Author character
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An author character (commonly referred to as an AC) or self-insertion is a guest appearance of the author of a story or a character created by the author, usually in fan fiction, that interacts with the plot and characters as if they were created in the original work (whichever medium it may have been).
Author characters in fan fiction (often considered to be "Mary Sues") are frowned upon in many circles as it is seen as sacrificing the integrity and quality of the original story in favor of living out the author's fantasy or mental image of themselves in the form of fiction.
AC's happen relatively rarely in professionally published fiction. Famous examples of it, however, include Stephen King's rendition of himself in the Dark Tower novels, Paul Auster's appearance in his New York Trilogy, Robert A. Heinlein in his The Number of the Beast and Kurt Vonnegut in his Breakfast of Champions.
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