'Gone Baby Gone' Author Dennis Lehane -- Find My Lost Dog ... I'll Name a Character After You

Here's one way to become famous ... find "Gone Baby Gone" author Dennis Lehane's lost dog -- because if you do, he'll name a character after you in his next book.

Lehane -- who lives in Brookline, MA -- announced the bizarre award on his Facebook page, claiming his beloved beagle Tessa jumped a fence at his family home and got away ... and he concocted this plan as a way to get Tessa back.

Lehane says Tessa had been microchipped, but she wasn't wearing her tags when she escaped.

According to WCVB.com, Tessa was last seen Monday afternoon near a gas station in Allston.

The reward could be worth substantially more than your usual cash incentive -- Lehane's books are ridiculously popular ... he also wrote "Mystic River" and "Shutter Island" ... both of which were turned into successful movies.

Then again, that's all presuming he writes another book.