Several years ago, probably about 2008, I started the rough draft on a book I was tenatively calling ‘Coming Around Again’. It was a love story revolving around two souls brought together repeatedly through reincarnated lives that meet once again in the present day and their previous lives start coming back to them through dreams and flashbacks. I didn’t have a LOT written on it bacause I was doing a lot of research to get facts for the time periods straight, etc. but I always intended to finish it, I loved the concept and what I had already done.
At the time I had become ‘friends’ with an artist I met thru MySpace, and she & I had long phone conversations about our projects- she was a painter & sculptor. I had told her about the book I had in the works, discussing at length with her my ideas. She suddenly severed the ‘friendship’ for no reason and refused to speak to me again, I never knew what happened, just wrote it off to general flakiness.
The computer I was using to write ‘Coming Around Again’ died, and I stupidly did not have it backed up; it-and all the research notes I had- are now trapped in a dead computer, but the story never left my mind, I always wanted to go back to it, re-write & finish it.
A couple weeks ago, a mutual friend e mailed me and said she had just found out that ‘K’ had self-published a book thru LuLu Press, called “Even If I Die”. Curiosity got the better of me and I downloaded it. You guessed it- it’s a couple that go thru several reincarnated lifetimes together, even using one of the SAME lives I had used, during the Spanish Inquisition. I hardly think that is coincedence.
Now… I know there is nothing I can legally do about it. She has “her” story fully copyrighted, and MINE wasn’t even fully written yet. But I certainly cannot finish it now as I intended because it would look like I was stealing her idea.
I feel betrayed, gutted, like she stole a piece of my soul. It is a part of me that will never be brought to life as intended now.
No real question here, as I am sure nothing can be done about it-live and learn I suppose. Just would like to get others’ general feelings on this situation.