I've already handled much of this in private to the appropriate parties.
I refrained from responding to comments and even from reading most of them until the matter was resolved. And now that the matter is resolved between the principals, you can have the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey always said.
The thing is, I inadvertently plagiarized Ms. Saintcrow's stories.
Inadvertent plagiarism is still plagiarism.
The first thing I did when I woke up and got her message was delete the diaries before I did anything else, because I took her word for it that I infringed. Then I sent an apology and a message to the HelpDesk about what happened and what I did to correct matters and what I should do next.
I know I wrote and told critter stories for my children. We made up stories all the time about everything. I wrote a lot of them down in spiral bound notebooks (my children grew up mostly pre-internet). I know the sources of my conscious influences. I know I posted my first critter story on line in 2005 as part of a Blogging for Books contest (I didn't win). With the wonders of digital cameras, I've been writing my mushroom stories fully illustrated. I know that starting when Dogmatyx died, my children and I have been editing the stories, beginning with the ones he was in, even peripherally, and I've posted a few as they were improved.
Plagiarism, even if inadvertent, is still plagiarism.
I'm not sure if I'll get banned over this, so I asked some people to take over IAN, because that's important. And I spent all day writing this diary.
My fault, I put up stories I thought were all mine (with input and collaboration from my children) and now I know they aren't. Unintentional plagiarism is still plagiarism.
What plagiarism there is was inadvertent and I want my stories to be mine, not hers.
I've apologized to Ms. Saintcrow, and now I'm apologizing to you.
Inadvertent plagiarism is still plagiarism.
And now, (in best Paul Harvey voice) you know the rest of the story.
