Should Have Asked for Directions Novel Theft and Newspaper Article Update
Hey everyone. I know a few months ago word got out that Should Have Asked for Directions had been stolen, changed, and published. I asked everyone to let me handle it and you all honored that brilliantly. I can’t thank you enough.
The past few months have been a roller coaster of events and emotions. I’m going to give a brief - sometimes vague - rundown of what occurred, what was done about it, and where we’ve landed because I think you all deserve it.
I found out about the novel from a fan in England who wants to remain nameless. He shot me a message and linked me to a newspaper article about a girl who, against all odds, had written her first novel. It was my story, a hetero version of it, with another writer’s name on the cover out there for all to buy.
The first thing I did was talk to Google’s DMCA department about removing search links to all the retailers who were selling it. They responded swiftly. The next thing I did was hire a lawyer. He’s brilliant, perfect, and I imagine him doing his lawyer work wearing a sort of royal blue super hero costume. He also agreed to work pro bono for me in an effort to help combat online infringement.
We sent a letter of impending lawsuit due to Copyright Infringement and Trademark Infringement to all publishing parties involved, to the newspaper reporter, to the girl who stole my story, and to her family.
Instantly, the publishers responded. They yanked the novel off websites and shelves and we resolved it amicably. I was pleasantly surprised with their amazing response. The reporter also responded and interviewed me for a followup corrective piece to be published in that newspaper.
I took that moment to speak about internet fiction and how stories aren’t posted online for the taking. They’re slaved over just like hard copy. It’s not a free for all. I encouraged writers to register their online work.
I also took that moment to speak about this fandom. This girl stole a story beloved by many and yanked its heart out by turning it into a heterosexual love story. I spoke about how the story brought me closer to thousands of people across the world and would eventually be read by millions who continue, to this day, to email me what it meant to them. And I know it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s very understandable, but those who loved it… loved it fierce.
Which led me to speak about the fandom’s extreme passion for our ship, Faberry, and each other and how its a point of pride to us. And I talked about how my mother first turned me on to the simplest form of “fanfiction” when she rewrote the endings to her favorite stories in order to fulfill her own desires for the characters. It’s what opened my eyes to the joy of fanfiction and what ultimate led me to write the story I always wanted to read when I was a young gay woman.
What she stole from our story broke me in that moment of discovery. A stream of expletives flew and tears fell. She took its heart for a buck and I don’t think she’ll ever understand what that felt like for me, its actual author.
What happened next continues to confuse me. The parents of the girl who stole it have yet to be cooperative. They believe she believes she wrote it. They claim every excuse from Sunday, but none of it makes sense to anyone listening considering she was smart enough to take a 250k word story and adapt it. I honestly believe she had help. But I won’t get into that. Where this defensiveness comes from, I don’t know. Is, “I’m sorry, we were wrong,” too much to ask for?
I never went after this girl for money. She’s 16. And although she stole my story, even stole things I’ve said about Wuthering Heights and Jane Austen, I was never interested in ruining her life or the life of her parents. I even assumed it only to be a very naive mistake by a young woman. There was never any malice brought against her. After all, she’s 16. I simply wanted an admission of truth - that she didn’t write it. Signed, sealed, and delivered in beautiful affidavit form.
The truth is all we ever wanted to reveal. This started with a retraction from the paper. My lawyer and I waited for the article to come out. For three weeks, we waited. Today, it did.
Today, what should have been the nice in-depth piece of journalism on an interesting case of copyright infringement, instead came a bereft article - if you can call it that - about a book being withdrawn from sale. The article ridiculously still only says I “claim” to have written it, as if the truth isn’t available for all eyes to see. The article doesn’t even mention her by name. Considering all the lawyer work and most of the article is under my actual name, that small curtain of privacy I had will now go away. However, I think it’s more important to involve you guys. You can read it here. They’ve since removed the original article, too. But you can view it here. Prepare yourselves for bullshit.
The full length corrective article I previewed before it was to go live was the exact opposite of what they released today in favor of protecting themselves and the girl who stole it. What I’ve come to realize the situation to be is this: personal responsibility is apparently overrated.
The girl won’t admit she stole. Her parents won’t admit she stole it.
The newspaper wants to bury its lack of investigation the first time around (Really? Can no one Google things?) and follow it up with a shameful piece of correction, if you can even call it that. As if all the evidence they needed wasn’t relayed to them and STILL EXISTS ON THE INTERNET.
Frankly, it’s disappointing. Simply seeing the word “claims” by the statement that I wrote it is hard enough. I was also thrilled to have a small platform moment to talk about this community of women and men and what it means to me and to others. I feel when it’s spoken about in the press, it’s often with a tone of mockery or embarrassment. I don’t feel that way and never have.
And the one thing I wanted from all of this was for the people who did wrong to admit said wrong doing and for my story to return to the people it belongs to: you guys. Apparently, that’s too much to ask for in this day and age.
I don’t wish to leave this on a defeated note, so I’ll say I’m extremely pleased with how the publishers responded. I’m extremely pleased with how serious my lawyer took me. The question, “What is fanfiction and what is Faberry?” provided a funny start to entertaining dialogue.
And I’m extremely satisfied with the experience this situation brought me. If only for the fact that I can take this moment to urge all of you writers to register your work like I do. Do it today. Spend the money. Protect yourself and your stories, fanfiction or not. You deserve it.
