Nomenclature
The name of the main character from Old Man's War, John Perry, comes from the first name of the keyboardist of Journey, and the last name of the vocalist. Similarly, the character Steve Cain has the first name of the vocalist and the last name of the keyboardist. Gabriel Brahe from The Ghost Brigades was named after two Penny Arcade protagonists, and lieutenant Stross was named after fellow writer Charles Stross. There are also characters whose names are based on Neil Gaiman, Scott Sigler, JC Hutchins, E.J. Fischer and Dave McKean.
The name of the main character of Android's Dream is taken from the name of the street on which Scalzi lived at the time of writing.
Read more about this topic: John Scalzi