# Do any other authors do this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 22, 2006, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-authors-do-this/361689 "2006-06-22T06:33:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-authors-do-this/361689/61 "2006-06-23T12:26:09Z")
Jacqueline Susann always put a female character with a “J” name into her books: Jennifer, January, Judith. ---
**Author:** ![Mapache](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@Mapache](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mapache)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-authors-do-this/361689/62 "2006-06-23T17:41:17Z")
The protagonist of Philip Dick’s novel Valis is named Horselover Fat. Horeslover in Greek is Philip; Fat in German is Dick. But you all knew that, right? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-authors-do-this/361689/63 "2006-06-23T18:28:13Z")
There are at least two instances of this in the _Saint_ books. In one of the early ones (i think the second one) Simon Templar takes notes so that an unnamed author friend of his can write a blood-and-thunder novel about the adventure. In a much later book, (one of the last) simon jokes how the chap that wrote about him often receives letters addressed to Miss Leslie Chateris. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-authors-do-this/361689/64 "2006-06-23T19:18:51Z")
> [@ululate](#): > > Honorable mention to Stephen King, who wrote “Thinner” under the alias of Richard Bachman – and had his protagonist try to convince folks that there’s an authentic gypsy curse in operation by comparing their situation to, well, a Stephen King novel, of course. In _Bag of Bones_, the protagonist is a thriller writer. King is not mentioned by name in the book, but the protag does compare his style and sales figures to Dean Koontz and Mary Higgins Clark. The funny thing is that the protagonist portrays himself as behind those two in popularity, whereas King himself stomps them into the dirt. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-authors-do-this/361689/65 "2006-06-23T19:29:31Z")
> [@ululate](#): > > While this sort of thing has happened plenty of times, I’m reminded as well of the reverse: Steve “Captain America” Rogers, looking to make a little money in his free time and having borderline superhuman hand-eye coordination, spent a good stretch as the illustrator of the Captain America comic book – which was played _ **absolutely straight** _. Oddly enough, IIRC the _writer’s_ name (Mark Gruenwald) was never mentioned, even though the names of other Marvel/_Captain America_ staffers were tossed around freely. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-authors-do-this/361689/66 "2006-06-25T05:50:58Z")
In Simon Hawke’s Apprentice Adept books, while he never uses his own name, the omniscient narrator is obviously meant to be him. He’s involved in the story because the chief villain, an evil sorceror, is _so_ powerful he can hear the narration. 😃 In the end, he loses against the hero, and ends up in our world - and takes over the author’s publisher. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-authors-do-this/361689/67 "2006-06-25T07:51:11Z")
Anne Rice mocked herself in _Queen of the Damned_. The unfortunate vampire Baby Jenks apparently reads _Interview with the Vampire_ when she needs to bore herself to sleep. John Varley obliquely mocked himself in _Mammoth_, when the protaganist is studying time travel stories and reads a really weird one about people being abducted from planes that are about to crash. This was a reference to his novel _Millenium_. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2006, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-authors-do-this/361689/68 "2006-06-25T13:28:44Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > In _Bag of Bones_, the protagonist is a thriller writer. King is not mentioned by name in the book, but the protag does compare his style and sales figures to Dean Koontz and Mary Higgins Clark. The funny thing is that the protagonist portrays himself as behind those two in popularity, whereas King himself stomps them into the dirt. Well, to extend that futher, Stephen King is an actual character in the last Dark Tower book, playing himself. It’s very weird, but somehow, it works. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-authors-do-this/361689/69 "2006-06-26T00:50:16Z")
Stephen King being a character in the last two DT books is working for me for some reason. It’s not a surprise, given how many adaptations of his books he’s played bit parts in (I think most recently as the pizza guy in Rose Red, but perhaps he was in Desperation or Riding the Bullet), so it’s less jarring thab it might be from another author. After reading a hundred or so essays on the YA book Holes, I read one where a smart kid finally pointed out something than I never realized, nor did any of the people I’m supervising: Stanley’s last name “Yelnats” is just Stanley backwards. _Now_ it seems obvious :smack: So I wonder if I could get away with naming a character Renee Nonnahs without readers catching on (Renee is my middle name, and I’ll leave you to figure out Nonnahs). When I become famous, I just might do it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-authors-do-this/361689/70 "2006-06-26T01:02:37Z")
In **The Eagle Has Flown** , Jack Higgins places himself in the first chapter, talking about a secret meeting with Devlin inside a country church. Sinclair Lewis injected characters from other of his novels at least once. I remember the title character from **Arrowsmith** meeting the title character from **Babbit** through a mutual acquaintance. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-authors-do-this/361689/71 "2006-06-26T02:07:59Z")
Paul Auster wrote himself into **City of Glass**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-authors-do-this/361689.md?page=3)