The author moved in next door to the Palins, as part of his research for a book on Sarah. Wasilliness ensued — she built a giant fence and accused him of spying on her kids. He says that's ridiculous.

It takes gall the size of Palin's to post the spy picture of McGinniss' new house (above), as she did on Facebook last week and write "wonder what kind of material he'll gather while overlooking Piper's bedroom, my little garden, and the family's swimming hole" in a post about it.

In an interview with David Carr at the New York Times, McGinniss points out that the "swimming hole" is actually Lake Lucille, a 362-acre lake which is open to the public, and that he has no intention of taking any pictures or video of the family. "They are the ones who took a picture of me and posted it on the Web," he added.

McGinniss says that he's received thousands of angry email messages since Palin took to the internets. But that he cannot see what the fuss is about. "I am writing a book about Sarah Palin," he told Carr. "Why not live right next to the story? Unless I do something that is an active violation of their privacy, where is the harm?"

Carr does mention, however, that all that fuss "can't hurt the prospects for his book." Maybe Palin is worried about the competition her own upcoming tome might face.