What Do You Do When You're Accused of Plagiarizing Yourself?

Last month someone named "Paul Krug" posted a review of Eric Filler's Transformed Into a Bimbo (Transformed #9).  It's a lengthy review that rails against the second story in the book plagiarizing...wait for it...Chance of a Lifetime by ME!

First, I'd like to share a bit of personal history with myself and this piece. I first read it about a year ago. I remember thinking the first tale was mediocre; not bad exactly, just not that great. The second I really loved when I first read it. Then recently I purchased another story by a guy named PT Dilloway, "Chances Of A Lifetime". I've only read a little bit so far ("Chances" is one of the lengthier tales) but, my God, did Eric Filler ever rip-off Dilloway, BAD. In fact that alone is why I'm giving this such a low rating; had I written this review before discovering Dilloway's story, I probably would've given this four stars instead.

The first story here, "Human Trial", is about a scientist, Lee Wang, who is helping to develop a serum to reverse aging. One day while he's staying late in the lab taking inventories an eco-terrorist breaks to the lab. She (the terrorist) smashes one of the vials of the drug for women, exposing Wang to it, then destroys the rest of the vials. Later Wang discovers to his horror that he's turning into a woman. Like many TG stories, this is actually pretty light on story and characterization and seems to exist mainly just for reader titillation.

Then we get to "Bimbo's Revenge." Now, to give you an idea of what I was talking about before, here's a side-by-side comparison of both PT Dilloway's "Chances Of A Lifetime" and Eric Filler's "Bimbo's Revenge". ("Chances" was written back in November of 2013, "Revenge" was written in August of the following year.): The hero (in "Chances" it's a cop, in "Revenge" it's an ex-cop turned private eye) is in a bar called Squiggy's run by a guy named Big Al. While there he runs into another regular, who goes by the nickname "The Worm" because he can wriggle into tight places and is a great snitch. The hero senses the Worm is nervous and knows something, and leans on the Worm. The Worm won't talk at first, fearing for his life, but then the hero shows the Worm his gun, and the Worm tells the hero a crime boss, Artie "Lex" Luther (nicknamed for his last name and the fact that he's bald) is going to be robbing a chemical factory, Lennox Pharmaceuticals. The hero comes to the factory and watches from afar as Lex and his men arrive and take out the factories security guard. Lex's friends are Thomas "Bruiser" Malloy, a former boxer with brain damage who's described as looking like a shaved gorilla in a tank top and shorts, a Mexican guy named Bobby Blades who's a knife expert, and William "Tall Man" O'Neil, a hit-man who's killed about two dozen people already. The hero doesn't call the cops because nearly all of them are on Lex's special payroll. The hero follows the criminals inside and, managing to get them separated, he is able to subdue them one at a time. The Tall Man in both versions has night vision goggles, and in both versions the hero gets him tied to a chair and is able to get him to say where his boss is. Finally the hero confronts the boss, Lex, but then Lex is able to get the drop on the hero and injects him with the serum, causing the hero to first pass out and then wake up as a woman.

What happens next in "Chances" I don't know yet, I haven't read any further yet. (Like I said, it's a pretty lengthy story and likely will take me quite a few days to finish reading it.) Anyway, what happens in this story is the hero-now turned heroine, and going by the name of Jackie-sets out to find and take revenge against her enemies, while also befriending a female paramedic named Stephanie. Honestly, though, it wouldn't surprise me it Filler also ripped that off from Dilloway's story. There's so much lifted from "Chances", even right down to many of the character names, Dilloway should be able to sue Filler for plagiarism. It's a pity too, because Filler has written other stories that I have loved reading: "From Warrior King To Peasant Girl", "Gender Swap Challenge", "From Premed To Preschool" and "Transformed Into A Goth Girl". Hopefully those weren't rip-offs of other people's stories, as well.

I have to admire his passion in this but it's pretty funny.  Especially the part that I should sue Eric Filler for plagiarism.  That's a case I'm guaranteed to win (and lose) since I AM Eric Filler.  And really even P.T. Dilloway is just another pseudonym so it'd technically be one pseudonym suing another.  That would only make sense if I have multiple-personality disorder.

You might wonder what the deal is and it's this:  I wrote the second story of that book basically trying to take Chance of a Lifetime and make it more the stereotypical gender swap story.  So instead of turning into a plain brunette, he turns into a blonde with a huge rack.  And there's a lot more sex, especially with guys.

If the guy had finished reading Chance of a Lifetime, he could see how while they start roughly the same, they take divergent paths to become two separate stories.  If I could get his Email I'd tell him that and ask him to take the review down, though probably he'd just get pissed at me.  That's usually what happens.  Anyway, I guess it's one of the hazards when you have more than one name.