Comments on POE'S DEADLY DAUGHTERS: Kill me, but don't misspell my name

May I add that I am also a Berkeley teenager parti...

2008-11-17T17:22:42.672-05:00

May I add that I am also a Berkeley teenager participating in a live action vampire game in Linda Grant's VAMPIRE BYTES but ahem, I am NOT a hooker but a coke-addicted blond runway model "with attitude". I "bought" that mention when SJ Rozan was still relatively unknown (at Eyecon where I got to see her win the Shamus) and spent the weekend asking folks "good guy or bad?" since she had only a few characters I could be in MANDARIN PLAID. I think Gary (who was co-chair of that event) bought about 8 mentions at that auction. If you look at books published around 1997 or so, you'll see a lot of Gary and a few of Maggie/Mary Mason as well.
I have heard complaints from folks who say it throws them out of a story to see a familiar name. i sympathize but not enough to stop. It's almost always a charity auction deal (we con-runners love doing that, and we've done pretty well, as you note) and i've heard from authors who required releases now because people complain. Oh come on!
This by the way is known (,ostly to those of us who are also s.f. fans) as "Tuckerizing" after Bob/Wilson Tucker, a science fiction fan and author who started the fad ages ago.
Why do i enjoy it? it raises money, it's a giggle to see how "I" end up, it's a giggle when friends notice, and it rewards writers who donate this prize. (my Rozan appearance was ridiculously cheap because at the time, she wasn't well known. That sure changed!)
And I've had the amazing honor also of being acknowledged in some mysteries (oh wow) and of being one of several folks a book was dedicated to, which still takes my breath away.

I go to SleuthFest annually, and book namings are ...

2008-10-23T14:41:13.144-04:00

I go to SleuthFest annually, and book namings are big sellers at the auction. Too big, I'm afraid, for my budget. I do recall Lee Child saying he LOVES to auction off names because he dreads having to come up with character names himself, and is always grateful for any help.

My daughter did want me to use her name; I compromised, and one of the characters in my next book shares her nickname. I figured she didn't need her friends thinking that the character was modeled after her, not just shared her name.

Having won the right to die painfully in Meg Gardi...

2008-10-23T10:31:47.575-04:00

Having won the right to die painfully in Meg Gardiner's latest book, The Dirty Secrets Club, I can say the experience is a hoot, and a little nerve-wracking, as I turned each page wondering, When will I show up, and how will I die....

I mentioned to someone that I had inadvertantly us...

2008-10-23T09:50:58.264-04:00

I mentioned to someone that I had inadvertantly used her name in one of my books. When I realized it, I changed the last name. She was disappointed, and instead said if I'd use her last name or her husband's name in my next book, she would send a check to my favorite charity.

I did, and she did, too! The charity was to Crackerbox Palace, a farm-animal rescue.

http://www.crackerboxpalace.org/

I don't know how much she sent, but her donation was featured in their newsletter, along with the cover of my book.

Talk about a win-win situation. (With the horses, goats, and chickens winning the most.)

I haven't bid on namings yet, but I was tempted. I...

2008-10-22T09:16:18.882-04:00

I haven't bid on namings yet, but I was tempted. It would be fun to have my name or my pets name in a book-I'm just not sure it would be several hundred dollars fun.
Caryn

Already voted! We started early voting yesterday i...

2008-10-22T07:02:18.286-04:00

Already voted! We started early voting yesterday in my state, and the polling station was packed all day long!