And then Seanan made a request.

[seanan_mcguire]

This is not an anti-piracy post. I want to get that out there right up front. I am anti-piracy, but I don't really want to argue the situation right now, and I understand that it's complicated and all that. So this is not an anti-piracy post.

So here's the thing.

As is always the case when a new book is released, the illegal downloads for Sparrow Hill Road are popping up like mushrooms after the rain. They seem to be quite healthy, too. Swell; hopefully that means sales will be good. It definitely means that people are reporting them to me, because that's part of the circle of piracy. Which also means that some...other...links are getting reported to me.

Including the downloads for the original Edge of Propinquity stories.

I am aware that some people, on seeing me type that, will go "oh yay I can read them." And I am begging you: please don't. Please do not download these stories. Please do not save these stories. If you have them as historical artifacts, well, I can't stop you from doing that, but I would be much happier if you deleted them.

"Silly author, not understanding that the internet is forever!" No, I understand completely that the internet is forever. There's nothing in those stories that I'm ashamed of. The bulk of them have been preserved in the new volume, cleaned up and edited and improved by additional material. I'm not trying to hide anything. But those stories are out of canon, and I've been fielding emails and comments for the last two weeks about "but this contradicts..." or "but this story that isn't collected here says...". They've picked up in volume in the last two days.

So this isn't an anti-piracy post: it's a "please stop downloading what is essentially an early draft, and is out of canon, and is making me tear my hair out" post. You're not missing anything good by leaving it alone. You're just missing a lot of confusion about what year Rose actually died. And you're missing out on Mary and Amy entirely.

Really.

Comments

[ginger]

How does the song "Pretty Little Dead Girl" fit in? Or, I suppose I should ask, does it fit in, or is it more of an alternative universe thing?

[archangelbeth]

On Twitter, IIRC, "Pretty Little Dead Girl" is the "Lies, All Lies" version. (Mind, I happen to think that version is also awesome, but then I hold just about the entire Tenchi Muyo-verse in my head at once as well, so multiple continuities/AUs is something I can totally accept. Especially when things are marked as canon/non-canon.)

[ginger]

ah! Thanks for the clarification :)

[thedragonweaver.livejournal.com]

I rather like the Mercedes Lackey version, which is "Damned bards screwing everything up."

I don't worry about conflicting canon unless it's obviously an error. If it's adapting the story along the way, I just shrug and mark it down to authors living linear lives like the rest of us. (That being said, I won't track down earlier versions just because.)

[jenk]

I think of it as the "Urban legends that grew up around Rose." Which, again, "Lies, all lies."

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

It's lies and slander.