Romance Author Cassie Edwards Responds to Allegations of Plagiarism

The Associated Press has a response from romance author Cassie Edwards to the allegations that she plagiarized.

The article quotes Cassie Edwards as follows:

"Edwards acknowledged that she sometimes "takes" her material "from reference books," but added that she didn't know she was supposed to credit her sources. "When you write historical romances, you're not asked to do that," Cassie Edwards told The Associated Press, speaking earlier this week from her home in Mattoon, Ill.

Edwards then asked her husband to get on the phone. He told the AP that his wife simply gets "ideas" from reference books.

"She doesn't lift passages," Charles Edwards said, adding that "you would have to draw your own conclusions" on how closely his wife's work resembles other sources.

Without doubt, this will cause a stir in the world of romance writers. Already, many other websites have picked up on the issue, further investigating Cassie Edward's novels.

For a more insight on this issue, check out this article:
Romance Author Cassie Edwards Under Scrutiny of Plagiarism

The website Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels has listed many excepts of Cassie Edwards works, highlighting similarities to other published books.

But not only Cassie Edwards responded, but also her publisher Signet.

As reported by the Associated Press, Edwards' publisher, Signet, issued a statement saying that it "takes plagiarism seriously, and would act swiftly were there justification for such allegations against one of its authors. But in this case Ms. Edwards has done nothing wrong."

The president of the Romance Writers of America, Sherry Lewis, responds as follows to the issue: "It's not clear-cut to me," Sherry Lewis said. "You can see similarities in the passages, but I'm not qualified to make that assertion."

The readers and owners at the website Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels have received these statements with mixed feelings. While some feel that Cassie Edward has indeed plagiarized, others feel that she has not. Under discussion is a responds from John M. Barrie. John M. Barrie, a plagiarism specialist, told the Associated Press that the author had indeed lifted material.

Comments on the website run into the hundreds; you can check out the heated discussion here.

The central question: Is it plagiarism that Cassie Edwards used phrases and informations from non-fiction books without crediting its source?

Cassie Edwards is famous for her many novels about Native Americans with over 100 books in print. She has won the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award and the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award.