Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

Did it bother anyone else that every caller was a man when the host asked for romance writers to call. I wonder how hard it is to get through?

Can I get a shirt that says “Is that a Ferret in your loincloth or are you just happy to see me”

The “Talk of the Nation blog” link doesn’t work, or is this just me?

Not just you, Schrodinger’s cat.

I got in just fine but I was already listening to NPR over the web so the link was already up and it just switched over to that story.

Linky goodness:

ToTN blog post

Talk of the Nation blog:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/talk/

scroll down to the Sexy Ferrets section. There’s only 4 comments there so far, so I don’t know whether this is the discussion the SBs meant.

In a few years time I see a animated Disney movie based on this situation, completely from the ferret’s POV.

Paul Tolme will voice the male lead, of course…
His name?
Ferrhett Butler.

I tried to listen to the segment but while it will start, it keeps stopping a couple of minutes in and goes back to other stories.  Anybody else having that issue?

I noticed on the blog comments that Tolme said something about ferrets and loincloths… I could have sworn I saw that here first several days ago.  Did he plagiarize one of our own????

Sexiest plagiarism scandal of 2008?! 

Oh come on now, the year is young yet-- we’re not even through January.  Anything could happen in the next 11.5 months!

But really what could be sexier than “Romancing the Ferret”?

Yeah, that was my first reaction - all the callers are male (and none that seemed like romance readers).

My 2nd disappointment was no mention of Nora’s challenge and the 10K of donations that were raised here.  Maybe Paul didn’t know about it??

I want to know what we’re supposed to be ashamed of. Discovering plagiarism?

I think that the two guys on NPR are more embarrassed whenever they have to mention SEX than it’s warranted.

Still, nice voice, Mr Tolmé.

Ferrets may be sexy now, but Kensington choosing this moment to re-issue a Cassie Edwards novel—Falcon Moon—through Fictionwise isn’t, IMO, especially in the absence of any public statement on the issue.

Robin, I read that headline over at Dear Author, but I didn’t know where to comment over there. I’m wondering if because the AP and other news pieces don’t specifically mention books released by either Kensington or Dorchester, that those two publishers may hope to fly under the radar on this?

The Cassie Edwards saga was also featured on Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me! on NPR in their ‘Bluff the Listener’ segment.  The funny thing was that the contestant didn’t think it was the true story.

http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=35

Oops, I guess everyone already know about the wait, wait don’t tell me segment since it was posted earlier.  I guess I should have wait, waited.

“Is that a ferret in your loincloth, or are you just happy to see me?” Sounded like a scripted end line, but it still had me giggling. The whole interview was amusing, especially the delicacy with which the guys tried to avoid the S-E-X word.

Oh, and I didn’t have any trouble downloading, so it may be fixed now.

Paul has a great voice!

Too bad he didn’t mention Nora’s brilliant idea, or the generous donations this controversy has elicited for our beloved BFFs.

I think the segment would have been much more interesting if they’d had Nora talking with him as a caller!

spamblocker: almost93 *God I hope night, although there are days I feel like it!*

Sorry - *night* should be not...ever have those keyboard gremlins take over your words and insert unintended words for you???

I quoted the line “Is that a ferret in your loincloth, or are you just glad to see me?” here.  I saw it (and acknowledged the source!) as a comment on Dave Barry’s blog.

WV: somewhat66--at least not yet 666

Ferret Media Bias!

Robin:

Falcon Moon, published by Signet, came out a few weeks ago.  Actually, it came out ahead of schedule.

Oh...it’s not a re-release.

Not a re-release? Given everything she has plagiarized, how could you tell? And yeah, I saw the book myself. Wish I had a sticker reading “Plagiarist!” I could have stuck on the book.

SAM: I wonder if this is the book that was originally announced as STOLEN THUNDER?  Title changed to protect the guilty…

Amazon has release date as 1/2/08.  Two reviews.  One was HK—4 stars, the other was a disgruntled buyer who wanted her money back.  It’s not doing well at all.  The ranking overall is 46,335 as compared to the 100th most popular romance novel (Freehan’s Magic in the Wind which was released originally 9/2005 but has a special $2.99 promo price)at ranked at 3,302.  Falcon is, however, the 3rd best selling Cassie Edwards book on Amazon.

Someone who reads here tried to start a discussion thread about the plagiarism issue 1/10 but couldn’t even attract a defender.

Falcon Moon may not be a high seller at Amazon, but I noticed it on a mmp end cap display at B.Dalton last night.  That particular bookstore gets a huge amount of foot traffic from commuters and travelers; the end caps are pretty ravaged by the end of the day.  There were only two copies left; normally 8-10 are set out daily.  So some people are still buying.

As a regular contributor to the Prairie Wildlife Research’s Ferret Adoption Program, I’m lovin’ this controversy. Black-footed ferrets are cool. I even have one in my books. Maybe I should write in a tiny loincloth. Nyah…

hey, in the interview Paul Tolme says “Not the best example of the genre” Yowza, that’s a lovely change in his basic text.

The man is a class act and a good sport even if he won’t take off the shirt and let a wild ferret trash his shoulder.

Yet this “Passionate and frisky bunch” he mentions--is he really talking romance readers or maybe he’s back to ferrets again?

hey, yeah, why not both? Readers and ferrets! Together, cavorting and squealing [don’t ferrets squeal? or squeak?]....a passionate frisking on the mossy banks of a river.

sigh. I love HEAs

Ferrets squeak more than they squeal, kate r. At least, my ferret does.

Am I the only one who fears that after the ferret angle runs out of gas, the media attention will fade--and there will be no consequences for Cassie Edwards for years of blatant plagiarism? I’m happy Mr. Tolme is able to use the situation to his advantage, but what Edwards has been doing is no joke, which seems to be how the media wants to treat it.

The media attention is always short, but I agree that Ms. Edwards should face professional consequences to her behavior. It is illegal and, in many ways, does the romance genre no favors.

Throughout all this, I keep wondering, where were her editors? Certainly they should have noticed that the tone of the novel suddenly changed to incorporate an info dump about ferrets. Shouldn’t someone have asked about that? I know my editor would.

I can understand where her editors were then.
What I don’t understand, because of the release of Falcon Moon, is where they are now.

Has anyone perused Falcon Moon yet for plagerism?

Falcon Moon was named over a year ago so I don’t know where you get your information from. 

Books are written well in advance to give the publisher time to have a cover designed and to print it.

Stolen Thunder is a Dreamcatcher Series book that is due to be released in January 2009.

For a bunch of people who claim to be such wonderful researchers you guys stink at it!

I will say it again, Ms. Edwards will keep writing and being published.  She has thousands of fans, a fan club with hundreds of members, and she makes the publishers too much money for them to drop her contracts.

Besides, her fans would never stand still for not being able to get her books.

Incidentally, Cassie Edwards apparently deleted her My Space account.  No idea why.  All that’s left is her website which says ‘under construction.’

How long are you people going to drag this out?

Everyone knows the story. The SB’s, who hate Cassie and her books, “accidentally” came across something that looked like plagiarism. They started googling and having their friends start googling and now they are front page news.

I would really like to know why Nora Roberts has it in for Cassie Edwards?

Nora Roberts, who has nothing to do with Cassie Edwards, actually stated to the AP that Cassie Edwards is a plagiarist.

So we all get it. The SB’s hate Cassie, Nora thinks she’s the God of the romance industry and that we should all bow down to her.

Then we have the “Famous Author” wanna-be’s whose books I wouldn’t pay 5 cents for. I don’t know what’s worse…the trashy erotica authors or the e-book authors who can’t get published by a big publisher and has to settle for what they can get.

This is really getting old.

I used to come here for the reviews and actually laughed at some of the joke covers that you did. 

It’s not a fun site anymore when people set out with the intent to ruin someone’s career.  There are limits to everything and everyone here has overstepped them.

Personal attacks against Ms. Edwards is discusting.  Don’t tell me there have been no personal attacks made.  Someone actually called her an “old b**ch” and no one said a word.

How would you people feel if the stress you’ve put her through caused her to have a heart attack or die?  Would still be gloating gleefully and making jokes?  After what I’ve read on this site I honestly think you would celebrate.

I have never seen such mean, hateful people with nothing better to do than cause this kind of drama.

I can actually say that I now hate the romance industry and you people are making it a joke to all who read the blogs and sites you post on.

I hope God will forgive you for your meanness, hatefulness, and spite.  And before you say anything about HIM forgiving Ms. Edwards for anything remember that 2 wrongs don’t make a right.

she makes the publishers too much money for them to drop her contracts.

Can you say Copyright Infringement? I knew you could.

I don’t know what the rest of the people commenting here or elsewhere on the matter plan on doing, but I can tell you what I’m going to do.

Pretty much what I’ve done with regards to that other well known plagiarist, Janet Dailey. I won’t buy her books. If I see anyone grabbing a book by either CE or JD at a bookstore, I’ll ask the customer whether they know that both of these people have stolen from other authors, and explain what I mean by that. I’ll engage readers in forums where I post in conversation about the matter of professional honesty and plagiarism, and will bring up both names every time.

I hope Ms Edwards can come to terms with what she has done to all the writers from which she stole, to all the readers she’s deceived, and to all the other people involved (i.e., editors and publishers) who she’s defrauded.

Which is not to say, regardless of how you chose to read it, that I am happy with anyone attacking Ms Edwards the person, grandmother, violinist, whathaveyou. What I am, and will be, taking stand against is the chronic theft Ms Edwards has engaged in for over two decades.

And a good afternoon to you, SAM.

The only person who can seriously torpedo their own career is the author. In this case, Ms. Edwards has harmed her reputation and tainted the romance industry by association, which is why I suspect Ms. Roberts weighed in. Edwards has engaged in plagiarism, no matter how you slice it, no matter if you adore her body of work or not.

There are lessons to be learned, a cautionary tale for all of us in the industry: shortcuts kill careers.

The SB’s, who hate Cassie and her books, “accidentally” came across something that looked like plagiarism.

I’m sorry, but I don’t think I understand the phrasing of this sentence. Perhaps SAM would be kind enough to unpack it a bit? I must infer from the context that the quotation marks are intended as sarcasm wrt the intentionality of the SBs’ (or rather, one of the SBs’ friends’) initial discovery of apparent plagiarism.

Are we to understand that this initial discovery was launched with the pre-emptive goal of nailing Edwards for plagiarism by any means possible?  Formulated even before ever opening the covers of Shadow Bear, and with malice aforethought etc.? And somehow deliberately inserting Paul Tolme’s (and various others’) prose into every printed copy of the book?

If Cassie Edwards has an explanation for the “accidental” presence in her books of so many textual passages that’re identical to previous publications by other authors, I would be delighted to hear it. Especially for things like a four-page overlap into which Edwards inserts a self-congratulatory comment about those passages’ aesthetic merits, demonstrating that she esteems them beyond a mere recital of dry academic facts.

(Yes, that’s in the latest version of the PDF, minus the color-coding.)

(And I have no idea how that emoticon ended up in there.)

It’s kinda kinky, Julie L.
winky prose.

~I would really like to know why Nora Roberts has it in for Cassie Edwards?~

Nothing on a personal level.

I have it in for plagiarism.

Other than that? What Julie said.

And by the way guys, I’m getting pretty damn tired of waiting for the bowing. I want some bowing.

Would you settle for a curtsy?

Nora, just what sort of a bow do you want?

http://www.germes-online.com/direct/dbimage/50282094/Bow_Tie.jpg

http://www.growingtreetoys.com/images/products/bg/010245.jpg

http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/11/38/23283811.jpg

http://images.oldhouseweb.com/stories/bitmaps/13212/bow1.jpg

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2006/09/thequeen150906_700x462.jpg

And, just for you, to make up for the lack of a heart-shaped bed:

http://www.dianamystery.com/Jayne_heartshaped_tub2.jpg