I got quite a good haul tonight from the UBS (used book store). This is the first time I've purchased one book from each of four different sections of the store. Tonight's treasure includes:
"Touch of Evil" by C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp, Tor 2006 - A paranormal romance by authors I've enjoyed in the past. In fact, these two are the only Tor romance authors I've found who write consistently good books.
"Harvest" by Tess Gerritson, Pocket Books, 1996 - I love Tess Gerritson's books, and I think this is one of only two or three books of hers that I'm missing.
"Endurance" by S.L. Viehl (also known as Paperback Writer), Roc, 2001 - I've looked for this one several times at the local B&N because Ms. Viehl on my "Autobuy-New" list. However, they've been out, and I haven't to buy it on-line because I don't want to charge anything to my credit card because of the mercenary sharks that I have to deal with there (a rant for another day).
and finally
"Gathering the Bones", an anthology of short horror stories, edited by Dennis Etchison, Ramsey Campbell and Jack Dann, Tor, 2003 - a remaindered book that showed up new and less than half price at the UBS. I'm not sure why this sounded good, except that I've been reading some horror stories on-line, and I'm craving some professional writing. I prefer intellectual/psychological horror to the blood-'n-guts, but I'll just have to read to find out I suppose.
Now I just have to find the time to read them all...
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Monday, December 25, 2006
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
A Reading Fiend
I’ve been on a reading glut since NaNoWriMo ended (and no, I didn’t win – otherwise you’d be seeing the little winner icon over there in my sidebar.) I cleaned off my shelves and took the books I no longer wanted to the used book store, where I traded them for credit and/or other books.
One of the books that I traded for was “The Ultimatum” by Susan Kearney. I’ve previously said that I won’t ever spend money on her books again, and I stand by that. (Trading isn’t really spending money.) I was pleasantly surprised, however, because “The Ultimatum” was better than her previous books. For one thing, the hero and heroine of this book are both likeable. A review is coming soon. She also has a fourth book coming out; I’ll likely trade for that one, too. It’s the last in the series.
Then there are the Montana authors:
I read “Iced” by Jenny Siler. The story is set in Missoula, Montana, where Ms. Siler lives and a place that I am familiar with. Which was much of my problem with this book. More on that later. It’s also clear from her writing that Ms. Siler is a big fan of James Crumley (another Montana author). Her style is VERY similar to his – short, choppy sentences and a gritty, seedy, noir feel to the story.
Patricia Briggs’ “Moon Called” was the last book I read. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and I intend to check out Ms. Briggs backlist. More on this later, too.
So when I get back to my highspeed Internet access, I’ll put in the links to the books on Amazon. But for now, if you want to do more, you’ll have to a bit o’ cut and paste.
One of the books that I traded for was “The Ultimatum” by Susan Kearney. I’ve previously said that I won’t ever spend money on her books again, and I stand by that. (Trading isn’t really spending money.) I was pleasantly surprised, however, because “The Ultimatum” was better than her previous books. For one thing, the hero and heroine of this book are both likeable. A review is coming soon. She also has a fourth book coming out; I’ll likely trade for that one, too. It’s the last in the series.
Then there are the Montana authors:
I read “Iced” by Jenny Siler. The story is set in Missoula, Montana, where Ms. Siler lives and a place that I am familiar with. Which was much of my problem with this book. More on that later. It’s also clear from her writing that Ms. Siler is a big fan of James Crumley (another Montana author). Her style is VERY similar to his – short, choppy sentences and a gritty, seedy, noir feel to the story.
Patricia Briggs’ “Moon Called” was the last book I read. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and I intend to check out Ms. Briggs backlist. More on this later, too.
So when I get back to my highspeed Internet access, I’ll put in the links to the books on Amazon. But for now, if you want to do more, you’ll have to a bit o’ cut and paste.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Editors Behaving Badly
I used to read this blog rather regularly, but today I quit.
In one of the comments on Ms. Genoese’s first post today, a poster mentioned not liking Susan Kearney’s “The Challenge” (Ms. Genoese is the editor who bought/handled this book for Tor.). I posted a response in agreement saying (and I’m paraphrasing here for reasons that will become clear below) that I thought Ms. Kearney was a good writer, had a good imagination, and knew how to put a story together, but that the “forced seduction” in the story ruined the romance for me because I thought that to be insulting and demeaning to the heroine. I also said that I liked the heroine a lot; I just thought she deserved better treatment than the hero gave her. Finally, I made it clear that this was just my opinion, and I knew that others had different ones.
Does that sound harsh? I didn’t think so. The nice stuff started out the post, and I also mentioned a couple of other books put out by Tor that I really enjoyed. And "forced seduction" is a topic that's been discussed in on-line romance circles before, and people have a variety of opinions. I was curious what others thought.
So this afternoon I checked back to see if any discussion had occurred on the posts and found the posts had been deleted. Ms. Genoese had this to say in her second post today:
In one of the comments on Ms. Genoese’s first post today, a poster mentioned not liking Susan Kearney’s “The Challenge” (Ms. Genoese is the editor who bought/handled this book for Tor.). I posted a response in agreement saying (and I’m paraphrasing here for reasons that will become clear below) that I thought Ms. Kearney was a good writer, had a good imagination, and knew how to put a story together, but that the “forced seduction” in the story ruined the romance for me because I thought that to be insulting and demeaning to the heroine. I also said that I liked the heroine a lot; I just thought she deserved better treatment than the hero gave her. Finally, I made it clear that this was just my opinion, and I knew that others had different ones.
Does that sound harsh? I didn’t think so. The nice stuff started out the post, and I also mentioned a couple of other books put out by Tor that I really enjoyed. And "forced seduction" is a topic that's been discussed in on-line romance circles before, and people have a variety of opinions. I was curious what others thought.
So this afternoon I checked back to see if any discussion had occurred on the posts and found the posts had been deleted. Ms. Genoese had this to say in her second post today:
Two things that make me crankier: when people slag off on my authors in the comments, and…(Don't bother going to look for them [the posts]--after I made snotty remarks to the posters, I screened the posts. I am totally piqued.)...Go write rude things about my authors and me [on your own blogs].(This is not to say that everyone is supposed to agree with me all the time. Far from it. However, gratuitous rudeness and a confrontational attitude is not welcome here.)
Later, in the comments, she referred to me as an idiot.
WTF?
Slagging off on her authors? Um, I said nice things about the author. In fact, I said nice things about several authors. I said I didn’t like certain aspects of this particular story.
Confrontational? **scratching head** I have no idea how what I wrote could be seen as confrontational.
Gratuitously rude? **scratching head still** WTF?
I never saw her “snotty comments” so I have no idea what she said in response to my post. Maybe that would explain her choice of adjectives.
Now I respect Ms. Genoese’s right to delete whatever comments she wishes – it’s her blog after all. And maybe I shouldn't have posted anything at all. Perhaps this was not the venue for this discussion. However, I strongly object to having what I wrote so grossly mischaracterized. I like Tor’s paranormal romance line, and I’ll continue to read/buy the books – but my days of reading Ms. Genoese’s blog are over.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Catching Up
It’s been one hell of a busy week.
I found out at a meeting on Monday afternoon that a project deadline had been moved up a week and that I had to have it done by Friday – as in yesterday. Grr.. That meant some long days, where I went in at 6:00 or 6:30 in the morning, stayed until 5:00 p.m., took a break, and then went back later in the evening.
To make matters worse, I also had a training seminar to go to from 11:00 to 1:00 on Friday. I already knew about 90% of the material, but I get Continuing Ed hours for it and it was free – so it was worth my time. I also took a colleague with me and about 60% of the material was new to him (and he really needed to learn it!).
I haven’t totaled up my hours for the week, but I think I’m approaching fifty. I got home from work last night, had a glass of wine, and fell asleep on the couch. It was that kind of sleep that is hard to come up out of, where something wakes you but fighting back to full consciousness is almost impossible.
So what else have I accomplished this week?
Outlining for my NaNoWriMo novel: zilch
Writing on first draft of story for Lynn Viehl’s challenge: zilch
Revising two poems for submission to an e-zine: zilch
I did attend a couple of talks at the Book Festival going on here today. One panel included four authors who, for various reasons, have self-published. One of the authors was RoseMarie London, who was a finalist in last year’s Needle Awards (see POD-dy Mouth). Another author was a girl who wrote a novel while she was in high school, and her parents loaned her the money to self-publish her novel as a senior project. It was interesting stuff, and I’ll write more about it soon.
The second panel was about fiction writing, and five authors discussed their latest works and their writing process. Two of their books sounded interesting enough that I’m probably going to buy them. My only complaint is that all of the author’s write literary fiction. There were no genre authors on the panel. It’s a minor complaint, though, because the discussion was still good.
And to top off the day, I score big time at the used book store tonight. I found Holly Lisle’s “Midnight Rain”. I have read her “I See You” (loved it) and “Last Girl Dancing” (liked it). I also found a second book by Annette Blair called “My Favorite Witch” I just finished her “The Kitchen Witch” and loved that as well. This book is about one of the secondary characters in the first book.
And finally, though I hate to admit it, I bought another Susan Kearney book, “The Dare”.
***ducking and running because asked someone to shoot me if I ever bought anything by her again***
It’s just that the main character of this book, Dora, was so funny in the last one. If the book includes any “forced seduction” scenes, well, I used my trade credit for the book…so it’s not like I spent actual money on it.
I’m trying to get caught up on reviews, but I haven’t much lately that’s been really snarky-worthy. Most of it has been just bland and unmemorable. Except for a couple of gems that I will touch on in the next post.
I found out at a meeting on Monday afternoon that a project deadline had been moved up a week and that I had to have it done by Friday – as in yesterday. Grr.. That meant some long days, where I went in at 6:00 or 6:30 in the morning, stayed until 5:00 p.m., took a break, and then went back later in the evening.
To make matters worse, I also had a training seminar to go to from 11:00 to 1:00 on Friday. I already knew about 90% of the material, but I get Continuing Ed hours for it and it was free – so it was worth my time. I also took a colleague with me and about 60% of the material was new to him (and he really needed to learn it!).
I haven’t totaled up my hours for the week, but I think I’m approaching fifty. I got home from work last night, had a glass of wine, and fell asleep on the couch. It was that kind of sleep that is hard to come up out of, where something wakes you but fighting back to full consciousness is almost impossible.
So what else have I accomplished this week?
Outlining for my NaNoWriMo novel: zilch
Writing on first draft of story for Lynn Viehl’s challenge: zilch
Revising two poems for submission to an e-zine: zilch
I did attend a couple of talks at the Book Festival going on here today. One panel included four authors who, for various reasons, have self-published. One of the authors was RoseMarie London, who was a finalist in last year’s Needle Awards (see POD-dy Mouth). Another author was a girl who wrote a novel while she was in high school, and her parents loaned her the money to self-publish her novel as a senior project. It was interesting stuff, and I’ll write more about it soon.
The second panel was about fiction writing, and five authors discussed their latest works and their writing process. Two of their books sounded interesting enough that I’m probably going to buy them. My only complaint is that all of the author’s write literary fiction. There were no genre authors on the panel. It’s a minor complaint, though, because the discussion was still good.
And to top off the day, I score big time at the used book store tonight. I found Holly Lisle’s “Midnight Rain”. I have read her “I See You” (loved it) and “Last Girl Dancing” (liked it). I also found a second book by Annette Blair called “My Favorite Witch” I just finished her “The Kitchen Witch” and loved that as well. This book is about one of the secondary characters in the first book.
And finally, though I hate to admit it, I bought another Susan Kearney book, “The Dare”.
***ducking and running because asked someone to shoot me if I ever bought anything by her again***
It’s just that the main character of this book, Dora, was so funny in the last one. If the book includes any “forced seduction” scenes, well, I used my trade credit for the book…so it’s not like I spent actual money on it.
I’m trying to get caught up on reviews, but I haven’t much lately that’s been really snarky-worthy. Most of it has been just bland and unmemorable. Except for a couple of gems that I will touch on in the next post.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Pictures from Yellowstone (hopefully)
I've set up an account at photobucket to hold my Yellowstone pictures. Let's see how well this works...
Picture of a bison grazing
Bison and baby bison
What Park visitors like to call a "bison jamb" and, of course, a minute later.
We also saw a moose and baby. I haven't cropped the picture, and the woman you see in it is standing on the shoulder of the road. That's how close these moose were to the maybe 20 carloads of curious tourists.
This is Grand Fountain Geyser, quiet with the sunset behind it (I'll have to get the erupting geyser pictures from Youngest Sibling's camera this weekend). These are all of the photographers who showed up to take pictures of the geyser.
Pink Cone Geyser also erupted while we were nearby.
Some of the hot springs are very large and give off a lot of steam. Note the size of the people on the boardwalk in front of the spring.
This is the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone (you have to be there to truly appreciate their size):
Picture of a bison grazing
Bison and baby bison
What Park visitors like to call a "bison jamb" and, of course, a minute later.
We also saw a moose and baby. I haven't cropped the picture, and the woman you see in it is standing on the shoulder of the road. That's how close these moose were to the maybe 20 carloads of curious tourists.
This is Grand Fountain Geyser, quiet with the sunset behind it (I'll have to get the erupting geyser pictures from Youngest Sibling's camera this weekend). These are all of the photographers who showed up to take pictures of the geyser.
Pink Cone Geyser also erupted while we were nearby.
Some of the hot springs are very large and give off a lot of steam. Note the size of the people on the boardwalk in front of the spring.
This is the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone (you have to be there to truly appreciate their size):
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Inspirational Romance Gone Bad
So I'm browsing through the romance section of my local Wal-Mart Superstore the other night, and mindful of my monthly book budget, I grabbed a couple of series romances. I found out later that one of the two books -- "Silent Enemy" by Lois Richer -- was actually an inspirational romance. Not that you could tell that until you read the fine print on the back of the cover page.
Hm.... Inspirational romance is SO not my thing. But I decided to give it a try.
I'm about half way through, and this book is actually better written than many of the Harlequin Intrigues that I've read recently. I had been enjoying it. It's inspirational suspense, heavy on the suspense, light on the inspirational. Cool.
[A short time out here to say that I consider myself spiritual, but not religious in the organized-must-go-to-church-to-worship sense. A lot of God-this and God-that would have quickly turned me off.]
But then I got to the stupid part.
*sigh*
Our hero, who so far has come across as quite intelligent, educated, clever, etc., says of a tropical island paradise, "I can't figure out how Darwin could see all this and stick to his theories. It's obvious that only God could put this paradise together, that it didn't just happen to evolve."
**Julie repeatedly bangs book against nightstand** [Note: tossing books is too hard on my doggie's nerves so I've resorted to pounding the books on something hard. I'm seriously considering changing my rating scale to how many times I pounded the book]
Gr!! OK, look. Creationists drive up a frigging wall. The evidence for evolution is, frankly, overwhelming and anyone who espouses, in this day and age, that evolution is a myth is not...Oh, I don't know...not thinking rationally.
I have friends who are both scientific and religious. I have read books by scientists who are religious. I even took a course in college about religion and science. The generally accepted idea among those intelligent and articulate people seems to be that evolution did happen and that God was responsible -- for evolution that is. That evolution is part of God's plan for not just humanity, but this entire world that we know.
I can live with that.
The people who make me crazy are the ones who insist that the world was created 6006 years ago, that carbon dating is all wrong, that God created humans out of dust or ribs or whatever, etc. Grrr. Did God create the laws of physics or did he not? If he did, then carbon dating isn't wrong. If he didn't, then that opens a lot of questions for another post.
I know that I wouldn't be very popular with the Kansas Board of Education, but I hope I haven't offended anyone who actually reads this blog.
I'll keep on reading the novel because I (mostly) like the characters and the central mystery is intriguing. I just hope the let's-ignore-rational-thought trend does not continue.
Hm.... Inspirational romance is SO not my thing. But I decided to give it a try.
I'm about half way through, and this book is actually better written than many of the Harlequin Intrigues that I've read recently. I had been enjoying it. It's inspirational suspense, heavy on the suspense, light on the inspirational. Cool.
[A short time out here to say that I consider myself spiritual, but not religious in the organized-must-go-to-church-to-worship sense. A lot of God-this and God-that would have quickly turned me off.]
But then I got to the stupid part.
*sigh*
Our hero, who so far has come across as quite intelligent, educated, clever, etc., says of a tropical island paradise, "I can't figure out how Darwin could see all this and stick to his theories. It's obvious that only God could put this paradise together, that it didn't just happen to evolve."
**Julie repeatedly bangs book against nightstand** [Note: tossing books is too hard on my doggie's nerves so I've resorted to pounding the books on something hard. I'm seriously considering changing my rating scale to how many times I pounded the book]
Gr!! OK, look. Creationists drive up a frigging wall. The evidence for evolution is, frankly, overwhelming and anyone who espouses, in this day and age, that evolution is a myth is not...Oh, I don't know...not thinking rationally.
I have friends who are both scientific and religious. I have read books by scientists who are religious. I even took a course in college about religion and science. The generally accepted idea among those intelligent and articulate people seems to be that evolution did happen and that God was responsible -- for evolution that is. That evolution is part of God's plan for not just humanity, but this entire world that we know.
I can live with that.
The people who make me crazy are the ones who insist that the world was created 6006 years ago, that carbon dating is all wrong, that God created humans out of dust or ribs or whatever, etc. Grrr. Did God create the laws of physics or did he not? If he did, then carbon dating isn't wrong. If he didn't, then that opens a lot of questions for another post.
I know that I wouldn't be very popular with the Kansas Board of Education, but I hope I haven't offended anyone who actually reads this blog.
I'll keep on reading the novel because I (mostly) like the characters and the central mystery is intriguing. I just hope the let's-ignore-rational-thought trend does not continue.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Yellowstone Park and Back
The trip to Yellowstone was a much-needed break for me. Youngest Sibling and I made a girls-only trip of it. The weather was much better this year – only a minor bit of rain one evening – than last year, when it snowed SIDEWAYS on us for most of a day and a half. Brrrr….. That trip, we spent a lot of time standing in the steam from the geysers and springs, so much so that I think one of my sweaters still smells like sulfur.
Highlights of this trip include:
- Seeing Castle Geyser, Grotto Geyser, and Grand Fountain Geyser erupt. I’ve seen Old Faithful several times and have been underwhelmed. The other geysers were much better. Grand Fountain was pure luck. We had a little time left in the day and decided to drive by it on our way out of the park. As we got near, we saw a lot of cars parked on the road, so we stopped and went down to the boardwalk. There we were told that the geyser could start erupting any time in the forty minutes. We stayed. We watched it erupt off and on for about 40 minutes while the sun set behind it. Awesome!
- Seeing one coyote, two moose (mama and baby), three bears (mama and two babies), 227 elk and 326 bison (many babies). We also saw an osprey hunting, but unfortunately, he didn’t spot any fish while we were watching him. ….OK, I didn’t really count the elk and bison; it just seemed like that many.
- Hiking to several beautiful falls and one lake, where we caught on (digital) vidoetape a flock of Canadian geese landing on the mirror-like surface of the water.
- Getting asked three times if Youngest Sibling and I were still in school. *ego stroke* I’ve been at my current job full-time for 15 years.
- Getting asked once if Youngest Sibling and I were twins. She’s nine years younger, and she’s blond. Sort of. And I’m, well, not.
- Getting called “you girls” twice by a waitress who was maybe 24.
- Seeing the license plates 46 of 50 U.S states (and also 5 Canadian provinces). Yes, we started counting.
- Hearing at least 8 different languages – and we probably heard more. Those were just the ones we could identify.
So the question for my few readers is... How does one say, "Hey, stupid, get away from that bison" in another langauge, any language? I know how to say it "auf Deutsch", but after that I'm stuck.
I ask because I know that my Red-Cross-certified first aid skills are not sufficient to deal with goring injury from a bison.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Patience
I just got back from vacation (and I left the Internet behind except for the occasional check of my e-mail). I have a seminar to attend for work this weekend, but I'll be back to blogging next week.
Monday, August 21, 2006
My Last Word on Plagiarism (for this month)
Some of the commenters on my Glass Houses thread apparently do not understand plagiarism and how plagiarism differs from copyright infringement.
Generally, copyright infringement means using another person’s words without his/her permission (there are exceptions for fair use, of course). If the copyright holder gives a blogger permission to use the words, then the blogger can do so without infringing on the original author’s copyright.
Plagiarism means using another person’s words and passing them off as one’s own. Or we could use the definition found in “A Pocket Style Manual”, 4h ed., 2004 Bedford/St. Martin's, pp 228-30 – "Three acts are plagiarism: (1) failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas, (2) failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks and (3) failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words." (Rose is guilty of all three of these, in my opinion.)
So if the blogger from the second paragraph takes those words (for which she has permission) and tries to pass them off as her own by not citing them properly, then the blogger has plagiarized. Note that the blogger can have permission from the copyright holder and still be guilty of plagiarism.
Let’s look at an example to understand:
Lily is an aspiring, but rather crappy, poet. She loves the work of Anne Sexton. So she visits Madame Zora who contacts Ms. Sexton and asks for permission to use the first three lines of “With Mercy for the Greedy” in a poem. Ms. Sexton, not quite herself after being yanked back from the afterlife, says, “Sure, honey, go ahead.”
Lily then writes the following poem and vanity-publishes it as part of a collection:
To Ralph
I luv you so much.
I luv you so much it hurts.
But you sumtimes write to me and
Concerning your letter in which you ask
Me to call a priest and in which you ask
Me to wear The Cross that you enclose;
I think your stoopid to say such a thing
To me. Because you know I’m Knot relijus,
so their.
Let’s see…Lily has permission to use the lines, so there is no copyright infringement. But Lily has failed to put the lines she used in quotes and has failed to say anywhere that Ms. Sexton wrote them. That’s plagiarism. Ms. Sexton saying, “It’s OK to use my words” is not the same as “it’s OK to use my words and to pretend like they are your own.”
And even if Ms. Sexton, tired of Madame Zora’s fake Romanian accent and cheap perfume and wanting to get back to the Elysian Fields where she has been unusually happy, had said “what the heck, it’s also OK to pretend they are your own” – does that really make it OK for Lily to deceive the reader? Does that make it NOT plagiarism?
No. It’s still misrepresenting the words of others’ as her own work. It’s still plagiarism.
In Rose Desrochers’ case, she may think she has permission from ECT to deceive her readers. But ECT can’t give her that. No one can.
The following lines -- “Concerning your letter in which you ask / Me to call a priest and in which you ask / Me to wear The Cross that you enclose;” -- are from the poem “With Mercy for the Greedy,” by Anne Sexton, from the book “All My Pretty Ones,” Houghton Mifflin, 1962.
I should also add that the copyright holder for Ms. Sexton's work is most likely her estate or heirs, so in reality, Lily would have needed a less mystical method of obtaining permission to use Ms. Sexton's words. But that wouldn't have been as much fun in the example...
Generally, copyright infringement means using another person’s words without his/her permission (there are exceptions for fair use, of course). If the copyright holder gives a blogger permission to use the words, then the blogger can do so without infringing on the original author’s copyright.
Plagiarism means using another person’s words and passing them off as one’s own. Or we could use the definition found in “A Pocket Style Manual”, 4h ed., 2004 Bedford/St. Martin's, pp 228-30 – "Three acts are plagiarism: (1) failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas, (2) failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks and (3) failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words." (Rose is guilty of all three of these, in my opinion.)
So if the blogger from the second paragraph takes those words (for which she has permission) and tries to pass them off as her own by not citing them properly, then the blogger has plagiarized. Note that the blogger can have permission from the copyright holder and still be guilty of plagiarism.
Let’s look at an example to understand:
Lily is an aspiring, but rather crappy, poet. She loves the work of Anne Sexton. So she visits Madame Zora who contacts Ms. Sexton and asks for permission to use the first three lines of “With Mercy for the Greedy” in a poem. Ms. Sexton, not quite herself after being yanked back from the afterlife, says, “Sure, honey, go ahead.”
Lily then writes the following poem and vanity-publishes it as part of a collection:
To Ralph
I luv you so much.
I luv you so much it hurts.
But you sumtimes write to me and
Concerning your letter in which you ask
Me to call a priest and in which you ask
Me to wear The Cross that you enclose;
I think your stoopid to say such a thing
To me. Because you know I’m Knot relijus,
so their.
Let’s see…Lily has permission to use the lines, so there is no copyright infringement. But Lily has failed to put the lines she used in quotes and has failed to say anywhere that Ms. Sexton wrote them. That’s plagiarism. Ms. Sexton saying, “It’s OK to use my words” is not the same as “it’s OK to use my words and to pretend like they are your own.”
And even if Ms. Sexton, tired of Madame Zora’s fake Romanian accent and cheap perfume and wanting to get back to the Elysian Fields where she has been unusually happy, had said “what the heck, it’s also OK to pretend they are your own” – does that really make it OK for Lily to deceive the reader? Does that make it NOT plagiarism?
No. It’s still misrepresenting the words of others’ as her own work. It’s still plagiarism.
In Rose Desrochers’ case, she may think she has permission from ECT to deceive her readers. But ECT can’t give her that. No one can.
The following lines -- “Concerning your letter in which you ask / Me to call a priest and in which you ask / Me to wear The Cross that you enclose;” -- are from the poem “With Mercy for the Greedy,” by Anne Sexton, from the book “All My Pretty Ones,” Houghton Mifflin, 1962.
I should also add that the copyright holder for Ms. Sexton's work is most likely her estate or heirs, so in reality, Lily would have needed a less mystical method of obtaining permission to use Ms. Sexton's words. But that wouldn't have been as much fun in the example...
The Long Hot Summer...err..Weekend
So the weekend was a bit of a blur...
We're remodeling our dining room, which once upon a time (long before we bought the house), was a sun porch. The guilty parties who turned it into a closed-in room used things like old 2x4's--and I mean real 2" and real 4" wood--chunks of glulams, and newspaper to infill the walls, and their ability to frame a square and plumb wall is not in doubt. They didn't know how to do it. Grr.... But the electrical is mostly done and the new sheet rock is up. It needs more mud and much sanding, but it should be ready for painting by mid-week. Then we just need to replace the floor, and we'll be done.
I did get a couple more book reviews finished. I'll post those soon. I also read an awesome book this weekend that I can't snark about at all. It's "I See You" by Holly Lisle.
<-----
I hadn't intended to read the WHOLE thing at once, but I got started and I just couldn't put it down. This is how romantic suspense ought to be written!
We're remodeling our dining room, which once upon a time (long before we bought the house), was a sun porch. The guilty parties who turned it into a closed-in room used things like old 2x4's--and I mean real 2" and real 4" wood--chunks of glulams, and newspaper to infill the walls, and their ability to frame a square and plumb wall is not in doubt. They didn't know how to do it. Grr.... But the electrical is mostly done and the new sheet rock is up. It needs more mud and much sanding, but it should be ready for painting by mid-week. Then we just need to replace the floor, and we'll be done.
I did get a couple more book reviews finished. I'll post those soon. I also read an awesome book this weekend that I can't snark about at all. It's "I See You" by Holly Lisle.
<-----
I hadn't intended to read the WHOLE thing at once, but I got started and I just couldn't put it down. This is how romantic suspense ought to be written!
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Voices, Voices Everywhere...
One hears a lot as an aspiring writer about voice and letting the reader get to know characters through their dialogue. You don’t want your characters to sound alike, whether they are narrating (meaning first person from the character’s POV) or speaking. One book that impressed me greatly in this regard is “House of Sand and Fog”, by Andre Dubus III, published by Vintage Books, 1999.
"House of Sand and Fog" tells the story of two (well, actually three, but the two following are the main characters) people. Colonel Behrani moved his family from Iran to the U.S. in the wake of political violence that threatened their lives. Wealthy in Iran and now almost broke, he uses the last of his savings to buy a house at auction. This house will be the start of a new life of financial independence. Kathy Nicolo is the previous owner of the house, which was mistakenly siezed by the city and put up for sale. Her house, left to her by her father, is one of her sole possessions, and one that helps hang onto her sanity. The story centers around the two characters as they both fight for possession of the house. Of course, the story is much better than I’ve made it sound here (go read it! Oprah even recommends it).
The story is told in the first person, alternating between Kathy’s and the Colonel’s points of view. Dubus distinguishes the voice of the characters by using different language, sentence construction, and word choice. The Colonel’s sections are also told in the present tense, which usually drives me up a wall, but in this case, just added to the tone of those sections. You can flip this book open to any page, read a sentence or two and instantly know who is narrating – the differences are distinct.
For example, here is the Colonel narrating:
P.S. TP edition means trade paperback edition - not something else y'all might have been thinking.
"House of Sand and Fog" tells the story of two (well, actually three, but the two following are the main characters) people. Colonel Behrani moved his family from Iran to the U.S. in the wake of political violence that threatened their lives. Wealthy in Iran and now almost broke, he uses the last of his savings to buy a house at auction. This house will be the start of a new life of financial independence. Kathy Nicolo is the previous owner of the house, which was mistakenly siezed by the city and put up for sale. Her house, left to her by her father, is one of her sole possessions, and one that helps hang onto her sanity. The story centers around the two characters as they both fight for possession of the house. Of course, the story is much better than I’ve made it sound here (go read it! Oprah even recommends it).
The story is told in the first person, alternating between Kathy’s and the Colonel’s points of view. Dubus distinguishes the voice of the characters by using different language, sentence construction, and word choice. The Colonel’s sections are also told in the present tense, which usually drives me up a wall, but in this case, just added to the tone of those sections. You can flip this book open to any page, read a sentence or two and instantly know who is narrating – the differences are distinct.
For example, here is the Colonel narrating:
And here is Kathy narrating:“Many summer evenings, instead of sleeping on the sofa in my office, I rest on the carpet near the sliding door of the terrace with my head on a pillow beneath the leaves of the tree plants my Nadi cares for like her own children. Last evening the sky was clear, and sleep came for me as I watched the stars through the screen.
I rise with the first light from the east, and, after a shower and shave and a breakfast of toast and tea, I wake Esmail for his newspaper route. Then I dial the Highway depot and inform them of the summer flu I am suffering.” (pp 23-24, TP edition, 1999)
I highly recommend this book, whether you care about characters’ voices or not.“My husband got to miss all this, that’s what I kept thinking, that he didn’t have to be around for any of this, and I was stuck at the El Rancho Motel in San Bruno. It was a shitty little one-story L of rooms wedged between an electrical parts warehouse and a truck-stop bar near the 101 Freeway ramp…
…I was dying for a cigarette, which made me even madder because I hadn’t smoked one since a month after Nick left, and I hadn’t craved one in five. So I chewed
gum.” (pp 34, TP edition, 1999)
P.S. TP edition means trade paperback edition - not something else y'all might have been thinking.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Time Out for a Rant (Not Writing-Related)
Several years ago, eight blocks of a main arterial street in my city were changed from a pot-hole-ridden undivided four-lane to a divided four lane with a beautifully landscaped median and new lighting. Great! I drive this street back and forth several times a day--to work and back, and I go home for lunch. Traffic moves better than ever.
EXCEPT...
Every other week, the common-sense-challenged folks at the city perform routine maintenance on the median landscaping--during the morning rush hour. Yes, during rush hour!
They block off the inside lane in each direction so that they can park their service trucks and unload the mowers and leaf blowers and trash bags. What the hell are they thinking? Why can't they do the work between, say, ten and eleven a.m. after traffic has calmed down? The Lord--or maybe the workers' union--only knows.
This morning traffic was backed up several blocks as drivers tried to merge into one lane. Grr... I might have to find a new route to work.
EXCEPT...
Every other week, the common-sense-challenged folks at the city perform routine maintenance on the median landscaping--during the morning rush hour. Yes, during rush hour!
They block off the inside lane in each direction so that they can park their service trucks and unload the mowers and leaf blowers and trash bags. What the hell are they thinking? Why can't they do the work between, say, ten and eleven a.m. after traffic has calmed down? The Lord--or maybe the workers' union--only knows.
This morning traffic was backed up several blocks as drivers tried to merge into one lane. Grr... I might have to find a new route to work.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Silhouette Bombshell RIP
The sad news today is that as after January 2007, Harlequin is terminating their Silhouette Bombshell line because of poor sales or as the announcement says, "Silhouette Bombshell has not been able find a broad-based readership".
The Silhouette Bombshell line is my favorite of the series romance lines. I'm a romantic person at heart, but I find a lot of the romance sans mystery or action to be too, um, boring. Particularly if it involves a secret bride, a secret baby, or cowboys. An endless dissection of a relationship simply for the sake of the relationship puts me to sleep...
Heroine: Does he like me? What did he mean when he said that? Was he being critical? Am I fat? Is he jealous of my very good male friend/neighbor/co-worker? Why do I do such stupid things all the time? etc etc etc
Hero: Does she like me? Does she hate me because she didn't go to bed with me? Why do I bother to try to help her? Why does she talk to my friend/her friend/her co-worker more than me? What does that mean? Am I fat? etc etc etc
*yawn*
The Bombshell line featured savvy kick-ass heroines. The line varied from the traditional romance book formula by allowing books to be written in the first person--not requiring, just allowing. Stories could also be told in the third person and stay in the heroine's POV for the entire book. I liked this a lot. I like being along for the heroine's ride and not knowing what the guy is thinking or planning until he says it or does it.
Harlequin Intrigue has the mystery, but the books still follow the third person, alternating heroine/hero POV formula. The focus is also more on the guy saving the day, not the girl. These are a weak alternative, in my opinion--but they will be all I have for a while.
Of course, there's always paranormal romance...kick-ass female vampires/werewolves/witches...
The Silhouette Bombshell line is my favorite of the series romance lines. I'm a romantic person at heart, but I find a lot of the romance sans mystery or action to be too, um, boring. Particularly if it involves a secret bride, a secret baby, or cowboys. An endless dissection of a relationship simply for the sake of the relationship puts me to sleep...
Heroine: Does he like me? What did he mean when he said that? Was he being critical? Am I fat? Is he jealous of my very good male friend/neighbor/co-worker? Why do I do such stupid things all the time? etc etc etc
Hero: Does she like me? Does she hate me because she didn't go to bed with me? Why do I bother to try to help her? Why does she talk to my friend/her friend/her co-worker more than me? What does that mean? Am I fat? etc etc etc
*yawn*
The Bombshell line featured savvy kick-ass heroines. The line varied from the traditional romance book formula by allowing books to be written in the first person--not requiring, just allowing. Stories could also be told in the third person and stay in the heroine's POV for the entire book. I liked this a lot. I like being along for the heroine's ride and not knowing what the guy is thinking or planning until he says it or does it.
Harlequin Intrigue has the mystery, but the books still follow the third person, alternating heroine/hero POV formula. The focus is also more on the guy saving the day, not the girl. These are a weak alternative, in my opinion--but they will be all I have for a while.
Of course, there's always paranormal romance...kick-ass female vampires/werewolves/witches...
Monday, August 14, 2006
Mini-Plug for Buying New Books (Instead of Used)
I know that I talk a lot in my reviews about getting books from and returning books to a used book store. I do this--get and return books, that it--because like most of us, I don’t have a huge amount of money to spend each month on books. The library would be free, but they don’t carry what I want to read. Going to this store lets me to read each book for about ¼ of its cover price. Not bad.
A friend of mine suggested that I join Booksfree.com. I looked into it, and I’m tempted. As many books as I can read delivered right to my door for a nominal charge each month. Considering how many books I go through each month, this beats even the buy/read/exchange method.
However, there are some authors whose books I always try buy new – Lynn Viehl, Victoria Strauss, C.T Adams and Cathy Clamp (they write as a team), and a few others I'm sure will occur to me in about fifteen minutes. Here’s why:
Buying new makes sure that my opinion--Hey, I like this author’s writing!--gets counted.
I want publishers to know when I really like something, and the best way to let them know is by buying that product from them. Buying new also means that the author gets a cut of the money you spend on the book.
So support your favorite authors. Buy new whenever you can!
A friend of mine suggested that I join Booksfree.com. I looked into it, and I’m tempted. As many books as I can read delivered right to my door for a nominal charge each month. Considering how many books I go through each month, this beats even the buy/read/exchange method.
However, there are some authors whose books I always try buy new – Lynn Viehl, Victoria Strauss, C.T Adams and Cathy Clamp (they write as a team), and a few others I'm sure will occur to me in about fifteen minutes. Here’s why:
Buying new makes sure that my opinion--Hey, I like this author’s writing!--gets counted.
I want publishers to know when I really like something, and the best way to let them know is by buying that product from them. Buying new also means that the author gets a cut of the money you spend on the book.
So support your favorite authors. Buy new whenever you can!
Occupants of Glass Houses
Plagiarism is a hot word on the Internet these days. Just look at the recent Kaavya Viswanathan scandal and Cassandra Claire fanfic mini-storm. Plagiarism is a very real problem, and one that should be taken seriously.
Let's look at the case of a certain blogger. Rose Desrochers has many posts on her website about supposed plagiarism on the 'Net. I'd actually call her rather rabid about "exposing" people and accusing them of stealing, copyright infringement, and other vile things. There appears to be no gray in Rose's world. Everything is black and white, and when something is black, it is BLACK!
Well....
Yesterday, she posted an item on her blog regarding a news article on Internet service providers' methods of cracking down on child porn. A good subject for a blog, no doubt. However, here are excerpts from her post about the article side by side with the wording from the original article. Note that Rose's post includes no quote marks to indicate the passages she lifted from the article.
Rose: …will be jointly building a database of known child porn images, creating a unique mathematical signature for each as well as develop other tools to help network operators and law enforcement better prevent distribution of those images...
Original Article: …will jointly build a database of child pornography images and develop other tools to help network operators and law enforcement better prevent distribution of the images.
Rose: AOL, plans to check e-mail attachments which are already being scanned for viruses.
Original Article: AOL, for instance, plans to check e-mail attachments that are already being scanned for viruses.
Rose: If child porn is detected, AOL would refer the case to the missing children’s center for further investigation.
Original Article: If child porn is detected, AOL would refer the case to the missing children's center for further investigation ...
Hmm, a clear-cut case of plagiarism in my opinion.
In all fairness, it is hard to summarize a news article about something this specific without quoting large chunks of it. That doesn't make it right to do it, it just means one needs to be very careful -- OR -- if it were me, I would have just quoted the first couple of sentences literally and with attribution and then directed my readers (all four of them!) to the full article.
Let's look at the case of a certain blogger. Rose Desrochers has many posts on her website about supposed plagiarism on the 'Net. I'd actually call her rather rabid about "exposing" people and accusing them of stealing, copyright infringement, and other vile things. There appears to be no gray in Rose's world. Everything is black and white, and when something is black, it is BLACK!
Well....
Yesterday, she posted an item on her blog regarding a news article on Internet service providers' methods of cracking down on child porn. A good subject for a blog, no doubt. However, here are excerpts from her post about the article side by side with the wording from the original article. Note that Rose's post includes no quote marks to indicate the passages she lifted from the article.
Rose: …will be jointly building a database of known child porn images, creating a unique mathematical signature for each as well as develop other tools to help network operators and law enforcement better prevent distribution of those images...
Original Article: …will jointly build a database of child pornography images and develop other tools to help network operators and law enforcement better prevent distribution of the images.
Rose: AOL, plans to check e-mail attachments which are already being scanned for viruses.
Original Article: AOL, for instance, plans to check e-mail attachments that are already being scanned for viruses.
Rose: If child porn is detected, AOL would refer the case to the missing children’s center for further investigation.
Original Article: If child porn is detected, AOL would refer the case to the missing children's center for further investigation ...
Hmm, a clear-cut case of plagiarism in my opinion.
In all fairness, it is hard to summarize a news article about something this specific without quoting large chunks of it. That doesn't make it right to do it, it just means one needs to be very careful -- OR -- if it were me, I would have just quoted the first couple of sentences literally and with attribution and then directed my readers (all four of them!) to the full article.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Review of "Parallel Lies" by Kate Donovan
I've finally gotten a review of "Parallel Lies" posted at my other blog. Check it out.
My TBR pile has also increased dramatically thanks to a giveaway I won at Lynn Viehl's blog. She blogs frequently, and if you are a writer, I highly recommend including her blog on your daily "must read" list.
I've got a couple more reviews I'll try and get finished over the weekend, but no promises. Lots going on, and the weather is far too beautiful for me to spend my time sitting inside in front of the computer. Maybe what I need is a laptop with WiFi. I could sit outside at my favorite coffee shop and write to my heart's content.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Review of "The Challenge" by Susan Kearney
I've got a review of "The Challenge" by Susan Kearney up at my other blog, Book Snark.
More to come...
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