One of the most popular auction items at mystery conventions is 'your name' in a book by your favorite author. after bidding lots of money for this 'honor', you can only hope that the character with your name is a law abiding citizen..or not, depending on your preferences. Often you have no say in the matter, and your named character turns out to be a prostitute or a two-bit criminal. Sometimes you can talk with the author to ensure that your character is 'acceptable' to you. Whatever the outcome, you've paid your money, and you take your chances. Using real names of people (fans/readers/friends) in books or stories as an in-joke is called
Tuckerization. I've been tuckerized several times. I haven't paid, but my writer friends have used my name in their books as an in-joke, and luckily always in a good way, and always with a very minor character. Thanks, friends.
But what about an author using a name of a friend or acquaintance either wittingly or not in a book? Doesn't every novel have an "any resemblance" disclaimer? Obviously Brendan Cody, doesn't see it that way or maybe he didn't read it at the beginning of the book. He has taken Thriller Writer
Alexandra Sokoloff to court. He claims she defamed him in her 2009 thriller,
The Unseen, creating a character with his name and description, who has "violent, sexually predatory and abusive" tendencies. They met at a writer's conference in 2007, and he claims they became friends, and that he shared things about himself. Sexually predatory and abusive things? Good Luck, Alex, this seems like a frivolous suit. Hope you win.
Read the article here at the Courthouse News Service.
