Checking Your Name in Google

How often do you check your name in Google to see what comes up? I try to do it from time to time just to find out what is registering there and what is listed at the top. Today, when I searched "Mary Montague Sikes," I got 367,000 results with Notes Along the Way on the top, followed by my website, then my Amazon page. Nothing unusual there, so, just for fun, I decided to search "Monti Sikes," my nickname that I have been trying to avoid for the last year or so in order not to brand two names. Much to my surprise, that name got almost one million results.

I was amazed.

What was especially amazing to me is that under Monti Sikes, I pulled up a whole long list of various references to Arch Adamson, the New Age novelist character I created in my book Eagle Rising. It appears that Arch Adamson has taken on a life beyond what I ever imagined.

"Buy Eagle Rising in India. Price:Rs.595 Discount:18% + Free Shipping on ... series presented by enigmatic New Age novelist and lecturer, Arch Adamson. ... www.flipkart.com" This is a place I know nothing about.

It was rather disconcerting and surprising to find my character's name on a page with background checks and vital records. Then, beneath all of that, this long list describing Arch Adamson as the "popular novelist" and "New Age lecturer." Of course, all of this is completely fictitious, but it looks a little real when you see it all listed in black and white. I know characters often take over from me as I'm writing the story, but taking on a life of their own is a new one for me.

What about you? Have you found your characters making an impression beyond expectations?

Do you Google your name periodically?