peachfront on Nostr: when you read contemporary fiction, doesn't it feel icky when the author doesn't use ...

when you read contemporary fiction, doesn't it feel icky when the author doesn't use any "real" names-- as if they're writing to lawyers instead of to readers?

in my contemporary books, i use a sprinkle of real places, pop references, etc to anchor the story to its time & place

you can argue that some genres (say billionaire) can go too far in name-checking real luxe brands but that's unavoidable, those characters would know those brands...