Critters^TM Workshop

Get Tuckerized!
(Get a character named after you :) )      [Jump to bids] [FAQ]

I just finished writing my next novel (woohoo!!), Termination of Species, and it's soon to be Critter'd. There are a some minor characters whose names I've left as placeholders that I'd like to see changed to something meaningful. While I think it's fun to choose character names, I thought it would be cool to auction off those character names — the time-honored tradition of Tuckerization — with the proceeds going to support the Critters fund drive.

Here's how this works: Between now and May 5th, 2010, 12:00 noon Mountain time, all the Critter donations that are entered through the form below will be counted toward the Tuckerization auction. Whoever donates the most (in one or multiple donations) gets Tuckerized, and gets first choice of which character they get to name. I'll send the highest bidder a list of character bios to choose from. Then I'll send the list to the second highest donor to pick a character from, then on to the third highest donor and so on. Bid high so you're sure to get a character. :) If you see you've been outbid, you can donate more to move up.

Normally Tuckerization is based on your own name, but if you'd like you can choose to honor someone else such as a family member, or you can choose a name you simply think is cool. Could make a unique gift for a birthday or whatnot. There's a mix of hero and villain characters to choose from. I'll work with you on the name, since of course I need to make sure it comports with the tone of the character; the setting (Earth in 2042, where terrorists have gotten their hands on software that predicts the simplest vulnerabilities to target to maximize global carnage, while our stalwart heroes must work to stop them); and doesn't make anyone angry (like if you named a character after someone you don't like, who then gets mad at me!).

You can donate via credit/debit card (Visa/MC/Amex/Discover), or PayPal:

Current Bids

These folks have supported the Critters fund drive with the following Tuckerization bids:

FAQ

How do I increase a bid?

To raise a bid, enter a donation for the additional amount. This is since your first bid was already donated to Critters and thus alread processed by paypal. For example, if you bid $30 the first time, that $30 donation was processed already. If you want to raise it to $50, you would enter $20 the second time.

Note that because it is processed each time, and thus transaction fees are taken out by paypal each time, the minimum amount to raise a bid is $2.00.

What is Tuckerization?

Tuckerization is a long-standing practice named after Wilson Tucker of using a friend's name as a character name in one's fiction as a joke or homage. Names used may be the person's name exactly, or some variation. See Wikipedia for more.

Is a bid a donation or a pledge?

A donation: Since Critters relies on donations from members to keep it humming, this just seemed like a way I could give something extra and fun back in addition. I try to keep the fund drive low key compared to public radio or public broadcasting; I find their method of holding the content hostage to be annoying, so I avoid that approach, though it's obviously more effective! (Which is to say that Critters annual fund drives tend to take a year or two longer than their "annual" year to finish. :) ) And I definitely don't want to charge for membership like so many other workshops do, even though I can understand why they charge. That path is not for me. Mainly I thought a Tuckerization auction would be a fun thing to do.

How many characters are there to name?

I'm not exactly sure yet... I haven't counted them and I could add names to some unnamed characters, but definitely a handful at the least. I'll take the bids from top down and go until I run out of characters that need naming. :)