When Even CONVICT Gets Stolen

You can do everything for the right reasons and still have somebody come along and try to take something from you. Breezie and I learned that lesson again this weekend. Our book, CONVICT: A True Story of Addiction, Prison & the Way Out, was counterfeited on Amazon. Somebody used my author name, copied our book listing, and put up a fake version containing only 49 pages. An innocent reader could order it believing they were buying my complete story, only to receive something that had absolutely nothing to do with us. That is the part that hurts the most. This book was not thrown together to make a quick dollar. I reached back into some of the darkest years of my life and opened doors I had kept closed for decades. Breezie and I talked long and hard before deciding to publish it. In the end, we believed my story was rare enough, honest enough, and important enough that it might reach someone who was still trapped in the life I escaped. Maybe it could save a life. Maybe it could give one family hope. Maybe it could show someone that their worst chapter does not have to be their last. Then the book reached number one as a new release in Alcohol Recovery. We celebrated for about an hour before discovering that somebody had stolen it. Life has a strange way of doing that, doesn’t it? Sometimes, just when the sunlight finally breaks through, somebody shows up carrying a bucket of clouds. This is not the first time it has happened to us. Our Facebook page has been copied more times than I can remember. Our pictures have been stolen. Our stories and posts have been taken and passed off as somebody else’s. Fake pages have pretended to be us and contacted the very people who trusted us. We reported it, but reporting these things often feels like hollering into an empty canyon. We were told that getting a blue check mark could help, but even that does not stop people from stealing your identity, your work, or the trust you spent years building. Sometimes it feels as if the thieves work for free while honest people are asked to pay for protection. Now it has happened to our book. Breezie reported the counterfeit to Amazon, and we are waiting for them to do the right thing. If it cannot be resolved quickly, we may have to remove our real book temporarily. That would break our hearts, but we will not knowingly leave our readers in a situation where they might spend their money and receive a fake. Still, this is Sunday, and I refuse to let a thief have the final word. I believe God sees the work that is done from the heart. I believe He knows the difference between the hands that build something and the hands that steal it. People may copy our pictures, our words, our pages, and even the cover of a book, but they cannot copy the life behind that story. They cannot steal the pain that taught the lessons, the faith that carried us through, or the reason the story was written. Most of all, they cannot stop the message from reaching the person who needs it. Maybe CONVICT has already found that one person. Maybe someone opened it during their darkest hour and realized there was still a way out. If that happened, then the thief arrived too late. The most important part of the book had already done its work. This experience has reminded me that doing the right thing does not guarantee an easy road. It simply means we keep walking with a clear conscience when the road gets rough. We do not let somebody else’s dishonesty change who we are. We keep telling the truth. We keep helping people. We keep believing that light will eventually expose what darkness tried to hide. Breezie and I do not know exactly how this will end yet. We are frustrated, disappointed, and trying our hardest to protect everyone who has supported us. But we are not giving up today. Besides, you have to admit there is a little humor hiding inside the aggravation. Out of every book somebody could have stolen, they chose one called CONVICT. I spent nine years around convicts, and even I never saw that one coming. God certainly has a sense of humor. And if the person responsible ever gets caught, I suppose we already have the perfect title for the sequel.post description.