Dan Brown, of DaVinci Code fame, that is.  Geeze, I turned on the TV this morning to hear about the latest controversy concerning both Brown and his book.  Now it seems that the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, which was also released by Random House 24 years ago are suing Brown.  The reason they give is that Brown "stole their ideas."

Holy Blood, Holy Grain is non-fiction.  But hearing that the authors are suing for theft of ideas has me shaking my head.  I know a fair amount about this industry and I've always been told one cannot steal an idea.  There's no copyright on an idea.  I've also heard numerous times at conferences that every single story has already been told....the creativity is involved when one takes the story and puts a fresh voice to it. 

I mean really, come on, how many themes are there?  Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy and girl live happily ever after.  And the themes of the human element are out there for all of us to write about.....love, hate, greed, revenge, betrayal, redemption.  I think we've all read books with similar themes.  But what sets each one apart and what makes some better than others is in the creativity of the writer.  Obviously, good writing is important but it's also that particular author's voice that creates the characters, the setting and the plot that makes it stand out from the rest. 

How many times have you heard somebody talking about a newly released book by saying, "It's similar to......" That tips the listener to the theme and subject matter and assists them in making a decision whether they might be interested.  Now don't get me wrong....flat-out copying is something entirely different and is what we refer to as plagiarism.  Anybody who values their writing career fully understands the definition of this word and realizes it's more than just a no-no.....it's illegal.  But that involves taking another authors words verbatim and using them as your own.  I just don't see that Dan Brown has done this.

Call me cynical, but I can't help but wonder if all the negative hype connected with Brown's book could be classified as "sour grapes."  I mean, let's be honest.....don't all of us writers out there wish "we" had written the DaVinci Code?  And there's really no reason at all why we couldn't.....except, we didn't.  I know for myself many times I've finished an extraordinary novel only to close the final page and say, "Wow, I sure wish I had written that."  So I think there's a fine line between "envy" and "jealousy."  Possibly the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail are harboring a bit of jealousy.

Just my opinion.  See you tomorrow...........