I’ve been sent rape threat by sick stalker, says writer
Mrs May, One evening there will be a knock on the door of that lovely home in Perthshire, the one with the garden. On opening the door, I’ll smile at you and indicate the small but very real pistol in my hand. It would be best if you remain silent about it.
A FANTASY writer has revealed that police are investigating after a stalker sent her a chilling rape threat. Dr Elizabeth May tweeted an email she received from a ‘ghoul’ who told her he would come to her home with a gun.
It detailed how he planned to attack the California-born writer and St Andrews University graduate at her rural home in Perthshire.
On Saturday night, Dr May tweeted: ‘Oh nothing to see here, just a nice casual email from a man that starts like this and then goes into detail on how he’ll rape me, cool cool cool, the internet is such a nice place.’ The section of the menacing email Dr May tweeted said: ‘Mrs May, One evening, there will be a knock on the door of that lovely home in Perthshire, the one with the garden.
‘On opening the door, I’ll smile at you, and indicate the small but very real pistol in my hand. It would be best if you remain silent about it.’
A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘We can confirm we have received a report of a threatening email having been sent and inquiries are ongoing.’
Dr May is the author of the young adult fantasy trilogy The Falconer (The Falconer, The Vanishing Throne, The Fallen Kingdom),
short fiction published in the anthology Toil & Trouble, and romance novels under the pen name Katrina Kendrick.
The married writer was born and raised in California and later lived in Vermont before moving to Scotland, where she gained a PhD in social anthropology at St Andrews University.
Dr May lives with her husband and two cats. She said: ‘I’m only sharing it [the threat] because this serves as a reminder of the things women endure when they’re outspoken online.
‘I think it’s important that people are aware of the ways in which men use sexual violence as a silencing tactic.’
Tweeting about a visit from police officers, Dr May explained: ‘Police have left the house just now. I gave them my statement, and now the department will see about where the email originated.
‘If nothing else, there’s a record opened with Police Scotland.’
The author moved to Perthshire from Edinburgh earlier this year.
She told fans on the internet: ‘I love Edinburgh very deeply but ultimately wanted to settle somewhere more rural.
‘My husband comes from a small town in Canada, and I lived in an even smaller town in Vermont before moving to Scotland, so the both of us were keen on a little more space for ourselves.
‘I wanted a garden for my cats to enjoy some time outside without the traffic noise and I, personally, longed to have a quieter place to write, go for walks and relax.
‘We had less than month to find a house, give notice to our landlord, and move our belongings and cats.’