Referencing a non existing author

I AM CONSIDERING REFERENCING AN AUTHOR THAT I'VE CHECKED DOESN'T EXIST. IS THAT FORBIDDEN

So referencing a fictional author like Dr. Watson (Sherlock Holmes) or Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events)? As long as it is a fictional author of your creation I don't see why not. Using a published fictional author who is the creation of someone else and comes from a copyrighted work could be a problem, though.