Shannon Stacey


Knocking off

I’ve been meaning to do a post about the rip-off conversations going around right now, but my cable connection’s been really wonky and trying to get all the links together was too much for me. But you’ve probably seen them. This book’s a rip-off of that book because the heroes were statues. This book’s a rip-off of that one because the heroine’s a tough cop in the future. Or gee, they both have clans of vampire brothers, or a necromance. And living in New Hampshire we’re pretty much inundated with how Dan Brown’s faring over in London.

:wtf:

So how does that work? Do you have to hit the big list before you have the lock? We can’t do necromances because LKH did it? No more football heroes because SEP did them? And SK’s got the vampire clan and JD Robb’s got the kick-ass cop heroines?

So in our futuristics can our society have credits instead of cash, or is that an In Death rip-off? And what if our cop heroine has a weapon that sets to stun? That might be a rip-off, too. But is it ripping off Eve Dallas….or Captain Kirk? And that oh-so-original Serenity/Firefly thing? Gee, there are some similarities to Battlestar Galactica, no? Or Buck Rogers? They’re all set in space, after all. With space ships and doors that whoosh. Clearly a rip-off.

I find this to be one of the most annoying things I’ve seen in the romance community yet, and it’s so insulting to authors. And, depending how the comparisons are worded, potentially damaging. I’ve seen a couple of particularly dumb-assed comments recently that, if I were the author, would possibly have me flipping through the lawyer section of the Yellow Pages.

I don’t remember who, but somebody said once if you give five writers each the same basic premise, the same hero and the same heroine and put them in front of the typewriter, you’d have five very different stories. I believe that.

And really, who wants to read a series about a bunch of ugly, unrelated vampires with no sex appeal and no bonding? But I guess if you write a vampire series with yummy Alpha males, you’re just a knock-off.

I’m so annoyed I’m going to end up sneaking the Easter stash.

8 comments to “Knocking off”

  1. Trace
    Comment
    1
      · March 14th, 2006 at 4:06 pm · Link

    Well said, Shannon.



  2. Gabriele
    Comment
    2
      · March 14th, 2006 at 6:08 pm · Link

    I don’t get the whole Holy Blood and Grail thing anyway. The theories have been around long before both books, the only thing the HBHG authors did was putting the mess in one book, and what Brown did was to add a thriller plot.

    Next thing is Goffrey de Monmouth comes back from the dead and sues all the Arthurian fiction writers. :lmao:



  3. Anna Lucia
    Comment
    3
      · March 15th, 2006 at 4:01 am · Link

    Nah, the Welsh bards would then sue his ass…. :wink:

    Step away from the chocolate, Shan! Good rant, though. :woot:



  4. Kitty
    Comment
    4
      · March 15th, 2006 at 7:17 am · Link

    I think I need help. I misread that last sentence as…

    “who wants to read a series about a bunch of ugly, unrelated vampires with no sex appeal and no bondage?” :crazy:

    Anyway, I thought there was no such thing as a new story, just many ways of telling the same old story.



  5. Selah March
    Comment
    5
      · March 15th, 2006 at 2:58 pm · Link

    Frankly, I was so fascinated to discover that “fuck everything in your line of sight” wasn’t part of the JOB DESCRIPTION of a Necromance…

    Whoops. Did I say that out loud?

    Ahem. Never mind. Nothing to see here. Moving right along…



  6. Gabriele
    Comment
    6
      · March 15th, 2006 at 3:24 pm · Link

    Lol, yes Goffrey filched from them. Ranted all the way how unreliable those bards were but copied them nevertheless. :devil:



  7. Anna Lucia
    Comment
    7
      · March 15th, 2006 at 4:08 pm · Link

    LOL Gabrielle!

    Those goddam tree-hugging welsh hippies…..

    snort.



  8. Jaynie R
    Comment
    8
      · March 16th, 2006 at 5:29 am · Link

    yup, it’s harsh. But for those of us who read about 10 books a week, seeing the same thing over and over is boring.

    A lot of people are:cursin: at me for my comments about this recently but :neener: that’s what us evil readers do. We blog our opinions on authors who cut too close to the line.







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