Isn’t it enough that you people set out to destroy her career and almost caused her death?
In case you don’t know, which I know for a fact you have been told, Cassie Edwards suffered a massive stroke due to the stress you idiots put on her.
I hope you can live with yourselves knowing what you did almost cost this woman her life. You have deprived her grandchildren of their grandmother. You have caused a lot of innocent people much heartache by your actions.
Everyone is blaming you and your cronies for what happened. Not just her fans, fan club members, etc. I’m talking publishers, authors, editors, and more. I hope almost killing someone was worth the 15 minutes of fame.
If you have any reason to think this is a lie, contact Carol Stacy at Romantic Times and I’m sure she’ll verify the information for you.
A lot of Cassie’s fans plan on being at the RT convention in Orlando just so they can attend your blogging seminar. Instead of it being about the art of blogging maybe it should be about the art of how to destroy a person’s life.
A few weeks ago, when Sarah realized that January 2009 would mark a year since the plagiarism scandal that rocked the ferret world, as well as the romance world, she asked Jane to examine the issue and do a “State of Plagiarism” analysis, so to speak. After much back and forth dialogue, we’ve come to the following conclusions about the way the issue of plagiarism is treated by our community. This entry is posted on both Dear Author and on Smart Bitches as a summary of our conversation.
On the positive side: the issue is being discussed, in the romance community, and in the larger publishing world as well. Fans, authors, and even publishers are being educated as to what plagiarism is, what enforcement mechanisms there are, and why it’s important for the entirety of the literary community to not be complacent or unsupportive. Even if some, or even much, of the discussion is about how horribly mean we were to speak up and speak in the manner that we did, it was dialogue about an important topic that we hadn’t had before.
The Edwards scandal was important not because of who was involved, but because it led to the further education. There was a session at RWA and one at RT. There were mentions in the newspapers and on blogs. There was support for the victim of plagiarism in a way that there wasn’t ten years prior, making it easier for one who is plagiarised to come forward. Plagiarism became newsworthy, and the increased attention meant that victims of prior incidents had room to speak up and share their stories, the costs both financial and emotional they endured to protect their copyright.
Even the absence of discussion was noticeable.
But the negatives are related to the positives: the session at RWA was poorly attended, and there was a backlash to those who spoke out, not so much here at Smart Bitches or Dear Author, but against others who took a stand. With the revelation of plagiarism at the hand of Neale Donald Walsch, the same old themes are played out with a full orchestra.
Those who raise the issue and cry foul, whether it’s a blogger or the writer herself, take the blame. We’re told to hush up, keep quiet, and stop being mean.
It was one year ago this week that we broke the Cassie Edwards story. This entry isn’t in the least about her. Instead, it’s about where the writing community stands in regard to plagiarism within the genre. Based on our analysis, we haven’t made much progress. Lip service is paid to the idea that its bad, but when the excrement hits the air circulating device, there’s navel gazing and thumb twiddling and fretting and calls for forgiveness, bygones, and stop being mean already.
Little has changed in attitude and practice. Plagiarism remains an issue tried in the court of public opinion, and the more famous or published the thief is, the more likely they are to be reassured and forgiven by their eager fanbase. Plagiarism is not an issue that can always be validated in a court case; it’s a community issue. Do we, as a community, believe in the need for intellectual honesty and creativity?
Why is there not more of a reaction to sympathize with the person whose work, inspiration, and words were stolen from them? Why is there instead pressure for the victim to shut up about it and a general attitude that the whole mess should just disappear so people can get back to reading?
In our opinion, plagiarism isn’t taken seriously enough by some readers or by some writers. The defense of the plagiarist and the ease with which forgiveness is offered by readers is so stupid as to be mindboggling. What, because they cried and said they were sorry it should be over? Remorse is enough? To quote the wizened literary scholar Rhianna: “You’re only sorry you got caught.”
Until every reader and every writer refuses to tolerate plagiarism and the thieves that commit it, it will be a problem that continues to grow. But that intolerance needs to extend to every genre. When plagiarism hit romance, the response was, “Oh, but it’s only romance novels, and they’re all the same anyway.” With the spiritual writing community, the response is, “Oh, it’s just crazy religious people who think they talk to God, so whatever.” With fanfic, it’s “Oh, it’s just fanfic.”
Plagiarism should not be tolerated anywhere by anyone, and that includes romance, spiritual writing, literary fiction, academic publication, and fanfic. It shouldn’t be tolerated, it shouldn’t be excused, and it shouldn’t be something that is kept quiet. The lack of support for those who suffer from it is appalling: from insane court costs to accusations of being a whiner, the person who has been robbed is singled out as a troublemaker who ought to pipe down. From warnings of bad publicity to being called an outright liar, the victim is again a victim.
Yet again plagiarism shows up in the news this week, and yet again the same song is played. Everyone should be vocal in making a stand and making plagiarism unacceptable within our community. The song needs to change.
I only went to trade school. But even with a piddling associate’s degree, I know what plagiarism is. I also know that it’s wrong.
I also just went to Defenders of Wildlife and donated. The ferrets still need us.
Is it just me, or does the above quote sound something like this: “I would be flattered if I were raped, because that would mean that someone other than my husband wanted to *#$ me.”
Plaigarists don’t steal things because they respect the material (or the author, for that matter). They steal them because they have a use for the material. They want the ‘A,’ the accolades, the contract, the money, or the credit.
I already post this on Dear Author but would like to share you about my opinion.
I can’t believe they blamed Sarah for the stoke. It’s just BS.
The first thing I was told when attended graduated study in the US was Plagiarism. The attitudes toward plagiarism (in academic field) was different in some country (at least in my country). I didn’t mean that you can plagiarize anyway you wanted but it is not strictly that we must give credit to any idea that was not our own when writing class paper. When I arrived in the US, I was told that it is not acceptable to used other word or idea and pass it as my own. I must give credit in every single thing I used from other people.
I do not see any differences from academic to fiction writing. And I am not tolerant to plagiarism.
As for the accusation, it is rubbish. Sarah is not forcing anyone to commit the wrong. She do it herself. Sarah is just the one who discover. And it is the kindness of her to share with us so we would know the truth.
And if there are any link between the stoke and plagiarism (which I do not think it is), it is her karma.
As for the RT revenge, I am going to attend RT and prepare to stand by Sarah and I think a lot of people also will.
One last thing, for the author who calling you “dishonorable”, I hope they will be plagiarized by someone. So they will know the feeling.
I’m reinterating my statements from Dear Author- What’s really getting me here, in the overall plagiarism issue, is that some people, other authors even, don’t seem to understand what the “big deal” is. Plagiarism is stealing, stealing is wrong. How hard is it to connect the two? I just don’t understand these people. Would they justify it if she’d walked out of someone’s house with their television or radio? No. Just because writing might not be seen as a tangible possession doesn’t change the fact that it belongs to someone.
And @Lynne Connelly- my problem with her is that she won’t admit she plagiarized, and she’s still profiting from it. Maybe this stroke has ended her career, I don’t know. I’m sorry she had a stroke, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. But her career *should* have been over after she was caught stealing other writers work. The fact that it wasn’t is a large part of what’s bothering me. There are people making excuses for her rather than holding her accountable. Herself included.
Oh, and as for some of it being on her editors- what do you want them to do? Read every fiction and non fiction book that has an even remotely similar concept to see if she’s plagiarizing? No. That’s ridiculous. This is completely on her.
Um, you mean like Cassandra Clare, Janet Dailey, and Naomi Novik (the latter out and proud about her continuing fanfiction writing)?
Not going to touch the legality or otherwise of fanfiction as that’s a can of worms for better educated minds than mine to deal with. However there are a number of former fanfiction writers published big-time now – Jennifer Pelland is one – and epublishing is stuffed to the gills with them. J. J. Massa was accused of plagiarism – still publishing. (Note, I have no idea if the case against her was ever proved, but certainly the accusation did her no harm at all.)
Publishers don’t care about what you did as a fanfiction writer. And once you’re established firmly enough, they don’t care what you steal, provide you plead your dog’s pregnancy or something. If they exerted a firmer ethical stance, this entire conversation would be moot.
The only person I know whose career came to a screaming halt as a result of plagiarism was in fact an epubbed author, Lucia Logan, and that only because she herself pulled the plug and went away. Looking back on it, I think she may well have been given bad advice about what was and wasn’t acceptable, since her publishers didn’t even know if it constituted plagiarism or not. It wasn’t the covert nicking of bits and pieces here and there that Edwards perpetrated with a clear intent to deceive.
I actually feel rather sorry for Logan now – she paid a much greater penalty than Edwards did, or Dailey, and can we really say she was worse than them? At least she didn’t steal the words and copyright from someone still in a position to make money out of them.
Oh, I am guilty! Not of plagiarism, heavens forbid, but of having mentioned Cassie in a blog…
http://www.timesofmalta.com/blogs/view/20080418/tanja-cilia/bearing-false-witness
I was going to respond to Morgana, but as I only have a GED I don’t think I’m qualified. Poor, dumb me! Perhaps I could enroll. Morgana, I could go to Edinburgh too; why don’t you send me all your papers and classwork and everything, and I’ll erase your name and write mine in or white-out your name and type mine instead, then photocopy it, and hand it in? That would be fine, right? I mean, I’ll attend the classes and everything; you’ll just be saving me a lot of time I would otherwise spend actually doing the work, and you’ll have the warm fuzzy glow of knowing someone likes your work enough to take credit for it. Okay? Just email me if you’re interested. I really want to have letters after my name too! You could help me in that goal! (Maybe I could come work where you work, too, and you could tell me all your ideas and I could present them to the boss as my own; that would be fine too, right? I’m just trying to make sure you’re feeling flattered.)
Because without those letters after my name, really, I’m just worthless. I try; I write books and publishers buy them and pay me for them, and they sell well and get good reviews, but it’s just not…enough, somehow. It’s not approbation enough for me. I won’t know I’m really good—won’t feel I’ve truly made it—until someone (preferably someone with a Collidge Edukashun) steals my work and tries to pass it off as their own. Then, and only then, will I feel good about my accomplishments.
Oh, why won’t that blessed day arrive?
And @Lynne Connelly- my problem with her is that she won’t admit she plagiarized, and she’s still profiting from it.
I get that, I really do. CE hasn’t said anything, as far as I know, for or against. All I’m asking for is a bit of compassion, now her health is so compromised. Not that she deserves this or that, because it’s clear she did what she did.
I would like to see the people she plagiarised compensated in some way, perhaps in the way I suggested (they get the royalties for the books, not Edwards). Maybe I’m asking for Christian forgiveness, I don’t know, since I’ve never been what you might call a paid-up churchgoer.
Oh, and as for some of it being on her editors- what do you want them to do?
Their job. Even if they didn’t recognise it as plagiarism, they should have spotted the insertions as a significant change in author “voice” and infodumps. Reviewers over the years, even before the plagiarism came to the fore, have commented on it, so shouldn’t her editors have noticed it first? My editors do, and they wouldn’t have let me get away with it. And one of my editors looks up everything – so yes, some editors do that. The good ones.
Stacia – word. I happen to have qualifications, but they mean squat to my writing career, so I don’t use them (except when doing historical research – they can get me into libraries)
Morgana – I’m with Ann, this is a troll. And no, I didn’t go to Edinburgh University, but I taught a class there once (the value of qualitative data, in case you’re interested). Edinburgh is a prestigious university that takes cases of plagiarism extremely seriously. I doubt you went through any degree course there without it being made perfectly clear that any plagiarism would result in immediate expulsion – or whatever they’re calling it these days. Point is, you’d be chucked out for doing it, and your name would be mud.
~Their job. Even if they didn’t recognise it as plagiarism, they should have spotted the insertions as a significant change in author “voice” and infodumps.~
But that was always her style, right from the beginning. An editor would assume that was her voice—no matter how many others found that voice flat or false. She had a readership who enjoyed it, and it was fairly unique to her.
Why should an editor question it or consider plagiarism?
In the Dailey case, once you looked at the work, the plagiarized material sort of jumped out—when you were looking for it. There was a subtle stylistic change even though she had altered a few words here and there. But I certainly don’t blame her editors for not recognizing this and wondering, hmm, did she steal that part?
This had also gone on for years and in multiple books.
Attempting to care…head desk. Don’t care. This isn’t academic writing, but I give you that it someones. But doesn’t it just make us all happy that we found a website about something that we would never have looked for or cared for one bit. It’s viral marketing at it’s best. Go Miz Edwards, you’re doing them a favor. I have never read her but I think I will.
Ok, yes, I went to uni, plagiarism is bad. I am so over this topic.
OMG SBTB tried to kill Cassie Edwards!
Seriously, I can’t get my head around why people are still defending the woman. She’s given no apology for stealing other authors’ work – and that is what it is plain and simple; theft.
Obviously it’s sad that she’s had a stroke, but I present the alternative theory that it was brought on by guilt from ripping other authors off over the past couple of decades.
Thank you for summing up why this is such a problem…
Romance novels, serious business.
Not saying she didn’t do the wrong thing. Just that you are making me not care.
Holly said upthread:
WORD, Holly. Either “being nice,” or “being careful what you say, because this is a small industry.” I gave up counting how many times I heard this sentiment, or some variation thereof, at RWA National 2008 workshops, or in onlinne classes I’ve taken recently.
I understand that the intent behind these statements is probably, “Behave professionally.” But what I internalized was, “be nice, and for gawd’s sake don’t speak up or make waves.’ As someone who just completed her first mss and will soon query agents and editors, this sentiment chills my blood.
YMMV.
Believe me, I hear you. And it was something I actually addressed on my blog last month because I’d had it up to HERE with that sentiment.
If you’d like to read what I had to say about it, it’s here:
http://fashionista-35.livejournal.com/446133.html
But the Reader’s Digest version is WHY? And who made up these stupid “rules” anyway? There’s a vast difference between behaving professionally and taking loads of unmitigated crap just because you’re scared one of the eleventy billion writers waiting in the wings will be given your slot.
I think that’s one of the most frustrating elements of this industry—how authors are made to feel like disposable commodities. No wonder we don’t get het up about plagiarism—we not only have very little regard for the words, we have very little regard for those who produce them. After all, how many of us who are writers have heard some variation on the theme of “Oh, I could write a book.” Not “I want to write a book,” but could.”
Like it’s easy or something.
Ignore it, it’s a troll. Not a particularly amusing one either.
No imagination, no witty repartee, not even an amusing dirty limerick, just lame Fail all around. I give it an F. So sad, in my day trolls use to try harder 🙁
Also the “but she’s just a sick old lady and it was only plagiarism…” sentiment is one of the major reasons that Plagiarism is taken seriously. That somehow suffering the consequences of being thief should be mitigated by something , whether it be sex, age, or health.
No one wished or caused Ms Edwards’ stroke, and as truly sad as that is, she’s still a thief and is still profiting off the hard work of others.
Then why are you here? I mean, you don’t care so much you actually commented twice.
That’s really not fair to Naomi Novik. She’s never been accused of plagiarism or copyright violation. Yes, she’s an open fic writer. But she’s never actually been accused of copyright violation.
Apparently, the estate of Patrick O’Brien just doesn’t care that much. And honestly, why should they? Novik’s stories might get people more interested in reading Jack & Stephen’s canonical adventures, which means more $$ for the estate.
Don’t lump Novik or any other honest fic writer—whatever your feelings on fan fiction, it’s done for love, and not for money—in with plagiarizers.
Jenna M, not a troll, sorry. Lurker, big difference. Not even trying to be funny, were you? I love this blog. My have you all gone on about this though.
snarkhunter, smile, I am not here for you. I am allowed to vent my frustrations the same as you, I am sorry I am not falling into line. I read all these blog posts because I respect SBTB. But this is turning into a hate parade and we know how well they’ve worked out before.
I think the biggest problem the industry has is that most discussions of plagiarism have the intellectual content of tastycakes. Most commenters just want to share in a Come To Jesus moment where the preacher casts out the sinners from the congregation. It isn’t about plagiarism, it’s about mob psychology. A real post on plagiarism would talk about the fact that all authors borrow from others, that there are ethical limits to intertextuality, but they are hard to define, that novels have not typically come with either footnotes or bibliographies, that Ian McEwan credited his source in an author’s note and for some people that wasn’t enough. But none of that would be as exciting as talking about Cassie Edwards.
The case was never proven, because it will never go to court. After spending over £3000 in legal fees I had to settle for a letter from her attorneys saying that “my client has ceased publication of ‘The Edge’ which is now unavailable for purchase and will remain so. We hope and assume your client will refrain from filing any unneccessary legal action in regerence to same”. Why did I settle for such a crappy outcome? Because, frankly, I didn’t have the $12,000 retainer to pay an attorney to take it to Federal Court. The problem was that I, as an English Writer, never paid for and took out a US copyright on my story – well, why would I have considering that I live in a civilized country that accepts copyright is established the moment I put pen to paper? That means that at this stage I can only proceed if I pay for a US copyright now and that means I can’t win compensation for any period before I take out copyright – and since the publisher pulled the book from sale a year ago, there is no current revenue to win. And yes, it’s not about winning money – it’s about upholding a principle. But $12,000 will pay an awful lot of mortgage so….
Funnily enough, I had reluctantly accepted the situation until I read your post, Ann. Suddenly I feel like a victim all over again. Don’t get me wrong. I am not blaming YOU at all, in any form whatsoever. Just the situation you have highlighted with your comment. Even after all my online proof, all my legal letters, and surely the most damning thing of all – that the book in question is now DEAD,DEAD,DEAD… there is still a doubt in people’s minds – and, frankly, that hurts so much that if I find myself thinking that maybe I could find that $12000 if I really, really tried.
And I only tell you that to emphasize how incredibly much it HURTS to be the victim of plagiarism. Enough to pointlessly throw money at a hopeless cause in some insane hunt for vindication that probably is never going to happen really because even if I was stupid enough to take out another loan to settle this case legally once and for all, there will still be people out there who won’t understand that JJ Massa did anything wrong anyway.
Let’s face it, if people are still sticking up for CE and JD, what chance has a little person like me ever going to have to get support?
Oh… and btw… no I don’t feel flattered whatsoever that she stole a story off lil ‘ol me. I feel furious, hurt, abused and pretty damned poor at the moment considering my legal bills but NEVER flattered.
Hope, are you saying that because it’s about romance author plagiarizing, it’s not an intellectual discussion?
Come to Jesus my ass. This isn’t about the fact that she didn’t credit her sources. This about her not crediting her sources and lifting entire passages verbatim from them.
We’ve talked about all of that here and at DA. Many, many times. This post wasn’t supposed to be about CE, except inasmuch as this week marks a year since the discovery of her transgressions. The point was to look back in that year and see how/if our thoughts on plagiarism have changed. Which, clearly, they haven’t.
Honestly, I never get tired of this conversation. Not b/c of CE, but because every time we have it, the same exact problems come up, over and over. There’s a crowd who can’t spell plagiarism. There are people who argue that CE didn’t steal “real” writing. There’s the bibliography argument. On and on and on. I think we should have a plagiarism post every month until the definition SINKS IN. But that’s me.
As for McEwan, he credited his source…but did he steal her words? I’ve never been clear on that.
Fair enough. I just am always a bit confused by comments on posts that read “I just don’t care.” I mean, obviously, you are entitled to do so. I’m entitled to not get it.
Ahh!!! Italics attack!
Amanda, you have my sympathy.
P, care or don’t care, I’m not going to stop talking about the issue. I don’t hate CE—don’t even know her—but I hate plagiarism, and have no respect for those who engage in it, or those who find excuses for it.
Hatefest? Read the letter at the top of this column again.
Pardon me, but intertextuality my butt. We’re not talking about ideas – we are talking about words. We’re not saying that CE should’ve gone out and done the research on ferrets herself – we’re saying that if she had to have ferret information in her book, she should’ve taken what she’d read about ferrets and included it in her own words which, as she is supposed to be a writer, shouldn’t be an insurmountable challenge.
We’re not saying that every writer must come up with unique characters and plots – I’m not sure they exist. We are saying that no matter how many times a particular plot or character archetype has been deployed, a writer should still be able to think of a way to tell the story that does not mimic, word for word, what someone else has already written. And lastly, we’re not talking about a sentence here, or two or three. We’re talking paragraphs. And paragraphs. Yea on into pages. At which point, it’s no longer the “author’s” work.
As an experiment, try taking a coworker’s work effort, whatever your line of work may be, and claiming it for your own. Please note the results and get back to us.
“So where’s the difference between Edwards and this girl?”
The difference between Viswanathan and Edwards is that the former was a first-timer with a big advance in jeopardy. Edwards was a proven money-maker. ‘Nuff said.
Actually, the hate I am referring to isn’t in the letter at the top. It’s in the majority of posts after. The letter at the top is wonderfully even handed. Sorry I wasn’t clear.
Thank you very much, Ms Roberts. Your sympathy sincerely brings a blush to my cheeks and a warm feeling to my heart.
I have (largely) accepted my situation and am attempting to shrug and walk away from it. What makes me keep piping up in frustration every now and then is the casual way people often say ‘well, if there really was plagiarism, why don’t the victims sue?” Take it from me (and boy do I know what I speaketh of) that the world doesn’t work that way. Legal recourse is not about who is right and has the proof… it is simply about who has money enough to pay the attorneys to present that proof in court.
Besides, as I said before, I’m beginning to doubt there’s even any point in winning a ‘moral’ victory when ultimately there are no longlasting consequences for the perpetrators – regardless of whether they win or lose.
Still, I am a little tempted to go have another tilt at my own personal windmill when finances again allow. So who’s the bigger fool? LOL
How many billions of dollars are generated by the romance novel industry? Enough to make “billions” plural? Yeah? Okay, then.
Congratulations, P, you have won the troll of the year award. Deny it all you want, but no thinking human being would call that letter “even-handed.” You just tipped the scales and revealed yourself.
The trophy will look great under your bridge, though.
No Jennifer, I am just saying it isn’t horrible and wishing people ill. That isn’t the feeling I’m getting from you though.
McEwan read the memoir of a woman who’d spent time in a field hospital (my details are hazy and I apologize). He rewrote, but much of his language was the same. He used her descriptions for the sounds and the smells, essentially taking her experience and fitting it into his narrative. He credited her in an author’s note. If he hadn’t I certainly would have called it plagiarism because he had taken from a written source, and even if it wasn’t word for word, the work wasn’t his own. If he’d interviewed her and taken her words and inserted them in the narrative, would that have been unethical? I’m not sure, but ethical or not, it would have been harder to document.
McEwan does credit his source in the note and for some people that wasn’t enough. Some people felt that it was wrong because he left the original piece so nearly “intact.” I think if he’d chopped it up more and rendered it less recognizable that would have been worse. He wasn’t trying to fake anyone out. He wasn’t claiming her work for his own, except in the sense that he had made it a part of his larger work. Because he is Ian McEwan, I don’t think that the “scandal” did him any damage. But what if he wasn’t already famous? If he’d been a newbie, I think he would have been in serious trouble.
I think that people look for black and white in this issue, and the most important part of the discussion (for me, I’m speaking for myself) isn’t in the black and the white. It’s in grey areas. I am not defending Cassie Edwards. I am saying that Cassie Edwards is a soft target. You won’t accomplish anything, as evidenced by the your progress in the last year, if what you really want to do is bang the Edwards pinata some more. It’s sound and fury, certainly, but of no use that I can see to people like Amanda.
~Isn’t it enough that you people set out to destroy her career and almost caused her death?
In case you don’t know, which I know for a fact you have been told, Cassie Edwards suffered a massive stroke due to the stress you idiots put on her.
I hope you can live with yourselves knowing what you did almost cost this woman her life. You have deprived her grandchildren of their grandmother. You have caused a lot of innocent people much heartache by your actions.
Everyone is blaming you and your cronies for what happened. Not just her fans, fan club members, etc. I’m talking publishers, authors, editors, and more. I hope almost killing someone was worth the 15 minutes of fame.
If you have any reason to think this is a lie, contact Carol Stacy at Romantic Times and I’m sure she’ll verify the information for you.
A lot of Cassie’s fans plan on being at the RT convention in Orlando just so they can attend your blogging seminar. Instead of it being about the art of blogging maybe it should be about the art of how to destroy a person’s life.~
Oh yeah, definitely even-handed—don’t know how I missed that.
You nearly cost a woman her life, you idiots. Deprived kids of their grandma, *everyone* is blaming you.
Nope, nothing horrible or hateful in that letter. Not a thing.
Could you post a link to this tool, please? I’d like to vet my own WIP.
P, are you saying that the letter to the Smart Bitches was even-handed? Or SB Sarah’s post containing the letter was even-handed?
Because I’ll give you the post, but the letter to the Smart Bitches, accusing them of causing CE’s stroke, was NOT. The letter does, in fact, wish people ill, and not very subtly threatens to attack SB Sarah at Orlando.
The post Suze. Thanks, it’s 4am and I need bed.
Not worth your time and effort to respond, Jennifer. Trolls are immune to logic and reason, and are best left ignored. It’ll eventually take its trophy and go back to the bridge.
how in the world are you to blame for causing her stroke? As far as I know stress is not the cause of a blood clot traveling to the brain and rupturing there. It is like saying that if you have a heart attack while having sex your partner is to blame because he/she was too attractive for you not to have sex with him/her. Give me a break!
However, I do feel sorry for her family, because dealing with someone who has had a massive stroke must be extreme hard, depending on the area of the brain that is affected by the stroke. The entire left hemisphere is a scary place to have a stroke because that is where (in most people….i think its something like 90% of right handed people and 40% of left handed people) that the language center of the brain is, so it is possible that she can no longer speak or understand what her family is saying to her, especially if both Broca’s Area and Werniche’s area are affected.
~It’s sound and fury, certainly, but of no use that I can see to people like Amanda. ~
I’m not amanda, but I’ve been there, and this is what use this sort of discussion is for me.
It’s brings the issue into the light, again and again, encourages people—authors, readers—to talk about, to see examples of it, hear from those who’ve gone through it. It educates—and without discussions and education, it can’t change. With them, it may.
CE a soft target? I dunno. She did what she did over numerous books, over numerous years. To me, this makes that incident a strong example, and one that needs to be cited when these discussion happen.
Elizabeth Wadsworth: Could you post a link to this tool, please?
I suspect she means something like TurnItIn.Com—I’m not sure I can manage a link, but I’ll try, and here’s the address in any case: http://turnitin.com/static/index.html. It’s largely a company that offers services to institutions, mostly colleges and high schools, but they do have an “individual” subscription offered—not sure if it would be worth it or not. They also used to offer a sample deal, whereby you could get up to ten works vetted for free, just to see if you wanted to buy the whole service, but that’s been a while (and may have been exclusively institutional). Anyway, I’ve used TurnItIn, and it does work for academic essays at least, but it really isn’t enough all by itself.
If there are any other, similar services out there, I’d like to hear about them, too—and about how well they work.