Free (DRM-free MultiFormat) Bear, Otter, & the Kid [Gay Coming-of-Age Family Drama]

[ATDrake]

Well, this is a bit of an unusual freebie.

Bear, Otter, and the Kid by TJ Klune is a gay coming-of-age family drama with some romance in it, free courtesy of m/m specialty publisher Dreamspinner Press.

As for why it's been freebied, apparently someone wrote up a blogpost accusing BOatK of having substantial similarities to a prior gay coming-of-age family drama with some romance in it film.

As a result, Dreamspinner and author Klune have taken a number of steps, including sending a copy of the book to the film's creator to read, and have agreed to abide by his decision and stop printing the book if said film's creator really does think he's been plagiarized.

But frankly, reading the write-ups of both plots' details in Dreamspinner's statement makes the two works look like they become rather different despite having some rather generic basic elements in common. Besides, it's not so much the bare ideas involved in a creative work as how one expresses them, IMHO, which is why the recent big plagiarism scandals involved authors directly cribbing other authors' particular scenes and phrases and mildly rearranging them.

Which is something you can read to hilarious contrast-and-compare effect in this Forbes Magazine write-up on historian Stephen Ambrose's (of Band of Brothers fame) long-running plagiarism issues which apparently went back to his university days and were ignored by publishers, or Wikipedia's sample passage side-by-sides from that Kaavya Visnawathan novel from just a few years ago which the publisher was hyping as an amazing debut from a stunning young talent.

In any case, Dreamspinner Press and author Klune invite you as well to read and judge Klune's book for yourself in comparison to the film it's been accused of being "significantly similar" to and to that end, have made Bear, Otter, and the Kid free until March 7th.

You will need to sign up for an account (no payment info required) and it's DRM-free in multiple formats @ Dreamspinner Press via the link right at the top of their frontpage, just below the link to their official statement on this matter, which includes a synopsis of both works' defining characteristics.

Description
Three years ago, Bear McKenna’s mother took off for parts unknown with her new boyfriend, leaving Bear to raise his six-year-old brother Tyson, aka the Kid. Somehow they’ve muddled through, but since he’s totally devoted to the Kid, Bear isn’t actually doing much living—with a few exceptions, he’s retreated from the world, and he’s mostly okay with that. Until Otter comes home.

Otter is Bear’s best friend’s older brother, and as they’ve done for their whole lives, Bear and Otter crash and collide in ways neither expect. This time, though, there’s nowhere to run from the depth of emotion between them. Bear still believes his place is as the Kid’s guardian, but he can’t help thinking there could be something more for him in the world... something or someone.

[wyndslash]

oh yay, this was a fun read *gets it* thanks