I have returned from a morning offline to find my forthcoming Samhain novella, The Legend of the Werestag, embroiled in a legal battle.

The issue started with this announcement.

To which my, ahem, zealous legal counsel replied here. And the debate continued here.

I would like to publicly state that I have immediately fired Courtney Milan from her (unpaid, unsolicited) position as my legal adviser, and I make my profound apologies to Ms. Ann Aguirre and her representatives at the Dear Author Literary Agencies. Ms. Milan’s conduct in this matter has been appalling. She has made false claims based on an unregistered trademark, and besides — as anyone who has read the blurb or excerpt of my novella (releasing May 12th from Samhain) would realize, there are no actual wereruminants appearing in the story. Any references to

“four-legged beasts having four-chambered stomachs, with or without prongs, capable of shifting into one or more forms upon application of sufficient quantities of moonlight.”

are strictly hypothetical, and roundly derided by several of the characters.

As readers of this blog will no doubt know, I am a librarian and an advocate of intellectual freedom and unrestricted access. Far be it from me to restrict the loving satire of shifter stories by monopolizing the use of wereruminants in fiction. Ms. Aguirre and her weredeer trilogy have my best wishes for success.


9 comments to “Oh, deer.”

  1. Jane
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    1
    · April 1st, 2009 at 1:26 pm · Link

    crap, must try to catch postman before hate mail is delivered. . .



  2. Tessa
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    2
    · April 1st, 2009 at 1:30 pm · Link

    @Jane: No worries, Jane. I will use the return address to send you a complimentary “Stag Hag” t-shirt.



  3. Jane
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    3
    · April 1st, 2009 at 3:04 pm · Link

    There’s some kind of perfect serendipity that the search engine is called Tess



  4. Courtney Milan
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    4
    · April 1st, 2009 at 2:25 pm · Link

    I would like to state for the record that my false claims were based on an unregistered thing that was not even a trademark.

    Thank you, thank you. 😉



  5. Tessa
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    5
    · April 1st, 2009 at 2:31 pm · Link

    @Courtney Milan: Yes, this was awesome! I didn’t even realize all the many layers to your deceit at first. Well done, you. 😈



  6. Tessa
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    · April 1st, 2009 at 3:17 pm · Link

    @Jane: Another example of perfect serendipity? The placement of the turret.



  7. Susan W.
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    7
    · April 1st, 2009 at 3:49 pm · Link

    Tessa, I just logged in to check the site and say Hi. Imagine my surprise to read about this imbroglio. If it’s not an April Fool’s joke, it should be. Ah, the vagaries of the Romance world. ~Susan



  8. Tessa
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    · April 1st, 2009 at 3:55 pm · Link

    Susan!! Yes, of course it’s a joke. I owe you the world’s longest email…I will write you a short one, for starters. Look for it soon…



  9. Elyssa Papa
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    9
    · April 1st, 2009 at 8:41 pm · Link

    Hands down. Funniest April Fool’s Joke. Loved the constant back and forth.




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