'Opal Mehta' debacle

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smaur
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Sun May 07, 2006 3:48 pm
smaur says... · Sun May 07, 2006 3:48 pm
So you've all probably heard this enough times to make you nauseous, but ... just in case you haven't:

The author of the "Opal Mehta" book plagiarized. Majorly.

She was 17 years old when she signed her two-book deal — the advance is rumoured to be nearly half a million dollars. Kind of depressing.

Thoughts?
"He yanked himself free and fled to the kitchen where something huddled against the flooded windowpanes. It sighed and wept and tapped continually, and suddenly he was outside, staring in, the rain beating, the wind chilling him, and all the candle darkness inside lost."
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Sureal
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Sun May 07, 2006 4:23 pm
Sureal says... · Sun May 07, 2006 4:23 pm
If she plagarised on purpose, then she is clearly an idiot and deserves to lose her book deal.

If it was an honest mistake, then it's a real shame. She's extremely unlikely to ever have another book published again.

And she got a 6 figure advance - that's a big advance. I wonder if the publishers will demand for it back?
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