Historical and Contemporary Romance Author
Okay, I know all the lawyers out there are jumping up and down in outrage. Yes, yes, I know that from the point of view of the LAW, plagiarism and piracy are FORMS of copyright infringement. Saying you can quantify the difference between plagiarism, piracy, and copyright infringement is, in legal terms, a bit like saying you’re going to quantify…
A case in point: Cooks Source magazine editor, Judith Griggs. Apparently, Ms. Griggs is under the impression that all content viewable on the web is in the public domain and free of copyright restrictions. Um, no. True, what Ms. Griggs did when she copied an article from a blog site and reprinted it in her magazine was not plagiarism. But…
As some of you may know because I know I occasionally mention it on Twitter/Facebook, we have cats. At one time, we had five, but one (a gorgeous black cat with the most wonderful personality) went missing a few months ago (sadly). Today, we darn near lost another, but it’s almost as funny a story as it is harrowing. My…
…if you won’t tell me how to write mine. This isn’t a big deal, honestly, but it does get on my nerves, especially at this time of year. Enough that I want to kvetch about it. What am I talking about? The way authors are constantly bombarded with advice about how to write a book. And by how, I don’t…
I know a lot of authors who consider writing their “jobs.” I have nothing against this mindset. If it gets you to sit in your chair and put your hands on the keyboard on a regular basis, if it gets you to finish your manuscripts, if it gets you to take writing seriously, I’m all in favor of it. And…
This morning, a writer friends IM’d me to show me a five-star review of a book on Amazon–posted by the author herself. I’m not going to tell you the title of the book or the name of the author, because it’s not relevant to the question and I don’t want to cause trouble for the author. But it did make…
I’ve been asked to be on a panel at the RT Booklovers Convention in LA in April of next year. The topic is money and digital publishing. I’m really excited about this because I have to qualms about talking openly and honestly about money and writing (and how much there is or isn’t). However, I think it’s about time we…
May 26, 1902 Dear Lady Beckwith, It is with no small regret that I must inform you of my findings in your case. Alas, the strange noises you have been hearing in your home are not signals from the spirit of your dear departed husband, but the unfortunate rumblings of a boiler in desperate need of servicing. It is my…
I know, I know–I don’t do reviews, right? Well, in this case, I’m making an exception. Mainly, that’s because I can say with all honesty that I didn’t know Jeannie before I heard about this book and, although I met her at the RWA conference in Orlando and consider her a friend, I would have read and loved this book…
Once again, the “you shouldn’t say mean things about a book/character in a book because you might hurt the author’s feelings” crowd has come out in full force, this time in response to a Dear Author review of Susan Grant’s latest release, Sureblood. In this particular review, the reviewer said that the heroine “made her want to puke” and was…