Real names and real places in fiction? The Red Scarf

Several years ago, when I started writing fiction, not knowing any better, I started using the names of real people set in a real place. In fact, I used my name as the paperboy, the narrator of the novel. This novel, The Red Scarf, would become the first in a series of five--- The Richard Series. I've long past the point of changing the names to blur the association with real folks. Actually, I find it's a bonus in selling the novels. The small towns in the novels are Norphlet--my home town of 650, and El Dorado, the county seat of Union County, Arkansas. Having this association has given the local sales a substantial boost. But not only did I use the real names of towns, I put real folks in these towns. People like Peg Ellenburger, the one-legged pool hall owner, his brother Wing Ellenburger, the town marshal with one arm, Doc Rollinson, the newsstand owner, and so forth. The novels are set in the fall and winter of 1944, so all of these men are no longer with us. You can't liable the dead, so I guess I'm safe from a lawsuit. Actually, I only used the real names of the good guys. The bad folks got fictious names. But the question is, did the use of real names and places help the novel? Did it make it more realistic? And of course, did it help sales?

I think the answer is yes, to all of the above. Book sales in south Arkansas took off after the newspaper publicity went state-wide, and former south Arkansas residents from as far away as Florida and California went online to comment and buy the book. But if you write a novel and it's so regional in its appeal that only a small segment of readers in the county can identify with the story, you've limited your sales drastically. Did the obvious localized setting and characters help or hurt The Red Scarf? The setting for the novel is small town, county, southern, and nostalgic (1944). After the novel came out, it was obvious that the ties to rural America, the nostalgic war years of the 1940s, and the colorful characters that populate every town in this county, made for a novel that can be enjoyed by everyone from 8 to 80. In fact, the nostalgic theme has given the book a tremendous boost among Seniors. Is it too regional? No, I don't think so. Recently I received a letter from a 6th grade girl in Clarendon, Vt. She loved The Red Scarf. The antics of the Tom Sawyer-like boys and the very real jobs like delivering papers, washing store windows, and mowing grass are easy to understand and relate to.

The Red Scarf is what I call a blend of fiction and non-fiction. If it were titled properly, it would be advertised as 60% fiction and 40% non-fiction. Publishers are so avid to lable books that I'm surprised they haven't tried that.