Should I Be Concerned?

Yikes!

I use Google Analytics to watch over access and use of my web site. For the last several weeks, a substantial number of visitors hail from Russia, Crimea, and Yemen!



If you’re unfamiliar with my work, let me note that many of my novels contain characters who are members of Russia’s military intelligence, the infamous GRU.

Saint Petersburg University is the alma mater for some people of note in Russia. Mr. Putin is a graduate. 

Petersburg is also the home of the Internet Research Agency. This is the outfit responsible for the use of Facebook to influence public opinion in the run-up to our presidential election in 2016.

So, how does that make me feel?

First, every author welcomes readers, and where those readers reside is seldom an issue. I like readers. If not, why bother writing? Second, it’s unfair to condemn any geographic locale just because the activities I attribute to the GRU (and in my forthcoming book, If at First, the Internet Research Agency) in my literary endeavors.

Then there’s the matter of the Crimea. This disputed portion of the Ukraine is home to a large number of what the press describes as ethnic Russians. I haven’t read too many press reports of a GRU presence in the Crimea, but hey, it makes sense that Russia’s adventurism in the Crimea may involve the GRU. Now that I think of it, the Internet Research Agency may be involved in influencing popular opinion in Ukraine and the Crimea.

What about Yemen?

I’m reasonably well read about the Saudi’s efforts in Yemen, but less so about the degree of involvement of Russia and the GRU in that part of the world—until recently. The Ukranian Independent Information Agency in Kiev reports private Russian mercenaries are now present in Yemen. If correct, the Russian presence in Yemen is likely to increase over time.

Like many Americans of a certain age, my first contact with Yemen came via the television series, Friends. Chandler Bing, Matthew Perry’s character, tried (and failed) to convince his girlfriend, Janice, that he had to end their romantic relationship because he was relocating to Yemen. Chandler Bing, Janice, and Yemen? Yes. My books and Yemen? Really?

For some reason, finding my readership includes folks from the northern region of the Netherlands and a fair number of Finlanders does not create the same level of anxiety. A few folks from the Baltics, and Bulgaria doesn’t push the anxiety meter either.

Of course, my concern over readership demographics does not match that of my spouse. Her anxiety levels are off the scales. She seldom leaves our home without watching for people and vehicles that look out of place. Seriously, she sees herself as a primary lever with which readers in certain parts of the world will make a run at me. I laugh when she confides her concerns. Yet, in the deep recesses of my mind I do wonder. Can Liam Neeson help me get my wife back if she suddenly disappears? If she is spirited away to Yemen, can Liam Neeson and Matthew Perry work together?

Copyright 2019, Howard D. Weiner

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