The Circus of Shadows

by Opaque Sky

Richard has finally moved on from the apparent death of his childhood friend and companion, Samantha, and has stuck to a normal life outside of the Nightwing suit. But when a strange letter arrives at midnight warning him of the secrets of a traveling circus, the Circus of Shadows, and hints that it may give him more information on Samantha, he chooses to investigate.(NIghtwing/OC)

4. Her Name is Samantha (Author's Note 2)

Hey everyone.

First of all, I'd like to apologize for my lack of activity. Being a senior in college sucks. With that said, here I am, 110 credit hours later and about to have a degree in psychology this December. Graduate school after as well, if I get in. Huzzah for achievement! I haven't been laying around, I promise. Other life matters decided to take control, and unfortunately my writing hobby needed to be shelved for a while.

However, the call to writing is coming back to me now that I have a little bit of free time. I always knew I wanted to finish Circus of Shadows, so I decided to log back in and review in preparation for continuing. Being inactive for so long, I noticed a couple messages in my inbox that I had honestly wished I had seen a long time ago. For those of you who sent me those messages, I sincerely appreciate it. More on that in a moment.

I have a couple of announcements. Some are good, and some are bad. Firstly, I'd like to start with the bad news.

Her name is Samantha.

I have become the victim of plagiarizing. It was brought to my attention by several users that someone on Wattpad had plagiarized my work almost word for word (including what I had written up to on Circus of Shadows). Titled "Flames" and "Shadow" (I won't blast the author, if you'd like to see for yourself, I encourage you to do so), this work is a blatant copy of "A Flame in the Darkness" and "Circus of Shadows". This is honestly one of the worst feelings I've ever experienced as a writer. Seeing my creativity and effort being credited to another author is gut-wrenching, and I hope none of you ever experience it if you write it yourself. This author took full creative credit for the story, and changed the names and a few extremely minor details. Worst of all? Due to the nature of fanfiction and copyright law, there's probably nothing I can do about it except bring it to everyone's attention. I'm hurt by this turn in my writing hobby. It almost makes me want to discontinue Circus of Shadows. This author's copy of my story has a huge following on Wattpad, and that upsets me knowing that so many people believe this work is her own and praise her for it. I have contacted her and requested that it be removed (to no response as of yet).

My original character's name is Samantha, and it always will be no matter who decides to rip off my own creative work.

I will not let this defeat me, although it has damaged my spirits. I still need to ponder on the idea of continuing A Circus of Shadows or not. I really want to, but at the same time it almost seems pointless to do so. If you guys would like me to continue, I would gladly do so.

On the bright side, I have a couple more story ideas up my sleeve. If I decide to pursue them, I will be sure to post them on Wattpad also to avoid this situation in the future. Wattpad was never my first choice for publishing works, but it seems as if I need to do so.

As always, thank you for your continued support. Coming back to this was a shock for me, and I want to continue making creative material for you all. You all are my motivation to continue.

OpaqueSky