Yes, it can be true! Bid your name into a Grisham novel!

A group of American authors has decided to auction names of characters in their forthcoming novels, in a bid to raise funds for the First Amendment Project.

Using eBay, the authors will auction the character names using the auction portal’s charity listings, Giving Works. People can submit bids on behalf of their own name or any other name they choose during the auction series, which is scheduled to run between Sept. 1 and Sept. 25. The money raised will be donated to the FAP, a nonprofit organization promoting freedom of information and expression.

Writers participating in the auction include Neil Gaiman, Dorothy Allison, Michael Chabon, Dave Eggers, Karen Joy Fowler, Andrew Sean Greer, John Grisham, Stephen King, Jonathan Lethem, Rick Moody, ZZ Packer, Chuck Palahniuk, Nora Roberts, Lemony Snicket, Peter Straub, Amy Tan and Ayelet Waldman.

Neat idea, and I bet the bidding for most of these will go very high. Imagine being a cool attorney in a Grisham book or having your worst enemy mutilated by Stephen King…