                         Jonathan Drake

You are Jonathan Drake, the New York Editor,
and well to be perfectly modest, the hottest thing
since pre-sliced bread.  You are heading up, up,
up, and there is no direction down.

Well, there is your total drug dependence, but
hell, everyone in New York has that.  Where
would you be without it.  Really you just don't
have nay limits.

You are currently in Horror which is becoming
a big business.  Oh sure, scoff all you want. 
But there haven't been two months in the last
two years that there weren't two horror titles on
the New York Times bestseller list.  And that
isn't even counting fantasy literature.

You have a hunch right now, and if it pays off,
you could be in good shape.  You were a very
junior editor back in 1977, fresh out of school,
and you pulled The Sickness in John Harrol out
of a scrap pile, and got it published.  It was a
big success.  You suffered through The
Collection, and Dark Symbols, which appealed
to progressively smaller and more esoteric
audiences.  You told Grant to get his act
together.  He did, and produced the fantasy-
horror Trinity in 1982.  It was the worst of his
novels, but it sold better than any of the others. 

Then Grant produced The Sightless King, a
boring pile of mumbo-jumbo and boring prose
that was so stiff and wooden you almost
wondered if someone else wrote it.  

You have heard rumors that Grant is dying,
mostly from his fans.  You have partially come
south to see if the rumors are true.  You also
just got about a hundred pages of the most
pathetic schlock Grant has ever produced.  This
isn't good bad like Trinity, it is bad like
Sightless King.  You wouldn't pay attention to
the rumors, but Grant called you two days ago
and asked what you would do if someone was
trying to kill you.  You thought it was a literary
question and said "hire a private investigator." 
Grant said that sounded like a good idea, and
hung up.

You told your secretary to pack your bags, and
prepared to hit the road.  It is time for you to
have a talk with Grant.  An agent named Karyn
Seidmann wants Grant to collaborate with a New
York writer named Leda Deerden.  Basically,
you want to take whatever he has and turn it
over to someone who is likely to remain
coherent long enough to write it into acceptable
pulp.  

You especially want to secure rights to his new
material if he is dying, since his "last book" will
be worth more.  You had dinner with Leda
Deerden last week, and she seemed rather fuzzy,
and burbled a lot, but Helen assured you it was
because she was a health food nut and never
drank alcohol, so the wine had gone straight to
her head.  She showed you a sample of Leda's
writing, which wasn't bad; in fact it resembled
the work of the classic 1950's thriller hack
Harold Poke.

You dragged Deerden along with you, though
apparently she knows more people here than you
do.  You are actually a little fuzzy on faces
sometimes.  It's that wonderful Bolivian
Marching powder.  It keeps you up, but it
makes everything just the tiniest bit fuzzy....
THE OTHERS

What they know about you:

Jonathan Drake: Publisher of Grant Cochran,
Drake is Editor of Horror at Electra publishing,
a division of Robert W. Thormond and Sons,
Inc., one of the nations largest publishing
houses.  Despite the failure of Cochran's latest
novel, Drake is reported to be successful and on
the rise.  He handles many other writers
including Anthony Blaine, and is also in charge
of titles under the smaller, but profitable Medea
imprintaur, for occult paperbacks, which
includes the works of Jeffrey Saxon.

PEOPLE YOU KNOW WELL:

Anthony Blaine:  Second rate hack.

A New York writer considered a protege of
Grant Cochran, Blaine is handled by Jonathan
Drake, the same publisher as Cochran.  It was
rumored that Blaine and Cochran had a very
serious argument while appearing together at a
promotional convention after the publication of
Sightless King.  Blaine is best known for his
Fantasy-Horror novel Wunderking, and his most
recent work The Dinner Guest.  

Emily Breezewood: You met Emily when she
was living with Karyn Seidmann in New York
after her divorce.

A college friend of Grant Cochran, and a prep-
school friend of Margot Matthews, Emily is the
daughter of Senator Breezewood of Connecticut,
a very powerful senior U.S. Legislator.  Emily
was married to Matthew Allen Carter, and
divorced him, in a particularly messy case
during which Mr. Carter was represented by
Gary Morant.  They are reported to be on barely
civil speaking terms now.  Emily is living with
Mike Ballistis.

Grant Cochran:  Has-been first rate hack.

Grant Cochran is a horror writer whose early
work brought him wealth and recognition.  His
first acclaimed work was a collection of short
stories in 1977 entitled Look Ma, No Hands! 
Grant achieved a more limited success with The
Sickness in John Harrol, 1977; The Collection,
1979; but his mainstream horror novels  Dark
Symbols,1980; and Trinity, 1982; were
extremely successful.  His Lovecraftian fantasy-
horror The Sightless King, 1984 was universally
panned.  Grant also wrote the screenplay for the
1981 film The Blinding. Numerous short stories
including The Metallic Taste of Blood Omni,
Feb 1982.

Grant's work has tended more towards the
occult and fantasy side than Stephen King, and
his success has been less marked, but his early
novels were commercially successful.  Born
1955 to a wealthy Virginia family, Grant
graduated from George Washington University
in DC in 1975, aged twenty.  Writer and
playboy, known to have inherited some money
from parent's death in 1974. He is widely
rumored to have been hospitalized recently for
rehabilitation.

Leda Deerden: Karyn says Deerden is just what
you need to straighten up Grant's prose.

A New York author, or visual artist, guest of
Grant's Publisher.  Ms. Deerden is known for
her terra cotta figures, which are widely sold in
gift shops in the Village, and her work at the
42nd Street Gallery, but is a newcomer to the
writing field.  Her first project is projected to be
a collaboration with Grant Cochran.

Linda Kane:  a friend of Jeffrey Saxon, Karyn
and Leda.  From this area.

Parapsychological researcher for the Institute for
Parapsychological Studies, 1567 23rd St. NW. 
Graduate of Columbia Prep, and Mary
Washington College.  M.A. Barnard.  Kane is a
literary agent for Matthew Allen Carter and is
rumored to be his lover.  

Jeffrey Saxon: makes money for you.  Karyn
discovered him.  You can't stand to read tripe
like this, but it sells.

A noted Parapsychology/Occult writer and
Astrologer, author of Health Signs, Astrology for
You, and Psychic Defense, and several other
successful books published in paperback. 
Jeffrey is rumored to be practically the only
person in New York who does not suffer from
an incapacitating drug addiction.

Karyn Seidmann:  seems respectable.  Where
had she been all your literary life.  You hope
Leda is worthwhile, because Karyn clawed a
$2,000 advance out of you just to get her to
come here.


A New-York literary agent, Seidmann is not
well known in literary circles, though there are
some dark rumors about her past, including a
lawsuit.  Seidmann handles small time occult
authors, and until recently her biggest literary
success was Jeffrey Saxon, the popular occultist
and astrologer.

Oliver Stewart:  first rate talent, sounder than
he makes out.

A comic-book author and illustrator for
Universal Comics, a major competitor of Marvel
and D.C. 
Oliver responsible for the satirical Captain
Flapjack miniseries, but is best known for his
work with Blood Hound, a revitalized 1960's
Superhero, and with Revenant, a dark-horror
miniseries.  Stewart handled a graphic-novel
adaptation of Grant Cochran's Sightless King,
which was somewhat more successful than the
actual novel.  Oliver is a New Yorker, but has
maintained a friendship with horror writer Grant
Cochran, and has come down with some of his
other New York acquaintances to make his
birthday an interesting affair.

OTHER PEOPLE:

Mike Ballistas:  a wealthy international
consultant with impressive offices downtown. 
Ballistas has numerous prominent government
contacts, and is generally known to be an
influential businessman.  He donated heavily to
the Reagan Campaign.

Avery Carson: attended George Washington
University and has many acquaintances from that
period, and immediately afterward.  Avery met
most of Grant's circle of friends in the seventies
while they were working in Washington after
graduation.  Mr. Carson occupied a position in
the staff of the late Darrington Ripley, U.S.
Ambassador to Sweden.  Currently employed by
the State Department, Avery Carson is rumored
to actually work for the Company, or No-such-
agency.

Matthew Allen Carter:  A well known mystic,
Carter is associated with decadence, drugs, and
bizarre mysticism.  It is unclear where his
money comes from, though he is known to be at
least moderately wealthy, and eccentric.  
M.A Carter provides spiritual consultation to
some of Washington's most prominent social
figures.  He has appeared on several area talk
shows, notably Panorama in July 1979 where he
was involved in an altercation, and declined to
appear on Good Morning America in August of
1982 on the topic "Senators who follow the
Horoscopes."  He has assisted Federal
authorities as a consultant on "Cult Related
Cases", and appeared before a Senate
Subcommittee Special Hearing in 1983 to
discuss "Cult Phenomena and Crime."

Thomas Cochran:  Grant's failure of a brother. 
Thomas dropped out of school, and was deeply
involved in drugs.  He narrowly avoided jail on
larceny charges.  He lost his share of the family
wealth, and is currently employed by his brother
as a handyman. 

Sarah Lamont: Sarah Lamont is an old Prep-
school and College friend of Margot Matthews,
Linda Kane, Emily Breezewood and others. 
Sarah went to work for Gary Morant as a
paralegal, and is now his chief secretary.  

Margot Matthews: Margot was a friend of
Grant Cochran, and several other attendees in
college, but went on to become a prominent
Washington socialite who rose out of the ranks
of minor political followers due to her
connections with the late U.S. ambassador to
Sweden Mr. Darrington Ripley.  Margot is
giving this party in honor of Grant Cochran's
birthday.

Margot is currently employed by the Department
of State, where she is rumored to the mistress of
a powerful political appointee.  She was
mentioned in People magazine shortly after the
inaugural ball, and her fortunes have definitely
been on the rise with the Reagan government. 

Gary Morant:  Washington Attorney. 
Graduated from George Washington University
in 1974, GW Law in 1978.  Formed Morant and
Steele with Harlan Steel in 1980.  Known for
handling some of the messiest and most
prominent divorce and lawsuit cases in the
Washington social spectrum.  Morant is a rising
star in the social constellation of Washington,
and is Grant Cochran's attorney, and is currently
representing him in all of his sordid legal
affairs. 

Mort Nicholson: a well known private
detective.  Nicholson has worked for Gary
Morant, and was a research reference for the
character of Detective George Panopalous in
Grant Cochran's Trinity.

Roger Pierce: a Professor/practitioner of
Psychology at George Washington University. 
Young but promising, for several years his 400
level course on Personality Disorders has been
considered the "most fun" class in the entire
psych department.  Many of Dr. Pierce's
associates consider him to be "that strung out
quack", Dr. Pierce considers himself a
"perceptually enhanced alternative practitioner." 
It is obvious that Dr. Pierce either has
something on the University, or has tenure.

"Psychological disorders can be not only
instructive, but entertaining as well..."
(American Psychiatric Yearbook, 1980).  

Tony Randall-Smith:  Olympic Equestrian
Medalist, winning two Silver and one Bronze
medal at Los Angeles in 1984.  Native of
McLean Virginia, the child of a former
ambassador to England.  Personally acquainted
with Princess Margaret, has appeared in Sports
Illustrated, and network television.  Currently
holds American and European Championships in
several categories of jumps.  Professional status
has been called into question, but intends to
compete in 1988.  

Craig Webber: An acquaintance of Margot
Matthews, Mr. Webber is a well-to-do local
business consultant, rumored to have
connections to smuggling and the underworld. 
Webber is said to be a business partner of Avery
Carson.
