Hi guys! Sorry for the long hiatus, I've been busy with college and holidays and whatnot but I'm back. At least for a little while.
As some of you know, being a writer isn't easy. It takes a lot of time and energy just to hammer out an idea that most people would enjoy reading. Afterwards, there's the long, long, LONG period of writing, rewriting, editing, crying, angry outbursts, and the inevitable existential crisis that comes about before you finally look at your work and say, "Ugh." Some time after that, you finally feel it's as perfect as you can get it and you either post it online if it's a fanfiction story or you go and get it published somewhere (or do it yourself since it's cheaper that way.)
Why am I giving out a lesson on how hard writing is? Well, it has come to my attention recently, thanks to an online group I'm a part of, that an author named Bella Madison has stolen someone's fanfiction about Destiel and has published it as an iBook on iTunes. She changed the names and Cas' gender and claimed at her own. Now, me being me, I was curious about it and decided to look her up. Sure enough she has not just one, not two, but THREE books that she stole from fanfiction authors. Not cool. It's not uncommon for an author to save up their works and publish them after a few days or weeks, but she's published 17 books in the span of 2 months. She's also been a Goodreads member since December of 2016, and yet her bio says she wrote her first novel at 15.
However, after some digging, it's not just stealing works and publishing them. Madison has even stolen her bio for her Goodreads account. Her bio was originally from New York Times bestselling author Roni Loren, she just changed the city she lives in and omited the part where Loren has a masters degree in social work. Other than that, Madison's bio is a word for word copy of Loren's.
People like her, they really make me feel disappointed. What kind of person does this? Writing isn't just about putting out a bestseller and getting famous. For some of us, myself included, writing is a way to deal with our own personal demons. A novel I've been working on these last few months revolves around my character Skye and she has loyalty and trust issues because of her past. She questions everyone's intentions. Why? Because that's how I've experienced the world. The things I've seen and experienced gave me that kind of thinking and it imprints itself on all my characters. I remember reading that "authors reveal more about themselves than they realize when they write", and it is true.
So, seeing someone like Bella Madison taking credit for something an author worked very hard on and put her own heart into, it makes me feel like she's spitting on her. Please, don't let people like her get away with something like this.
It's wrong.
It's plagiarism.
So, there's the heavy hitting post for the day. I'll be back soon for another book review. Until then guys, Carpe Librium and have a good day.
