Product and place names in your prose…

I use them: liquors, hotels, and so forth. They’re all part of the plot, unlike the Starbucks cup in a recent Game of Thrones episode. The reason? They go a long way in satisfying Tom Clancy’s maxim that fiction must seem real.

Mystery and thriller writers often avoid this because they don’t want to be accused of endorsing or criticizing something real (both can lead to negative reactions from readers; the latter can lead to lawsuits). Avoiding them and using only fictional names goes a bit t...