Wednesday News: Plagiarism, motion publishing, Korean military romance, and women in the wild
The girl who stole my book: How Eilis O’Hanlon found out her crime novels were swiped by a stranger – For those who don’t read the comments to the news posts, “Anon” provided a link to this story in the comments to yesterday’s news post, and I think it deserves to be highlighted. Eilis O’Hanlon and Ian McConnell wrote several crime novels more than a decade ago as Ingrid Black. They ultimately published four novels in the Saxon series with Penguin, when their agent died and their editor left, stalling the series at that point. With rights reverted back to them, the co-authors had been preparing to release the Saxon series in digital, when one day they saw someone accusing author Joanne Clancy of plagiarizing the first book in the series. The odyssey the authors undertake to discover the truth and the compassion they ultimately show toward the plagiarist (whose books have since been removed by Amazon) are both pretty compelling. It’s also great because O’Hanlon provides actual examples of both books, so you can see what she means when she claims that the expression is almost identical.
The first step was to find out if there was any truth to that allegation. Amazon’s summary of the book in question, which had been released in August 2015, certainly sounded familiar: “The serial killer known as Tear Drop vanished almost a decade ago, and nothing has been heard from him . . . until now. As death stalks the dark streets of Cork City, Detective Elizabeth Ireland must embark upon a frightening psychological journey to uncover the killer’s identity.”
Still, a blurb wasn’t conclusive proof; there are only a limited number of plots. So Ian and I downloaded a free sample and started reading Chapter One. The truth soon became apparent. Donna Patel was right.
Tear Drop wasn’t simply similar to The Dead.
It was The Dead. Everything about it was the same, from the plot to the protagonist’s sarcastic manner of speaking, to the jokes, to the very structure of the sentences and paragraphs. – Independent.ie
The future of publishing is on your TV and in VR – Ignoring the hyperbolic title, motion technology does seem to be gaining popularity, and this technology, a motion book platform called Madefire, is looking to work with publishers to create “visual storytelling,” from animated comic book panels to television storyboards.
Beyond comic book content, how else is the platform used by publishers?
We are very interested in helping to create a new grammar for visual storytelling in the era of devices, and in VR.
We have some very interesting concepts for innovating in the reading of text and non-visual storytelling.
We are building relationships with media partners, as well. We’re helping [media companies] move into the new world of storytelling on mobile, VR and AR. As we move further into digital storytelling, [new companies] will create these stories. The trends are pretty clear.
Publishers are at risk in the same way that record labels were at risk a decade ago. The publishers who thrive will be the ones who manage to develop a relationship with their readers. Otherwise, their piece of the value chain will be diminished. – TechRepublic
Descendants of the Sun: the Korean military romance sweeping Asia – Translated into 32 languages and with distribution rights sold to 27 countries so far, the Korean military series Descendants of the Sun has become immensely popular, and is even being viewed as a means to encourage values like patriotism and to promote South Korean culture and tourism. The main romantic pairing is between a special forces captain and an army surgeon, who one fan of the series describes as an “evenly matched” couple. Of course, there are also concerns over its popularity, like those from Chinese authorities who have cautioned that watching too much Korean drama can lead to bad things like “marital trouble and criminal behavior.”
The 16-episode show began airing on South Korean television in February. It is also being simulcast online in China and streamed on other websites – not always legally – watched by South East Asian fans.
It has all the familiar ingredients of a K-drama: a convoluted plot, A-list actors and an exotic location – in this case Greece, standing in as the fictional war-torn Mediterranean country Uruk.
But one unique feature of Descendants of the Sun is its military setting – it is often not fate that gets in the way of the main characters’ happiness, but the urgencies of war. . . .
But its main fan base lies overseas, particularly China, where so far it has been viewed more than 440 million times on popular video-streaming site iQiyi.com. China has strict rules on broadcasting foreign dramas, but relaxed them for Descendants of the Sun, whose production was reportedly partly funded by Chinese investors. . . . – BBC
New book A Woman’s Guide to the Wild aims to empower & get women outside – Reading this article made me think of Linda Howard’s Midnight Rainbow, where the hero and heroine have to make their escape through a Costa Rican jungle. Jane is game, and a badass, but she’s not exactly prepared for some of the challenges. Anyway, I could see Ruby McConnell’s book serving as a resource for an author who wants to place her generally unprepared heroine in a somewhat challenging natural environment. She even addresses hair and makeup on a camping trip (!). And if that doesn’t deter you, check out the full interview. McConnell says that she would like to see more young women willing to camp and hike by themselves, and she sees her book as an introduction to everything from the proper gear to knowing myth from fact. Like did you know that people still believe that bears are attracted to menstruating women?????
I didn’t believe her until I looked online, but McConnell says there are still people out there who think women shouldn’t be out in the wild when they’re on their periods, because they could be attacked by bears.
“It’s so pervasive that the National Park Service has an entire web page devoted to debunking it. It’s like a form of outdoor hazing that’s designed to make women feel like they can’t be outside, by virtue of their bodies. Like you’re endangering someone or yourself. So the myth comes from 1967; two women who were attacked in Yellowstone by a bear. The myth stemmed out of, oh, they must have been menstruating.”
The book does have a whole section on menstruation, with stories from other wilderness women and a guide to making a DIY disposal kit for backpacking trips. My Northwest
I wouldn’t be out in the wild alone because I’m much more worried about men than bears. Greater odds of being stalked and attacked by the one with the enormous sense of entitlement to what’s mine.
Re: plagiarism
I have a question, should the works of authors who are known to be plagiarisers Be removed from good reads?
Good reads is not a retailer site, but it is owned by Amazon , could there be some ethical issues here.
Thank you for the news about the Korean romance. I didn’t know about it.
When I lived in Korea, there was always this knowledge that the men in my life had to go off for two years of compulsory military service, and it was such a difficult thing to imagine (even with a Vietnam War conscript father). I will be checking it out.
Korean dramas are perfect for romance novel readers, full of all the tropes we love in our books. Even though they’re very popular across the world, the buzz around Descendants of the Sun has been kinda nuts. Waiting for each week’s episodes has been sheer torture.
I agree with TaraR, I enjoy Korean Dramas because I feel they’re like visual romance books. Most series are only 16-20 episodes and no matter how contrived some stories are they generally manage to hook me up and waiting for the next episode and/or drama with bated breath. Though Japan and Taiwan also has some really good,similar form of storytelling, the Korean ones have a little something (idk what) that makes them very addicting.
In my opinion, Descendants is a very good story, but personally,I don’t understand why people are going so crazy over it.
I hadn’t heard that about bears, but I did once have a friend’s dog “mark” me, and wondered if it had something to do with menstration.
I’m going camping next week and wondering if I should get a haircut first, so it will be easier to deal with. We’ll be staying in campgrounds with water and electricity – and two nights in a cottage with a jacuzzi tub outside – but still, long hair can be a pain in the outdoors. I wonder what tips the book has.
I used to camp all the time, in fairly remote areas, often with only a couple of other people and once by myself (part of my Duke of Edinburgh Gold requirement). I’ve met my share of bears, and dealt with everything from washing my hair with Dawn (and properly disposing of the rinse water) to menstruation (tampons and a ziploc bag packed out) to purifying water and giardia parasites. I learned how to bearproof/hang packs, dispose of poop on rocky shores (you poop on a rock and toss it in), and that it’s the road access lakes where you’ll run into the most naked people and people making use of your campsite (“But we thought it came like this!”). Oh, and have had someone’s dog in my tent because that’s not terrifying at all when you’re listening to wolves howl and the bottom zipper’s broken.
Honestly, the book “How to Sh*t in the Woods” is still relevant today and still a great read. These days there are a lot more alternatives (more environmentally-friendly, more lightweight, dry shampoos, canoes that do not require tire repair kits to temporarily patch, satellite phones that are not bigger than a briefcase) and some of them, like the GoGirl (female urinary devices for the win) and Diva Cups would have been a godsend when I was camping.
I also met people who really did believe a lot of the myths, from bears being attracted to menstruation to urine being sterile (maybe before it leaves the bladder…) to coyote pee being a bear deterrent (I don’t ask how they get the pee).
All of this said, I really don’t mind like, NOT doing that anymore. The last real camping trip I did was a fairly relaxed 5-day horseback trip from Whitehorse to Anchorage, and bears really don’t like the sound of horses. Also the horse doing half the work helps a lot. I have trouble walking 2k on sidewalks these days, nevermind in the bush, but I’m glad I did it all when I had the chance.