When I was a youngster, I received a Raggedy Ann book where one of the characters shared my name. Finding anything with the name “Larissa” on it was almost impossible, but a character with the name Larissa Reinhart on an adventure with Raggedy Ann? That really blew my mind!
I can’t even remember what kind of character it was — animal, toy, human — but I’ll never forget the surprise of seeing my name on the page. (In a different font from the rest of the story, but that was printmaking back in the day, I suppose).
Did you know most of my books have a character named for one of my readers? I love that as a secret “Easter Egg” in the story and a little giftie to my readers. I never match the real person to the character, generally they are nothing like the real person. They’ve been antagonists, a pop-in side character, a dog whispering teenager, a victim, an old friend, a rookie cop, etc. I haven’t done an animal or toy yet but it’s a possibility!
About a month ago on Facebook, I had a challenge for the naming of a pet crow in Maizie Albright Star Detective book 10, 21 GUNS (I did the same thing for 19 CRIMINALS, which is how Cuddles was named). The following Facebook followers all came up with the same pet crow’s name, “Poe:”
Holly Pirtle
Eva Schweitzer
Dawn Marie David Black
Debi Paglia
Chris Mayer
Get ready, y’all for PUT YOUR NAME IN A BOOK (Maizie Albright Star Detective 10) coming in the next VIP Reader Email!
I’ll have a random Rafflecopter drawing for a character in the next Maizie Albright book, 21 GUNS!
Which character to be determined, depending on the name! No promises on good guys v. bad guys v. dumb guys v. smart guys v. any kind of guy. Could be a pony (probably not. I have no plans for a pony in this book. Of course, that has not stopped me from creating new characters before, so you might be a pony). :)
Be sure to sign up before April 17 to make sure you get my next VIP Reader email! Only VIP Readers are allowed to enter this exclusive drawing!
Tap the pink button above or tap this button below to sign up!