TYPED LETTER SIGNED (TLS). 1/2 page, dated 27 October 1978, to "Dear Kirby" [McCauley], signed "Manly." On plain letter-size paper with Wellman's Chapel Hill address typed at the top. Cover letter for a prospectus (not present) of a new book for Doubleday, featuring his recurring Appalachian character, Silver John. The supernatural motifs include ley-lines, the supposed geographical alignment of widely separated ancient sites; and the Shonokins, a group of mythical indigenous Americans who are steeped in black magic. This latter concept was invented by Wellman but based on stories he "used to hear from readers who professed to have heard about them 'way back when …." The book in question is AFTER DARK (1979). He wonders whether he ought not just send along the first chapter of the novel instead of an outline, but also notes that "I never hurry over showing the beginning of a book. I believe in about 7 revisions for the first chapter. Wellman, rising above his pulp roots, was accomplished in nearly all genres of popular fiction, and was noted for bringing a pungent American flavor to his work. Kirby McCauley was probably the most important literary agent of horror, fantasy and sf writers in the boom years of the 1970s and 1980s. Faint mailing folds, some creasing and wrinkling along right edge, a bit of ghosting from an adjacent piece of acidic paper. (#102739).
Price: $100.00
"Coming Soon"