This morning I started reading Sarah's Adventure by Sarah Scott on the BDSM Library despite the still happening troubles of that particular website. At first, I was pleased by what I read. Ms. Scott crafted two unique characters in a first person narrative that I felt had both depth and possibilities. While her story suffered from lack of an editor and was rift with punctuation and wording errors, I thought the underlying structure of the story was relatively decent.
And then I came across a paragraph that felt oddly familiar. In Chapter Three of Sarah's Adventure, the following paragraph is found:
"Now listen further," Mistress Lucy went on. "When this paddle comes down, you're going to move for me. You're going to twist and you're going to groan. You're not going to struggle to get away from me. You wouldn't do that. And you're not going to take your hands from the back of your neck. And you're not going to open your mouth either. But you're going to twist and groan. You're going to bounce under my paddle, in fact. Because with every blow you are going to show me how you feel it, and how you appreciate it, and how grateful you are for the punishment you're receiving, and how much you know it's what you deserve. And if that is not exactly what happens, well...
As I've mentione, this sounded rather familiar and in fact, I actually recognized the passage. Here's the original:
"Now listen further," Mistress Lockley went on. "When this paddle comes down, you're going to move for me, Princess. You're going to twist and you're going to groan. You're not going to struggle to get away from me. You wouldn't do that. And you're not going to take your hands from the back of your neck. And you're not going to open your mouth either. But you're going to twist and groan. You're going to bounce under my paddle, in fact. Becaue with every blow you are going to show me how you feel it, and how you appreciate it, and how grateful you are for the punishment you're receiving, and how much you know it's what you deserve. And if that is not exactly what happens, you will be dangling from the sign by the time the auction stops and the crowds come and the soldiers are ready for their first flagon of ale."
Some of you might also have recognized this passage. It's on page 35 of Anne Rice's "Beauty's Punishment" and this isn't the only plagiarized scene in "Sarah's Adventure." To be honest, I'm astonished anyone could possibly conceive the notion that they could steal another author's work, claim it to be their own, and at least in THIS genre, not expect us to recognize one of the founding pieces of BDSM literature as the sources. Author Sarah Scott should be ashamed of herself for this disgusting theft.
I didn't bother to read through the rest of the 100 or so pages of "Sarah's Adventure" but a quick glimpse also showed me my favorite scene from Beauty's Punishment where Mistress Lockley binds Beauty to the kitchen island and proceeds to whip her front with a leather belt. I'm sure I'd find other great scenes stuck between the foul tasting glue of Sarah Scott's narrative.
Normally I link back to an author's work, but in this case, you would be better served reading Anne Rice's Beauty series.
*UPDATE* I received an email from Ms. Scott after this review was posted. Her email and my reply are below.
Hi,
I just read your post on your blog, and tried to reply but I didn't have any of the accounts listed to do so. I do want to apologize though, that your experience with the story wasn't what I had hoped it would be (or intended). The site that you got it from, neglected to post my little introduction, where I explicitly state that some parts of my story were "copied" from other sources, including the Beauty novels from Anne Rice... and that I was in no way taking credit for any of their work or putting it out there as my own. I was writing a true story, and sometimes if you recreate certain events, it's easier to copy and paste and interject your own than to write anew, and I'm the first to acknowledge that I was lazy in doing so. But that doesn't make it nay less true, my story, and if you read my more finished version of it, I'm sure you would be as pleased with it as you were with the beginning.Sarah
My response:
Ms Scott,Thank you for replying. While I'm pleased to know that you did want to credit Ms. Rice for her work, it doesn't really change the fact that you "cut and paste" someone else's work into your narrative. Ms Rice is an author and for every book she sells she's gets a small royalty fee. If people "cut and paste" parts of her book out and insert them in their own story, Ms. Rice's work goes unrewarded, un recognized, and worse - credited to someone else. As an author myself, I would be hopping mad if anyone took my work and proceeded to chop it up, using pieces of it blithely in their own story.Admittedly, I was also highly disappointed when I came across the plagiarized portion of your work. Chapters 1 & 2, while error-ridden, were relatively well written. Your use of the first person narrative mode was decent and I was actually intrigued by the events unfolding. Had you merely paraphrased Rice, or even better, created your own narrative to tell the story, you would have had me hooked. I liked the way you balanced dialog and action - all talents a real author possesses.I will "update" the review on my BDSM Review Blog with your response as well as my own, but my review stands as is. While I understand your reasons for taking Ms. Rice's work, it doesn't make it right. Should you wish me to review something original, please let me know. I'm willing to give your writing another chance.Yours Faithfully,Michael Alexander
