How to be a real character

Buoyed by last year’s success, the First Amendment Project again will auction off character-naming rights in forthcoming works by prominent authors, including Carl Hiaasen, Lorrie Moore and Edward P. Jones.

The 2005 online auction raised $150,000 for the Oakland-based nonprofit and thrilled nearly two dozen fans who paid to see their names in print, according to Executive Director David Greene. The project is dedicated to protecting and promoting freedom of information, expression and petition.

Linda-gail Case, 52, a self-proclaimed “tried and true” Nora Roberts fan, spent $6,800 last year to see her name in Roberts’ latest novel, “Angels Fall.”

She said Wednesday it’s been “a hoot” reading about Linda-gail, a waitress who’s got a crush on the town’s bad boy. She said seeing her unusual name in print is distracting and she often needs to reread chapters.

This year, novelist and columnist Hiaasen, “Birds of America” author Moore and Pulitzer Prize winner Jones are among the 14 authors who will promise to include a name selected by the winning bidder in a forthcoming work.

Hiaasen says his winner’s name will “appear at least once as a taxidermied rat in my next children’s novel.” He also will talk to the winner by phone and sign a first edition copy of the book.

Comic book artist and cartoonist Chris Ware said he will include the winner’s name and “approximate drawn likeness” in an upcoming serial comic strip.

The auction will run on eBay Sept. 7-23.

As for Case, was last year’s money well spent? Absolutely, she says.

“I don’t want a Lamborghini. I don’t want Prada. None of that means anything to me. I love to read,” she said. “And for me, Nora Roberts has always been my favorite.”