Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

Lynne Spears' had contracted to write a book to be published through Thomas Nelson, an inspirational publisher. The book was to be about parenting and when I originally heard the announcement, I laughed myself off my chair. Today, Lynn Spears’ fans will have some bad news. Given that her 16 year old daughter has announced her pregnancy, the impending parenting guidebook is being put on hold “indefinitely.”

What could she possibly say about parenting at this point that would not draw laughing and pointing? I could understand a celebrity biop about how she and her husband leveraged their daughters to stardom, but on raising your kids to what? Dress as provocatively in public as possible? Become a laughingstock before the age of 30? Treating your children like accessories? Do parents really need help on raising their kids to be Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears?

Via People.

We’re no strangers to plagiarism here at Dear Author. While out and out copying is easy to spot, strong similarities is a more murky area. The number 2 book on the USA Today bestseller list and the Number 1 hardcover on the Advice, How-To and Misc NYT list is Jessica Seinfeld’s “Deceptively Delicious“.

A number of readers at mommy forums, Amazon.com and Oprah.com have begun pointing out the similarities between “Deceptively Delicious” and “The Sneaky Chef“. Seinfeld says that the idea to puree vegetables and add them to recipes sprouted sui generis a couple of years ago
but in 2006, a chef and cookbook author of “The Sneaky Chef” submitted a 42 recipe proposal with the same ideas to Seinfeld’s eventual publisher HarperCollins. The New York Times found the following similarities:

parents purée healthy foods like spinach and sweet potatoes and hide them in childhood favorites like macaroni and cheese or brownies
spinach in brownies, avocado in chocolate pudding and sweet potato in grilled cheese sandwiches appear in both Lupina and Seinfeld’s cookbooks
an early publicity brochure for "Deceptively Delicious" showed an illustration with the same drawing …

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not a hater of Victoria Beckham. I have three pairs of Rock n Republic Beckham jeans which I love. They are very comfortable. But a book club started by a woman who bragged to the Spanish press while promoting her autobiography that she has never read a book her entire life, including her own, sounds a bit suspicious. Do we even know that she can read let alone engage in a discussion about an entire novel.

I’m all for stars using their fame to promote literature, like Jon Stewart on the Daily Show, but when he recommends a book, I actually believe that he has read it. She did tell the press that she likes fashion magazines so perhaps Margaret & Lizz Weiss’ name brand novel would be right up her alley. Heck, maybe she’ll single-handedly bring chick lit back into vogue.

Via The Superficial.