About a year ago I read Costigan's Needle, a science-fiction novel written by Jerry Sohl back in the fifties. It's a good book, has a good story and ends well, but it also has enough material for a sequel or spinoffs.
I can't help but turn over the continuing story in my mind -- with a transgendered element, of course -- but I wonder whether it's okay to pick up someone else's story in that way.
The copyright runs out in 35 years (I looked it up). The author died eleven years ago. He's not famous famous, but he's not an unknown. He did write for The Twilight Zone and some other screenplays.
I'm not going to wait for the copyright to run out, and I'm not silly enough to think I'm writing for "posterity". (I'm waiting for posterity to write to me first.)
So what do people think? Do I just say it's fan fiction? Should I leave it? I don't really need to write it, but I have the stupid reason of finding the title Costigan's Thread almost irresistible.
I think if you change the
I think if you change the characters, so that they are more out of you imagination, than a direct continuation you can get away with it. I would say something like based on the original, but it is not a sequel or continuation. Anyone else?
Ditto, and
I would say all that PLUS "this is fan fiction". Heck, with all the follow-ups written here continuing the stories and using the characters of Avatar, Harry Potter, et al it seems like it would be ok. **Sigh**
Sighs are the natural language of the heart.
-Thomas Shadwell
Add-ons to books...
Generally, it's considered good form to ask permission, which of course is impossible in this case. Please be aware that the book is still "in print" as a Kindle title, so someone will be looking out for the rights.
Hypothetically, and I am not a lawyer, so this is not legal advice, concepts can't be copyright, but characters and situations are a sort of "trademark," even if formal trademark status hasn't been applied for. So one can get into big trouble with a serious publisher if one writes "fan fiction" for a well-known brand, despite the fact that many authors cater to (or tolerate) their fans by tacitly letting their hardcore enthusiasts pretty much alone, as long as they don't damage the brand.
If it were me, I'd change everything except the basic situation, which is as old as Robinson Crusoe and Swiss Family Robinson, so fairly safe to write about. You may have noticed that "ripping off" plots is commonplace, as witness almost every B-Movie "Western," "Detective," or "War" film, and at least half the SF films one sees. Call it "Cleopatra's Needle," or fill in the blank, and go to town.
If you liked "Costigan's Needle," you might try reading The Void Captain’s Tale by Norman Spinrad. As with most of Spinrad's oeuvre, and as Bullwinkle the moose said to Rocky, the flying squirrel -- perhaps influenced by Blue Peter -- it's time for something completely different. Spinrad habitually pushes the envelope to the extent that he's had a quite a lot of trouble finding publishers for many of his books, but he's well-worth reading.
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Cleopatra Pemmican
Thanks for the suggestions! I just requested the Spinrad book from the library - I've heard his name, but haven't read anything of his.
And Cleopatra's Needle is very cute! Very suggestive of different avenues, and it was enough to get me off Costigan's Thread, which in contrast is more of an inside joke.
Hugs,
Kaleigh
Spinrad stories ripe for TG adaption
Just now dug out my battered copy of The Last Hurrah of The Golden Horde (1970 )because every story in it is a gem, and several of the plots are actually quite TG friendly.
A Night in Elf Hill concerns a jaded spacer basically looking for one last thrill in the swamps of this alien world ...
Subjectivity has to do with a long space voyage, on a ship crewed by neurotics and paranoids ( determined by trial & error to be the perfect subjects to survive space travel over the long haul ); all under the influence of a powerful psychotropic which allows them to built their own little worlds.
A Child of Mind brings a survey ship to an idyllic planet, where the male crew discovers a protoplasmic lifeform with it's own program at making a living in this new eden. (I wish someone had made a movie of this )
Perhaps even Carcinoma Angels ( My most favorite story in this collection ( with it's emphasis on inner space and a sort of self healing through various analogs )where the oddest most successful man on planet Earth; faces his greatest challenge from within his own body.
The neat thing about this is it's the ideas, not the exact plot, which could be used to springboard all types of stories within our genre. So there's no stepping on the toes of the originator.
Way Zim
You have...
You have a LOT of options...
You can write fan-fiction, which you share (but could be asked to take down by his estate) that incorporates his characters, etc.
You could write something that is close - but not an obvious spin-off (even less likely to be called).
You could investigate, and find out who "owns" the copyright, and ask permission. (Then, there's lots of paths you can take, depending on the answer and whether they reserve the right to review, etc..)
You could dump the idea...
You could write it, and put it away...
So many possibilities. Only you can really decide, and part of the reason is you need to decide WHY you want to write it.
Good Luck,
Annette
Thanks
Thanks to you and Lesley and Sigh...
You're quite right, and I see now that I've been in a kind of rut with the idea... the whole thing seemed so inevitable to me, but after reading your comments and the others above, I realize that I'd put myself in a box. I'll be much better off clearing the decks and starting with something that's more inspired by or suggested by or vaguely similar if you squint and tip your head...
I'm quite excited and happy now.
Thanks!
Kaleigh
Kaleigh, I was just glad to
Kaleigh, I was just glad to be of help to you.
Lesley
Follow your first thought
The rule is if it changed 45 per cent... Names people... Graphic designers use that rule as well, 45 per cent...
If your first thought is to go for it do it follow your First message not the second or third,
Love And Hugs Hanna
((((((((♥)))))))((((((((♥)))))))((((((((♥)))))))((((((((♥)))))))((((((((♥)))))))
Blessed Be
that's intriguing...
That number's set off a new line of thought for me. Thanks!
What's odd is that I was just thinking about Costigan's Needle
Late last week, I started writing a story I called "World of Difference" and about two thirds of the way through the first chapter I realized it had a similar plot to Costigan's Needle. Similar but perhaps only to someone who read that book five times in high school fifty years ago. :)
Of course, WoD has a TG twist, not only does everyone end up naked, they have had their genders switched! Now I'm wanting to see your version of the idea because you are always able to surprise me with your plot twists. And the smooth flow of your stories and your characterizations are delightful.
Get to work! Start writing! :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Keep going!
Your idea is different from mine - my idea, which I'm probably going to change, is that in the present day one of the children of the people who disappeared through Costigan's needle wants to find them. He'd be Jimmy Peredge, the son of Costigan's assistant.
Of course there would be gender-switching, but it would only happen to three people during some early experiments.
So thanks for the encouragement! and don't stop writing yourself, because I'm pretty sure we'll be going different places with the story -- especially now that I will do something along the lines Puddintane and others suggested.
Hugs,
Kaleigh