Sighs...

This is the e-pub/small press community:


This is the e-pub/small press community off its meds:



And I'm not kidding. The wtfery levels are downright toxic at the moment. Check out Karen Scott's blog to fill yourself in.

Accusations of Plagiarism Against Well-Known Ebook Author

Several days ago, a fanfiction author named Amanda posted on reviewer Elisa Rolle's LiveJournal that JJ Massa's book, The Edge, is a plagiarized version of her fanfiction piece, Another Time, Another Place.

Rites of Romance owner Ash Arceneaux was the first to blog the news, and within the last few days more allegations have surfaced regarding Massa borrowing work from other fanfiction authors and even New York Times Bestseller Christine Feehan. Amanda has also posted on Ash's blog.

I may get myself in trouble for this one, but...I have read and compared the fanfiction with Ms. Massa's book. I have spoken with Amanda, the fanfic author. At this point, I believe her. If it's a hoax and I'm wrong, I'll willingly eat crow. But this seems legit to me. And what personal stake do I have in this?

Other than the fact that plagiarism makes my blood boil, and I see it as something that every author should be vigilant about and fight against, nothing. It affects us all, because it could happen to any one of us. In fact, Amanda didn't even know about this until very recently. Someone read her fic and the book and has been trying to reach her for a year to let her know. It could have already happened to me, or you, without us knowing. As writers, our books are more than simple diversions - they are us. My writing is me; my heart, my soul, my blood poured out in black and white. My characters are my happiness and my joy; my sorrow and my pain. They are both a part of me and real to me. I am never more vulnerable to a person than when they are reading my work. Nora Roberts has related her experience of being plagiarized to "mind rape." Katrina Strauss, who was also plagiarized, has said the same thing.

A plagiarist is the lowest of the low. Bottom of the barrel moldy disease-infected pond scum. We as writers have a duty to police ourselves against this creative vampirism, and to stop it when we find it. To ignore it is, in a sense, to condone it.

A few bad apples spoil the bunch, as they say, and I can only hope this doesn't undermine the credibility of the small press industry as a whole. (okay, overreacting? Maybe. Maybe not.)

Not every scene in The Edge was taken from Another Time, Another Place, but some of it is word for word. Some examples are below.

JJ Massa's Book, now pulled from Linden Bay Amanda's Star Trek AU fic Philadelphia—the city of brotherly love. Yeah, I feel the love. Tyler winced and slung his backpack over his aching shoulder. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself off the teeming sidewalk and up the battered stairs of the old, red-bricked precinct house. The inside foyer was even more chaotic than the busy street he'd just left. The room he found himself in was peopled with glowering teens, screaming whores, a few stumbling drunks, and a plethora of independent chemists and their staff. Tyler dropped his backpack onto the desk letting the noise of its landing grab the attention of a surly looking officer who'd been flicking through a magazine. "You want something?" he growled, "Just get in line." Tyler eyed him coldly, nodding his head at the motley mass of human chaos assembled. "I'm not here to sightsee. My name's Tyler Baker." The cop's lip curled in an outright sneer of contempt. He looked Tyler up and down rudely. "You're late. Lieu expected you a couple hours ago." "My plane was delayed. I've only been in the city an hour," he began to explain patiently. "Look deep into my eyes, Baker," he said scornfully. "See any give-a-shit in there?" Tyler folded his arms across his chest. "You got a problem with me, officer?" he demanded icily. New York, New York. So good they named it twice. ::Yeah, right:: Tom hoisted his knap-sack higher over his aching shoulder and stared with ill-disguised disgust at the crumbling red-stone exterior of the precinct house until the impatient bustling of passers-by forced him to mount the steps and walk inside. ::Shit:: The foyer was more chaotic than the street he'd left behind. The room was filled with screaming whores, sullen teens, a couple of blood-splattered drunks and someone curled up on the floor in one corner in a puddle of vomit. Tom wasn't sure whether the huddled body was a homeless guy sleeping in the station or a corpse. At the desk a couple of burly uniforms had some crack-head pinned against the wall while a third cop performed a public strip-search. He slammed his knap-sack down on the desk and the noise startled a bored-looking cop to belch and frown in his direction. "What the fuck's your problem? Join the queue." Tom curled his mouth into a sneer of derision, cocking his head mockingly at the bedlam that purported to be a 'queue'. "I'm not part of the entertainment. My name's Tom Paris." The cop returned his sneer, sliding his eyes up and down Tom's body with obvious contempt. "You're late. The Cap'n expected you two hours ago." "My plane got delayed. I only arrived an hour ago and I had to drop off my luggage." "Tell it to someone who cares, Paris."

AMANDA'S STORY:

Chapter 3 excerpt:

At Chakotay's greeting, Torres straightened up, tore the blood-soiled latex glove off her right hand with a loud snap, and pushed her hair back out of her face.

MASSA'S BOOK

Chap3 Excerpt

At Paytah's greeting, Medical Examiner Lida Amanda straightened up, pulled the bloodstained latext glove off her right hand with a resonating snap, and pushed her abundant hair off of her face.

KJ

Things That Rock. Things That Suck Part 2.

Things That Rock

1. Jane over at Dear Author posted this blog, which I found thanks to Karen Scott. I typically do not read Dear Author, because a lot of the things Jane says piss me off. (Sidebar: Opinions about Jane seem to be polarizing. My shockingly novel solution, unlike the traditional bitching and moaning about her, is to not read her blog. Imagine that.) I've noticed that a lot of authors are also lawyers, for some reason. But most aren't. Still, I believe there are several areas of the law every author should have at least a working knowledge of. One, of course, is copyright. Another is defamation.

2. I got a new cell phone, FINALLY! It's charging at the moment, but I can't wait to play.

Things That Suck

1. Loop chats. Just in general.

2. Authors who come in and promote at a loop when an author/group/publisher is featured that day. It's just rude, ya'll. Don't do it.

Things That Rock. Things That Suck.

Things That Rock.

Loose Id, a well-established and respected e-publisher (and home of Katrina Strauss' Blue Ruin series) announced last week that they have bid on the contractual rights to novels tied up in Triskelion's bankruptcy proceedings. If successful, Loose Id will then release all contracts at no cost to the author. According to Treva Harte, some authors will receive offers to contract with Loose Id. If they decline, however, they will also be released with no charge.

Loose Id's intentions in bidding on the contracts are fourfold: (1) to
facilitate the unencumbered acquisition of works offered to the company by
former Triskelion authors; (2) to assist authors in securing release or
reversion of rights to their work; (3) to potentially acquire and
re-publish top flight manuscripts that match Loose Id's publishing
guidelines; and (4) to reassure authors pursuing e-publishing careers of the
sound business practices and corporate ethics of reputable e-publishers.

I applaud Loose Id for this kick ass gesture.

And for another thing that rocks, check out my new cover, for Reckless Liaisons. Adra Steia rocks, and the cover rocks. Oh, and the book rocks too. Yay.

Things That Suck.

This wanker's blog entry about how to write your own novel. Apparently genre novels are easy peasy. Apparently there are also novels that don't have a genre. Apparently all one must do to write one's own book is to read someone else's book, take notes, and emulate. I won't even bother going into why that's a pile of horse crap, since I believe my own readers to be far more intelligent than said wanker apparently does.

Sucky thing no. 2 is the unconfirmed news that Twilight Fantasies, another small and relatively new e-pub, has closed its doors. That makes...well, a bunch so far in 2007: Triskelion, Mardi Gras, Venus (or was that 2006? hell I don't know), Stardust, and at least one other I can't remember at the moment. Plus Lovestruck Books, while it is not closing, is not releasing any new books from what I've heard. This is even more reason to commend Loose Id's maneuver. E-pubs are dropping like flies. I suppose it's unsurprising, considering the ease with which they open. You know what they say about that. Whoever they are, of course. Which is an entirely different blog post all together. But for now, I have to go back to my easy as pie genre novel writing.

Nora Roberts, I would have your babies

Seriously, I would.

Having been called the most confrontational person ever on a number of occasions, I can't deny the allegation that I enjoy controversy. It's the spice of life, after all. It keeps things interesting, and gives me something to write and think about, not to mention ideas for my writing. So yes, I have found the drama of this past week abundantly entertaining. I won't claim otherwise.

Perhaps my favorite part of this week has been interacting with other authors I don't normally encounter. Nora Roberts has been weighing in regularly on the MGP issue, and offering what I consider to be very good advice to new and aspiring authors. I don't read Nora's books; the headhopping drives me batshit. (I realize I headhopped like it was going out of style in Svetkavista, we'll talk about that later) But it's refreshing to know she actually cares about the little guy. In addition to finding her commentary amusing and intelligent, I love this one fact above all others: she wastes time fucking around on the Internet just like the rest of us.

Honestly, given the speed with which she can write a novel, I had always pictured her as sitting in a dark, 5' by 5' room with nothing more than a folding table and metal chair, typing so fast that cartoon smoke rises from the keyboard. Of course this raises the question of how does she write novels so fast when she's online? Katrina Strauss and I think she's got monkeys in the basement.

Anyway, while the excitement was fun for a bit, I'm starting to get tired of the drama. What started out as a constructive dialog about the pros and cons of epublishing has, in the last few days, devolved into a mudslinging insult war. People are taking the opportunity to bash authors or publishers they don't like with no constructive reason behind it. That's when it stopped being fun for me.

So now I go back to writing, which is what I should be doing anyway. Reckless Liaisons is shaping up nicely and I fall more in love with Sebastian Cade each day. His brother, Alex, also makes his presence known and at a cross between Ceallach Ruthven and Trevor Caufield, I guarantee you'll like him. The book is more "traditional Regency" than I have written in the past, and whether that's me growing as an author or not I'll leave to the readers to decide. Best of all - the series will be in print. (insert internal dance of joy here) I'm already compiling fun things, so keep your eyes peeled for info on how to get your very own Scandalous Situations goody bag.

And Nora, I mean it, the offer's open.