12 Real Books by Fake People

The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, 1990
Laura Palmer, Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks creator David Lynch didn't look far to find a writer for this fictional diary of his show's iconic murder victim: He gave the job to his daughter, Jennifer. The diary, which follows Laura from her 12th birthday through her increasingly dark experiences involving drugs and abuse, climbed up to the number four spot on the New York Times paperback fiction best seller list in 1990. — Adam Markovitz

Having It All, 1997
Erica Kane, All My Children

Of course the most famous character in soap opera history could write the book on how to have it all, and in 1997, she did. Erica Kane penned a how-to book for the fabulous-in-training, further asserting herself as the most infamous woman in Pine Valley. Just as Susan Lucci continues to play the notorious bad girl, Having It All remains the blueprint for getting what you want. — Emily Exton

Jessica Fletcher's novels, 1997-present
Jessica Fletcher, Murder She Wrote

The beloved TV series, starring Angela Lansbury as amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher, has been off the air for over a decade. But the spin-off mystery novel series, credited to Fletcher and actual author Donald Bain, is still going strong with a half dozen titles and counting. — AM

Lorelei?s Guiding Light: An Intimate Diary, 2002
Lorelei Hills, Guiding Light

When Beth Raines (Beth Chamberlain) was caught in a flash flood in 2002, she was presumed dead. But while the town mourned, a mysterious stranger named Lorelei Hills emerged, bearing a striking resemblance to Raines. St. Martin?s Press capitalized on one of daytime television's biggest mysteries and published the fictional diary of newbie Lorelei (written by Chamberlain) that summer, keeping the buzz around the show high, and allowing fans to further speculate about who she really was. — EE

Bad Twin, 2006
Gary Troup, Lost

This novel about a P.I. who gets sucked into a mystery about a missing twin (with the last name Widmore, no less) was written by a Flight 815 passenger who was presumed to have died when the plane crashed. Hurley was seen reading the manuscript for Troup?s ''long-awaited'' masterpiece and many Lost fans turned to it hoping to glean any insight into the show?s storylines. — AW

The Killing Club: A Novel, 2006
Marcie Walsh, One Life to Live

After Walsh's on-air murder mystery novel inspired a copycat serial killer named ''The Killing Club Killer,'' fans were clearly curious about just what went on in Llanview. A year later, Hyperion published the novel, written by the fictional character and One Life to Live author Michael Malone. — EE

Oakdale Confidential, 2006
Katie Perretti, As The World Turns

As an event organizer, Katie Peretti (Terrie Colombino) had her finger on the pulse of what was happening in Oakdale, and when the ultimate scandal occurred at a black-tie gala honoring the Marra family, she made sure to take notes. The second book in a series was a tell-all for the people in Oakdale, and served as the ultimate fan guide to As The World Turns faithfuls. — EE

The Bro Code, 2008
Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother

Who better to discuss his sacred code than the generally awesome, well-suited womanizer best bud Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris). He passes on these pearls of wisdom in hopes of helping every man achieve just the right level of Bro-ness. — AW

Charm!, 2008
Kendall Hart, All My Children

Like mother, like daughter. When Kendall Hart (currently Alicia Minshew, previously Sarah Michelle Gellar) was introduced to Pine Valley, it was only a matter of time before Erica Kane?s biological daughter stepped out of her mother's shadow. Just over a decade after her mother, Hart published her roman à clef — as did Hyperion — which set out to shake up Pine Valley. It was an instant hit, becoming a best-seller on the series and in real life. — EE

God Hates Us All, 2009
Hank Moody, Californication

In Californication, writer Hank Moody (David Duchovny) is miserable when his novel God Hates Us All is turned into a cheesy movie (with the Hollywood-appropriate title A Crazy Little Thing Called Love). Luckily for him, the real-life book — co-written by author Jonathan Grotenstein — remains unadapted. — AM

Heat Wave, 2010
Richard Castle, Castle

Fans of ABC's tongue-in-cheek procedural got a treat last September when this crime novel — supposedly written by the show's novelist-turned-sleuth Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) — showed up in bookstores. Even better: the book is filled with winking references to the show itself, with lead characters that mirror Castle and his partner, Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic). It was followed by a second title, Naked Heat, this year. — AM

Sterling's Gold, 2010
Roger Sterling, Mad Men

A tell-all autobiography by Mad Men's Roger Sterling (John Slattery) was just too good an idea to stay in the show's fictional world. So creator Matt Weiner teamed up with Grove/Atlantic to publish it for real, although the memoir concept has been swapped for a collection of Sterling's juiciest maxims (''Remember, when God closes a door, he opens a dress.'') — AM