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#1 |
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Dreamer of dreams, teller of tales
Absolute Sage
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 2,784
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PA author gets fired from job because of book
I have to run out the door, but I wanted to post this before I did. Here's an article about a librarian who lost her job at a small town library because her "fictional" account of life at small town library wasn't ficitonal enough.
Her publisher? Why, PA. ![]() http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=72228 Be back later. If this already had a thread, Mods, I apologize! Susan G.
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Susan Gable www.susangable.com A Family Recipe (w.t.) Equal measures of chaos and love... July 2010 - Harlequin Superromance Your online computer-fixer-upper: www.PCWebDoc.com Fixing computers via the internet! |
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#2 | |
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Banned
Join Date: May 2008
Location: In The Land Of Smooth Music, yo.
Posts: 127
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Libraries are bastions are free speech unless you slander someone and:
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#3 | |
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In college again!
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: in the shadow of winter
Posts: 4,443
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#4 |
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AW Addict
Join Date: May 2005
Location: West (by God) Virginia
Posts: 634
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Here's the link to the author's hometown newspaper with the original story:
http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/ne...story_id=41013 And this is what one reader posted on that same site on Aug. 11: "Have any of you even read this book? I was able to pick out every character in this book. Her identity became known because she sent letters to everyone she knew saying she wrote the book..." Aside from any issues the individuals she may have used as models for her characters might have; this is now a public issue in that community and will continue to receive a great deal of attention because she is appealing her termination. |
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#5 | |
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Girl Detective
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: GA
Posts: 1,681
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I love that in the article she can't figure out how people knew it was her because she used a pen name, when the pen name is her maiden name, her father (who of course bears that name) is something of a local celebrity, and she says she picked it so some people would know who she was and that PA sent out letters to her friends and acquaintances. And they used a picture of the library where she works on the cover. Clever! This isn't a free speech issue; the woman has committed a potentially libelous act. Good luck getting legal backup from your printer.
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http://www.staciakane.com ![]() DEMON INSIDE--Megan Chase 2, out now (Juno/Pocket) UNHOLY GHOSTS--first in a new dark urban fantasy series, May 25 2010 (Del Rey) "Vivid characters and superior world-building combine with a wonderful sense of pace to create a gripping book. I was enthralled.” --Charlaine Harris on UNHOLY GHOSTS |
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#6 | |
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Resident Curmudgeon
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Sacramento area, CA
Posts: 3,002
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--Ken
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ResearchGuy Umbach Publishing And a Cat Named Boo: Life in Ken's Corner, anthology of Senior Spectrum columns and other articles The Pursuit of Publishing: An Unvarnished Guide for the Perplexed (free pdf) |
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#7 | ||
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Transcendent Bum
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Tehran, between Atlanta and Chattanooga
Posts: 6,837
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Quote:
Quote:
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http://ben-bradley.blogspot.com/ Latest entry "Charm: A Flash Fiction Story" August 31, 02008
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#8 | |
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Resident Curmudgeon
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Sacramento area, CA
Posts: 3,002
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Quote:
--Ken
__________________
ResearchGuy Umbach Publishing And a Cat Named Boo: Life in Ken's Corner, anthology of Senior Spectrum columns and other articles The Pursuit of Publishing: An Unvarnished Guide for the Perplexed (free pdf) |
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#9 | |
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Transcendent Bum
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Tehran, between Atlanta and Chattanooga
Posts: 6,837
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Quote:
Perhaps that wouldn't be a problem for her if she hadn't said anything, but she babbled about it in her book. If this is an identifiable person, I'd think she'd be in some kind of trouble whether he/she really is a known sex offendor (she could be in trouble for not promptly reporting him) or not (he can sue for libel). Regardless, she may have a lot more problems than losing her job. Perhaps one defense she could use for libel would be that being published with PA "isn't really being published."
__________________
http://ben-bradley.blogspot.com/ Latest entry "Charm: A Flash Fiction Story" August 31, 02008
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#10 |
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AW Addict
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 189
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This is not a free speech issue. This is an issue of YOU DO NOT BREACH YOUR PATRONS' CONFIDENTIALITY. The ALA is absolutely crystal clear on that. If the library director is correct that her descriptions are detailed enough and not very fictionalized, then she absolutely should have been fired.
In a lot of places, it is pretty hard to get fired from a library job. But this would do it. ...I do find it hilarious that she defends herself by saying that hardly anybody would ever have known about the book, because while it's true, it's not what most people want for their novels!
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#11 |
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you should know by now
AW Supermod
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 17,225
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I like how she says that she couldn't come up with the characters on her own.
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#12 |
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If you leave...
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Digging out my favorite pink sweater in memory...
Posts: 1,658
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Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from responsibility for what you say. If you're going to claim someone is a sex offender (as she apparently did in her book; claiming sex offenders were using the computers in the library) you'd better be able to back that up.
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#13 |
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Looking for a good cuppa tea...
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Or New Babbage, Second Life!
Posts: 4,073
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seriously, how did she NOT think that anyone would find out and be upset?
sell the house and get out of town...
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#14 |
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AW Addict
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Uk
Posts: 628
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I found this whole story hugely amusing. Thanks for posting.
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#15 |
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Calm before the storm
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Three blocks from the Atlantic Ocean
Posts: 6,318
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Thank you, Susan, for the morning laugh. Geez. Where did that lady get her BS or MS in library science?
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#16 | |
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Dreamer of dreams, teller of tales
Absolute Sage
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 2,784
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Quote:
![]() Here's the other thing. She's obviously a librarian who doesn't know how to do RESEARCH. A little research would have both informed her that people who write "novels" based on real people that are recognizable will get themselves into big trouble, AND that PA is not <ahem> the best option for publishing out there. A little research would have taught her how to submit to the big publishers -- the ones who publish MOST of the books on the shelves in her libraray. <sigh> Susan G.
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Susan Gable www.susangable.com A Family Recipe (w.t.) Equal measures of chaos and love... July 2010 - Harlequin Superromance Your online computer-fixer-upper: www.PCWebDoc.com Fixing computers via the internet! |
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#17 |
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studies Library Science
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Where the Wild Things Are
Posts: 6,814
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No, not freedom of speech. And wasn't iUniverse or Xlibris sued because of a similar book? The publisher was also held liable for the ...uh...libel in the book they produced.
Hmm...
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#18 |
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If you leave...
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Digging out my favorite pink sweater in memory...
Posts: 1,658
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It was something to do with, I believe, a husband writing a nasty tell-all about his ex-wife, if I remember correctly. She was a romance writer.
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"Who gave us the right to push all the other species around, anyway?" - Jamie West-Oram WIPS - "The Island" - on first draft rewrite, big time The Kensington Horror - in progress Hallowed Ground - percolating Remember Neda ![]() |
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#19 |
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Remorsely Logical
AW Supermod
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 12,328
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If you're talking about a true small town, the library may not have required one.
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#20 |
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Nefarious Countertenor Fan
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: MD
Posts: 2,325
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Rebecca Brandewyne. He claimed all sorts of nasties about her, including plagiarism. No real publisher would have touched it because he couldn't back anything up.
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#21 |
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Cat hair collector
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: slightly off center
Posts: 1,041
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Luddington Talks about the book here.
The Library Diaries just might be PA's first big seller. If readers can get the book.
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#22 |
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Banned
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: South Wales
Posts: 1,201
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I feel sorry for the people in that small town who are able to identify themselves from what is written. If I was one of those people and what the author had written was not true, I would sue her. I wonder why she wrote negative things about people, when there must have been so many positive things she could have said about the community in which she lives. Then the author might have excited positive media interest which is much more worthwhile.
Barbara |
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#23 | |
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I grow my own catnip.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Deep in the heart o' Texas
Posts: 1,526
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#24 |
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Girl Detective
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: GA
Posts: 1,681
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Rebecca Brandewyne (sp?).
__________________
http://www.staciakane.com ![]() DEMON INSIDE--Megan Chase 2, out now (Juno/Pocket) UNHOLY GHOSTS--first in a new dark urban fantasy series, May 25 2010 (Del Rey) "Vivid characters and superior world-building combine with a wonderful sense of pace to create a gripping book. I was enthralled.” --Charlaine Harris on UNHOLY GHOSTS |
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#25 | |
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Your Genial Uncle
Absolute Sage
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 13,461
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Quote:
It was AuthorHouse. To the tune of $200,000. August of 2006.
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