Hello guys! So while I'm writing my two seperate stories in one my main character and her family don't have a surname. I really like the surname Dollanganger and really want to use it. I saw it when I read V. C. Andrews' Dollanganger series and found out that she made this up. I feel like I can't use it because it's a surname that she made up and so it belongs to her but at the same time I really love it and am tempted to use it. What do you think? Yes or no? Before I end this post I want to point out that in Harry Potter there is a character with the surname Whitefern. This is also not a real surname and was used before Harry Potter books by V. C. Andrews in her book My Sweet Audrina. Never heard anywhere else. I think no one knows this but I feel like Dollanganger is more connected to Andrews than Whitefern so people might point it out. I don't know. Thanks everyone for their advice!
You know that using the name is an homage to a series/author you like, and your audience will most likely see it the same way. I think if you make it clear in those little edge pieces, on the inside of the back cover, that you're using the name because you really like it and the author's works, they'll understand.
