The Charlotte Observer reports that Penguin/Putnam has dropped romance author Cassie Edwards due to, and this is a phrase I have never heard before, "irreconcilable editorial differences." The differences have to do with Edwards’ lifting text from other people’s books and claiming it as her own, a practice brought to light in meticulous detail by the blog Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels.
In a phone interview in January, the author told The Associated Press
that she indeed "takes" material from other works, but said she didn’t
know she was supposed to credit her sources. She then asked her husband
to get on the phone. Charles Edwards said the author got only "ideas"
from other books and did not "lift passages."
So her interpretations of other writers’ ideas just happen to match passages exactly. What a coincidence?
Sure.. If by “ideas” she meant “taking word-for-word.”
I really don’t like attacking people online. But in this situation it is warranted. She really disgust me. Does she think people are stupid? Especially writers. All throughout elementary, middle school, high school and college, EVERYONE knows that if you are going to take something verbatim that you MUST cite your sources. She is a liar! She couldn’t even make good excuses, stumbling on her words and started talking in circles until she finally realized just how stupid she sounded. She just thought that no one was going to notice. Plain and simple! This really makes me angry, because here I am working hard trying to get an agent and perfect my craft, critiques and she’s around here stealing. She is a thief and needs to be taken to court!
And what does she need her husband on the phone for? She can speak for herself! She’s a grown ass woman who is the one who made this mess. And I won’t call it a mistake, because this was done on purpose. I hope her agent drops her and she never need to get published every again. She is in the same category as Kaavya Viswanathan. A thief!
Oh, come on!!! And she actually expected people to believe her?? *sigh*
You really got to wonder sometimes about some of these so-called “authors”
What else is really juicy and unusual is that they didn’t just drop her future books, but after making heaps of money with her, they don’t want anything to do with her reprints either. All rights to every stinking word have reverted back. Perhaps it’s a class action liability that concerns them, but it’s kind of like getting the concert T-shirts back from your ex with skid marks on them.