I couldn't believe my eyes when I opened up an email from a fellow writer yesterday to find that she had read an article on another writers blog about plagiarism. http://arageofangel.blogspot.com/2009/09/ive-been-plagiarizedand-im-not-alone.html . What is worse, is that when I read the blog post, it was revealed that a writer whose submission I had just recently accepted, had been ripping off stories of others.
Then it got worse...
This guy had not only ripped off relativly unknown writers, but also a story by Stephen King of all people!
What shocks me the most about this blatent plagiarism accusation, is that this guy didn't even try to hide the fact that he had simply copied and pasted others work into his own stories! He even sent the Stephen King rip off to me, as a submission to our up coming anthology - Creature Features. Luckily both me and my co-editor didn't like it and rejected it anyway!
You wana know the guys name?
RICHARD RIDYARD.
Well that has been the name he has used for all of this, but no doubt he has several other alias's.
Anyway, I urge everyone to read Angel Zapata's post and thank him for his fantastic detective work on this case. Thanks to him, a lot of zine editors and writers have been saved a lot of trouble.
Angel, if you happen to read this - you really are an angel!
Hey, Sam. The reaction to this, although merited, has been overwhelming. Thanks for taking a stance against this on your blog.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
an angel without wings
I'm happy to see the ripple effect of Angel's post.
ReplyDeleteOn an unrelated note, THANK YOU for fixing whatever was wrong with the html and the doors! I can access my story now and post the link to it on my blog. :)
I'm so happy to see that this has spread like it has! I'm Mercedes, and I work at the magazine that realized it was Stephen King's piece. Our editor had already contacted King's assistant, and while I was researching Richard Ridyard, I came across Angel's blog. You can see our side of the story
ReplyDeletehere:http://abrokenlaptop.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/we-interrupt-this-blog-post/
He is using at least two aliases that we're aware of. What a disgusting person.
-Mercedes
It seems this could also be him as he lives in th wirral and Lowton is close by - I think...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Memories-Lowton-Richard-Ridyard/dp/1874712700