How much does it cost to achieve literary immortality? In the case of Rebeca Eckler, a Canadian journalist and writer, about $7,000. Two years ago, Eckler paid that princely sum at a charity auction to have her name used as a character in the next novel by her favorite author, fellow Canadian Margaret Atwood. Now, that book is out: Atwood’s delightful and well-reviewed dystopian novel The Year of the Flood. And Eckler is surprised, pleasantly for the most part, at her fictional alter ego. “One of my character’s first quotes is, ‘Praise the Lord and spit. I’m too black and ugly for him…’ There you have it. Rebecca Eckler is no longer skinny, neurotic and Jewish,” the real Eckler writes in the Canadian newsmagazine Macleans. Eckler notes she’s not the first person to win a spot in literature via auction — in recent years, writers as various as Frederick Forsyth, Stephen King, Michael Chabon, and Nora Roberts have all auctioned off character-naming rights. She’s not even the first to win a spot in an Atwood novel (a previous winner, Amanda Payne, even got a two-for-one deal by appearing in the 2003 novel Oryx and Crake and then reappearing in this year’s follow-up, The Year of the Flood).
I consider myself a bookworm, but I’m not sure I’d want to be immortalized in a book by my favorite author — especially since I’d have no way of knowing if I’d turn out to be a major character or a minor one, a sinner or a saint. (Yes, I clearly have some control issues.) But what about you? Would you pay to become a character in a novel? And what writer’s fictional world would you want to enter, even if it’s in name only?
I think I’d rather be one of the “dedicated to” in someone’s book rather than a character. As for who, David Sedaris comes to mind. Though being a character in one of his (mostly) true life stories would be insanely cool too.
Interesting… also done by Dean Koontz in a recent novel and he thanked the reader who anted up the $ for charity… and yes I would totally want this, especially in an Atwood novel! How terrifically cool is that!
When I was younger I would mentally write myself into my favourite books at the time (especially Artemis Fowl and Harry Potter). It would be so cool to have your name in a book, even if that was the only joining trait between yourself and the character. Actually… now that I think about it, still now the two books I can picture being the coolest to have my name in would still be Artemis Fowl and Harry Potter. I mean, come on, technologically advanced faeries and a super genius teenager, and then, you know, wizards.
I would love my favourite author to use my name for a character. I wouldn’t even care whether the character is a major or a minor one, a good or evil one. My name is used in a book. That’s all I want. Not sure how much I’d pay for it, though. If it’s Stephen King, Sheila O’Flanagan, Jodi Picoult, Nicholas Sparks, or Margaret Atwood, I would definitely pay to be a character in any of their novels.
I would pay to get my name in a book, if only so that maybe people would spell it right more often. :\
I wouldn’t *pay* to be a character, but I think it would be a cool thing to win in a contest. And it also depends on the author. I know it’s “your favorite”, but just because I like an author (or their books), doesn’t mean I want to be inside of them (and by them, I meant the books).
For instance, I would not want to be inside a Stephen King or Nora Roberts book. However, I would be fine with appearing in a novel by Maureen Johnson.
You get attached enough as it is with characters who are their own people, but when the character *is* you, that’s a whole different ball game. Not to mention, that when you pay to have your name in a book, that’s what you’re getting: your name in a book. It’s not a biography, it’s fiction.
Lisa Gardner has a contest and puts a fan in slmost every book. “Kill a Friend, Maim a Buddy” contest is now open.
I’ve seen my name in a novel, the author, Steve Alten kindly included my late husband as a character in his latest novel, MEG; Hell’s Aquarium, after I’d written him to thank him for all the pleasure his books had given my husband during his long illness. It was something I know would have pleased my husband, because he would have admired the character and would have been thrilled and honored. I know that both my daughter and myself were touched when we read the scenes he was in.