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This is a brief update because there's been (yet another) plagiarism scandal.   In this one, a would-be writer of  fan fiction was (allegedly) ripping off work by Lorelei James (One Tree Hill) and Renea Taylor (Beyond Right or Wrong).  Rilzy has donned her detective hat, done the "Sherlock Holmes" thing, and dug up the dirt.  Rilzy has the dirt on display HERE on her blog.   I won't repeat the details.  To get the low down on this one, check out the linked blog.

I heard about this one from the Romance Divas forum.  It's the best way to stay informed on all things romance.  If you write romance, you really, really should join.  I think there's a screening process but hey - they let me in!  I was interested to read from her blog that Rilzy is a law student who wants to be a writer.  Be careful, Rilzy - sometimes law students who write grow up to be crazy duck ladies who are practicing attorneys.

Anyway, Rilzy waxed eloquent about her feelings regarding this apparent plagiarist - so I'm gonna quote her:

In addition to being really angered I was really happy with the support that all the writers showed for Lorelei James. We all understand how precious our work is and how personal. We all understand that what this silly, little girl (who read for a Literature and Writing Degree ironically) did was deeply invasive and just plain out wrong.

I take comfort in the fact that no matter how long it takes me to hone my craft, I would never resort to stealing someone’s work. I write because I have stories in me that need to come out. I don’t write for recognition or fame which is clearly what Alison Gilmore was after. This is what distinguishes writers from frauds. This is what distinguishes Lorelei James and Renea Taylor from Alison Gilmore.

-- Rilzy - again - HERE.

I share my thoughts with the Divas and decided to post them here as well.  By all the ducks in the pond - like the brilliant folks who devote themselves to writing computer viruses, plagiarists mystify me. Even aside from the amorality of stealing other people's thoughts and work, the motivation behind the theft escapes me.

If you're hard-working enough and creative enough to go to all the trouble this writer apparently did and to mount a whole campaign of sorts behind it --  wouldn't you think that this author would prefer to apply that creative effort to her own work?  The same thing puzzles me with the computer folk who spend tons of time and go to a mad amount of effort to write a virus and to hide it in something people use or will open.

What's the point?  The writer could be working on her next book and the programmer could be coding the system that will kick Microsoft, Google and Apple to the curb.  Then they would be rewarded or acknowledged for their own efforts.

I don't get it.  I just don't get it.

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I've been doing a lot of reading lately.  I've also been writing - 2 works at once.  I'll write about the writing later.  This post is about the reading.  For a writer, reading is part of the job.  To stay involved and current, I've got to stay abreast of the trends and immersed in my genre, my only genre - ROMANCE. (Is there another one?)

My budget doesn't stretch to pricey books these days, which is a big part of the reason that none of my books are pricey.  I'd never ask a reader to pay something for a book that I won't pay myself.  While life on the short-end of the money line is never fun, there's never been a better time to be a budget-conscious reader.  I get an email from Kindle Daily Deals and always check the romance deal.  I get an email from BookBub, only about romance deals - because that's what I chose when I signed up - and I always check that one.  I check in with Dear Author and Smart Biches because both sites focus on romance and feature deals every day.

I ask for Amazon gift cards for every gift-receiving occasion, and thanks to the sites I mentioned above, a $50 gift card can stretch a looooooong way.  If you're not signed up for emails from both Kindle Daily Deals and Bookbub you should stop right now and sign up.  Seriously.  And, Great Gorgeous Ducks - what kind of romance reader are you if you don't check in with Dear Author and Smart Bitches every day?  If you do all of this for deals and pay attention, you'll fill up your e-reader in no time flat and you'll never be without a lovely love story to brighten your day!

But I boogled away from the point.  Y'all know - I tend to do that.  I'm headed back there now.  The point is that all those lovely love stories are NOT created equal.  Some have been amazing reads that kept me away from writing for periods that stretched much too long.  Others have been books that make me look at my Kindle, shrug, and turn back to my laptop.  All have been romances - because that's not just what I write.  It's also what I read.  It's ALL I read, except for the occasional book by John Grisham. (My day job is practicing law and John does great legal thrillers.)

Why do some romances grab my attention - keep it - and make me sad to have finished the books while others I can take or leave?  It's all about the SAP.

...continue reading "Hit Me With Your Sappiest Shot"

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I haven't done a non-Grey's blog in quite some time.  So, today, I'm emerging from the dark beyond to talk about - emerging from the dark beyond.  I haven't actually "emerged" yet - but I'm hoping that writing this blog will help.

Help what?  I hope it will help put me back in contact with my readers and with myself and my writing.

I haven't "felt" like blogging for quite some time.  I haven't "felt" like doing a lot of writing.  In fact, I just haven't "felt" like myself.  I'm not sure who I've felt like - but it hasn't been the insane duck lady.  I've felt tired- like almost any effort is too much.  And I've felt like a teapot filling up with tears, never knowing when the pot might reach full and start to spill over - or when the tiniest little thing might tip my spout enough to start a crying jag.

I think it's been caused by a combination of stress at home compounded by the stress of juggling various types of pressures at work.  On the writing front - I've been suffering from a bad case of "why bother" that's been increased by that general sense of feeling tired.  It's felt like too much effort for too little return.  If I can't write my way out of the personal or professional pressures, would it be easier to just sit down, pretend to rest, and spend my time worrying about everything I can't seem to fix?

I wish I was writing to say it's all better now - but that isn't true.  I think I'm writing because I'd really, really like it to get better.  Even if nothing changes, I'd like to feel hopeful enough to believe that it might and strong enough to want to keep trying.  And so far, wallowing and worrying has achieved nothing except making me feel more tired and less optimistic.

So, what's the best way to get out of a funk?  My eldest is an Aspie and he gets through life figuring out how to react to things by watching the people around him.  He's done well- he recently graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering cum laude and with honors in the major.  Figuring out how to act or how to feel by watching how others act and feel works for my eldest.  It makes me wonder if "fake it till you find it" might work for me too.

If I can act happy and energetic -- will the fiction become fact? Can I will myself to skip jauntily over whatever piles of "bad events"  build up around me?  If I can't fix it no matter how much I work and try and struggle, then there really isn't a point in worrying about it.  If all the effort won't fix it, then all the worry surely can't help now, can it?

Should I just give myself permission to slow down or bloody stop?  Running in place isn't getting me anywhere.  Or - if I keep up the pace and act like I'm getting somewhere, will the view eventually change?  If it's all a giant hamster wheel and forward progress isn't possible, then I'm better off sitting down and resting.

I'm not sure of the answer but that might be because I'm not even sure of the question.  Maybe, if I spend more time ignoring real life I can start enjoying the happily ever after I'm trying two craft for my two works in progress.  Reality isn't all it's cracked up to be.  I guess that's why I never understand readers who get critical of a work - mine or someone else's - because it's too far removed from reality.  Isn't the point of writing a good book - or reading one - to take you as far away from reality as possible?

Maybe my whole problem is that I've been spending too much time worrying about the real world and too little dallying in my characters' world.  If I just leave the real world alone and let it go to pieces - or not - it's bound to matter less if that's not the place that matters most.

I should have blogged sooner.  If I rant and rave like this to anyone in my real life I'm sure they'll just bellow that I brought it all on myself - or they'll say, get over yourself, already, because you really don't matter that much.  So, maybe I've arrived at a solution - but I'm not sure which it is.  Do I act like everything's hunky-dory because believing will make it so?  Do I keep on juggling problems until one finally bounces back hard enough to crack my thick skull and send me six feet under?  Or am I better off letting it all go and crawling over the pieces to get back to my keyboard where I can write about a place where nothing's hunky-dory but everything's about to be?

Maybe I'm best off keeping this blog active because it gives me a place to go where I know I'm talking to a bunch of other ladies dealing with similar issues.  If anyone out there has figured out the answer - or at least understands the question - please HOLLA.

In the meantime, I'm going back to one of my two works in progress and I'll plan another blog entry where I do something other than bitch and moan....

And I can know that Mr. Duck and the Ducklings are grateful that I'm bitching and moaning here, rather than at the supper table.  Mr. Duck is making Fettucini Alfredo tonight and everybody knows that weeping and wailing doesn't go with Alfredo a'tall.........

 

 

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I'm blogging with a 1-hour delay tonight. I have to watch the American Idol finale. It's been a great season. The best 2 wound up in the finale. I hope that Candice Glover - the Carolina Girl from right down the road - wins it all. Either way though, Candice or Kree will be great. (Course, it turns out that tonight, the Carolina Girl is the "best in the world." You go, Candice - Congrats!!!)

Now the voice over - McDreamy and Cristina running down the hall - scary.

Bailey almost got back to surgery - but couldn't do it. Now, that's not our Nazi.

And Arizona did the nasty -- with the wrong woman. I hope she feels MORE guilty than she looks. Shuffle out and hide.......

And y'all, I'm from the Grand Strand of South Carolina. Hurricanes are scary but -- not as terrifying as they're acting. Now, Mer giving birth - that's terrifying. I've done that too. Of course, I didn't do it in the dark. The dark wouldn't have scared me as much as a lack of air conditioning. Dark, I can stand. Being hot? Now that, I hate.

Those were some scary risks of a natural delivery of Mer's babe. Is being born face first that deadly? Who knew? Both of mine were induced. The first because my water broke and the second because Sam was ready and I was a type 1 diabetic. Like Mer's doc, when I asked to wait for the weekend when we'd have a sitter for the oldest, my Doc said that diabetic mothers have a very high incidence of babies dying in the womb late in the term. The doc said - in 3 days your healthy baby could be dead. So I said what Mer said -- well, let's do it.

An overturned bus and a fire. How brave must it be to run towards danger. A big shout out to the first responders.

The baby is delivered but he's not crying. Don't hurt the McNugget - Shonda Sunshine. Oh, there he is. McDreamy and the McNugget. But the baby's breathing is shallow. Mer tells Der to go with him and Der directs the interns to stay with Mer. Dear Duck, the OB is called away for another emergency. An intern is going to close. That can't be good.

And Cristina is trying to operate in the dark, knowing Mer's in surgery a room or two away.

There are no batteries and the McNugget may need a ventilator. And the Nazi is lost and useless.

Mer's bleeding - not from her uterus. Blood is coming from her IV and now she tells them about the FALL ON THE STAIRS. Mer's been bleeding internally and has to yell at the terrified intern.

Jo teaches the Moms how to ventilate the babies and McDreamy is crooning to his wee one, not knowing Mer is fighting for her life and talking an intern through emergency surgery. She tells the intern that if she can't breathe for 9 minutes not to revive her. Mer makes him promise - she is trying to tell him the babies' name when she passes out......... Not Mer. It's Mer/Der, people........

One of them is smart enough to go get Bailey for Meredith. She picks up a coatstand and beats the med machine until they fall out. That's our Nazi -- but now she's bleeding. She goes - hopefully to Mer.

Uh oh. Jackson sees a kid in the burning bus. It's about to explode. He won't leave her. Jackson's a good guy. Mostly. Except when he's not. And he's April's soul mate once they figure that out.

Shonda Sunshine's finales are always like a roller-coaster at the edge of a cliff, climbing up at 100 miles an hour when it breaks, sending the passengers plummeting off the cliff towards the sea below - in a monsoon - at night.

Cristina comes back and finds Meredith and outside the bus explodes. Did Jackson and the kid get out?
Cristina runs for Derek and it's that scene where we started - the two of them running down the hall.

Outside, April's screaming for Jackson, afraid he died. But there he is with the kid.

And April's ignoring her fiance and she is in tears.

Webber goes after the repairman he sent downstairs. And there's water and electricity sparking.

McDreamy says the McNugget is good. And Cristina lists all the traumas Mer survived.

Bailey -- tells them Mer had a massive splenic bleed. She makes Cristina and Der think Mer died because Bailey looks like death. But Mer's okay.

It's Webber. They're going to kill Webber. The electricity and the water. LIghts on upstairs. Lights off for Webber? God, I hope not.

Callie sees Arizona's ring pinned to the dastardly doc's scrub top. And she knows.

Karev tells Jo he's going to say the words - and then he does. And they finally kiss. It's time for good things for Karev.

April goes back to Jackson and he's hurt. She tells him she loves him and not the paramedic. He tells her - you're getting married. She says, unless you can give me a reason not to.

Cristina tells Owen she's made for the OR - she feels pure joy in the OR. And she tells Owen that when he looks at Ethan he looks like Der when he looks at Zola. And she asks - do you really believe I will be enough. Owen shakes his head - and Cristina leaves. He shouts after her but she leaves.

And that scene with Callie and Arizona. Arizona she still blames Callie for cutting off her leg and that's why she cheated. AND MER/DER NAME THE BABY BAILEY - because Bailey saved Mer's life. Bailey is hunting for Webber. She wants to apologize. She won't find him to talk to though........ He's gone. I know he's gone.

The season ends with Webber lying still on the wet floor of the basement, with electric sparks flying around him.

And it goes black....... no answers until next year........

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Y'all - the McNugget is at risk tonight.  Where's that crate of tissue?  I could use it to blot my tears or --- I could think of an entirely different way to use it on Shonda Sunshine.  Just sayin'.  The giant griddle in the sky best not come for the McNugget ---

Right after the voiceover, Hurricane Karev isn't waiting for the storm, but Owen has the docs getting ready.  Karev calls McDreamy away - If the jerkwad hit Jo, I hope Karev and McDreamy pack the kind of punch that leaves a lasting impression.  Uhh Ohhh.........  it's too late for McDreamy to intervene - Karev already dealt enough blows of his own.  (You go, Alex!)

Arizona's still flirting?  No, girl - you don't go...

Owen and Ethan and yes, Owen should be a Dad because he's got the stuff, the magical Dad stuff.  But Cristina told Ethan's Grandmom the truth about Ethan's Dad's condition.  How dare she!  The truth?  What was she thinking?

And yeah.........  Owen asks Mer the "A" word question.  We've all known that was coming.

Power tools in the OR.  It's about time.

So Jo beat the Doc who hit her?  Lovin' that.  I hope she doesn't suffer for it.  Take it from a lawyer - the law isn't always just.  Will Alex take the fall?  Yes, he will.  Mer knows that - telling him not to do anything stupid was futile.  She chases after Jo, telling her not to let Alex take the fall.  She chases after Jo on the stairs.  Then the cleaning guy comes by with the power tool from the surgery she was kicked out of and Mer is pissed -- she stomps up the stairs, not watching where she's going and........

Damn it.  She falls.  I fell once when I was carrying my youngest.  I was getting out of the tub.  Thankfully, I landed on my hands and knees mostly but I was still terrified.  I see Mer's face -- yeah, I felt like that.  Just like that.

Shonda - leave the McNugget be!  Mer can be happy.  We don't need the dark and twisty back.  No losing the baby and a downward spiral in the marriage.  No threat of infidelity from Mer or Der - No, I tell you.  No.  A healthy McNugget means a healthy Mer/Der.  You listening, Sunshine???

Dear duck - Der's in emergency surgery on Ethan's Dad when Mer falls on the stairs.  He leaves it in the hands of the intern.  He had to go, of course - HAD TO - but it can't bode well for Ethan's PaPa.  Course, we all knew Ethan's Dad was a goner.  He has to die so that Owen and Cristina have to deal with that "A" word.

So far so good for the wee McNugget.

A musical proposal for Kepner?  Rose and all?  I still like her with Jackson better, but.......  what will she say?  She said yes - they throw roses.  But what will Jackson say?  His eyes meet April's........  Jackson is clapping - trying to be happy for April.  Yeah, Sunshine, we all see the circle.  She's trying to make April and Jackson the new Mer/Der.  But you know, the paramedic the paramedic is no Chris O'Donnell -- err, Veternarian Dr. Finn Dandridge......

Yep, we're heading for a trauma room scene with Jackson and April.......  It probably won't occur at a prom at the hospital though.  How many of those can they have?

But, yes, the proposal is why Owen kicked April out of her surgery.........

Dear Duck 2 - the visiting hot doc wants Arizona to show her the on call room?>  Really?

And Alex is trying to talk the beaten Doc out of calling the cops.  Alex is being smart.  Threatening the Doc with who Alex's friends are..........  No, Alex's friends don't like a guy who'll hit a girl.  It's the new Denny and the LVAD... But McDreamy overhears.  By the Book McDreamy - the cop's kid.......

And Webber calls Bailey on the carpet for avoiding the OR....  Good.  We need the Nazi back.

And then Mer goes to answer Owen's "A" question about Zola.  And Owen tells Mer all his feelings for Ethan - all the ones he should be telling Cristina.  But Owen thinks Cristina won't get it.  And Ethan's Dad wakes up --- so Owen is sad.  Very, very sad.  Cristina doesn't get it.........

I'm still wondering if Ethan's Dad will actually make it.

And, yeah, I'm still worried about the McNugget.....

The storm is rolling in...... And the paramedic has to speak with Jackson. He tells Jackson that Owen was in on it.  Will Jackson tell April?  Do bees bee?  Do birds bird?

And, yeah, Mer tells Cristina about the "A" conversation with Owen......  And the power is flickering as Arizona shows hot doc the on call room.  It had to be, right?  No, girl.  Don't do it.  Another flicker.  And a kiss......  Arizona gives the right answer.....  but the hot doc talks her into being bad......  And sometimes I like bad......  But I like Callie more.

Alex yells at Jo and she doesn't understand it means that he cares......  And they almost have their moment until... A tree falls right in the den........

Callie is looking for Arizona..........  and Mer's water breaks........  It's too early........

But sometimes, McNuggets arrive early, right?? But the preview doesn't look good.  A C Section in the dark?  An explosion -- and Mer's voice asking why the baby isn't breathing........and McDreamy trying to look calm with a horrified expression on his face?

Don't do it Shonda........  leave the McNugget alone!

 

 

 

 

 

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See, there's this author who is about 7 months younger than a certain insane duck lady.  You may have heard of her - her name is Erika Leonard.  Okay, most likely you know her by her pen name -- E.L. James.  She wrote a little ole book trilogy that a couple of (Million?  Hundreds of Million?) people have read.  The trilogy?  Yes, that one - "Fifty Shades of Grey."

To me, it sounds like all the hulla-boogby- balloo caused by the bombshell effect of these books has had the same effect on the life of the author - catapulting Ms. James past fame and right into infamy.   It must be a hell of a thing to deal with, particularly for someone who wasn't out chasing fame.  One day, a little later in life than some others, Erika Leonard sat down at a computer and started writing a book.  I get that - I totally get that.  I, too, did all sorts of other writing before I (finally) sat down at a keyboard and wrote my first book.  "Brotherly Love" didn't catapult me into fame, fortune or infamy.  It was the first book I wrote and it quietly convinced me that I wanted to write others - and so I did.

I'm not sure what would have happened if "Brotherly Love" had hit the publishing world with even one-thousandth of the impact of "Fifty Shades."  I hope I would still have written more.  I hope that I would still be writing.  I hope - but I don't know.  Think about it.  Imagine it for a moment.  You write a trilogy that becomes the "E.T." of the romance genre. It's not a book that's shoved down readers' throats by a massive publicity campaign.  It's a book that becomes a phenomenon because readers discover it on their own and they turn it into a phenomenon.  Some readers love it and others hate it but very, very few who've read it are unaffected.  The initial discovery and your growing sales numbers at first delight you -- but then -- the numbers keep growing and growing.  Those sales ramp up the discovery factor and soon the media takes notice.  And you wake up one day to find you can't remain happily in seclusion behind your keyboard any longer.  You can't because you're "it" and your it-ness changes the way everyone looks at you and thinks of you.

And you know -- you bloody well know - that the next time you sit down at a keyboard you're expected to produce more than just your next book.  You're  expected to produce a next book that will do better than that trilogy.  I'd love my trilogy - I love all my work - but I think I'd grow to resent it a little too.  In a way, the trilogy would become a great golden albatross or perhaps a snipe that I never meant to chase.

Suddenly, then, the world expects that trilogy author to morph into a cross between the late Princess Diana and the late Margaret Thatcher.  And all I'd want to be would be the same insane duck lady that I've always been.  What else could I be but me?  I don't want to be anyone else - and I'll bet Erika Leonard doesn't either.  I wonder if she ever resents her E.L. James persona?  Erika can be whoever and whatever she chooses - but she must now do it within that bubble of fame, bearing the vast weight of those expectations.  No matter what she does or how she does it, she'll always give some people reason to find fault.  IMHO, the world is far too full of folks who aren't happy unless they're finding fault with someone.

...continue reading "E.L. James – Fifty Shades of Controversy"

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Tonight's blog comes from my hotel room in not-so-sunny Orlando, Florida.  As my other post of today advised, my eldest graduated today from UCF.  The reunited Clan Graham will be heading home tomorrow.  It's been a rainy graduation week, but there's a good reason for that. Florida is crying because it's losing Zack.

Anyway, my attention tonight is divided with packing, etc.  Also, tonight I lack my always-spiffy Time Warner DVR with the ability to pause and rewind.  I may miss things -- and I'm hoping you'll understand.

As we await the show, I'm thinking back to the classic Lovin' Spoonful song lyrics. They ask if you believe in magic in a young girl's heart, how the music frees her, whenever it starts.  I admit to being biased, but I feel that way about romance novels.  I think a good love story can free anyone, including girls young and old.  A story of love and lust, passion and pain always leading to a happily ever after can make us feel free and easy, no matter what fills our days.

Tonight's epi centers around a magic trick gone wrong, the need for magic to mend relationships with Bailey, too much of the wrong kind of magic to celebrate a 21st birthday and a wee dose of the kind of troublesome magic that makes relationships go so right - or so wrong.

A magician really sawed his wife in half (or nearly), and Meredith and Webber can't stabilize her.  They could use Bailey's help but Bailey isn't talking to anyone.  The whole group lines up to corner her at a restroom but Bailey still slams the door.  The magician's wife turned out to be about to leave him for the other magician's assistant.  Karev is avoiding Jo and Cristina is helping and April's recalled that being bad with Jackson felt really good.

Owen and Cristina aren't progressing but they're not falling backwards either.  However, Owen's bonding more with Ethan, his future adoptive son - or so we decided several epi's ago.  And then Owen sends Ethan home with his grandmother, but the boy is rushed back to the hospital after he overdoses on Grandma's sleeping pills.  Trouble for Otina looms, unless Cristina has grown enough to accept a child.  If not, that could spell an end to Otina's non-marital bliss.

Arizona had to call social services for Ethan, and that doesn't make anyone happy.  But, Ethan's ingesting the pills reminds Cristina of a possible way to wake Ethan's father from his coma.  And the magician tells the assistant that he knows she is what his wife needs to mend her heart and her soul.  Oh, and Jo wants to get things back where they were with Karev.  Hasn't she figured that out yet?  Jo seems far too smart to be so stupid.

The 21-year-old's friends are worried about what they will do for spring break if their friend can't drink.  April tells them to aspire to greatness - become doctors or senators.  Jackson overhears her and April invites him to Joe's but Jackson says no.  He has plans.

And Cristina's magical cure isn't magic for Ethan's Dad and the social workers are on the way to take Ethan.  Meredith tries another appeal to Bailey and it doesn't work.   It turns out Bailey's been testing her blood - obsessively - for the strain of staph that killed patients last week.  So far, every test has turned out negative.

Owen tells Ethan not to take pills without a parent's permission and he says he doesn't think he has parents anymore.  Cristina tries - telling Ethan that they haven't given up on his Dad, but that just makes Ethan cry.  Then Grandma tells Owen that Ethan needs a parent because her son is gone.  She tells Owen that Ethan needs someone to look after him and she can't.  Yep - it's going there.

Jackson meets the intern and admits he hasn't called her for 11 days because he's the head of the hospital now.  But if he was going to try to keep things quiet he screws up by laying a hot one on her right at Joe's.

And Callie tells the visiting surgeon that she's married.  The doc still has the hots for her though.

Webber comes to Bailey's aide by calling her husband.  For him, Bailey opens the door.

And Cristina acknowledges the elephant, asking Owen if he wants a child.  Owen says he wants her -- but all of us, including Cristina, knows that is only part of the truth.

Karev goes home to find Jo sitting and waiting for him - but she's been beaten.  Yes, Dr. Not So Wonderful is a woman beater.

OH - DEAREST DUCK - the previews.  Meredith won't slow down and she falls, walking up stairs.

Leave the McNugget alone - Sunshine.  Just sayin'.........