I wish my response was as restrained as your apology (which I accept) was classy.

When I wrote Hazed I expected a polarized reaction and I perfectly happy to accept the consequences, even if it means turning off reviewers I respect. In its previous incarnations (the play, the screenplay and various versions of the OGN) I’ve had some readers express opinions similar to yours. At the same time I’ve had a lot of audience members/readers (particularly women who’d been in sororities) say that the way I captured what they’d gone through was uncanny.

If it’s not too personal a question, were you in a sorority? I ask not because it makes your review any more or less valid, but it’s just interesting to see demograhpically where both the positive and negative reactions come from.

I apologize by going too far in the language I used to point out your story and Mean Girls use very similar plot points. As a reader, the movie came before your comic to me. I believe you when you say you came up with it independently, but maybe your publisher needs to lighten up on those comparisons to avoid others being misled. Most readers aren’t going to know about your play, and they’re going to assume that your comic was written (or at least revised and edited) more recently, so if too many similarities are there, they’re on purpose.

Thanks for stopping by and setting the record straight.

First, I’m not sure what you based your review on. As the book isn’t out yet, I can only assume it was a PDF. Not having sent you a PDF myself, I have no idea whether it’s the final print version or not (unlikely, since it’s not yet gone to the printer). That may or may not affect your judgment of the book, but I thought your readers should be aware of that.

What I really take issue with, however, is your comment that “the writer (me) has stolen some plot points directly from the latter (the film “Mean Girls”)”. That is false, and demonstrably so. HAZED is based on a stage play that was produced in the late nineties, as well as a screenplay adaptation of said play that was registered with the WGA well before a script for “Mean Girls” existed.

While I don’t expect you to be aware of those facts, I think it’s highly irresponsible, not to mention unprofessional, to make an accusation of plagiarism.

Pax,

MLO