Thursday, December 2, 2010

Citation Needed - Cassie Edwards Plagiarism Scandal

Thank you, webcomic "xkcd" for this amazing picture.

About two years ago Skrybbi (Librarian Lauren) and I did a video blog (bits of which may or may not appear at a later date) about a the plagiarism allegations against a bestselling Historical Native American Romance Novelist Cassie Edwards.

The ladies over at the Smart Bitches Trashy Books website uncovered Edwards's use of large sections of unchanged text from various outside sources including Standing Bear's "Land of the Spotted Eagle" and a Defenders Magazine article on the "Black-Footed Ferret". At first, her publisher, Signet, denied the allegations, but after the ensuing uproar and side-by-side comparisons posted by the Smart Bitches, as well as a statement of condemnation against plagiarism from Romance Giant Nora Roberts, Signet decided to re-evaluate all of the books they had published by Edwards.

That was the last Skrybbi and I heard...until I decided to look it up today. You will notice on Edwards's Wikipedia Page that Signet is no longer publishing her books due to "irreconcilable editorial differences". No kidding. You'll also notice that, although Edwards was able to churn out at least one (often two or three) novels a year, she has published nothing since the book that started it all in 2007, "Shadow Bear".

As an avid proponent of the "literary keel-hauling" method, as Skrybbi so eloquently put it, I'm relieved to see that--this time, at least--the right people won. I'm fairly certain none of the authors of the 12 sources Edwards plagiarized sued, so she got lucky. Despite her alleged whining about the allegations making her feel "picked on now as our Native American Indians have always been picked on throughout history", the consequences of her actions could have been a lot more severe. Sure, Crazy Horse isn't exactly in a state to sue, but there are 11 other plagiarees (new word!) to choose from.

In my opinion, plagiarism is nothing more than a sign of literary pigritude. Maybe if Edwards had stuck to only one novel a year she would have had the energy to writer her own material.

To read more on the Cassie Edwards Plagiarism ordeal, check out the ORIGINAL POST at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, or the Cassie Edwards Plagiarism Recap over at Dear Author .

To learn more about plagiarism and how to recognize and avoid it, check out any of the following links.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Just a quick one...

It's almost Christmas, and you know what that means!

Well yes, it means that, but it also means it's time to be generous and help out your fellow man! Adopt a child in need! Welcome them into your home with open-

What's that? Too expensive? Well, adopt a kitty! They're running a special down at the SPCA where they don't even charge you for-

Still too expensive? Wow, cheapskate. Ok ok, how about adopting a word! Every year hundreds of words are dropped from the English language. What a great way to help our future generations! And it's free; all you have to do is learn some new vocabulary and use it regularly.

http://www.savethewords.org

Look how cute they are! Come on, how can you look at those adorable little words and turn a blond eye? You monster.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Scribe's Resources for Fantasy Writers

I often find myself wishing I could remember this awesome resource I found that time when I was seventeen and needed a name for a character in his 30's that sounded French and started with a P but wasn't "Pierre" or "Phillipe" or "Peter", and possibly had a Q in it somewhere, please. Damn I miss that resource.

I've decided to compile a list of the resources I use, or which have been recommended to me. Here it is. Expect additions to this in the future, and feel free to comment and leave links to pages you have found useful! I'll check them out.


PLOT

Possibly the most life-changing writing tool I have ever used, barring only a computer word-processor. This may be designed for plotting with limited time to write...but I think I'm going to use this method for every novel from now on. Seriously, it has helped me to organize and make a coherent story SO MUCH. I've got just over half of the rough draft finished in a month (NaNoWriMo2010 Winner, baby. HOO-rah! (well...huzzah...)).

The University of Michigan's Science Fiction and Fantasy website Dictionary of Symbolism (too legit to quit, guys). Alphabetical by symbol, it's great if you want a quick, one or two-sentence reference of symbols to utilize. I've been using it for HELLHOUND.

CRAFT

Essays by Orson Scott Card on the craft of writing. Almost as addictive as Wikipedia. Almost.

Do I put the period inside or outside the quotation mark? Is it Moses' or Moses's? What the hell is a participle phrase? Commas? Help? This thing is my grammatical bible, and the reason I made such good grades in 12th Grade AP English.

CHARACTERS

I really love this list. I do it with a lot of my characters--even if it may seem tedious and redundant, some of the answers might surprise you. Some of the questions definitely surprised ME. "Why is this character angry?" is a GREAT one, especially for pansy characters. These questions will help create depth.

I really love having a good image for my characters. Sometimes it's in my head...sometimes I need help. Sometimes, I even get inspired by a picture, and end up creating an entire story or character based on it. Check out this site for awesome character art.

Because it's more than dialogue; it's whyalogue.

For those who like to have D&D-esque profiles for all their characters. I haven't used something like this since high school, but I know there are people who find them useful. Here's a ready made one by kittyfelone of Deviant Art. Now...Kitty Felone is a name that is so very Noir it makes me want to write a story. And have her cary an uzi. And possibly a can of tuna.

WORLD-BUILDING

Exactly what it says. These questions are very helpful for getting you thinking about your world in a coherent way.

A very cool, logical way to go about constructing a world that works. Also fun to apply to worlds you already have, just to see where they're not quite cutting it.

Exactly what it says. How big a city does it take to support an inn? The answer to that and many other questions were fairly eye-opening! Go ahead...add some authenticity!

Can my characters drink coffee? Just how early did people start eating crumpets...and what is it anyway? How do I make mead? Find out just about everything you need to know about the introduction of food into the diet (of various cultures!) all over the world, not to mention links to recipes and primary sources! Gotta tell my dad that hot dogs originated in 1487.

A well-organized encyclopedia of different pantheons from Greek to Norse and on and on. Very useful when you don't want to get sucked into Wikipedia for hours (even if you like it. You should be writing).

A guide to different kinds of mythical creatures. If you want some basic information on different creatures, and which creatures around the world are similar (Griffin and Axax, for example), this is a good resource.

MAPPING

Free map-making software. It's designed for RPGs, and I'm currently testing it out to see if it's applicable to non-RPG Medieval fantasy mapping as well. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Originally designed for RPG dungeons, but I find it useful for mapping out rooms and buildings.


LANGUAGE

Seriously. You will create a language. No. Really.

FUN! FUNFUNFUNFUN!!!!!!!! (but I'm a language geek...) Use this to supplement the language clinic above, or the other way around. Using both is very helpful!

BATTLES/WAR/LOGISTICS

Link to the navigation post of this EPICLY good resource for war tactics, battle, logistics, and why women's breastplates don't need boob-bulges. That should be enough for you right there.

Pictures!

Don't be fooled by the simple title. This page will rock your steel (or iron, or bronze, or bone) with historical data, differences, misconceptions, and helpful pictures. Ever wondered "what's the difference between a great sword and a claymore?" "Katana or nodachi?" This is your place to find out.

Check this out. Seriously, it's really really useful for writing period fight scenes without them coming off implausible to members of the SCA and ARMA.



OTHER RESOURCES

Wordle Create fun and pretty word-clouds. It's great for helping you figure out what the theme of your story might be based on which words you happen to use the most often. REALLY fun resource.

OTHER LISTS OF RESOURCES



*Thanks to the folks at the NaNoWriMo Fantasy forum for giving me some of these awesome resources!

The end of NaNoWriMo

Don't let the statistics scare you, just revel in the fact that the little writer-to-be comes into the library to have this conversation with me all the time. And I often wish I had a gun in my car.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

New day, new blog

Why is it that, when faced with a blank text box and a blinking cursor, it is impossible to think of anything of substance to say?

Welcome to the new blog. We'll put something interesting up...right after we've had our coffee.