx so I’m relatively close to Coney Island. Someone see if they can get the hospital room # and I could always swing through over there to see if he’s there LOL, although I have to admit I really hate traveleing to the ass end of Brooklyn, however I’d do it for the LOLZ
I like KFC’s special blend of herbs and spices. Is that the same thing?
Can you say asshole!
So Brian, are you a HERB as in good on spaghetti or are you some kind of a love bug? Inquiring minds want to know.
BTW Brian you should be honored, I haven’t heard anyone called a herb since like Kid N’ Play were around LOL
Okay, here’s a transcript of this afternoon’s Facebook message exchanges. I’m bowing out of the matter, if I can, in the interest of time. This is the only place I’m posting this.
John Cashin July 30 at 12:31pm I was alerted to some comments on the rustynail and BrianKeene websites about me. I have no idea who Vance is. I am listed as Larry’s brother; I have at least 10 to 15 people also listed as my brother. Because he is listed as my brother, I was alerted to all this, and reached out. I haven’t seen Larry since 2004, but that doesn’t matter–he is my brother. I’ll be changing my profile pic to one of myself and Larry from 1998. And if you’d like, you can friend request me to take a closer look and see that I exist. .
David Bain July 30 at 12:48pm There’s been some question about the book with your name on it that Larry reviewed. I think that’s a big part of the things people are saying. .
John Cashin July 30 at 12:51pm Between you and I, I self published that in 2004, and he referred me to xlibiris. I don’t want any pictures of myself used, but since you were one of the voices that speculated that I was involved in some sort of sham, I’d appreciate you setting the record straight. Thanks.
Sent via Facebook Mobile .
David Bain July 30 at 12:54pm Wait. Let’s be absolutely clear before I go posting anything.
You want me to post that you self-published the book in 2004 and Larry reviewed it.
And I’m still not clear if Larry is your “bro” or your familial brother. Are you actually related or not?
You don’t want pictures of yourself used, aside from the one you posted as your new profile pic.
All of this is correct? .
John Cashin July 30 at 1:01pm Don’t say a word about the book. I want that thing dead and buried. We aren’t blood related. He’s my bro like all the others I have listed. I’d rather that NO pics were used.
Sent via Facebook Mobile .
John Cashin July 30 at 1:14pm I hope you can understand where I’m coming from–damage control. I just don’t want to be misrepresented is all, and I don’t want my approach with you to be misconstrued in any way–my approach and demeanor is friendly.
Sent via Facebook Mobile .
David Bain July 30 at 2:14pm Okay, I’m unclear, then, on what exactly I’m setting the record straight about if I can’t mention the book.
Here’s what I seem to be “allowed” to post:
Nothing about the book.
That you are Larry’s “bro” but not blood-related brother.
That you don’t want pictures of yourself used, aside from the one you posted as your new profile pic. .
John Cashin July 30 at 2:35pm Well, first and foremost, this sort of looks like a P.R. scheme if the book is mentioned. I asked xlibiris to discontinue the book years ago, but its still up on those sites. I’m not promoting anything other than my friendship with Larry. Larry published several titles with xlibiris, and he inspired me to do the same. When the book was published, he supported me with a review. My friendship with him dates back to 1990. Had no idea who Brian Keene was, or what Rusty Nail was, until today. I don’t know what Larry has done to make so many enemies, and honestly don’t care; his stature with me wouldn’t change for anything. I read a lot of things people said about him; true or not, that’s not the dude I know. I took personal offense to what ‘Vance’ wrote, and that was documented in several fb posts I made yesterday. I reached out to Larry, and he asked that I post the statement he gave me regarding his status. I would rather the pic remain only on my fb page, and not reposted anywhere.
Sent via Facebook Mobile .
David Bain July 30 at 2:37pm So, if you want me to post something in your stead, as opposed to posting it yourself (which I don’t understand in the first place), give me a specific quote with your okay to cut and paste. .
John Cashin July 30 at 2:51pm I guess what I just wrote to you is appropriate. I don’t really have any interest in answering questions about somebody else, and by posting something like this myself, it lends itself to be commented upon, and then me being notified. Its obvious that Keene and Rusty Nail have issue with Larry–GOD bless them. I’m emotionally and physically well capable of engaging in defensive and offensive attacks regarding Larry; mentally, I feel it’s best to refrain and remain oblivious. I really wasn’t happy with a lot of what I read. What I expected out of OUR exchange was something simple, like I “contacted you, invited you to become my friend on Fb to see that I was not Larry, and to answer whatever questions there were. The guy seems ‘on the level’.” That’s all. You can post this too, if you like. Do you have any other questions I may not have addressed?
Sent via Facebook Mobile .
David Bain July 30 at 3:16pm Um, okay, for clarity’s sake, I feel I must post the whole message exchange. Give me a thumbs up, and I’ll do it, then I’m bowing out of this whole thing. .
John Cashin July 30 at 3:23pm That’s cool. Thumbs up. Thank you. It’s unfortunate that I feel this has been somewhat of a burden to you. I feel that you specifically had questions, and wanted answers, or at least wanted to provide answers. You obviously investigated who I was, and I reached right out to you.
Sent via Facebook Mobile .
David Bain July 30 at 3:46pm I’ll post this. Thanks for your civil responses. There are lots of ways the material in our exchange can be interpreted, and I’m sure we’ll see several. The internet remains a funhouse of wheels within wheels, but there are better things to do with one’s time than all this, on all sides. The only thing I’m sure of here is that Mr. Dagstine needs help on some level – potentially several levels – and I hope he gets it. I might lurk a bit to watch this phase of the aftermath, but I’m bowing out of the matter at this point, if I can.
Sorry, you put up with that crap… sounds like my mother in law.
If prior behavior is any indication — in terms of the last time you called him out on this blog — a violent eruption of hot air is due from him at any moment, full of “How dare you, Brian… I have READERS!” Only, TODP is no longer around for him to try and vent his “misunderstood spleen.”
And, if the waning days of TODP are any indication, it will be funny for about a minute and 37 seconds. And then it will just be pathetic, sad, and hard to read.
Ahhhh yes, Matt Schwartz in action again, sole defender of douchebaggery wherever it may rear its ugly head on his pathetic excuse for a message board. Said it before and I will gladly say it again: Schwartz is a coward and an enabling hypocritical shitstain on the genre.
I’m not even remotely surprised he once again deleted and sanitized his wee little board.
So if Larry has shuffled off his immoral coil, do I still have to pay him royalties for books of his I sell…and can I market his books as “by deceased writer”? Or do I just wait for a “Gotcha!” e-mail from him before I resume normal sales?
I lol’ed. And then I lol’ed again.
In other news, Nicky is still your biggest fan:
http://authorspub.ning.com/group/thelakefossilpressfamily/forum/topics/the-barbara-malenky-memorial
Good one, Tyree. I spat coffee out my nose
I guess you now realise what kind of idiot you’ve published.
Did he burn you as well by selling you a reprint as an original for First Rights?
Later.
Glad this stuff is here to show how Dagstine and his friends are what I’m come to suspect in the last few months. I was on his friends when it all went down and as soon as I realised it was fake I deleted and blocked him. Please don’t forget the other ‘nitwits’ he’s connected with though – they are all of the same ilk. One of whom is currently stalking me too. Which is why I’ve put up a fake name as I do not wish to be identified at this time. Brian – however – my email address is here for you to contact me if you want to. I could really do with advice on how to deal with this current problem. Thanks again all of you. Forewarned is forearmed.