Alma Mobley's affiliations
Eddy Obermuller
copy and the other being a more recently acquired bookclub edition of the
hardback. You don't forget Don Wanderley's tale of Alma Mobley in a hurry so
I was sure something was different when I got to page 204 on a read of the
hardback a little while back. The name of the order Alma's scary friends
belong to is different: in the hardback it's the O.T.O. (Ordo Templi
Orientis) but in the paperback it becomes the X.X.X. (Xala Xalior Xlati)
It's possible that such a noticeable difference has already been spotted and
discussed, but I'd really like to know the story behind it. I have this
romantic (and appropriately nightmarish) idea that someone from the
insufficiently fictitious O.T.O. contacted Peter one night and told him that
they did not wish to be publicised in this manner, forcing him to come up
with another name! Perhaps Peter could shed some light on this small but
significant change.
Eddy
Peter Straub
I learned about the OTO from Ed Sanders's book about the Manson family
without realizing that Sanders was describing merely the Solar Lodge of
that organization. After getting into trouble with the law, the Solar
Lodge broke up and some of its leaders fled into Mexico. I assumed that
the OTO was no more and used its name in my book. While the typescript
was being edited, the New York chapter of the OTO got wind of my use of
the name and wrote a very reasonable letter of protyest. Incredibly, my
editor discarded the letter without ever telling me about it.
About six or seven months after the book was published, I was sued by
the OTO chapter in Oakland, California. (The New York chapter contained
some fans of mine and took no action at all.) They wanted a fortune. My
business manager lawyer went to Oakland and worked out a deal: I
changed the name in the paperback and bought them a new printing press,
and everybody was happy. The publisher immediately agreed to split the
cost of the printing press with me.
Peter