I think you’re forgetting that in works of savage passion, the cowboys are the bad guys, especially if they’re associated with the military somehow. Doubly true if they are affiliated with Custer or another general with an assertive moustache. Also included in the bad guy category are ignorant white settlers, French-Canadian fur trappers with zee outrazhous acksents intent on stealing the hero’s sister’s virginity, and unwashed mountain with intentions toward the same, unless they’re after the heroine, in which case they’ve signed their own death warrants.
So Cassie Edwards, as the descendant of a bona fide Indian Princess, could never have children with a man who has venerated the cowboy.
It’s unethical to pass off other people’s work as your own, which she has done by including it without attribution, and apparently has done it throughout her career. She seems mostly to have borrowed from works that are either passed out of copyright or whose authors have passed out this world, so I suppose she’s only screwed them posthumously. But Paul Tolme’s article has been used without his permission or the permission of the publication it originally appeared in. She’s also “borrowed” heavily from books by modern scholars on Native American life. In the first twenty pages of the PDF provided by the Smart Bitches blog, I see Mari Sandoz and Kathryn Holland Braund, who are both scholars whose work I’ve encountered in classes on Native American history.
She’s profited from using other authors’ work, and has for nearly thirty years. That’s hardly a good thing.
Moaning Bear stretched and yawned, “They are nocturnal hunters that require a plentiful supply of prairie dogs for prey. Though they will also eat other small mammals, birds, and insects, a single family of four Black-footed Ferrets eats about 250 prairie dogs each year and cannot survive without access to large colonies of them.”
Shawneequa laid back, the sheen of love still heavy across her beasts. “Wow, you’re really getting me hot. Tell me more…” She traced his nipple with her grubby, torn fingernail.
Moaning Bear whispered, “Typically a prairie dog colony 125 acres (50 ha) in size will provide a sufficiently stable prey population for one adult ferret. The ferrets are entirely dependent on the prairie dogs for their survival, and even shelter in prairie dog burrows during the day.” His breath caught, as Shawneequa pulled him atop her once more. “Take me, weasel boy…” she whispered as they made hot monkey love.
ahem Actually, I never read her books. I was never a big fan of the Native American romance genre, though I recall reading a few… but they’re a blur from the past so I don’t think they were any of hers.
I know I’ve spent too much time reading the SDMB because I know what the following expression means, but for the love of God please don’t tell me that this is another euphemism for Dirty Sanchez. And if you don’t know what D.S. is don’t google it.
Entirely different issue. Part of the point is that they are exactly the same. Seeing these photos, removed from the advertising labels, blown up to obscene portions, is a statement on American idealism, heroism, etc. Think of it as citing an argument that advertising is overly romantic of ideals that don’t exist and go from there.
I was just talking about the tendency of 19th-century men in positions of power to have very impressive facial hair. George Armstrong Custer’s moustache could practically have a book of its own.
I never thought anyone would take the phrase “assertive moustache” to mean anything similar to Dirty Sanchez. Mr. Winkelreid, I’m not sure whether I should salute you or stare at you queasily.
there are moustache contests, i seem to remember seeing clips from a contest in germany and india on oddball. there are some very, very, assertive moustaches (or really, really, scary) in those contests.
and shouldn’t that be hot weasel love, not monkey?
And who among us has not? My favorite pillow talk involves dolphins, tapirs and the life cycle of the fire ant. Just not all at once.
I wonder what my Adult Pop Fic prof would have to say about this. She refused to brook any criticism of romances, period (and if you expressed any, you watched your grade go down. Well, not really, but she definitely cooled toward those who didn’t share her passion for creative names for the male member). But I don’t care enough to email her and ask…
Plagiarism is plagiarism. The Romance industry cannot insist on kudos and respect and acceptance and then look the other way when stuff like this happens. Legitimacy comes with responsibilities. I like Jennifer Crusie’s stuff, but I think less of her now. As for being “mean” to a 71 year old woman–so what? How is pointing out unethical practice “being mean”? This reminds me of so many women’s groups I’ve been a part of in my life–everyone must agree; everyone’s feelings must be protected. It’s aggravating. She (the author) did a bad thing. She deserves to be called on it. In the grand scheme of things, it’s small beer, but that doesn’t ameliorate the error.
Done and done. You’re right, it’s a lot more than 20 paragraphs, it’s more like 240 paragraphs, however, some of the paragraphs cited as obvious plagiarism are really quite marginal. To cite one example:
This looks an awful lot like doing research (a very good thing) and then rephrasing it as part of her story. Most of the quotes involved were brief ones, like this. I will grant you that many were word for word in places like your original cites. But calling this “plagiarism” casts doubt on your other quotes. You see that, don’t you? And the fact that she used a lot of different sources is a good thing.
Yes, that would be bad, as my stuff is fiction.
People have done so – they have reposted sample chapters of my work on thier sites and not given me credit. I wrote them and asked for credit. I got credit. Easy as pie. Free publicity, in fact. I didn’t call 'em plagiarists or anything. Now granted, if I saw whole chapters or short stories of mind republished and sold under someone else’s name, I’d go after them, because that’s simple theft. But did Cassie really do that, or anything like it? So far, I’m not seeing it.
How were the people hurt? What harm was done to them?
I do think Cassie should have had a huge list of references and should have worked harder at rewording the stuff in her manuscript, it only for the sake of good writing. Frankly, I wouldn’t want to read her books, they sound like one of those droning monologues you might here in a college classroom.
