+++ The Larry O. Grand FAQ +++

              A list of Frequently-Asked-Questions (and Answers)
                    about Larry O. Grand and his writings
                              Version 1.0
                            Created 2-19-97

                        Compiled by JLK and LOG

This FAQ is prepared for readers of Larry O. Grand's newest novel, "In the 
Land of Keys," who may not be familiar with Larry O. Grand himself or any of 
his previous work.  It is automatically sent to new subscribers of the ITLOK 
mailing list, and is also available at the Larry O. Grand website.

Contents
========
Q1.  Who is Larry O. Grand?
Q2.  What has Larry O. Grand written
Q3.  What does Larry O. Grand write about?
Q4.  What is Larry O. Grand's writing style like?
Q5.  What has happened in Larry O. Grand's stories?
Q6.  What happens in Larry O. Grand's newest novel, "In the Land of Keys"?
Q7.  Do I have to have read any of Larry O. Grand's previous stories in 
     order to understand "In the Land of Keys"?
Q8.  Will any of Larry O. Grand's previous works be available online?


Q1.  Who is Larry O. Grand?
===========================
The bio, at least for this week: "Larry O. Grand was born sometime in the 
1950's in Greenville, Kentucky.  His first short story was self-published in 
1970.  He has been an international correspondent for a major metroploitan 
newspaper for at least twenty years.  His first major novel was published by 
JLK Publishing in 1986.  Grand spent at least three years in Africa 
undergoing depression counseling.  He has spent the last two years as copy 
editor for the internet 'zine Pusm Online.  He has never married.  His 
hobbies include carpentry, photography, and falsifying biographical 
accounts."  We can say with some certainity that at least four of the above 
items are accurate.


Q2.  What has Larry O. Grand written?
=====================================
From 1986 to 1987, Grand wrote ten novels in an epic series entitled "The 
Saga of the Omniscient Observer."  The series was later reduced to eight 
volumes when re-released in 1990, as three of the shorter books were 
combined into one.  Grand then wrote a sequel, entitled "The Second Saga," 
which consisted of five volumes and was published between 1988 and 1990.  
Grand has also written two compilations of short stories, published in 1989 
and 1991, as well as a three-book science fiction saga called "The 
Adventures of Ryder Honda" in 1987.  Grand's last novel, "Trapped in Japan," 
was published in 1992.  All of these books were released by JLK Publishing, 
and all of them are out of print, as JLK Publishing folded in 1994.

The titles of the individual novels are as follows:

The Saga of the Omniscient Observer  (1986-1987)
------------------------------------------------
Book 1 (original series): "Fish Don't Wear Earrings"
Book 2 (original series): "Please Remove Your Thumb From My Hamburger"
Book 3 (original series) / Book 1 : "A Thousand Worlds.  A Thousand People.  
A Thousand Fools."
Book 4 (original series) / Book 2 : "You Can Only Be Stupid Once"
Book 5 (original series) / Book 3 : "We Regret to Inform"
Book 6 (original series) / Book 4 : "We Went to Different Schools Together"
Book 7 (original series) / Book 5 : "Tomorrow or After School, Whichever 
Comes First"
Book 8 (original series) / Book 6 : "Approaching the Peak of Weirdness"
Book 9 (original series) / Book 7 : "Subliminal Massage"
Book 10 (original seroes) / Book 8 : "And Now or So"

The Adventures of Ryder Honda  (1987)
-------------------------------------
Book 1 : "Ryder Honda's Intergalactic Survival Kit"
Book 2 : "Theories on Strawberry Twinkies"
Book 3 : "Ten Hours and Ten Million Portals"

The Second Saga  (1988-1990)
----------------------------
Book 1 : "The Intergalactic Bingo Games"
Book 2 : "Conquest of the Zspud Universe"
Book 3 : "Zit!"
Book 4 : "Tales of the Breakman Cafeteria"
Book 5 : "Crossover"

"Condensed Hell"  (short story collection, 1989)
"Concentrated Weirdness"  (short story collection, 1991)
"SUDOC"  (episodic fiction contributed to JLK's "Aufbau Saga", 1991)
"Trapped in Japan"  (1992)


Q3.  What does Larry O. Grand write about?
==========================================
There are a number of subjects and concepts introduced in Larry O. Grand's 
stories, blending aspects of contemporary fiction and science fiction.  
Human relationships.  Love and romance.  Alien warlords.  Rock and roll 
bands.  High school students.  Intergalactic travel.  College students.  
Baseball players.  Diners.  Coffee shops.  Alternate universes.  You know, 
the usual.


Q4.  What is Larry O. Grand's writing style like?
=================================================
The best description of Grand's writing is that it is a cross between 
Douglas Adams and Kurt Vonnegut.  Somewhat wacky, yet readable and 
intriguing.  Grand's style has evolved over the years, and he now likes to 
experiment with changing points-of-view and other unusual methods of 
storytelling.  Although it may be hard to grasp at first (and you may have 
absolutely no idea what he is talking about), it is nevertheless an 
enjoyable experience.  Grand's forte is creating interesting (and somewhat 
strange) characters, so be prepared to meet some unusual people.


Q5.  What has happened in Larry O. Grand's stories?
===================================================
Larry O. Grand's stories are unique because they all take place in the same 
universe (with the exception of one story from one of the short story 
collections).  Characters who appear in one story have been known to appear 
in other stories, in major roles or as cameo appearances.  While there is 
not enough space in this FAQ to go into a complete summary of the stories 
that have been told in the Larry O. Grand Universe, here is a brief recap.

"The Saga of the Omniscient Observer" focuses on the residents of the town 
of Grandville.  At one time, the story featured over 30 characters involved 
in several different subplots, from the struggles of an up-and-coming rock 
and roll band, to a man who had been in a catatonic coma for twenty years 
searching for his family, to an intergalactic adventurer teleporting to the 
other side of the galaxy.  Many of the characters were high school students 
attending Sirek High School.  

"The Second Saga" took some of the students from Sirek High School and 
placed them in Palestrina University, and followed their lives from there.  
New characters were introduced, leading to more situations and subplots.  
Along the way, major events occured in lives of our characters, as well as 
running subplots from "The Saga of the Omniscient Observer" being wrapped 
up.  Oh yes, and the universe was wiped out of existence at some point in 
this story.


Q6.  What happens in Larry O. Grand's newest novel, "In the Land of Keys"?
==========================================================================
We can't give away too much, because (1) the story hasn't been finished yet, 
and (2) there wouldn't be any point of you reading the new novel online if 
we told you everything, now would there?  Okay, we'll tell you a little bit.  
The story focuses on several characters who were originally introduced in 
"The Saga of the Omniscient Observer," as well as others from "The Second 
Saga," and some new people created for this story.  It takes place during 
the months of January to May of 1997 (roughly concurrent to the time it is 
being written).  This novel is the first book in Larry O. Grand's next big 
saga (an overall title has not been decided on, yet) but also serves as a 
wrap-up for dangling threads from "The Second Saga."  This story will almost 
entirely deal with human situations, and will not stray into any science 
fiction aspects (as previous stories have).


Q7.  Do I have to have read any of Larry O. Grand's previous stories in 
order to understand "In the Land of Keys"?
==========================================
*ABSOLUTELY NOT*.  Larry O. Grand's goal is to make this novel accessible to 
everyone, whether or not you have read any of his previous works.  While 
many of these characters have been around for over 10 years and do carry a 
lot of backstory, knowledge of their past is not essential to understanding 
what happens to them.  Important parts of a characters' history will be 
filled in when necessary.  However, longtime readers may pick up on bits and 
pieces that are scattered throughout the story, but understanding these bits 
and pieces will not be essential to understanding the overall picture.


Q8.  Will any of Larry O. Grand's previous works be available online?
=====================================================================
We do intend to present more detailed summaries of Larry O. Grand's previous 
stories on the web page (and, if demand warrants, to e-mail subscribers).  
However, as mentioned in Q7, we do not wish to have what-has-happened-before 
detract from what-is-going-to-happen, and so we have no plans to put any of 
Grand's previous novels online.


Any additional questions about Larry O. Grand and his writing should be 
directed to JLK Productions at jlkwak1@ukcc.uky.edu.  Your questions may be 
incorporated into future editions of this FAQ, if it is a pertinent question 
that we may have missed.

Copyright (c) 1997 JLK Productions