Plagiarism, Ghostwriting, and the Business of Writing Fiction

Last week was a bit of a mess in the romance world. Monday, Courtney Milan—a well-respected author who also used to clerk for a Supreme Court Justice—posted about a startling revelation: her work had been plagiarized. As it turned out, the person involved had plagiarized work from dozens of romance authors, plus things like online recipes for good measure.

The situation blew up quickly as more and more instances of plagiarism were found within work bearing that name. You can read another quick summary from BookRiot here. Personally, I'm caught somewhere in between:

Wondering just how stupid someone has to be to steal from huge names like Tessa Dare, Courtney Milan, Lisa Kleypas, and oh yeah, Nora Roberts. Seriously, if you're going to plagiarize, why would you choose such massive hitters? And lawyers? Many of the authors involved also have the weight of Big 5 publishers (and their legal teams);

And feeling pretty hopeless at the financial success this person was able to achieve with stolen work, and likely other scammy practices.

But believe it or not, that's only the beginning. In "defense" of her plagiarism, the person publishing as Cristiane Serruya (who knows if this is a real name, a pen name, or a false persona for a publishing group) then blamed a ghostwriter. Ghostwriters then came forward claiming Serruya provided written chunks that they had to rework into a book. Presumably those chunks were the plagiarized pieces, but that's not actually the point of my post.

This "revelation" brought to the forefront another big conversation in the romance world. Thankfully we all (except the perpetrators) agree that plagiarism is wrong. What the fiction world can't agree on? How we should approach ghostwritten fiction. (Everyone seems to be on the same page that ghostwriting things like memoirs is fine. I'd personally still prefer it if those ghostwriters were at least acknowledged in the book somewhere, if not on the front cover.) Many authors took up a new rallying cry: I Write My Own Books. Sometimes, there's an expletive involved.

Summer Seduction Blurb & Cover Reveal!

If there's one thing that's constant in writing, it's that every story is different. Summer Seduction has more than proven that.

Not only did it start with a fairly detailed outline, but it also has a cover and a blurb ready before the draft is even finished. I know many other authors do it this way. Some start with a cover and write a full story based on that. Others start with a blurb and go from there. For me, this is a first—but as I said, in some way, every story seems to be.

Another first with Summer Seduction? Sharing the completely unedited, raw first draft as it's being written (start reading here!).

And now, the point of this post... What do you think of the cover and description??

About Summer Seduction :

When Jeremy meets romance author Taralynn Harwood in a hotel bar, he’s glad just for the opportunity to buy her a drink. When she takes him back to her place and has him sign a non-disclosure agreement, his imagination—and libido—run wild. But after she kicks him out of bed, the blow to his ego forces him back to her, ready to just about beg for an opportunity to perform better. He’s willing and eager to learn the art of pleasure from one of the hottest romance authors in the business.

Tracy doesn’t hide from her achievements as Taralynn Harwood, touted by readers and reviewers alike for the off-the-charts heat of her books. What she does hide is a secret that could destroy her entire career. But when her failed one-night stand shows up at her door—NDA already signed and enforceable—it seems like the perfect opportunity to indulge in a little research. All for the sake of her books, of course.

Celebrating 6 Years with a Huge Anniversary Giveaway!

6 years ago today, this blog was born. It has since gone through several different stages as I joined the writing community, explored various publication paths, and struggled in both my writing and non-writing lives. If you've been along for the ride, you know there have also been quite a few growing pains.

Still, 6 years is pretty amazing. They included Terri G Long's Flash Blogging challenge, numerous Flash Friday entries, a dive into Publishing Contracts, and so much more. In that time, I've indie published a poetry collection, a flash fiction collection, 3 novels, 2 novellas, and a short story. I've been part of anthologies, been published traditionally, and sorted through the mess of that publisher's reputation falling apart due to the reality behind the scenes. It's been a lot.

That also means there's plenty to celebrate. And as you know, my favorite way to celebrate is by giving away goodies!

Prize Pack Includes:

• Canvas tote bag
• Cavaliere Vineyards pin (from Tasting Temptation)
• Life Under Examination keychain
• "From My Lips" art print (from Taking Chances)
• Mortal Musings magnet
• Romance goodies from other authors, including:
• Two romance novels, a spiral-bound notebook, and a lens cloth
• Signed copy of winner's choice of my print books!
• And possibly more goodies that fit in the box 😇 💕

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Just in case folks have any problems finding the "follow" button on my Patreon page, I've outlined it in red below. Of course if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments!

Getting Feedback Never Gets Easier

Readers' feedback is absolutely invaluable to the overall quality of a story. Receiving this feedback is inevitable if a writer is serious about creating a completed product, and considering this feedback—whether or not we ultimately choose to incorporate it into the work—does improve our writing, especially when the feedback includes criticisms and not only compliments.

Knowing this intellectually does not, unfortunately, change the trepidation we feel when giving our book to a reader for the first time, the anxiety we feel as we wait for a response, and the insecurity we feel when reading critiques and comments. I've written before about receiving reader feedback—from a friend!—for my first novel, Mending Heartstrings. Still now, 5 published books and uncounted critique rounds later, receiving reader notes hasn't gotten any easier.

The anxiety starts when I send the story off, but invariably gets so much worse when an email with notes pops into my inbox. What if the reader hated it? What if the work I thought was almost done actually needs months of more revising? Or worse, what if it's actually a worthless waste of time, storage space, and (occasionally) paper?

Keep Reading...

Something Special to Kick Off 2019!

At the end of last year, I kicked off my brand new Patreon page. It's been an interesting experiment thus far, and I'm excited to share a something special:

To thank my Patrons, each one will receive a limited-edition card in an exclusive design with a personal handwritten note!

Not a Patron yet? This applies to everyone who's a Patron as of midnight February 1st, at any level of support, so you can join now!

Check out the details here.  Become a Patron here. Or follow me on Patreon (no commitment!) so you don't miss out on future cool announcements! 💕

Not sure what this Patreon thing is all about? One cool thing I'm doing is sharing my new story, "Summer Seduction," exclusively there. Read the first part now!

Taking a Consumptive Courtesan into the 21st Century

Fallen—my most recent book—is a retelling of Verdi's La Traviata. But it is also a retelling of the original story on which the opera was based: La Dame aux camélias [The Lady of the Camellias] by Alexandre Dumas, fils.

The story is timeless, which explains why it's been adapted and retold in countless versions and multiple forms & languages, even by the author himself. Opera, ballet, film, stage, and yes, prose—all captivated by this tragic love. The movie Moulin Rouge! is one such retelling, and according to Wikipedia, there are 9 film adaptations entitled Camille, including the 1936 movie featuring Greta Garbo, not to mention the many film adaptations with other titles.

There were many challenges in trying to live up to the poignancy of the original, and of the retellings. (I'm anxious to know if I succeeded, which is to say, to see what readers think.) But one of the first was deciding how to make consumption (tuberculosis) into something relevant for modern-day Manhattan since, thankfully, TB isn't common in New York nowadays.

As I thought about the story I wanted to tell, already knowing I wanted to give more weight to the heroine's journey, I wanted to retain some of the key elements relating to consumption. The heroine's illness had to be life-threatening, and it needed to impact the lungs.

The rest of this post is up on Patreon, and in the interest of not doubling up content, click below to:

Keep Reading

And don't forget to grab your copy of Fallen—or read now in Kindle Unlimited!