This week’s dilemma is as follows:
You’re at a Romance Readers Convention, and you’re eagerly looking forward to meeting your idol, Nora Howard (humour me, people).
You’re wandering around the hotel looking for the room where the book signing is taking place, when you suddenly spot your favourite author, Nora Howard going into a room. You follow her, assuming that she must be going into the book- signing suite.
You walk through the door, expecting to see lots of people milling around, but in fact it seems to be some kind of large store room. You spot Ms Howard hastily throwing lots of books into a brown sack. She looks around furtively and you realise that she’s doing something rather naughty.
You back out of the room and wait until she comes out.
You follow her out of the building, and watch her dump the books into a bin.
When she leaves, you go along to investigate.
You discover that all the books are by author, Janet Bailey. You remember that a while ago, Ms Bailey was found guilty of plagiarism. She’d copied large chunks of writing froma couple of Ms Howard’s books.
You figure that Ms Howard has decided to get her revenge by dumping all of the books that Ms Bailey will need for the signings.
What do you do? Do you alert the hotel staff, so that the books can be returned to Ms Bailey, or do you ignore the whole thing, figuring that Ms Bailey had it coming, considering what a cheating skank she is?
What would you do?? *g*
(There is a 3rd option, but I’m assuming that you’re all as honest as the day is long, heh)
Venus Vaughn
September 18
10:42 am
Yeah, I’d tell, but not ON her. I’d just tell a conference organizer that I saw a load of books that are supposed to be freebies in the trash.
My opinion of “Nora Howard” would plummet, however. And because I am human, there would be rumors about Nora Howard being underhanded and vengeful, though I wouldn’t talk about it in public.
“Janet Bailey” has to deal with her own karma – hopefully in the courts, and certainly in the court of public opinion. But if Nora Howard has a problem with Janet Bailey’s books being at an event she is attending, she should speak with the organizers or withdraw her attendance and tell everyone why.
Speak your truth and folks will stand behind you.
Fae Sutherland
September 18
11:11 am
What’s the third option, snagging all the dumped books to sell on Ebay?
>_> That’d be wrong, wouldn’t it?
I wouldn’t say anything, but I’d find it kind of petty. And I’d probably be tempted, when I got to the front of the line to get my Howard books signed, to ask her if she’d seen the lovely dumpsters the hotel has.
Teresa
September 18
12:15 pm
Oh hell, option three. Blackmail her. lol If I’m at a convention, I’ve got my trusty camera with me.
Okay seriously, I think if I did have my camera, I’d take pics and report it. No one would want to believe it or get involved, so you’d definitely need more proof than just your word. Unless I could prove it was her, no way. But my grandmother always said two wrongs don’t make a right. However, I can see NH wanting to get a little payback in there too.
SarahT
September 18
12:37 pm
Hmm…I wouldn’t approve but I’d probably turn a blind eye under the circumstances.
Lori
September 18
1:30 pm
I’d retrieve the books and return them to where they need to be. And I’d tell Nora when I got my book signed that she’s my idol and one of the reasons is because she’s smart enough to not be vengeful.
Anon76
September 18
2:12 pm
I’d return the books, except for one. Then when having Nora sign a book for me, I’d flash a glimpse of the one book and quietly say something along the lines of, “be careful, I doubt anyone wants to see you stoop to HER level.”
Then I’d return the one book to the original author somehow. I certainly wouldn’t want it.
Would I think less of Nora, dunno. But it would make me wonder if this was an isolated event. It would in NO WAY make me feel sympathy for the other author.
Diane V
September 18
2:24 pm
Blind eye – the cheating skank definitely deserves it (in fact, if I had my way she’d never have been published again.)
Just want to know can we have Nora Howard throwing away all the books by Cassie Plagiarism too.
MB (Leah)
September 18
2:39 pm
Tell convention organizers about where the books are, but that’s it.
I’d lose all respect for Nora Howard and probably at least say something about it to good romance reader friends. If they happened to blab it to all their friends and so on and it happens to all come out, well, that’s life. *evil grin*
West
September 18
3:18 pm
I’d turn a blind eye, and remind myself that it’s not always easy to be classy when dealing with such anger (ang plagarism would make me angry for years).
Anya Howard
September 18
3:24 pm
Raised the way I was, if I saw this happen I would most likely wait until Ms. Howard isn’t around, recover the books, wipe them as clean as possible and take them back myself. And later, when I found out Ms. Bailey had plagiarized her books I would wonder how she explained the inevitable garbage stains left on the covers…and secretly hope the used diaper stains in particular left a nice odor. This last part may not sound very charitable, but considering my pen name maybe it is understandable? 😉
Marianne McA
September 18
4:03 pm
I’d dine out on the story forever…
Myra Willingham
September 18
4:33 pm
Just one more case of authors behaving badly toward other authors; putting me above you. This is starting to get a wee bit out of hand…even in fictional (or was it?) happenings. Don’t they realize how silly and childish this kind of bashing is? Don’t they realize when readers find out what they’ve done, they may have lost that reader? Just followed a tweet on this sort of thing yesterday. It takes me back to the play yard in grammar school and that is a nightmare I’d rather not revisit again.
Grow up and act like the professional you profess to be.
Las
September 18
5:36 pm
Maybe it’s the way the situation is worded, but I find the whole thing hilarious. I was sure Karen was going to say that Nora was doing drugs, or having a lesbian affair with a fellow author. That fact that she was dumping books is kind of a let down. I was all, “That’s it? What the big deal?”
I guess I’d do what Venus would and just tell someone that I happened to find those books.
Shiloh Walker
September 18
5:50 pm
Las, for an author, it’s a huge deal… I’d be rather floored if I show up to sign and there’s nothing there for me to sign.
Shiloh Walker
September 18
5:53 pm
I’d tell but I’d do it quietly-I’d just find somebody who’s helping with the con and and say I saw some books that somehow got thrown out.
Las
September 18
6:03 pm
Oh, I didn’t mean it wasn’t a big deal generally. It just seemed so tame compared to the possibilities my torrid imagination came up with!
Myra Willingham
September 18
6:51 pm
Las, dumping a rival author’s book isn’t something to downplay. It is downright hateful, mean, spiteful, venomous and underhanded. Not to mention showing one’s true colors and behaving like an ill-tempered brat. What goes around, comes around, though, and such an ‘author’ will get hers. Bad karma is a bitch.
Throwmearope
September 18
7:48 pm
Hmm, torn between Diane V and Anon 76. Nah, on second thought given how I feel about Bailey, I’d probably give Howard a hand dumping Bailey’s books.
Doctor Love from NY
September 18
7:55 pm
Yes, even if it doesn’t involve physical violence or outright vendetta, why compromise your own reputation by a genuine act of well-placed angst at a lazy-ass thief when so many are obviously enjoying your plagiarized words and said lazy-ass thief is cushioning her bank book with the sales? Better to sit on a mountain top and get in touch with your spiritual guides than to display an ounce of backbone -if we can assume “karma” only involves what we do to others and not to ourselves?
Anon76
September 18
8:00 pm
Wow, Myra.
Can you in no way feel any sympathy for the author plagiarized? In no way feel that his/her frustration came out by dumping the other’s books in the trash?
I would never ever condone a rival author’s books being dumped in a bin, but I can understand to a point if the very words the first author wrote were used to enhance the rival’s career. And honestly, the rival is not actually a rival as far as writing terms goes. You stole my words, hence only an aper of me.
Shiloh Walker
September 18
8:27 pm
Ahhh…gotcha.
Myra Willingham
September 18
8:54 pm
I have sympathy for any author plagiarized but very few honorable ones would do what ‘Nora’ did. Any way you cut it, it’s just plain childish. As for venting her frustration, there are honorable and adult ways of doing that without resorting to tossing the other author’s books.
Backbone? Doesn’t take backbone to act like a child. It just takes stupidity. Tossing the other author’s books wasn’t an act of courage so don’t try to make it out to be that.
Diane V
September 18
10:00 pm
I have to tell you that every time I’m in a bookstore or a discount store that sells Cassie Edwards and Janet Dailey books – I turn the books around or put other books in front of them (at Wal-Mart and Target.)
Sorry, but it irks me to no end that these two get rewarded for plagiarizing.
Would I throw the books away at an event? No, but my ass would probably be standing in front of their table with a “No Plagiarizing” sign.
Myra Willingham
September 18
10:28 pm
Standing in front of their table would be one way of handling it. Most readers know what those two did and I imagine they lost many, many readers because of it. It’s a sad thing when an author has so little integrity he or she feels the need to steal from another author or even ‘borrow’ the signature idea of another…as is happening to one of the authors for whom I edit.
Chantal
September 19
4:42 am
Myra, you are pretty irate over something that is a hypothetical question.
eggs
September 19
11:53 am
I would laugh my ass off, take a photo, and then take one of the books out of the trash for myself. Then I would try to find Ms Bailey and tell her I saw all her books in the trash.
Consider, however, how massive Ms Bailey’s entitlement mentality must be for her to think she could plagiarize Nora and get away with it Scott free. I doubt such a person would have the time to talk to a little person like myself. In which case she would remain unaware that all her books were in the trash. So sad, too bad.
I would then take my pilfered copy of the book and get in Nora’s signing line. I would ask her to sign it for me, seeing as she was the one who wrote all the good bits. In my mind, we would both start laughing like hyenas at this. Then we would never see each other again, but I would spend the rest of my life telling people this story.
I usually think these dilemmas suck, but I LOVED this one!
Kat
September 19
12:53 pm
I’d blog about it without naming names, or *negotiate* a deal: ARCs for life.
In reality, I’m too much of a wuss. I’d tip an organiser off without revealing who did it.
Nora Roberts
September 19
1:16 pm
Um, Myra, you do realize I didn’t actually toss anyone’s books in the dumpster. It’s simply an intriguing and thorny what-if.
What would I do if I were Nora Howard? Hmm. First if the convention organizers hadn’t told me about the plagiarist’s books being there, they should have. Bad organizers. So I would probably complain, with considerable heat, bow out if possible. If not possible to bow out–really not fair to the readers expecting good old NH–I’d do what I could to ignore, while bitching about the screw up to sympathetic ears.
Then I’d write a very strong letter to those in charge explaining why they’d have to do without me in the future.
What would I do if I saw NH dumping the books? Harder there. If I knew the backstory, I’d certainly sympathize to some extent with the impulse, but depending on my relationship with NH, I’d either try to talk her out of it or stay out of her way. I wouldn’t approve, but I don’t think I’d narc on her.
Nora Roberts
September 19
1:37 pm
I have to say, I thought the hypothesis was interesting–and amusing in the way it was laid out. But this comment gave me a jolt:
“This is starting to get a wee bit out of hand…even in fictional (or was it?) happenings.”
It gives me one because it speculates that this situation, these actions may not be fictional. And it doesn’t take much to jump-start an internet rumor.
Why speculate that Karen’s interesting scenerio might be based on fact? Why do something like that, and so angrily?
This gives me a new dilemma to ponder.
Chantal
September 19
1:58 pm
I forgot to answer. I’d be an alibi for Nora Howards in case anyone else saw her do it. “She was with me the WHOLE time!” LOL
Seriously, I have no idea what I would do. I know that I would not tell on her or anything like that. I would still buy and read her books, that’s for sure.
Hmmm, I guess I would not do a thing about it.
However, if it was the other way around, and my idol’s books were being thrown out–for whatever reason–I’d pitch a fit and go on a witch hunt to find the culprit.
I know, I know, it’s a double standard.
Throwmearope
September 19
2:11 pm
Ooh, I can’t wait until the pinheads of the internet-verse start running with rumors about Nora Howard. I can just see some folks thinking this is a real scenario. The same people who believe everything the Onion publishes.
Myra, the vast majority of romance readers have no idea about the plagiarism, which is why the plagiarists continue to thrive. (I’ve even seen some romance writers who can’t spell the word plagiarize.)
Chantal, it’s not a double standard to be troubled by thievery being rewarded, for pity pat sake.
Myra Willingham
September 19
4:17 pm
If an internet rumor is started, it will be because the names Nora and Janet were used not because I asked if it might actually have happened. If there are those readers on this list who want to start a rumor, they will without a qualm. That’s how authors’ reputation get hurt. It happens quite often.
Perhaps the majority of romance readers may not know about the plagiarism but if they are on any internet lists, they more than likely do. Since the question was issued on an internet venue, internet subscribers will be the ones to see it and run with it if so inclined. Why state a hypothesis that is too close to reality in the first place, the real names only thinly veiled?
I’m not irate or angry about it but rather dismayed.
And that’s the last I’m saying on the subject.
Tuscan Capo
September 19
4:38 pm
Throwmearope,
as tempting as perpetuating this humorous piece of drama fiction sounds, some might be a little worried that a certain righteous reader of Karen’s would hurl her halo at the offending spoofster. That would not only risk denting or tarnishing the halo, she might just need it next time she’s confronted with a real life dilemma of conscience.
But to answer Karen’s question: if I found out Janet Bailey had plagiarized Nora Howard I’d put it down to Ms. Bailey getting a dose of karma-on-earth and leave it at that.
Throwmearope
September 19
6:49 pm
TC–I am not understanding what you’re saying, but this would not be the first time for that. Just to clarify, I’ll say that I can see some people thinking that there might be something behind this rumor.
If the halo crack is aimed at me (see above, I don’t get what you’re alluding to), my halo is already tarnished and dented.
As for real life dilemmas of conscience, I deal with them day in and day out. I do the best I can for people, but perfection has never been my long suit.
If your post was tongue in cheek, sorry I missed the semi out-thrust tongue.
joanne
September 19
9:04 pm
I’m so selfish. So self centered. So egocentric.
BUT: Is it possible? Could it be done in a lab? Now?
Could la Nora & Ms Howard concieve a child who could be ‘born’ as a fully grown, ready to publish author?
Oh, please, let it be truth.
And this dilemma comment-drama? Really? People are angry & talking about the rumors? And wondering if it could be true? Seriously? With all due respect, no, just no.
Nora at the dumpster? LMAO! No, it wouldn’t happen. Seriously.
geeze.
Jody W.
September 19
9:13 pm
Via the Onion, I believe I read recently that the melting polar icecaps have revealed not only a huge collection of secret lairs but NH’s illicit (and likely toxic) waste dump of JB paperbacks, all marked up with moustaches on the author photo. Scientists aren’t yet sure how deep the pile extends and how many titles are in it, as the icecaps haven’t melted entirely, but they think back to the early 80’s. http://www.theonion.com/content/news/melting_ice_caps_expose_hundreds
Tuscan Capo
September 19
9:43 pm
No Throwmearope, it wasn’t aimed at you. I just think you were on the right track about people who can’t tell the difference between fiction and rumors.
Tuscan Capo
September 19
9:45 pm
..or the truth for that matter. Sorry, hit the submit comment to smack a fly before reading that last thru.
Chantal
September 19
10:15 pm
And this dilemma comment-drama? Really? People are angry & talking about the rumors? And wondering if it could be true? Seriously? With all due respect, no, just no.
Not people, just one person. Myra.
Ashley Blade
September 20
6:19 am
First off I must say Karma is a brat and so is fate, so if this little what if happened, then well said author got what was comin to her!
I am a newly contracted author and with my very first ever published story coming out soon, I would hate for someone to take my moment away. Yes NH(who is my hero, FYI)would be kinda in the wrong for throwing them in the dumpster, but in all actuality shouldn’t they have already been there??? I would think so. But I’m a newbie with grand dreams of owning a penthouse in NY on my meger salary. I’m allowed, right? LOL!!
What would I do though? I would walk up to NH, laugh, say I saw that, wink and ask needed any help? (I’m twisted that way)
But seriously Myra, chill chica. Take a step back and laugh. I did. It’s funny and a what if. Its not real. NH didn’t do this in reality LOL!!
Way to make me use my noodle at 120 in the morning LOL!!!!!
katiebabs
September 20
9:10 pm
My first thought would be, “wow that Nora Howard has some balls!” I would be shocked and dumbfounded and probably would talk about it to someone I am friends with who is at the conference and decide then what to do.
I don’t think I would ever be able to look at Nora Howard the same way again.
But would there really be books at the conference from the author who admitted she plagiarized? Would this author be at the conference? Then I could see a cat fight happening between the two in the lobby.