Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Plagiarism, Bowling, Award.

I have just notified an author that I think her book has been Plagiarismplagiarised. I knew I had read a similar story to that of the blurb I read today, I contacted an author friend who located the right book which it turns out I had read last April although I couldn’t remember the name of it. I wrote a message on the author’s blog to tell her what has happened. I hope it can be sorted out. As I said, I read the original last April whereas the copy has not actually been published yet although the blurb is virtually word for word the same.

Bowling alleyBowling on Monday was great, LOL. Actually I had the best three games I have had in months. Long may it continue although bearing in mind how well Matt did last Thursday, he had a less successful day today. That’s the name of the game though. Frustrating to say the least. I nearly fell flat on my face too, I tripped up a step and if someone hadn’t been standing there, I would have fallen.

I received an award from Father Dragon yesterday, but I am not doing the full acknowledgement today until I have had time to consider who my five nominees will be.

Here’s a nice calorie loaded dessert from Cooking.com which sounds delicious, but… I do love the taste of Maple syrup and am a sucker for Maple candy which most people find way too sweet. You could use Maple candy leaves to decorate.

Maple Tart

Source: Dessert - The Grand Finale

Serves 10Maple Tart

This easy-to-prep tart packs in all the sweetness of Fall. Sugary pastry leaves are fun but optional.

INGREDIENTS
Pastry
2 cups all-purpose flour
11 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 whole egg
1-2 tablespoons ice water
1 egg white, beaten, for pastry cut-outs
Filling
5 eggs, beaten
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup maple syrup
5 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
FOR THE PASTRY: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the flour, butter and sugar in a food processor and process to a coarse meal. Add the egg and 1 tablespoon of the water and pulse until the mixture comes together. (It may be necessary to add more water, a little at a time.) Remove and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll out the pastry to line a 1-inch deep, 11-inch tart pan with a removable base. Line the pastry shell with parchment or waxed (greaseproof) paper and fill with baking weights, dried beans or rice. Bake the pastry shell for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and allow to cool.
Using a small sharp knife or cookie cutter, cut out maple leaf shapes from any remaining pastry. Line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed (greaseproof) paper. Brush the pastry shapes with a little of the beaten egg white, place on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, until golden.
FOR THE FILLING: Combine the eggs, brown sugar, maple syrup and melted butter in a bowl. Mix until combined.
Brush the cooled pastry shell with a little of the beaten egg white and pour in the filling. Bake the tart for 40-45 minutes, until filling just wobbles when shaken. Allow to cool.
TO SERVE: Decorate the tart with the maple leaf pastry shapes and serve.

Have a great day
Jo_thumb[2]

8 comments:

  1. You are so sweet to be watching out for plagiarism, Jo! I do really appreciate it. It's me. I'm reissuing it under my new pen name. :)

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    1. OK, I am so glad it isn't plagiarism, I was quite worried. I heard from Al as well as all your messages today. It seemed such a blatant copy.

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  2. Even used the same blurb? That is terrible. Glad you let the author know.

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  3. After a while everything starts looking and sounding the same to me. Nowadays all newer songs sound alike to me. I don't know how many movies I've watched that remind me of something else I've seen before. Of course with all the remakes I'm sure I am watching rehashes of what I've seen in another version. There's probably a lot more out there that is close to plagiarism if not outright so than we even realize.

    Lee
    Wrote By Rote

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    Replies
    1. You are probably right Lee, but this was so very blatant. However, as I have just explained to Alex, it turns out to be the same author with a changed name and republishing the book under another title which is misleading for those who buy books.

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  4. Hi Jo ... plagiarism - well that's rather a pain ... ah I see a change of name. Not easy for someone with a good memory like you - who could remember ...

    Ah I see it's Laura, now River ... or was Laura, now River .. yes disconcerting to say the least!

    However I don't plagiarise .. but it's a close run thing, and I wouldn't publish anything without an acknowledgement ...

    I heard of a case of music being plagiarised and how they worked out whether it was or wasn't .. it was interesting to listen to - but I can't remember exactly the specifics ..

    Glad the bowling was better ... gooey puddings are for colder nights .. I'm not that keen on Maple syrup - prefer our golden syrup ... but the professionals are starting to use malt extract to flavour foods - remember that?!

    Cheers Hilary

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  5. That would have been interesting as to how they did work it out.

    I do remember malt extract. Been a long time though. I like maple and golden syrup.

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  6. Plagiarism is a difficult thing because it's not about ideas and thoughts about about stealing the actual words and story points.

    As for republishing the same book with a new title and a different author name... I think I have ambivalence. I can see, to a certain extent, why someone would want to do that -and- why it might not matter so much for a new, struggling author. On the other hand... I'd be pissed, too, if I bought a book I thought sounded good only to find out that it was because it was the same book I already read.

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