Another writer contacted me saying she received the same emails from "fans" asking for her autograph - the exact messages I got. This is a hoax; I don't know what they are after exactly, and why they are targeting writers (of young adult books?) - but I'm posting this blog to warn other writers not to treat such email requests seriously.
As of March 23, I've received more of these emails which I've posted, and I will continue to post them as I receive them.
~~~~
Hello!
My name is Piotr Haase. I am 33 years old. I live in a little village in Poland,together with my wife Kate and two sons Albert and Adrian. We are happy and we lead quiet live. I have been Cecilia Manguerra Brainard fan since many years.
I really admire you and I think you are very good in that what you do.I was wandering if you could. Send me yours autograph.
I would be grateful.
Thank you in advance.
Your sincelery
Piotr Haase
MY ADRESS:
PIOTR HAASE
STOJESZYN I nr 12
23-310 MODLIBORZYCE
POLAND
~~~~
Hallo Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
Ich bitte um zwei Autogramme.
Sage vielen Dank und wünsche Ihnen viel Erfolg.
Would you please send me two Autograph and Signature.
Thank you.
Monika Förster
Esmarchstr. 8
42283 Wuppertal
Deutschland
~~~~
BEDBURG 18,03,2009
Dear Mrs.Cecilia Manguerra Brainard!>>>The Best<<<
Please send me 3 Originally signed Photos of Yurself.
Best wishes for your future and many Thanks.
Yours sincerely and 10 Fans from Germany,
==========================
from Mrs, Cecilia Manguerra brainard.
=====================================
Lorenz u.Eleonore Schop
And Friends
Postfach 2227
D-50181 Bedburg/Germany
~~~
Dear Mrs. Manguerra
I am a very great admirer of yours.
Please send me 3 original autographs of yours.
Many thanks in advance for your trouble and help.
The best wishes to you and your family for the future
and may all your dreams come true.
I am looking forward to your early reply.
Yours sincerely
Elke Stachowiak & Sandra & Britta & Detlef
Bergstrasse 82a
44339 Dortmund
Germany
~~~
Dear Cecilia!!!
I´m a very big fan of You!!!
I ask You for three handwritten autograph-cards.
Thank You very much in advance!
I wish You a great success for the future and all the best for You and Your family!!!
With friendly regards
-Your Fan-
Stephan Lindner
Hauptstr. 15
D-67808 Bayerfeld
Germany
~~~
I´m a great Fan and admirerer of you. I would there be very happy if you could send me 2 handwritten pictures of you.
I would be very pleased if you could fulfill my wishes. Many thanks in advance for your kindness.
I wish you all the best for the future.
My Adress : Darius Romanek
Lärchenweg 3
D -90530 Wendelstein
Germany
Yours sincerely,
~~~~~
dear cecilia
Just a short e-mail to say that i am a great admirer of your work.
It is with much interest that i would like to know your favourite leisure interests.
Would you please consider sending me your autograph, it would be much appreciated. My snail mail address is:-
GRAYDON WALL
21 HATHERTON GARDENS
WOLVERHAMPTON
WEST MIDLANDS
WV10 8DT
ENGLAND
Many Thanks
Graydon Wall
About Me
- Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
- Profile Views figure is stuck. There are over a million pageviews., United States
- Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books.. Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized. Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
This is so crazy! I just got a 3rd one from Bjorn Forster in Germany...have you gotten that one as well?
ReplyDeleteYes, I posted this third one as well. This some kind of hoax. Are they trying to get signature samples for banking purposes, perhaps?????
ReplyDeleteAnd me, too! I'm a young adult author in the UK, and I've got all of these save the last (I posted to Leigh's site, too). Bizarrely, I also found a jazz singer in New Orleans who's getting the same requests. Very strange.
ReplyDeletePatrick Ness
Could be from people who want to make fake IDs, who knows for what? Scary!
ReplyDeleteI'm a pianist and got one from Lorenz u.Eleonore Schop And Friends. I also received one from Bertram Heisl...
ReplyDeleteAre these people crazy?
They target musicians as well, i have received these plus about 5 more. It actually started for me with someone in Spain who wrote back and seemed legit. It's really alarming.
ReplyDeleteBora Yoon said: Me Too! I am a musician/sound artist/composer and have been receiving a slew of these kind of emails as well. Thank you for posting this online, as I was concerned after receiving more than 8 of them whether they were real of fake.
ReplyDeleteHi--
ReplyDeleteI'm a novelist (not YA), and I got my first of these about a month ago, and a second request a couple of weeks later. Today I got FOUR of them, from Graydon Wall, Lorenz Schop, Monika Forster, and Darius Romenek. They all landed nearly back to back in my email, so this is clearly more than coincidence.
I still can't figure out what there is to gain from a signed photo, unless it's status or something. Maybe they all belong to an online collector's club?
I responded to the first two requests, and maybe that put me on a sucker list somewhere...
--Lewis Shiner
these are still going on. my wife got one from Graydon Wall today. she is an actress not a writer - although she has written for the stage a bit...
ReplyDeleteI got one today from Graydon Wall the exact same letter but hand written with a return stamped address envelope all ready to go back and a little piece of card for signing. I am an actress to, very very strange...
DeleteGot one myself, I'm a US musician/songwriter. I don't know this fan, they have not requested a CD and I don't have any trace of them downloading my music or otherwise knowing my work. Anybody contact the police about this? It seems like a scam to me. Especially thanks to this blog!! Maybe this is a sign of all of our success! haha.
ReplyDelete--Melissa Kate.net
Bertram Heisl from Frankfurt just seems to be a collector of autographs from EVERYONE ... my friend (a writer) has just gotten an inquiry and so I googled him, but he is a real person and has inquired lots of autographs, mostly from people in Germany, though ...
ReplyDeleteGraydon Wall strikes again! I just go the exact same letter!
ReplyDeleteHello all, I got a hand written 'Graydon Wall' one. I'm an actress and writer (playwright and screen writer not novelist) but it was delivered to my dressing room in London pre show. Very weird. So glad I googled first!
ReplyDeleteI'm also an actress from the UK and exactly the same story as the person who commented above- handwritten letter from Graydon Wall, word for word the same as your email!
ReplyDelete