Hello everybody! After posting a query of mine on this forum not too long ago and receiving so much useful advice, I have decided to ask another question! First of all, though, thank you to everyone who commented! In my novel, there is a scene in which the protagonist comes across a character who is similar in appearance to that of "Skulduggery Pleasant". Not that my character is a living skeleton who solves mysteries, but rather that he uses a similar disguise to hide the fact that he is a ghost. Do you think people who've read "Skulduggery Pleasant" will read my description of this character and think: "Ugh. This is just a rip-off." and put the book down. Also, would I be able to get away with having a scene in my book where this ghost character takes off his disguise and makes an indirect reference to "Skulduggery Pleasant". For example: "Ah, yes! This disguise was given to me by an old friend of mine long ago. He was a living skeleton, you know." Many thanks!
I'm not going to ask you why you chose to disguise a ghost by making him look like a skeleton.... but... I see no problem with your 'indirect reference' to an earlier character from another story. Michael Palin in Ripping Yarns had a character called Eric Olthwaite who robs banks in Yorkshire during the 1930s. He's briefly mentioned in another story about a football team when he turns out for an opposition side. 'They've got Olthwaite at No.9' - 'The bank robber?' - 'It were never proved!' On the contrary I think readers of 'Skulduggery Pleasant' will probably be tickled pink by your reference. Just don't make too much of a habit of having 'ghosts disguised as skeletons' in all your stories...
Thank you very much for your response! I will have a look at the example that you gave as well. Perhaps I worded it in an unclear fashion, sorry! The ghost is not disguising himself as a skeleton, but rather he dresses up in similar disguises as Skulduggery Pleasant did, who is a skeleton. If that makes sense...
I think it's iffy. It's probably not illegal (thought I don't know) but I would find it odd and somewhat off-putting. It would be different if the character you're referring to originated a century or so before--say, Dracula, or Sherlock Holmes--but using a modern book feels odd.
Speaking as a fanfiction author: If you want to write a story that takes place in the Skulduggery Pleasant world, by all means, come up with your own characters and reference that they've run into Skulduggery Pleasant before. That's called an Elsewhere Fic (coming up with your own characters, but using a copyrighted setting), and that's how I wrote my Doctor Who fanfic: the world is obviously that of the Doctor Whoniverse, but the characters are my own. If you want to publish for profit, then you need to either a) use a public domain character or b) reference the character as being fictional in your story's world, and make sure that it's a passing reference and not the core appeal of the story.
I notice stories mentioning or giving a nod to other works all the time. I love literature with literary references. The New Yorker fiction does quite a bit. I think it can even add something to a story. I don't know. I like it. I think what you're doing is fine. Good luck with it.
I've never read that story, but I think fans of it would get a bit annoyed if you threw in a reference like that. They might brush it off like a fan-fic. On the other hand, it might make them like it more, because they got a reference that none of their friends did and it makes it seem a bit more personal.
