Susan. Really Really don't change your story because of what some other author does. Just don't. Heinlein used to say that there are really only three plots: boy meets girl and variants, the brave little tailor, and the man who learned better. There is of course an obvious feminist critique of the phrasing, but fundamentally he was right. There are NO original plots. It all lies in the execution. Is your writing style exactly the same as nemesis, the Dread Pirate Novik? Is your world building, your sense of what the times is like the same? Don't worry about superficial similarities.

Listen to the wisdom of Sondheim:

Every moment makes a contribution,
Every little detail plays a part.
Having just a vision's no solution,.
Everything depends on execution
Putting it together, that's what counts!

And you are doing just that! Don't worry about similarities between one sentence descriptions. Someone creative in marketing can come up with a new one sentence description.

I feel pretty safe in saying, not that you were worried about this, but Naomi is not at all the type of person who would run around pointing fingers and accusing people of copying.

It all lies in the execution. Is your writing style exactly the same as nemesis, the Dread Pirate Novik? Is your world building, your sense of what the times is like the same?

Well, no, not at all. I'd even go so far as to say they're extremely different.

I feel pretty safe in saying, not that you were worried about this, but Naomi is not at all the type of person who would run around pointing fingers and accusing people of copying.

Yeah, I know. I'm more afraid everybody else will!

Heinlein used to say that there are really only three plots: boy meets girl and variants, the brave little tailor, and the man who learned better.

Wait. I thought the only three original stories were: Boy Meets Girl and variants, A Stranger Comes to Town, and The Quest.

Someone who has won awards retelling familiar tales, with a twist, of a writer a couple of generations older, and whose forte is retold fairytales often told me, "There are no original stories. None. Tell what you want, just make sure you tell it well."

(If I wanted to work at it I could get another told or tell in that sentence somewhere)

I had to have the "no original plots" talk with a friend several years ago. I told her, "The only ones who came up with original stories were the cavemen who told them first." That cheered her up.

The Brave Little Tailor could share elements with The Quest, but I think A Stranger Comes is more pervasive than The Man Who Learned Better, though the latter covers most of Aesop's Fables.

Does V of E have the same Napoleon succeeded in invading England thing that you do, Susan? I'm not familiar at all.

Yeah, it does, though it sounds like she might resolve that in one book instead of spinning it out over a series like I'm planning to.

Err. Spoiler whitefont for that plot point, plz?

I'd still say that not having the dragon element is a big differentiator for you. I really love your description and the pains you are taking in determining what effects the changes you postulate would make to the timeline are appealing to me as a reader. I don't think you've lost all chance of reaching a receptive publisher.

Sorry, I wasn't thinking. Font fixed.