Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder
Kaavya Viswanathan
Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2006 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.
Once in a while I see a novel by an Indian or Indian-American or Indian disapora author, especially a woman, and I think that they'll fill up the niche before I get my act together to get in on it. What if there's no more gravy train for an MC Masala by the time I write The Novel?
Now I know I have at least one leg up on 'em. Kaavya Viswanathan, you're no Gordon Korman! "...even plagiarism has become a simulacrum, a pale imitation of the real thing." Aha, here's my competitive advantage! I have a core competence in not being a plagiarist!
But come on, "bought her way into Harvard"? Dude, money can't give you drive. In fact, I imagine it usually doesn't.
