I write stories set in Seattle; partly because I love the city, and partly because I know it.
One thing I'm kinda interested in doing is including real locations. Not just general areas of Seattle and the like, but specific places. Just off the top of my head…a burger joint called Li'l Woody's, or a porn shop called The Crypt.
My question is whether or not I can do this without getting myself in trouble. Say I write a piece that includes a specific real-world location and the owner happens to read my book, would they be able to sue me or demand that I take the book down?
This obviously isn't something that's a make-or-break deal, I can quite happily continue writing without including any real places. It's just something I've been thinking about because I think it might be fun. The specific places of a city help with mood and setting.
Source: reddit.com/r/Erotica/comments/252nyw/looking_for_advice_about_writing_erotica_that
That’s an interesting thought. I would think you’d have to be careful about context. I mean, if you’re writing erotica and mentioning a porn shop, that’s probably sensible. When you’re talking about the burger joint, are your characters meeting there for a snack, or are they having sex in the kitchen and substituting their own "special sauce" on the burgers, or is someone getting food poisoning? I think if was a business owner and I saw my business in a book I’d probably only be concerned if it reflected badly on my business. Sorry, not "legal" advice, but it is of interest to me. A few of my most recent writings have started to include actual places, although I haven’t necessarily named them, if you know them, you’d probably recognize them.
Yeah that’s pretty much what I was thinking as well. I certainly wouldn’t have any scenes where characters add "special sauce" as you mention, but I just thought it would be fun to mention these places. Just simple things, even if it’s only that a character mentions to another that they had lunch at a particular place.
Maybe put a disclaimer. Say that the story is 100% fake or the story is real but names and locations were changed…