If you have read my stories for a while, you will have noticed that some of the characters therein seem hauntingly familiar. I steal people from the Internet. The Cast of Characters section has all the sordid details, so you can see for yourself if you got it right. The process is known in places as Tuckerization.
An important thing to remember is that, say, Jocelyn Vale is inspired by Jaclyn Glenn. She is not Jaclyn herself. Even though I try to stay true to the people who inspired them, my characters will inevitably do and say things that their muse never would. Fly around in airships shooting at people, to name a random thing.
So why do I do this? Several reasons. In the case of the talented ladies Lindsey Batdorf and Corinne Pritchard who made my front page for me, as a heartfelt Thank You for their great efforts. In other cases, simply because I like and/or admire them and want more people to find them and profit from their contributions to the planet.
My characters live in a universe completely separate from our own. No matter who they are inspired by, their actions, thoughts, words, are entirely my own.
The Algernon Expeditions 