My son, who recently asked me why I photoshopped myself on the cover of Black Kat, inspires this post. In his defense, he hadn’t seen this cover since he was little. My books are adult themed, so I don’t discuss them with him, either. Now his friends know his mom’s a “famous” author and did a bunch of research on me during a free period.

I’ve noticed A LOT of authors, especially newbies, make their main characters like them even when not meaning to. Maybe it’s in their character’s loo...