Online Novels, the site which provides links to novels available to read on the internet, is back.Its owner took it down briefly in response to vituperation from some authors who feared they would lose first publication rights - improbable, since Harper Collins lets writers load entire novels, and gave permission for the links to the site - or that their novels, for which they have not found a publisher, would be stolen and passed off as someone else's work.
Carlie Lee and I once joked about novel theft on the Authonomy blog:
Carlie said...
What if a huge publishing conglomerate had a stable full of super-star writers, who (due to excess engendered by disproportionate earnings) lost all of their plots, and they were forced to prey on fiercesomely intelligent but sweetly naive unpublished authors such as ourselves and steal all of our ideas. Really, it is all quite concerning...
Lexi said...
Interesting thought, Carlie...
Hey, it would make a great plot for a novel!
The heroine, sweetly naive, poor, yet feisty, is determined to confront the handsome, dissolute author who has stolen her book. She borrows a dress and gatecrashes the book launch.
Their eyes lock across the crowded room; for both of them it is true love; but the novel, stolen by the unscrupulous publishing conglomerate, stands between them.
Will he be able to give up his drink and drugs-fueled lifestyle and write once more? Can she ever forgive his plagiarism? Will the huge publishing conglomerate get what's coming to it?
You know, you've given me a great idea for a novel!
ReplyDeleteBut first I need to finish my current project. It's about a young lady and a dragon. Never been done before and I really think it has the chance to be the Next Big Thing! If only I could keep the damned elves out of it.
Ooh, I like the sound of that, Alan!
ReplyDeleteIf it were readily available, say in a POD edition, I would want to buy a copy straight away.
My next book, after Catch a Falling Star, is going to be a madcap adventure, involving a top politician, an appealing dog, a duplicitous minx and a highly sought-after item concealed somewhere like a cricket bat, a football or a frisbee...haven't quite worked out the details yet.
Working title: Frisbee.
Now that sounds like a winner. Although I would be cautious with the duplicitous minx. Last time I incorporated one of those into a story I was blushing all over the keyboard. Very much against my real nature.
ReplyDeleteHow about putting the sought-after item in a bit of badminton equipment? You could call it "Bye-Bye Birdie"!
I decided to put the young lady and dragon story on the backburner. I've got this absolutely new idea concerning a young man and a young woman (no, wait, I'll make them impetuous teenagers!). Anyway, their families can't stand each other and yet they fall in love at a dance or something. The band is playing something by Barry Manilow. Copacabana maybe? They try to grab onto their dream, take their little bit of happiness, but the forces pulling at them create all sorts of problems and they end up badly. Maybe somebody dies or something.
Of course there will be an appealing dog.
No monks. Can't abide monks. Maybe a sweet shop owner instead. Or a theater teacher who teaches the kids how to tap dance! Yes!
I've got to go now and get this on paper. Damn, this is exciting!
No, wait. I've got it. I young boy on a raft. Looking for a deep part of the river in which to toss an offensive bit of jewelry. Hilarity and tragedy and deep moral lessons scattered about.
And a dog.
Always a dog.
"A" young boy. Dang line editor is always snoozing when I need him.
ReplyDeleteHmm, maybe you're right about the minx. What I need is something to make it darker...
ReplyDeleteI know! A cold-eyed killer, with cool gadgets for killing people!
This one definitely has legs.
I highly recommend a dog.
ReplyDeleteOne with legs is best in my experience.