: Re: Legal ramifications for writing about fictional relationships with celebs Iâ€™m thinking about developing a blog where the main character is fictional and has fictional relationships with well known

IANAL. Courts have ruled that you can say a lot of things about "public figures" and they will not have grounds to sue. That said, if a person with a lot of money found what you said about him offensive, he could still sue you. He might not win, but you would have to hire a lawyer to defend yourself, take time off work to go to court, etc.

As others have noted, I would definitely avoid saying that a real person did something illegal or scandalous unless you want to go to court. If your story has a passing reference to the hero attending a concert by some famous singer or watching a politician give a political speech on television, no big deal. But if you say the politician accepted a bribe from him or he sold cocaine to the singer, I think you're just asking for trouble. If the reference to a celebrity is long, it could still be okay as long as it is innocuous. Like if, say, your hero is in the army, and you say that the president gave him a medal, and you relate some conversation between him and the president where they discuss how he earned the medal without presenting the president in a bad light, I doubt that would get you in trouble.

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: Re: Legal ramifications for writing about fictional relationships with celebs Iâ€™m thinking about developing a blog where the main character is fictional and has fictional relationships with well known

More posts by @Heady158

: Killing the protagonist - should it be done? I am an aspiring author, but I have written several short 'test novels.' With each of those, it became increasingly clear how you have to develop

: Should a beginning writer start with a series or a stand-alone? I am an aspiring author, but I intend to start publishing soon. I have several ideas for potential books; however, they are all

: How ordinary must my protagonist be if the book is written from his/her point of view? What I've found in most books I've read is that the protagonist is "normal" and/or "average" (at least

: Skipping telling to get to the showing - pros and cons In my style of writing, I often find that I lapse into relating what happens or has happened, usually via short, choppy, dead sentences.

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