How long was I gone? I was only offline for a couple of days, but it seems a lot happened in that time that’s worth noting.

Some news from the fiction-goes-real category (Warning: It’s high on the disgust factor):
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,301254,00.html

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If you’re looking to join the ranks of Kaavya Viswanathan and now Lanaia Lee, some tips:
http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2007/10/11/top-10-tips-for-plagairists/

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And finally, some fantastic news from one of my writing groups: a member just had his memoir hit the NY Times best-seller list. Check out John Robison’s book, Look Me In The Eye, and his website at http://www.johnrobison.com/

(Robison, as you may know, is the brother of Augusten Burroughs, author of the best-selling memoir Running with Scissors, which later spawned a movie. The controversial lawsuit regarding the memoir was settled in August this year and was described by Burroughs as “a victory for all memoirists.” Thanks to Burroughs, writers the world over can feel more comfortable saying “bring it on” to people who threaten us with lawsuits for writing the truth about our lives.)