I've only skimmed part of the 5 part review, but...it looks pretty bad for her.

Cassie Edwards Investigatory Extravaganza

I'll be back after this tedious ridiculous excuse for a meeting (how many times can they possibly lecture us on GOSSIPING? its an ALL FEMALE work environment, most of whom are in their 20's-30's. what do they THINK will happen?)

Lexie

Yeah, Dear Author's been all over it, and I think Galley Cat picked it up, too. (Galley Cat is the gold standard for book news)

Doesn't look good for Edwards, which is very sad.

Whoa! That's sad she got published in the first place. :blink:

is amazing what she copied in the first place, such random things that in lieu of her total disregard for Native American customs and behaviors seems weird.

I'm rather sorry for her--after that whole Janet Dailey fiasco from a few years ago things are going to get ugly even quicker, but at the same time she should have known better and covered her ass better (footnotes and author's notes/forwards/post logs whatever are your best friend, or so I'm told).

::sigh:: I don't know what I would do if I found out one of my favorite authors plagarizes. as a person hoping to one day get published this infuriates me (how many stress attacks and anxiety attacks and sleeplessness have I gone through to get FOUR pages done).

Here's today's update. It's getting interesting.



Galley Cat

I've never heard of this author, but after reading some of the entries, I'm guessing they can get around it 'cause it's not verbatim? :unsure: Seemed close enough to me!

You're not missing anything, Kel.
I've read one book by this author back in the 90's and it was one book too many. :sick:

I understand paraphrasing and what not, but when whole passages seem to be in a distinctly different tone of voice that a brand new reader to her books spots early on, wouldn't that then point to the fact that she didn't bother re-wording it enough?

and the post on Galley Cats is right--most authors take full advantage of the 'acknowledgements' and such things to cite people they've either consulted or borrowed ideas from. I've seen acknowledgement papers in historical novels that are two or three pages, if not more, so that the author meticulously thanks every single person who helped them in some way shape or form--just to avoid this sort of issue!

would it have been so hard for her to list the resources? or made mention?

if nothing else this should make future authors and current authors aware that a simple little paragraph they borrowed from somewhere on the internet or book might catch them out one day. especially in this day of simply googling everything that seems out of the ordinary.

It's big news now:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/...mancewriter.ap/

She didn't know she had to credit her source? Isn't that her publisher's job to know that and tell her?

As I read more and more about this all I can think is a time, about 2 years ago, when my sister was in 7th grade and they nearly expelled her because they thought her summer reading essay was plagarized. Their entire foundation for this? She used words that aren't normally known or used by her age group. They didn't have any sort of reference backup, nor any evidence really, just that she knew big words and what normal 13 year old girl knows big words? I'm so frakking sorry my sister reads and her vocabulary is that of a college-student.

They were ready to take it to court--because my parents contested the suspension pending investigation and spoke to their seperate attorneys (they're divorced so of course they have two different lawyers) about the matter. It was only after they made my sister re-write an entirely different essay, on a different subject, in front of witnesses with only books the teachers could easily check plagarized passages from, they offered an apology.

So here this author is, with more then 2 dozen passages from 8 books (at least passages that are easily found on the web), that are clearly copied and there are still doubting thomas's. I can understand her publishing house not wishing to suddenly shout out that she was plagarizing, but what planet is her and her husband from that they think that you don't need to attribute referenced material let alone copied material! :duh:

The power of the internet can truly move mountains--this is almost a week old and already making major news and all it was at first was some chicks discussing the eerie similarities between passages.

lexilewords, I agree that it boggles the mind. So does your story about your sister, for that matter.

My son was telling me about a year ago (he would have been 16) that some players on an online game accused him of using a dictionary to make his comments, or of having them written ahead of time, since he used "big words". No, he just reads a lot also.

Scribner's released a new statement. Check out Dear Author or the Smart Bitches for it.

Okay.. This is the first I've looked at this. Heck, all of us need sources of information...we aren't all experts on everything. Most authors include a reference to their sources as part of their thank yous. I don't think she needed to footnote the book but I would say that including a reference to her sources would be expected. I don't think that it's wrong that she used the sources or even that the passages so closely match the original content assuming that she had acknowledged the sources and had permission.

One of the sources responded and indicated that they were thrilled to know that they had been referenced. Let's face it...these are pretty obscure references.

I'm not sure if I would be as upset if it wasn't for the fact that it seemed like she was treating it like no big deal. In 25 years in the industry how did she NOT know that at least thanking the person or source is the correct thing to do?

Every year for as far back as third grade the very first test/quiz we were given was the bibliography test. How to cite a source, how to create a Bibliography, what should and should not be considered...

I don't expect her to be a mega-brain and to know everything nor do I think she should have footnoted every single reference, but anything would have been better then nothing at all.

Plus I think that rewording a paragraph a little, and claiming the material as her own intellectual property, is wrong. she didn't do the hours of research and time and concentration to form those paragraphs she was so glibly using as her own. Plus for every source that might be happy, I'm sure there are at least 3 others who aren't happy to have their hardwork uprooted.

I think she needs to take responsibility for her actions in the least and a public apology made as well.

let me tell you Hobbit that when my sister came home sobbing because she might be expelled in the first week of school I was seeing Red. My brother and I have come close numerous times before of course, but that was for FIGHTING (with each other mostly), vandelism (him) and for reckless endangerment (me), not for being smart.

aren't teachers always saying that the youth of america needs to read more? well now they see why no one does--if 1 child out of 26 can write better then she speaks (its a long story, but my sister wanted to fit in and her peer group spoke like they were from the inner city ghetto, not a military base, so Tegan modified her attitude and language to be popular) then its a witch hunt! Burn her! send her crying! she is obviously a fake!

you'd think the fact that numerous teachers had sent her to the office because she got caught reading in the middle of a class and not paying attention would have registered in their teeny tiny minds, but no. IDIOTS. every last one of them and she is well rid of them.

Nou, the issue is that in these passages, even the tone of her prose changed. It was such an obvious use of material that wasn't her own. She didn't even bother to make it sound like something that she'd write, and most certainly, there were NO permissions granted.

There's been a lot of hoopla about this; it's been interesting, especially since the whole Kavvya thing happened last year.

But the bottom line is that authors put a copyright on their material for a reason, and that reason is to protect their creations. At the least, Edwards owes these people an apology. At the most, she owes them money because she profited from material that they own.