# Authenticity and author identity

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authenticity-and-author-identity/273240>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 5, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authenticity-and-author-identity/273240 "2004-11-05T19:49:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authenticity-and-author-identity/273240/1 "2004-11-05T19:49:07Z")

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Prior to starting the NaNoWriMo Challenge, I decided to embrace the old cliche and write what I know. Since my main character is female and our biographies are going to overlap somewhat, I have a feeling people will think I’m writing about myself.

Which made me wonder a bit about how other people react to those tiny author biographies you find on the jackets of hardcovers. Do you read them? Do you notice when an author shares a career or some other detail with a character? Does it bother you if they are from Maine but writing about Scotland or vice versa? Do you “trust” authors with experience in a field to represent the field more accurately than those who have no experience?

I guess the main question is, does an author’s identity affect the way you think about the book’s authenticity?