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Oi Carroll! No!

I love books and have a lot of respect for authors. I am constantly amazed by the talent I am lucky enough to stumble upon. I am also a big supporter of writers I buy more books a year than I can really afford and to paraphrase Carrie Bradshaw, when I had no money and it came to a choice between books or food I chose books, I feel it feeds me more.

Now you see what I did here? I used someone else’s words changed them slightly and credited the original author, this is a concept that Irish author Claudia Carroll doesn’t seem to grasp. I brought one of her books a while ago because it looked interesting and was part of an offer in my local bookshop and I started to read.

The whole setting and characters of the book felt VERY familiar characters have been practically lifted straight out of other more popular books and TV shows, now I don’t like this but, oh well, it’s not something I would moan about too much. The problem I actually have with this author is that she has not only borrowed (*cough* stolen) characters and traits from other writers; she has actually taken whole lines, jokes and descriptions, in most cases not even bothering to change them at all.

Here are just a few examples, and believe me when I tell you, they are the tip of the iceberg:

Carroll writes:
My top tip is to destroy all photos of you as a couple where he looks hot and you look happy it could set the whole recovery process back months if you happen to stumble across it at a weak moment

Anyone that watches Sex and the city will remember this line (book and show):
my top break up rule - destroy all pictures where he looks sexy and you look happy if you happen to stumble across it in a weak moment it could set the recovery process back by months

Carroll:
I’ve always thought the witch in Hansel and Gretel is a deeply misunderstood 
woman. She builds her dream home and two brats come along and eat it? 


SATC:

But the witch in Hansel and Gretel -- she's very misunderstood. I mean, the 
woman builds her dream house and these brats come along and start eating it

Carroll:
I panic dated... then I panic married now I've met the one

SATC:
I panic dated, now I've panic married just before I met the one


Carroll:
It's a huge mistake to think you can change a man, apart from clothes and hair that's it because mark my words once you pull at that thread the whole fabric falls apart

SATC:
The only things you can work on are their hair and wardrobe.
-But even then, it's a constant battle...
Be careful with alterations. If you pull the wrong thread, everything falls apart.


Carroll:
He’s like a cute seal pup… which you want to club

SATC:
He’s like a sweet little seal pup.
Which you sometimes wanna club

Carroll:
Girlies, I'm thirty-seven years of age, and I've been dating since I was sixteen. I'm officially worn out. Where is he?


SATC:
I've been dating since I was fifteen! I'm exhausted! Where is he?

I could go on, but you are probably bored already. This book is not written by Carroll. In the words of Chandler “So, you heard it, you repeated it, so that must mean you wrote it?” (Carroll in case you ever read this, this is called a direct quote. Notice how I mentioned that it belonged to someone else?) And while we are on the subject of Friends, obviously Carroll is a big SATC fan, but why just take lines from one popular show when you can mix them up with other great quotes?

Carroll:
Yesterday I was at rock bottom, today I’m at rock bottom, 50 feet of crap then me

Friends:
I really thought I just hit rock bottom. But today, it's like there's rock bottom, then 50 feet of crap, then me

But no one watches Friends or Sex and the City any more do they? Oh they do? Well Carroll obviously doesn’t think that matters, but then they are American and she is Irish maybe she thinks it doesn’t count if they are on a different continent.

Oh no she also likes to plagiarise closer to home:

Bridget Jones:
He’s just a big knob head with no knob

Carroll:
He’s a big nob head with no nob (oh but she left the K off, that makes it different surely? Erm NO!)

Ok, now you pick on Carrie & co I will be miffed, you steal from the Friends gang and I’m pissed off but take from Helen Fielding? Oh no! You don’t do that, I love her and that is just not on!

What surprises me is that this isn’t a one off occurrence, Carroll has several books out and after reading a few reviews (I will not buy another one, one was enough) it seems she has used other people’s writing in these too. I am not the only one to notice that lots of the lines are stolen, yet surprisingly people still seem to be giving her four and five star reviews FOR SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK but commenting that they recognise the writing (WHAT? That isn’t ok!) I am not going to comment on the bits she wrote herself, personal opinion is personal; in fact it was hard to spot her own writing so I actually can’t comment.

I am not happy about this, and I am sure that Claudia Carroll doesn’t care that she has pissed off some little reader in London but I will tell everyone I know who reads to never touch this woman’s books and I hope others do too.

38 comments:

  1. Lol sorry I get very attached to books I love and feel protective of them.

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  2. It's happening more and more everyday. I hope her publishers do something about this.

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  3. I hope they do but I have emailed them I don't think they are interested

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  4. This is awful. Are they being sold in shops? Self published? I've never heard of her but I will never buy anything of hers now. Her publishers surely will do something.

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  5. Wow! That's shocking! Thank you for taking the time to point it out.

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  6. Yes she is pretty big published by avon

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  7. After Googling her, I see she's been a soap actress, but selling novels "full-time" for years now. It's not right she should benefit and profit from the creativity of others. I saw an interview she did several years ago, telling the reader how hard it is to write and how you must stick to it, etc. Yes, this is how writers must apply themselves, but apparently she skips that part and goes straight to copy and paste.

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  8. I know it's so shocking and upsetting!

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  9. Which Claudia Carroll book was this about? I'm curious!

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  10. She seems to do it in her other books too according to reader reviews but the book I read was called 'Personally I blame my fairy godmother'

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  11. I'm actually a fan of hers and I did think that once something sounded familiar but I didn't really notice. Now I am certainly going to pay attention!!

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  12. You're right -- this goes way too far. As a college English prof, I would expect more from the author and from her editors. And I WON'T be buying or recommending her books.

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  13. Once I noticed it once i couldn't stop noticing it all the way through!

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  14. I must admit, I've read Personally I Blame My Fairy Godmother and didn't even notice the quotes, but that could be because I've never read/watched Sex & The City. I can understand the odd reference to favourite TV shows, nods in that direction but to blantantly re-write so many lines is a bit shocking. That's shocking, and I must admit, you bringing it to light has made me lose a bit of respect for Claudia. It's one thing to do a cheeky nod in the direction of your favourite shows but to re-write lines that are the same as the show is blatant plagiarism. Wrong on so many different levels.

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  15. This is awful. Thanks for exposing it!

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  16. Wow good job on the tweets, looks like it's getting around!

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  17. I could understand if it happened MAYBE once or twice--I'm sure every writer has accidentally written a line thinking it came straight out of their head and not realizing it was from a favorite show or book.
    That many instances is blatant plagiarism. I'm surprised she hasn't been sued yet.

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  18. Wow. Just W-O-W. So glad my friend Avery pointed me in this direction. What a great post. I'll never buy her books. It's just not fair to the writers who actually think of the witty sayings. And I can't believe they keep coming up with them. Well, apparently, Claudia Carroll doesn't believe in herself enough to come up with her own ideas and dialogue. Such a shame.

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  19. I will not be buying another one I'm tempted to ask for the money back on this one

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  20. It is so easy for writters to read something then 10 years down the road write a book and not even realize they are using someone elses words that is why I do not read unless it has no bearing on my Genre at all. I would hate to make that kind of mistake even by accident.
    But to do it on purpose is not a very ethical thing to do shame on that author!

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  21. That is gobsmacking, especially when you consider the kicking that teenager Kavya Vinswanathan got for plagiarising Megan McCafferty: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kavya_Viswanathan

    Maybe it's easier to get away with stealing from tv than books ...

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  22. Thanks for sharing this. I will certainly give the book a miss!

    The plagiarized-from authors' publishers (producers, in the case of the TV shows) generally care a lot more than the plagiarizing author's publisher. But that's a lot of legwork for you to have to do.

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  23. It's not HER publisher you need to be telling about this. It's the American and British companies that own the rights to the stuff she's stealing. Let them call in the big guns; they have standing to complain, which you don't (legally speaking).

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  24. FYI, owner is Darren Star (also Melrose Place & Beverly Hills 90210) and HBO. HBO's website has an email area specifically for copyright infringement, so I dropped them a note.

    On a pleasant note, Charlee, I discovered your blog thru "Making Light" and am delighted. I look forward to future posts...Ericka

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  25. Hi thanks all for comments and reading it's good to know I'm not the only one out raged by this. I hope something comes of it, I'll keep you all updated if I hear anything

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  26. Hi Charlee - I read about this in the Metro Herald in Dublin... they mention your blog but no link (http://e-edition.metroherald.ie/2011/05/30/). I've never read anything from this author & probably never will but we need people like you calling these cheats out - hopefully the American producers/writers will take her to task.

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  27. I read about this story this morning and it really annoyed me. She denies lifting material from these shows but I mean come on, once you look at the examples you've given side by side there's no way anyone could believe she came up with this stuff from day to day life, no one really talks like that anyway! I've never read any of her books but I know the shows pretty well and I'm shocked that she thought she'd get away with it.

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  28. Here's a link to another blog which has the page from Today's Dublin Metro newspaper...

    http://www.broadsheet.ie/2011/05/30/is-chick-lit-hit-spit-of-tv-script/

    Carroll has responded by saying "From my own dating experience these types of expressions come up all the time. Who knows what is original any more?"

    Let's hope HBO's lawyers take the same view!

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  29. Hi Charlee, I heard about this in the Metro Herald in Dublin this morning too,and I'm delighted to have been directed to your blog - I'm enjoying reading your past posts! I must admit to being a Claudia Carroll fan, largely since she played Nicola in Irish soap 'Fair City ' for years - but I'm so annoyed at her blatant stealing of so many lines from American and UK sources! And her reply that 'Who knows what's original any more' is a ludicrous attempt to defend herself as a writer!!

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  30. Im a Claudia Carroll fan , and i really enjoyed this novel - i recognised the hansel and gretel reference as im an avid fan of sex and the city and am watching it through at the moment.. im disappointed in claudia :(

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  31. Thanks everyone for reading, it is very upsetting when you expect original work from someoen adn you are just given this. It does ruin the book for you. I'm pleased so many people read this though :) Nice to see you all

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  32. Good work Charlee. Have you noticed anything similar in her other books?

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  33. This is the only book of hers I have read, but if you look at the reviews of her other books online people mention that they recognise the lines from other places so I guess she does it in those too...

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  34. I wouldn't read her - she's too light and chick-lit for me, but I am APPALLED that she is getting away with this. Well done for spotting all these blatant cases of plagiarism.

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  35. Just read the intro for "if this is paradise..." and the concept and some of the lines are lifted straight out of Marian Keyes' short story "Under" from Further under the Duvet"

    Its massively blatant.

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  36. I know it is shocking, I will not ever buy another one of her books. Not that she cares but it's the only stand I can make lol

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  37. THANK YOU! I noticed all of those too when I read this particular book.

    The one about the "photos where he looks sexy and you look happy" jumped right out at me when I read it and after that, all her other blatant rip offs just felt like they were highlighted! I'm glad I'm not the only one!

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