The word count is a little less than the half-way point.
You're running a tiny bit long there for some genres, right on target for others. So I wouldn't worry about it until you finish; then you can prune where needed.
As for the permission I'll do some more research and see if I can at least refine my questions a bit. Thanks
As far as US practice goes, here are some guidelines:
- You can use the names of public figures as long as you don't say anything potentially defamatory about them (your character can be a volunteer on the Kucinich campaign and have conversations with him, but if your plot hinges around your character discovering that Kucinich is a frontman for the Albanian mafia, better rethink).
- You can have dead public figures as main characters in your book, but you should be cautious about saying anything potentially defamatory about them, especially if they've died in the past hundred years. Caleb Carr uses Theodore Roosevelt, for instance, as a main character in
The Alienist; Roosevelt is depicted as flawed, but he's also depicted as brave and intelligent, and the Roosevelt family apparently loved the book. Using living public figures as main characters is pretty much out of the question, especially for a first-time novelist.
- People who are not public figures shouldn't be depicted identifiably in your book. Full stop. I have been around the barn on this with the lawyers from a Big New York Publishing House, and it's pretty clear. It's not worth taking a chance on.
- You can use the names of real-life public places and commercial establishments, and of businesses and products for sale, with total impunity as long as you don't say anything potentially defamatory about them. If your book is about someone who wins a trip to Disneyland from a Coke bottle cap, that's great; if your book is about someone who is poisoned by a bad Coke sold by unscrupulous Disneyland merchants, better rethink.