Crapometer

So. Miss Snark is doing another crapometer run, starting Friday. This one is for "hooks" (250 words), and she'll request "first pages" (750 words) if she likes it. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to throw my hat in.

The rough mini-synopsis on my excerpts blog is about 400 words. With a little pruning and tweaking, I might could (yeah, I'm from Kentucky) get it down to 250. And I do have 750 words of opener if--on the outside chance--she requests it.

But.

Do I really want to put the summarization of my "original idea" for a novel I'm only 1/4-1/3 of the way done writing up for all and sundry to see? (Sure, it's up on my blog, but how many people read this as opposed to Miss Snark?)

I'm a little protective of it, since I've already been accused of "borrowing from" or "copying" a certain famous author. (Not by the author herself, I should add. Someone else who is familiar with her work but not with mine.) I mean, I know what the whole story is different and unique. And hopefully those of you who read this and have read the books in question have heard enough about my story and characters to know that as well. I feel that when I'm done and my book can be read in its entirety, people will recognize the originality and not think that I just wrote a redux of Famous Author's story. (All right, it's Diana. Just because I have a character time-traveling to Scotland. Even though it's set in a different century, with different characters, different conflict, different plot, etc. And lots of other people have written time-travel romance novels, too. But I've already ranted about that.)

Anyway. I've struggled mightily to flesh out this idea, and I'm making good progress towards completing it, whereupon I can send it out into the world. But I would hate to see it posted online and someone else take it and write something like it before I can finish mine. Then the "original idea" I've struggled so hard to distinguish as being, in fact, original, won't be original anymore.

I'm sure I'm being paranoid. The odds of that happening are probably nil. But still. The accusation stung, for all that it was unfounded, and now I'm gun shy. OTOH, I'd really like to see if my idea can pique people's interest. So I dunno. Should I submit to the crapometer and cross my fingers against my story getting ganked? Should I rewrite certain key elements to keep the same premise, but protect my details? Or should I just call it a wash and hope she does another run later when I have a full MS in hand?