Plagiarism.
It’s more than stealing other writers’ words — it’s an abduction of their children.
Writers’ stories and poems are special works created from their heart, their strengths and weaknesses…from places in the soul where love, fear, and anger are born and the mental, emotional, and sometimes even physical exertion it takes to craft these personal compositions is nothing short of a spiritual evolution.
Writers’ creations can become distinct entities of profound significance, altering what people believe in, shaping who they are, and influencing them in ways unimaginable…like a child.
They are precious and endearing, to the writers and their readers, and to have someone pilfer writers’ spirits and then publicly collect on the magic of their hard work is heinous, immoral, and illegal.
Writing is hard work. To be innovative, creative, bold, deep, funny, articulate, and so many other elements that go into each write can create anxiety, doubt, desperation…but it should never sway one to copy, rape, and abduct other writers’ babies.
Fire the muse, go on vacation, do whatever it takes to create originality.
** In response to the recent theft (by Richard Ridyard) of works by Angel Zapata, Deborah Biancotti, James Wood, even H.P. Lovecraft, and unfortunately many more. To read more of this atrocity, see Angel Zapata’s blog: A Rage of Angel.
Erin Cole 
Hi, Erin. Just popping in for a look. 13 days of Horror sounds interesting. What is it, a web anthology?
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We could plot quite the revenge on him couldn't we?
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this is beautifully said! awesome passion and truth!! mind if i STEAL it??? :) cool post!!
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Jeanette CheezumThis makes me so mad. Thank you Erin, for bringing this to our attention. I feel so bad for Angel.
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Very well said, Erin. Thanks for this. I hope you don't mind – I linked to your post in my blog. Stealing Babies is exactly is exactly what this feels like.
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The word 'rape' crossed my mind when I first read Angel's post. Your post echoes my sentiments. Thank you for posting this.
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Out of all the things we've all said on this issue, I'm not sure any of us could have said it better than this. You rock, Erin!
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This is fantastic, Erin. I can't agree more with you!
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Hey, Erin. You've really painted this scenario the color of my emotions. It's exactly how I feel. Thanks for your encouragement and kind words. Really appreciate the link back to my blog too.We may not be able to prevent it, but we can sure make it as hard as possible for these thieves.-Angel
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