No Excuses for Plagiarism

plagiarismRecently I came across an article from 2010 about a German writer whose first book, a bestseller, was proven to be plagiarized from a novel of another author. What shook me more than the act itself, was the author’s defense. “It’s not copying, it’s mixing”, even though supposedly whole passages were copied from another author’s work.

Just a week later I witnessed online a similar situation: a young Polish author publishing with a vanity press openly admitted that his book is a fan-fiction set in one of the bestselling fantasy author’s world and using her main character. This time the excuse was similar: “it’s only inspiration and it’s ok if I use the main character’s name, because it’s not the same character”. I didn’t get to read an excerpt from the book, but the book’s description suggests the main character is a dragon, just like in the bestselling series. (more…)

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New drabbles on Szortal

November edition of Polish "Szortal Na Wynos" is available now and it contains two of my drabbles. You can download the file in pdf, mobi or epub formats. My drabbles can be also read directly on Szortal's website: "Infolinia" ("Helpline") and "Zekyańska tradycja" ("Zekyan tradition").

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Halloween Drabble Anthology

My drabble "They Just Love Halloween" is a part of newly released drabble anthology "Jack-o'-Lantern Tales of Treats and Tricks". The collection was made in a collaboration of Fiction Writers Group from Facebook and is available as an ebook. It can be downloaded for free in PDF format from the…

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Brace yourselves! The NaNoWriMo is… not coming!

NaNoWriMo(1) Are you doing it this year? I’m so not ready! I need my outline done. There is so little time left! OMG! Are you ready? Do you have any tips? Here’s my plan for success! What will you be writing?

If you are a writer or have any writing friends, these comments pop in social media quite often at this time of the year. Almost everyone is preparing for (or dreading) the start of National Novel Writing Month (that has, in fact, become quite international). Everyone, except for us, few people in the corner, watching this cheerful madness with unusual calm. (more…)

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One Year at Melfka.com

Exactly a year ago I posted my first news on this webpage. After some weeks of sorting out the domain name and the external server I was able to move my Polish website at WordPress to a new place: bilingual Melfka.com. This would not happen without some help from two great ladies, Anna Suseł who provided technical support whenever my meager knowledge of css was tried and Maja Sarnowska who designed the layout of this page.

Since the anniversary caught me unprepared with the usual “Oh dear, already?”, I don’t have a fancy post or a book giveaway (I don’t have a book yet to give it away), but I thought I’d share a small infographic on the page’s statistics. They might not be something to be boasting about, but they show that you are there and come visit every once a while. And for that I’d like to thank you all so much!

And if you’re in the playful mood, try to guess how many words I’ve written on the page, how many posts there were and which is the most popular text up to date, before you look at the infographic below. (more…)

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Music Inspirations – part 3

5825010322_7211eb8d22_zThere is only a few more songs left on my list and I hope you enjoyed this musical journey with me. This is the last part of the “Music Inspirations”, but as I usually discover new music and come up with ideas, maybe one day there will be few more to be posted. If you found inspiration while reading or listening feel free to share them in the comments as I love to see different perspectives and ideas. (more…)

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Music Inspirations – part 2

4553096837_5cd3cebdb9_oA comment to the previous part of the Music Inspirations made me realize that I didn’t make a clear distinction between “writing music” and “music inspiration”. The first one often consists of a writer’s favorite songs or maybe background music with no lyrics if they prefer (such as classics or movie soundtracks) that helps to focus on writing or isolate from the surrounding world. The second one can be anything that the writer heard, a new hit on the radio by some popular singer or a long-forgotten lullaby or anything else, including songs outside of a writer’s musical comfort zone.

When I look at my music inspirations I realize how different this list is from what I usually listen to and from what I listen to when I write. Of course, some of the songs make it to my permanent playlist, be it the writing or the general one, while others stay forever attached to just one idea, and I don’t really listen to them once I wrote the story they inspired. If there is a rule to my musical inspiration, I have to find it yet. All I can say for sure, they happen and they come unexpectedly: just like the one that made it to the list below. (more…)

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Music Inspirations – part 1

56208761_7c72328c3e_zSome writers can’t work unless there is silence around them, others easily jot down sentences in a crowded cafe, but to many of us music is an important part of the creative process.

To me music is important as it not only inspires me, but also helps me create. I don’t need it in order to be writing (some friends of mine can testify that they saw me writing during a loud party), but I like to use it to create a barrier between the story and the world around me. Sometimes I find a song that reflects the story or the mood of what I am writing, and then I am happy to listen to it in a loop as long as I write, and sometimes it’s just a random playlist in the background.

Some time ago my Facebook friend and fellow writer – Anna “Cranberry” Nieznaj invited me to join a game for writers: for 30 days we would be posting links to the music that inspired some of our works with a short description or an excerpt. The game was fully in Polish and only available for friends, but since another person asked me about the role of music in my writing, I thought it is due time to convert that game into a blog post (or three). (more…)

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Inspiring Fridays

By Michael Coghlan via Flickr
By Michael Coghlan via Flickr

I don’t think I would be wrong if I said that most of people can’t wait for Friday: especially for its evening part, when the week’s work has been done and it’s time to relax… or catch up with all the things neglected during the non-weekend days. Though I have to admit that regardless of how much I am looking forward to the weekend, Friday morning always throws me in a state of panic. “Is it today already?” I think opening my browser. “What’s this week’s theme?” (more…)

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