A follow-up

Previously, I posted about Kaavya Viswathan, who supposedly unintentionally plagiarized two other novels when writing her book "How Opal Metha Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life." I was curious what had happened with this story, so I googled her name. It appears that she is now in Wikipedia (a free encyclopedia offered in ten languages and a great source of information on the web) and the plot has thickened. It seems, according to her Wikipeadia entry that she also borrowed from other sources as well, including Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella and Meg Cabot's 2000 novel The Princess Diaries. The similarities are less pronounced, but definitely there.

This made me think of the writer Christopher Paolini who also managed to publish Eragon, a very successful book, and it's sequel, Eldest, at a young age. So, I googled him as well and found his story quite different from Kaavya's. He lives with his parents in Montana where he was homeschooled and where he decided to write the story of Eragon. He took a year writing the first draft, then another year revising it and a third year polishing it even further and finally self-publishing it with the help of his parents.

They then began promoting the book themselves, making appearances at high schools and convincing libraries to carry it. Luckily, Carl Hiaasen (a well known young adult novelist) discovered Eragon and brought it Knopf who then published the book. I really like this story. It shows that hard work, and putting your heart into something you believe in pays off.

In Kaavya's case she had no manuscript she had worked on for several years. She was just given a large sum of money and along with it a lot of pressure to perform. In the end, she probably could find no way out of her mess but to copy here and there and hope for the best.

She was just told, "go and write" which for anyone who writes knows how hard that can be. And then add to it the fact that what she wrote had to be excellent to justify the thousands (and those were LOTS of thousands) she was getting for it. I must admit, if I was faced with that, at eighteen or even now, I would panic too.

I am not pardoning her for what she did, but I am being sympathetic to the fact that she was way way way in over her head. And now, she has been immortalized in Wikipedia for life as the girl who cheated. Not the best way to start your writing career (or any career for that matter).

To each her own, I say...but I seem to be the only one

Well, last night I attended a baby shower. My friend, Michelle, is about a month away from her due date and her belly definitely puts mine to shame. She looks great. At the shower were two of her friends, one who had a baby five months ago and the other who has two girls already and is expecting her third. So, the discussion of course revolved around birth, babies and burping.

It all started with the usual question, "so, do you know what you are having?" And when they heard Poncho and I want to keep it a surprise, I got the usual, "Why? You should find out" and all the usual reasons. Why, so I can have a closet full of pink or blue? Fine, I've heard this before many times, so I know how to handle it. Smile, nod and try to change the subject.

Then, the discussion turned to the big E... No, not ecstasy, the Epidural (though some women might describe it as an ecstatic experience). See, I want to have the most natural birth I can and so I am not going to have one. And right away I hear, "Giving birth is very painful" and "It is so much more enjoyable to have pain relief" and "You won't be able to do it without it". How do you know? Are you me?

But, I didn't feel like arguing. Or, telling them that I'm going to try hypnobirthing and maybe even have a water birth. Things I didn't mention because they would have looked at me and think "crazy hippie".

Besides which, these are very personal decisions. I would never force them on another woman. But, it seems like other people think it's okay to decide for me. Thing is, the more they say I should do this or that, the more decided I am to do what I think is right. They are only feeding my resolve. So, I just smile, nod and change the subject.

All Fired Up

So, last night I went to a Leche League meeting and now I'm all fired up. It is incredible how women have to fight for what they think is right in terms of their medical care and for their babies.

There was a girl there who is two weeks away from her due date. And at her last OBGYN appointment the Dr. starts hinting that her baby is big and that her pelvis might not be wide enough for her to have a vaginal birth. He suggested she do a "pelvimetria", which is an x-ray of your pelvis to see how wide it is. This then is compared to the measurement of the babies head and a decision then is made. This is total BULLSHIT (yes, I said it), because your pelvic bones expand during birth to accommodate, and a babies head squishes a little as it goes down the birth canal.

Nature gives our bodies the ability to bring babies into the world. And, if our pelvis bones were wide enough all the time, then maybe the baby would just slip out...

Also, it has been shown that the damage from the x-ray far outweighs any supposed benefit of knowing her pelvic measurement--by a study done in the 60's! It is time Guatemalan OB's moved into the 21st century, and that women here unite against this crazy procedure. It is not the first time I have heard of women being told by their doctors that they need this x-ray. CRAZY!

This guy just wants to justify a caesarian--an unnecessary caesarian. This poor girl was so upset and she is going through this alone, because she is not married. What is she to do? Change doctors at the 11th hour?

Apparently, in Guatemala the caesarian rate is something ridiculous like 70%! I'm glad my OBGYN is not scalpel happy. But, all this puts me on my toes. I will definitely be asking him about this at my next appointment.

Irrefutable Proof

Here you have it, Irrefutable proof that the planet is getting.... HOTTER!



Did you know they make maternity thong underwear... Now, I'm not a big proponent of the thong--though I do own some, and have on occasion worn them--but who would want to wear while pregnant? For some reason pregnancy makes you itchy and, dare I say it, leaky too in areas that would make the thong a NO NO, and the last thing you want is something riding up on you, trust me!

18 week Ultrasound

On Monday I went to the OBGYN for my 18 week check-up... It is amazing how much he or she has grown in 4 weeks... Look at that face!



The Dr. said that his or her nose is pretty prominent and looks like mine... that was so amazing to hear. This being growing inside me will look a little like me, a little like Poncho... unbelievable!

No longer bloat... finally it's...

the baby! I can finally walk around and know that people recognize I'm pregnant and don't just think I have a beer belly. We were in New York this past week and people actually congratulated me or asked me when I was due. YAY! Finally I am truly pregnant. (Insert pic here)

In New York, I got to see my best friend. It was such a treat to just hang out, talk, catch-up, laugh... as if I had never moved. I'm glad life is a long journey and that even if we only see each other once or twice a year, there are many many years of experiences left to share ahead of us.

Can't wait to try Commontales -- a web site designed to tell life stories together with your family members or friends. Adrianna , let's start with the story of how we met.

Put a stop to harassment

The following story ran on CNN-- I loved this story (well for its empowering message, not for what this girl was subjected to, of course)!

If you can't see the link, it's the story of this girl minding her own business on the subway when a man sat opposite her, took out this "thing" and start rubbing himself. She took out her cellphone to look busy and then out of nowhere decided to take a picture of this guy. This picture made the rounds on the internet and once the man was identified he was even charged for exposing himself in public.

This story spurned a group of New Yorkers to create a blog for people to stand up for themselves and post pictures and stories of harrassment.

I wish this existed when I lived in New York. I would have snapped a pic (that is if I had a cellphone with a phone back then, which might have not existed then) of the little old man who approached me on the subway platform to whisper lude things in my ear. Or any of the other countless times that as a woman I was harassed as I walked down the street.

Women of New York (and the world) unite.

Poncho and I have been thinking of creating a blog for denouncing bad drivers (plenty of those around here). Especially those who don't use their blinkers---we hate that!

Seems like TomKat is storming NY

New Yorkers keep your eyes peeled... TomKat is in your neighborhood. Tom even took a ride on the subway. He of course had several cops there to protect him. Tom this is New York, we won't care if you are on the subway. We will probably even pretend not to see you. You aren't that important you know.

It was also the premiere of Mission Impossible III and Katie made her first appearance. She looks great for just having a baby! I hope I can follow in your footsteps Katie (of course, sans the crazy scientology obsessed husband and the silent birth thing).

I gave in...

and am wearing my first maternity jeans. AHHHH.... it feels so much nicer than my own. No more tightness, and I can actually breathe... Imagine that.

Ah well, it was bound to happen.

Unintentional?

So, this might not seem to fit with the theme of my other posts, but since I'm a writer wanting to be published one day... It fits for my life.

Chances are, that by now you have read Kaavya Viswanathan's story. Here are the main details--While applying to Harvard, Kaavya used an admission consultant who recognized in her a talent for writing and put her in touch with a literary agent. This agent introduced her to Alloy, a book packager. They then, as a team, approached Little, Brown and were offered what is reported as a $500,000 two book deal. She goes on to write her novel, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life.

All is well. She receives rave reviews until a fan of Megan F. McCafferty, writer of Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings, notices similarities in the books and notifies the writer herself, who notifies her publisher.

It is still unclear what will happen. Little, Brown supported Kaavya's work, at first, apologizing and stating that another version of the book, with less similarities, would be published. Now it has pulled all copies of the book from the shelves and made no further mention of this second version of the book. Kaavya herself admits that she loved McCafferty's work and somehow internalized it, and because of her photographic memory unintentionally borrowed from it.

What I think happened is that she was put under a lot of pressure to perform and panicked. Maybe she thought no one would notice...

Can this be unintentional? Read for yourself and you tell me!