General Public Statement to the Latter-Day HP Fandom
(NOTE: A version of this will soon be posted on HP_Paradise.)
Dear Harry Potter fandom, wanderers-by from other fen, and interested guests:
When the most recent controversy first started, I was taken aback. I did not know much about what was happening, and to be honest, really didn’t care to during my birthday weekend. For various reasons which I will not get into now, I had been mostly retired from the Harry Potter fandom for a number of years. However, trusted close friends and advisors brought to my attention the allegations of plagiarism in Trouble in Paradise, specifically in the sixth chapter, first posted on February 1-2, 2001. At first, I dismissed these because I clearly remember discussing Virginia Hamilton as my source at the time with readers, but I realized quickly that I did not do so as formally and lastingly as I should have.
Posting Trouble in Paradise in the early days of fandom was, for lack of a better comparison, like sitting down and telling bedtime stories to my sisters, cousins, niece and nephew. To be honest, I was a really lazy writer back then, more concerned with getting out the story than with the necessary mechanics of attribution and formatting. I took care with my original fiction and of course my academic work was cited in MLA or APA format, but at the time, I thought that all fanfiction was plagiarism, anyway... and my biggest concern at the time was that someone would send this R-rated Harry Potter fanfiction to the school district where I taught fifth grade. Fate, it seems, has a sense of irony.*
Chapter 6 of Trouble in Paradise contains a historic African-American folktale that was very important to me in my childhood, one that is also one of the most known and memorable in my culture. When I was having Angelina tell this story to Malinda, it was in an attempt to recreate this scene from my childhood, as my mother told this story to me. This folktale is part of our oral tradition, and has been told in virtually the same words by many people in many contexts.
When I mentioned Virginia Hamilton’s book as an inspiration, and used her exact words as the best example of the folktale told, but in written form, I did not intend to pass off her inspired prose as my own. I did not use her words to increase my number of “fans”; at this point in 2001, there were perhaps a few dozen readers of Paradise, and the thought of myself becoming a “Big Name Fanfic Writer” someday, or even that there would ever be such a thing in Harry Potter fandom, was the furthest thing from my mind. (If you don't believe me, go to HP4GU on some rainy day, start at message #1, and begin reading.) Yet what I did was wrong. I am not going to engage in excuse-making. It is what it is, I know it, and I am willing to face the consequences head-on... letting the chips fall where they may.
In the interest of clarity and honesty, I have contacted the widower of Virginia Hamilton and told him of the scandal, links, text in question, and all, and have offered him a formal apology.** He is a dear mentor through another area of my life, and hope that this has not ended our association. My department at Michigan, my church and family, my sorority, my editors and professional associations have all been contacted or are in the process of being contacted. I have spoken to blackfolk, and apologized for the wrong that I committed towards my own people who are marginalized within every fandom, and looked to me as an example. I have also formally resigned from serving on any panels or boards of the upcoming Phoenix Rising conference, and will not be attending any more Harry Potter fan gatherings in any formal capacity. I have begun the process of editing the story (albeit wincing at the sophomoric writing--ouch!), and making things right. I take this situation extremely seriously.
In retrospect, I absolutely should have directly quoted the text from Hamilton in words and ways to establish without a doubt that those words were hers. I can only imagine how this must look to readers who do not know me and do not know the context in which this chapter was written. Looking at bolded texts from Paradise next to bolded texts from Hamilton’s book, I can understand, although am deeply saddened, that fandomers would jump to the conclusion that I am a shameless plagiarist. Was I wrong to use Hamilton’s words without attribution? In retrospect, absolutely. But I hope that I have clarified that my intent was never to pass off her words as my own, and in fact, I discussed openly with many of my first readers that this section (and the whole subplot about the Flying People) was inspired by her work.
I could not have known at the time that there would eventually be many readers who would come to the story months and years later without the benefit of this initial context. I realize full well that inspiration and copying texts are different things, and there is absolutely no excuse for what I did, but I have never tried to hide which words were my own and which words were not. Italicization without attribution is not sufficient in any context, even in fanfiction.
For those of you who prefer plainspeak, I'll put this in bold: I screwed up. I made a mistake. No matter what anyone else thinks about this, I violated the discursive standards of a community that I mostly looked back on fondly, and at one point in my young adulthood, was at the center of my social and emotional life. For that, I am very sorry. I not only disappointed all of you. I disappointed myself.
Also, I thank all those who have pointed out this error publicly, and all those who have commented on their blogs, in communities, and to me privately, because their stance helped to bring me to contrition. After receiving spiritual counsel, praying about it alone, and having a long talk with my mother (who actually read what people had to say), I bear them no ill will. I hope that my friends would follow my lead. It has broken my heart, and the heart of many of those of us who were around back in 1999 and 2000, to see what fandom has become. It seems as if I will be able to move on with my personal and professional life, but it is my prayer, just as I stated after Nimbus, that all of you heal and reconcile. I hope that being open and honest about my mistake will be a first step. I am also sorry for my part in past and present hostilities with various fandom camps. There comes a time when it's not just about "right" and "wrong", it's more about things like "folly" and "wisdom". I said and did many things that I regret in this sector of my life. And yet, I *so* believe in the message of Galatians 6--you reap what you sow.
I have learned an important lesson from this. I hope those of you who have read the Paradise stories will not allow this to mar that experience in your memory, and also hope that any new readers enjoy these stories as much as I enjoyed writing them back in those heady days. I also encourage you to read Virginia Hamilton’s “The People Could Fly”. She is my favorite folklorist, that is my favorite folktale of all, and I would not dream to steal that not just from Hamilton, but from my own enslaved ancestors, any more than I would willfully try to steal Cinderella or anything from Canute Whistlewinks. That collection is one of the best introductions to African-American folklore out there, and all of Mrs. Hamilton's work is excellent. If there is any silver lining to this sad episode, I hope it spurs everyone who is speaking and thinking of this to immerse themselves in her stories.
Nothing further, HP fen. Enjoy Book Seven, and the remainder of the movies... I have gone from "mostly" to "fully" retired, joining the rest of the Fandom Ancients in abject silence and obscurity. As one of my author/mentor/friends likes to say, "Time shall sort us all out, I suppose."
If you'd like to contact me now or in the future, you can find me most easily at my university email, or right here at this LJ... I'll still post about my life, the universe, and everything in between. I don't plan on changing my username, defriending those who choose or have chosen to defriend me, or any of that nonsense. Others are free to do as they like, of course. But I'd be more than happy to hear from any of you... questions, comments, rants, what's going on in your lives, etc. I do still think of you very fondly, even the vast majority of my old "foes", and do not see that ever changing.
Signing off as I did in the old days one last time...
Magically yours,
Ebony AKA AngieJ -- Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
(*Paraphrase from Morpheus, first Matrix, Brothers Wachowski. Never let it be said that I don't learn from my mistakes!)
ETA, 8/17/06, 8:24 a.m.: (**I heard from the late Mrs. Hamilton's widower (a groundbreaking figure in children's lit himself) last night. Apology accepted; mentoring continues.)
ETA, 8/18/06, 3:20 a.m.: Trouble in Paradise and Paradise Lost have been removed from FictionAlley and the HP_Paradise Files section for editing. They will not be uploaded again until 100% of the content therein can be guaranteed.
Dear Harry Potter fandom, wanderers-by from other fen, and interested guests:
When the most recent controversy first started, I was taken aback. I did not know much about what was happening, and to be honest, really didn’t care to during my birthday weekend. For various reasons which I will not get into now, I had been mostly retired from the Harry Potter fandom for a number of years. However, trusted close friends and advisors brought to my attention the allegations of plagiarism in Trouble in Paradise, specifically in the sixth chapter, first posted on February 1-2, 2001. At first, I dismissed these because I clearly remember discussing Virginia Hamilton as my source at the time with readers, but I realized quickly that I did not do so as formally and lastingly as I should have.
Posting Trouble in Paradise in the early days of fandom was, for lack of a better comparison, like sitting down and telling bedtime stories to my sisters, cousins, niece and nephew. To be honest, I was a really lazy writer back then, more concerned with getting out the story than with the necessary mechanics of attribution and formatting. I took care with my original fiction and of course my academic work was cited in MLA or APA format, but at the time, I thought that all fanfiction was plagiarism, anyway... and my biggest concern at the time was that someone would send this R-rated Harry Potter fanfiction to the school district where I taught fifth grade. Fate, it seems, has a sense of irony.*
Chapter 6 of Trouble in Paradise contains a historic African-American folktale that was very important to me in my childhood, one that is also one of the most known and memorable in my culture. When I was having Angelina tell this story to Malinda, it was in an attempt to recreate this scene from my childhood, as my mother told this story to me. This folktale is part of our oral tradition, and has been told in virtually the same words by many people in many contexts.
When I mentioned Virginia Hamilton’s book as an inspiration, and used her exact words as the best example of the folktale told, but in written form, I did not intend to pass off her inspired prose as my own. I did not use her words to increase my number of “fans”; at this point in 2001, there were perhaps a few dozen readers of Paradise, and the thought of myself becoming a “Big Name Fanfic Writer” someday, or even that there would ever be such a thing in Harry Potter fandom, was the furthest thing from my mind. (If you don't believe me, go to HP4GU on some rainy day, start at message #1, and begin reading.) Yet what I did was wrong. I am not going to engage in excuse-making. It is what it is, I know it, and I am willing to face the consequences head-on... letting the chips fall where they may.
In the interest of clarity and honesty, I have contacted the widower of Virginia Hamilton and told him of the scandal, links, text in question, and all, and have offered him a formal apology.** He is a dear mentor through another area of my life, and hope that this has not ended our association. My department at Michigan, my church and family, my sorority, my editors and professional associations have all been contacted or are in the process of being contacted. I have spoken to blackfolk, and apologized for the wrong that I committed towards my own people who are marginalized within every fandom, and looked to me as an example. I have also formally resigned from serving on any panels or boards of the upcoming Phoenix Rising conference, and will not be attending any more Harry Potter fan gatherings in any formal capacity. I have begun the process of editing the story (albeit wincing at the sophomoric writing--ouch!), and making things right. I take this situation extremely seriously.
In retrospect, I absolutely should have directly quoted the text from Hamilton in words and ways to establish without a doubt that those words were hers. I can only imagine how this must look to readers who do not know me and do not know the context in which this chapter was written. Looking at bolded texts from Paradise next to bolded texts from Hamilton’s book, I can understand, although am deeply saddened, that fandomers would jump to the conclusion that I am a shameless plagiarist. Was I wrong to use Hamilton’s words without attribution? In retrospect, absolutely. But I hope that I have clarified that my intent was never to pass off her words as my own, and in fact, I discussed openly with many of my first readers that this section (and the whole subplot about the Flying People) was inspired by her work.
I could not have known at the time that there would eventually be many readers who would come to the story months and years later without the benefit of this initial context. I realize full well that inspiration and copying texts are different things, and there is absolutely no excuse for what I did, but I have never tried to hide which words were my own and which words were not. Italicization without attribution is not sufficient in any context, even in fanfiction.
For those of you who prefer plainspeak, I'll put this in bold: I screwed up. I made a mistake. No matter what anyone else thinks about this, I violated the discursive standards of a community that I mostly looked back on fondly, and at one point in my young adulthood, was at the center of my social and emotional life. For that, I am very sorry. I not only disappointed all of you. I disappointed myself.
Also, I thank all those who have pointed out this error publicly, and all those who have commented on their blogs, in communities, and to me privately, because their stance helped to bring me to contrition. After receiving spiritual counsel, praying about it alone, and having a long talk with my mother (who actually read what people had to say), I bear them no ill will. I hope that my friends would follow my lead. It has broken my heart, and the heart of many of those of us who were around back in 1999 and 2000, to see what fandom has become. It seems as if I will be able to move on with my personal and professional life, but it is my prayer, just as I stated after Nimbus, that all of you heal and reconcile. I hope that being open and honest about my mistake will be a first step. I am also sorry for my part in past and present hostilities with various fandom camps. There comes a time when it's not just about "right" and "wrong", it's more about things like "folly" and "wisdom". I said and did many things that I regret in this sector of my life. And yet, I *so* believe in the message of Galatians 6--you reap what you sow.
I have learned an important lesson from this. I hope those of you who have read the Paradise stories will not allow this to mar that experience in your memory, and also hope that any new readers enjoy these stories as much as I enjoyed writing them back in those heady days. I also encourage you to read Virginia Hamilton’s “The People Could Fly”. She is my favorite folklorist, that is my favorite folktale of all, and I would not dream to steal that not just from Hamilton, but from my own enslaved ancestors, any more than I would willfully try to steal Cinderella or anything from Canute Whistlewinks. That collection is one of the best introductions to African-American folklore out there, and all of Mrs. Hamilton's work is excellent. If there is any silver lining to this sad episode, I hope it spurs everyone who is speaking and thinking of this to immerse themselves in her stories.
Nothing further, HP fen. Enjoy Book Seven, and the remainder of the movies... I have gone from "mostly" to "fully" retired, joining the rest of the Fandom Ancients in abject silence and obscurity. As one of my author/mentor/friends likes to say, "Time shall sort us all out, I suppose."
If you'd like to contact me now or in the future, you can find me most easily at my university email, or right here at this LJ... I'll still post about my life, the universe, and everything in between. I don't plan on changing my username, defriending those who choose or have chosen to defriend me, or any of that nonsense. Others are free to do as they like, of course. But I'd be more than happy to hear from any of you... questions, comments, rants, what's going on in your lives, etc. I do still think of you very fondly, even the vast majority of my old "foes", and do not see that ever changing.
Signing off as I did in the old days one last time...
Magically yours,
Ebony AKA AngieJ -- Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
(*Paraphrase from Morpheus, first Matrix, Brothers Wachowski. Never let it be said that I don't learn from my mistakes!)
ETA, 8/17/06, 8:24 a.m.: (**I heard from the late Mrs. Hamilton's widower (a groundbreaking figure in children's lit himself) last night. Apology accepted; mentoring continues.)
ETA, 8/18/06, 3:20 a.m.: Trouble in Paradise and Paradise Lost have been removed from FictionAlley and the HP_Paradise Files section for editing. They will not be uploaded again until 100% of the content therein can be guaranteed.