Shiloh Walker's Blog, page 69

Author’s choice…

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And it’s the final Saturday Snippet with my awesome group of ladies.  I’ll probably continue to randomly post them when I remember.  It’s an easy way to fill a post, but the blog-hopping thing is coming to a close.  Make sure to check out the other ladies participating if you can.

 

I saw the flicker in his eyes…the flicker of doubt, but I didn’t say anything.  I was good at gauging a person’s strength.  My life had too often depended on it, and it went deeper than that anyway.  It was just part of what I was.

“A lot of independents aren’t that strong.”

“Is your boy?”

My boy. I huffed out a breath and leaned back against the car.  “My boy.  Damon…I told you, months ago, that Justin and I used to have something.  Then we didn’t. That hasn’t changed.  So just shelve the…whatever.”

His stony face didn’t change.  At all.  He jerked a shoulder in a shrug.  “It’s not like it’s any of my business, right?”

“No.”  Why did it seem like the bite marks on my neck, my wrist, were burning?  I resisted, just barely, the urge to reach up and rub the one on my neck.  Damon’s eyes all but burned into mine and I think we both knew we weren’t being entirely truthful.  I couldn’t get involved with another man…not when I was still hung on him.  It just wasn’t in me.  And the bastard knew it.

I’ll be waiting…

I glared at him.  “Just shelve it, okay?”

“Shelving it.”

He didn’t even move and the air, the space between us had shrunk down to nothing.

From Broken Blade…due out in January.

Other ladies to check out.

Lauren Dane

Caris Roane

Eliza Gayle

Lissa Matthews

McKenna Jeffries

Taige Crenshaw

Delilah Devlin

HelenKay Dimon

The crazy that comes with plagiarism scandals

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I know I’m not the only who has noticed the theme with plagiarism scandals.

I think author Courtney Milan has spoken about this, but I can’t remember where or when and a search didn’t show anything.  But the cycle is kinda obvious by now.

First there is denial…

I didn’t do it.

Then there are cries of bullying.

I’m the victim!  Why are you so mean!

Then we start hearing from the plagiarist’s fanbase.

Leave her alone!  There’s no proof.  You’re just jealous/mean/bullies/.  You’re being sued for libel/slander/cyberbullying…blah blah blah…

Never mind that truth is kinda the absolute defense against libel and it has to be libel. Remember your Spiderman.  Slander is spoken.  And how is it bullying to speak up about the truth?  FYI, for the record, I am outright against anybody who tells somebody to harm themselves, drop dead, etc.  If that’s anybody’s version of speaking up for the truth, find a better way.

But speaking up for the truth isn’t bullying.  Notifying the author, notifying e-tailers isn’t bullying.

There are other steps in the cycle.

Books will disappear.

The author often fades away, going silent.  Websites die.  Sometimes, the ‘writer’ makes excuse.  Depression (I’m depressed, I haven’t plagiarized anybody).  A husband is leaving, somebody is cheating… it’s always somebody else’s fault.  It’s never just the fact that wannabe writer couldn’t come up with their own ideas so they stole somebody else’s.

The only except to this rule was Kay Manning.  She openly admitted what she’d done wrong, she confessed, without exception, and she apologized without excuses.  It was the first time in the 10 years I’ve been published and more plagiarism scandals than I can recall.  Because of that, I’ll remember her name…and if she publishes again, I may give her a second chance.

The latest scandal is about a fricking USA Today best seller, Shey Stahl.  Apparently her books did so well, they landed her an agent and a contract with Simon & Schuster. But…it might be/allegedly/blah blah blah… that those books aren’t hers.  None of them are for sale anymore and it looks like she is holding true to the pattern.

I didn’t steal them.  They are mine.  People are being mean to me.  They are jealous.

And the chorus of her fans rise high…we’re here.  We’ll support you.

It’s predictable.

Already, she’s gone silent.  FB page is gone, website is being redone.  More ‘similarities’ are cropping up with other fanfic pieces.

In a year or so, will I remember Stahl’s name?  Unlikely. If I do, it will just be that she involved in another scandal…she was another wannabe who wanted to write, but couldn’t.  Maybe one who could have learned how, if she would have invested the time to learn her voice.  Instead, she stole somebody else’s….allegedly.

Here’s the deal.

Plagiarism is wrong.

Check out this (info via Dear Author)

She’s wearing a tight blue shirt and a black pencils skirt. Her high-heels tap on the wood as she descends down the steps. Her hair is an unnatural red color, but it’s seamlessly curled and styled. And when she smiles, I feel Mom almost cringe.

Alice’s mom looks nothing like my mom.

“You must be Renee,” the lady with the deep-red hair says, offering her hand.

Mom flattens her curly hair before shaking Mrs. Cullen’s hand. “Yes, and your name?” Mom asks kindly.

Dusty by YellowBella, Chapter 2: Dry and Dusty

She was wearing jean shorts and a red tank top. Her hair was that same rich color as Ivey’s, the color of the canyons with lighter highlights throughout.

“You must be Kathy,” the lady said, offering her hand.

“Yes, and your name?” Mom asked kindly.

Stahl, Shey (2013-09-20). For the Summer (Kindle Locations 684-686). . Kindle Edition.

 

The blurb from the cover…sorry, it’s identical.  This doesn’t happen by accident. (click on it to see full size)

(Image from DA)

 

There are numerous passages in the book where lines like this were found, entire scenes blocked out, just like this. And this isn’t the first or only instance.

This is nuts.

What really bugs me is how many fans rush to support her.  You poor thing.  They are just jealous.

Part of me gets it, in a weird way.  They love these stories, they invested time and money and they want more…the problem is what they want is more lies and they can’t see that.  So they continue to defend.

It’s…bothersome, though, how they continue to refuse the evidence that is so plainly there. 

Plagiarism is a matter of ethics, and can be a criminal matter, and it’s like these people don’t care that they are defending a person who has absolutely no writing ethics, at all.  Would they go on the attack if somebody stole one of her stories?  Is it a blind defense of her?  That fanaticism is…well.  Worrisome. To blindly follow/love anybody means you refuse to see their flaws.  This is a pretty huge flaw.

One thing that did jump out at me was one of these gems, tossed out by one defending Stahl. As far as I’m concerned, she has no defense, but as a mom, and a writer…I do want to address it.

How can you do this (paraphrasing here… this was a line from her FB page, gone now, but I won’t highlight the user’s name) don’t you realize these books are her babies????

First.  BOOKS ARE NOT BABIES.

I carried my babies for 9 months.  I lost one child.  It devastated me.

I would happily jump in front of a bullet, a speeding train or a madman with a knife for one of my children.

For a book?  I’d throw my books in front of that bullet, that train, that madman.

I’ve happily thrown my manuscripts at a wall, abandoned them, starved them.  I’d never do that to a child.

A book is a creation that seems to take on its own life.  But it’s not a living creature that requires love, nurturing, protection, shelter.

Get it right, people.  BOOKS AREN’T BABIES.  I think it was Tessa Dare that led a twitter hashtag party one year about all things you do with babies that you don’t do with books…books don’t wear diapers.  Books don’t cry…etc, etc.

Books don’t pee on you, poop on you, scream at you, yell at you, cry on you, ask why nobody likes them, ask you when they can drive, ask for an allowance, they won’t grow up and leave you, come back and hug you on the first day of school.

BOOKS AREN’T BABIES.

If I had to choose between writing and my children, my children will win.  Every damn time.

Books are important and they are creative works that come from inside and yes, they can rip you apart.

You know what really rips you apart?

When somebody steals those words and tries to claim them for their own. That is why people are up in arms over the Stahl/Dusty/Sarah/Mary Elizabeth mess.  Because a lot of us, writers and readers, get that Sarah and Mary Elizabeth invested time and heart into creating a story…and Stahl went and tried to claim it as her own.  It isn’t her baby.  It’s their story-and she stole it…allegedly.

I know how this feels.  I’ve been there.  Stahl, and everybody defending her, have absolutely no clue what it’s like.

Not quite there

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So I’m coping.  I’m not level yet.  I’m kinda right about…

 

I can’t describe what there is.  Level. Stable?  Ready to face everything I need to juggle without my head wanting to explode?  Ready to just deal with life?  I don’t know.  I still cringe half the time.  I don’t want to hide under the bed 2/3 of the day anymore.  I guess that’s an improvement.  Not as much as I want.  But it’s better.

Even the nights are better…

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Saturday snippet time…steamy scenes…

Hmmm.  How about one of my older ones?

His Every Desire

 

“Imagining things,” she muttered to herself as she walked through the house one more time, checking all the locks, checking the windows.

She even got her gun out. Emery hated the cold, lifeless feel of it, but she’d be damned if she didn’t feel a little better as she checked the chamber.

Passing by the hall mirror, she paused and studied her pale reflection. She looked like a ghost.

A scared ghost.

How in the hell could just seeing a car do this?

Shaking her head, she started up the stairs, leaving the lights on behind her as she went.

Moving into her room, she closed the door and started toward the bed. She needed to get some sleep. Tomorrow…

“Hello, Tracy.”

That voice…swallowing, she turned slowly, lifting the gun and leveling it at the man who had been hiding behind the door.

Joel! For one split second, she almost flung herself at him. She stopped just in time…it had been three years. Three damned years.

“What are you doing here, Joel?”

A slow smile creased his face. “Watching you. But you already know that. You saw me earlier, didn’t you?”

“Is Vincent here?”

His dark blue eyes flashed at her as he snarled, “If he was, do you think I’d just be standing here?”

Emery swallowed and shook her head. “I don’t know. Joel, it’s been a long time…”

“Three years,” he murmured. “I’ve been trying to find you for a year now. You hid well.”

A year… “You’ve been looking for me?” she asked, her voice tight and rusty.

A slow smile spread across his face. She knew that smile. Knew it well…seconds later, he pulled her into his arms and she moaned as he slanted his mouth across hers, pushing his tongue deep inside, kissing her deeply, his tongue rubbing across hers, sweeping over the roof of her mouth, across the surface of her teeth.

Tasting her—like he had been starving for her.

Whimpering she pressed against him. Heaven knew, she had been starving for him. That worry, the gut-deep fear slowly faded away as he touched her. When he touched her…it didn’t feel as though even a minute had passed since he had last kissed her.

He paused just long enough to mutter, “Fuck, I’ve missed you.”

His hands stripped her clothes away as she rose onto her toes, burying her fingers in his hair. Cool air bit her flesh and then his hands were on her hips as he spun around. She felt the wall against her back, and then…oh, please. She whimpered as he let go of her for a second–

 excerpt

Lauren Dane

Caris Roane

Eliza Gayle

Lissa Matthews

McKenna Jeffries

Taige Crenshaw

Delilah Devlin

HelenKay Dimon

Myla Jackson

TJ Michaels

Leah Braemel

Felicity Heaton

Book list

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I’m putting a complete list of my titles on my site, complete with publication year.  I break them down by series, by genre, by print, by ebook, but this lists all of them.  I’ll put the list here, but it will also be on a permanent list, with a link from my book shelf page.

**Note, I think I have them all.  But as you can tell, it’s a hell of a lot of books.  If anybody notices one that is missing, by all means, let me know.

Her Best Friend’s Lover (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2003

Whipped Cream and Handcuffs (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2003

Voyeur (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2003

The Hunters: Declan and Tori (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2003

The Hunters: Eli and Sarel (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2003

Make Me Believe (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2003

Touch of Gypsy Fire (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2004

The Dragon’s Warrior (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2004

The Hunters: Byron & Kit (e-ebook) Ellora’s Cave 2004

The Hunters: Jon & Lori (e-ebook) Ellora’s Cave 2004

The Hunters: Ben & Shadoe (e-ebook) Ellora’s Cave 2004

Once Upon a Midnight Blue (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2004

Her Wildest Dreams (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2004

Ellora’s Cavemen: Tales from the Temple IV (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2004

Coming in Last (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2004

Dreamer (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2004

Mythe & Magick (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2004

Mythe: Vampire (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2004

Nebulous (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2004

His Christmas Cara (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2004

Silk Scarves and Seduction (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2004

Back from Hell (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2005

Telling Tales (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2005

Djinn’s Wish (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2005

Ellora’s Cavemen: Legendary Tails II (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2005

Every Last Fantasy (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2005

Good Girls Don’t (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2006

Sage (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2006

The Huntress (e-book short story) Samhain 2006

Hunter’s Pride (e-book) Samhain 2006

Malachi (e-book short story)  Samhain 2006

Talking with the Dead (e-book) Samhain 2006

Always Yours (ebook) Samhain 2007

I’ll Be Hunting You (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2007

His Every Desire (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2007

One of the Guys (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2007

The Missing Berkley 2008

Through the Veil  Berkley 2008

Hunter’s Edge (ebook) Samhain 2008

Beautiful Girl (ebook) Samhain 2008

For the Love of Jazz Samhain 2008

Vicious Vixen (e-book) Samhain 2008

Drastic Measures (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2008

Chains Heat 2009

Fragile Heat 2009

Hunter’s Need Berkley 2009

Taking Chances (includes Talking with the Dead & Vicious Vixen) Samhain 2009

Candy Houses (“Grimm’s Circle” series; e-book) Samhain 2009

Redeeming (e-book) Samhain 2009

My Lady (e-book) Samhain 2009

Playing for Keeps (e-book) Samhain 2009

One Night with You (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2009

The Dragon’s Woman (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2009

Guilty Needs (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2009

Hearts and Wishes (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2009

Veil of Shadows (sequel to Through the Veil) Berkley 2010

Broken Berkley 2010

Crazed Hearts (“Grimm’s Circle” series; e-book) Samhain 2010

I Thought It Was You (short story e-book) Samhain 2010

No Longer Mine Samhain 2010

Beg Me Self Published 2010

Tempt Me Self Published 2011

No Prince Charming (“Grimm’s Circle” series; e-book) Samhain 2010

The First Book of Grimm (“Grimm’s Circle” series; contains Candy Houses and No Prince Charming) Samhain 2010

Tarnished Knight (“Grimm’s Circle” series; e-book) Samhain 2010

Never as it Seems (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2010

A Forever Kind of Love (e-book) Samhain 2011

Locked in Silence (“Grimm’s Circle” series) Samhain 2011

Hunter’s Fall Berkley 2011

If You Hear Her Ballantine 2011

The Departed Berkley 2012

If You See Her Ballantine 2012

If You Know Her Ballantine 2012

Stolen Ballantine 2012

Grimm Tidings (“Grimm’s Circle” series; e-book) Samhain 2012

The Second Book of Grimm (“Grimm’s Circle” series; contains Crazed Hearts and Tarnished Knight) Samhain 2012

Blind Destiny (“Grimm’s Circle” series; e-book) Samhain 2012

Beautiful Scars (e-book) Samhain 2013

Lost in Love (includes A Forever Kind of Love & Playing For Keeps) Samhain 2013

The Unwanted (e-book) Samhain 2013

The Protected Berkley 2013

The Reunited Berkley 2013

Wrecked Penguin 2013

 

The Hunters

Tori and Declan (e-book; also see below) Ellora’s Cave 2003

Eli and Sarel (e-book; also see below) Ellora’s Cave 2003

Hunters: The Beginning (includes Tori and Declan Eli and Sarel) Ellora’s Cave 2004

Byron and Kit (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2004

Jonathon and Lori (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2004

Ben and Shadoe (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2004

Rafe and Sheila (e-book) Ellora’s Cave 2005

Hunters: Interlude Ellora’s Cave ((includes  Byron and Kit Jonathon and Lori)  2005

The Huntress (e-book short story) Samhain 2006

Hunter’s Pride (e-book novella) Samhain 2006

Malachi (e-book short story) Samhain 2006

Legends: Hunters and Heroes (includes The Huntress Hunter’s Pride Malachi) Samhain 2006

Hunting the Hunter Berkley 2006

Hunters: Heart and Soul Heat 2007

Hunter’s Salvation Berkley 2007

Hunter’s Choice (Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance)  2008

Hunter’s Need  Berkley 2009

Belonging (e-book; also see below) Ellora’s Cave 2009

Hunt Me (ebook) Self Published 2011

Hunter’s Fall Berkley 2011

Hunter’s Rise Berkley 2012

 

AS J C DANIELS

Sexy Little Surprises Ellora’s Cave 2012

Blade Song self-published 2012

Night Blade self-published 2013

Broken Blade self-published 2014

 

Because weird must be shared

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This is a thing.  Really. Happening in Northampton.

 

I read Stephen King’s IT in the 6th grade.  Immediately thought PENNYWISE!

image from Northampton Herald & Post

Saturday Snippet… a bit delayed

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From BREAK FOR ME, a novella coming out in ebook next spring. Part of my RS series coming from St. Martins.

 

He’d only been waiting half a lifetime, it seemed.

Maybe his entire life.

Sliding one hand down to her hip, he yanked her against him.  The feel of her, all slight angles and delicate curves, was every bit was perfect as he’d imagined.

She jumped up and he caught her, the bottle of whisky, the glass falling to the porch.

Feeling like the top of his head about to come straight off, he turned and pressed her against the wall. She arched against him and through the barrier of their clothes, he felt the warmth of her—it wasn’t a seductive, sweet heat.

This was devastation, and he thought he was going to die if he didn’t get his hands on her.

Tearing his mouth from hers, he lifted his head and looked down at the upturned oval of her face.  Her breaths came in harsh, labored pants.  His breathing was just as ragged and against his chest, he could feel the slight swell of her breasts, rising, falling.  Sliding a hand over the curve of her hip, slipping his fingers under the hem of her shirt, he said softly, “When a man’s been dying for a taste of something for as long as I have, it’s hard to think straight, especially in a moment like this.  I think maybe we should…”

She pressed a finger to his lips.

“I think we should stop thinking.  I’m tired of it.”

Other writers to check out

Lauren Dane

Caris Roane

Eliza Gayle

Lissa Matthews

McKenna Jeffries

Taige Crenshaw

Delilah Devlin

HelenKay Dimon

Heartbreaking

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South Dakota seems to be in flagrant violation of the Indian Child Welfare Act, a law designed to keep American Indian kids with American Indian families.  It makes sense.  The only way to keep their heritage alive is to keep these kids with the families who can pass traditions on. Not to mention…a family shouldn’t be torn apart for no reason.  Many kids are taken away for no reason.  Some kids are abandoned, some are abused, but instead of seeking relatives or foster care within the tribe, as federal law seems to require (from what I can tell) they shuttle these kids off to white foster facilities or white foster homes.

Every year, hundreds of Lakota kids in South Dakota are removed from their homes and put not with Lakota families, but in white foster facilities.  Here is one story (source)

One afternoon in 2008, Janice Howe—a Dakota Indian—waited at the bus stop for her grandchildren to come home from school. They never arrived.

Earlier that day, a social worker had taken Janice’s grandchildren. They were driven to a white foster facility hundreds of miles away. The reason stated in the case file: a “rumor” that Janice’s daughter, Erin Yellow Robe, had been using drugs. She hadn’t. To this day, Janice’s daughter hasn’t been charged or arrested for drugs—or anything else.

For the next year and a half, Janice fought to get her grandchildren back. She called the state’s director of social services. She wrote letters to the governor. Finally, she convinced her tribal council to threaten the state with kidnapping. A few weeks later, her grandchildren were returned…on a “trial basis.”

Many kids go through sexual and physical abuse in the foster homes. The most heartbreaking case, though, is this one.  Four children were removed from a home for ‘neglect’… probably because the family was poor.  Many native families are.  And one girl, under the age of 10, was sexually assaulted, multiple times, by her foster father.  He pled guilty.  The child advocates who tried to protect her were persecuted by the state-the attorney was fired and both the child advocate and the attorney were charged with tampering with evidence, etc, etc… (source and more info here.)

It would seem the kids were bullied, harassed by investigators as they tried to get the kids to change their story.

One by one, the children faced Agent Mark Black of the Department of Criminal Investigations and a partner. The children were each alone, without an adult present on their behalf.

While being questioned by the agents, the children became fearful and wept, according to someone familiar with the case who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. The youngsters were apparently not told they were being recorded. While left alone for a time, one explored the room, discovered the camera equipment behind a peephole, and began to cry.

The DCI video of the interrogation is now a court document. In a four-minute excerpt that can be seen on YouTube, the agents are taking a break. They’re off-camera, apparently unaware that the microphone is still picking up their voices as they plan their strategy.

One agent says the children “have been f—ing with us.” The men talk about questioning the therapist to whom the children described the sexual assaults. Agent Black says, “I guarantee we put [her] in here. Put the f—ing hot screws in her. Bitch you’re in f—ing deep shit. You better start talking.” Later Black says, “At least we f— with Brandon.”

Why does this happen?  I don’t know… but look at this.

 

National Public Radio broadcast a scathing report, charging South Dakota with rampant taking of American Indian children into foster care. The network said the state receives $100 million dollars annually in federal funds on behalf of foster children of all races, giving it an incentive to keep the numbers of children in care high. (source)

and

However, in the politics of South Dakota’s royally screwed-up Native foster care system, where separating Lakota children from their families for “neglect” (read: poverty) is a lucrative proposition for the state, bringing in thousands of dollars per child in federal aid, getting in the way can get you thrown under the bus. (source)

The Lakota People’s Law Project is petitioning Congress to investigate South Dakota’s abuse of the Indian Child Welfare Act.

A 1976 study by the Association on American Indian Affairs found that 25 to 35% of all Indian children were being placed in out-of-home care. Eighty-five percent of those children were being placed in non-Indian homes or institutions. (source)

This is why that law was created…to keep the families and tribes together.

The state has no right to violate federal law.

Why in the hell is this tolerated?

Sometimes this is me

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FYI, I’m coping.  Not fine, that’s a ways off, but I’m getting through.  Each day.  All you can do.

Image from yes but no

 

Remembering

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…

9/11 is always a surreal day for me.  I was 8 months pregnant and two weeks after it happened, my son was born.  I spent most of the day half in shock, like most of the country and I can still remember the way I’d stare at the TV, hardly able to believe what I was seeing.

Has it really been that long?

 

I took the photo on our trip to New York…at the memorial for the 9/11 victims.