Reconsidering Science Fiction Through the Centuries (Tuesday Blog)

Happy Tuesday!

I know, Thursdays have been my go-to posting day for a while now, but between missing last Thursday's post (no thanks to the combination of a busy content writing work week combined with an eye flare-up) and things going on in the writing community at large, it felt like an extra post was necessary this week.

Last month, I posted the first in a series of blog posts called "Science Fiction Through the Centuries". In that post, I talk about where I came up with the idea for the series and what I'm trying to accomplish with it, as well as sharing links to where works can be found. This includes places it can be located for free, so long as the copyright for the work falls under public domain.

There aren't really words to describe how excited I was to work on this series. Digging into the history of something, doing research, is stuff I genuinely enjoy doing. Plus, I like to have my facts straight when it comes to posting on here.

But things happen. And by things, I mean things in the writing community.

The week my first post for the series was scheduled to go up was the week that the news about a massive plagiarism case (dubbed #copypastecris) broke. I'd like to be able to say that you're living under a rock if you haven't heard about this by now, but considering that the case involves writers in the romance genre...

Well, I can see why a lot of people have not heard a peep about it.

Essentially, a Brazilian romance "writer" allegedly copied and pasted passages she liked from romances novels, gave them to ghostwriters to turn into a story that made sense, and published them. So far, passages have been identified from 85 different books by 36 different authors as well as a small number of news articles, recipes, and blogs (as of the time I sat down to write this post).

You can read the initial blog post by romance writer Courtney Milan that got the ball rolling here. And book blogger Caffeinated Fae is updating the list of authors and titles that were plagiarized here.

A ton of discussions have come up in the wake of #copypastecris, including ghostwriting, how to spot legitimate indie authors, and book piracy.

It's the book piracy question that has given me significant pause when it comes to the future of the "Science Fiction Through the Centuries" series. Because while I'm doing the best I can to make sure I'm sending people to places where they can find legitimate copies of the works I talk about, I'm concerned that it will be seen as something else. I worry that people think I'm encouraging piracy, when that is the last thing I want to do.

Don't get me wrong here - I love a good deal on a book, and I'll pounce on it if a fellow author has a free deal going, but I don't expect that to be the norm. Why?

Because I know writing is a job, not just a hobby, and I think writers should be fairly compensated for their work. Period.

So while I still plan to post the next part of the "Science Fiction Through the Centuries" series on Thursday, I do not plan to start on the following post right away. I'll be taking some time to think through my concerns about moving forward and make a decision about it from there.

Let me know your thoughts.

Metaphors: Candles

I've recently fallen in love with candles. Since coming home from the World Race , I've bought at least one a month. My favorite candles are the ones that come in glass jars - because when they burn out, I can clean the remaining wax out and put the jars to other uses. Right now, that means they get cleaned out and packed away in anticipation of my move to Flagstaff. But as I was lighting one tonight (vanilla spice... Thanksgiving smells? Yes, please!), I saw a metaphor for writing flickering away in the flame licking at the wick and melting the wax. I suppose it could be a metaphor for life in general, but since the theme of this blog is writing... Well, you do the math.

[Five Minute Friday] Purpose

Fiber bars, strewn along the side of the road. There had to be at least a dozen of them, still in their wrappers and completely unopened. No box in sight. Really? That's about the reaction my younger sister and I had when we stumbled on them on our early morning run. Really? along with disgusted sighs about the wastefulness of it. These were the expensive ones, not a generic store brand that kind of tastes and kind of looks the same sometimes. So, when we weren't keeping an eye out for their box, we speculated about what had happened. And wondered how many more we were going to see before the end of our run. "Maybe they took one bite and thought they were gross," my sister said. "So they threw them out because they didn't want them anymore." I let out one of those disgusted sighs and nodded along with her theory. "Yeah, or they got in a huge fight, and threw them out in a fit of rage." "That's a possibility." And

How to Make Sure Your Book Review Request Does NOT Get Deleted

I've been hesitant to write this post. That is due, in large part, to how angry I get some days after reading book review requests. I curse, I rant, I snark. My cat will tell you it's not a pretty sight. But I also feel like this is a good opportunity to talk about what it is that makes me feel those feelings AND how to not stir them up. I'm not the only reviewer that gets frustrated when I see certain things in my emails from authors looking for a review. And I know I'm not the only one who gets triggered enough to ignore or delete those messages. I never feel good about doing it. It's just that I'm hitting the proverbial wall here and I want to hit it a little less often. So if you're an author looking for loving advice on how to approach reviewers (especially this one), read on. Review Requests I Always Delete Before I get into what to do, I wanted to take a minute to look at what not to do (and how I handle it). Want to know what immedi

Cat Pollock Writes

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