While I have written many a one-off tale, complete, requiring no further elaboration, I have also written a great number populated by entertaining personalities, or set in imagined locations, which especially caught my fancy and led to return visits. What follows is a summary of the most important.
Professor Anton Vorchek: This fellow, who has certainly proven my most popular creation, bears similarities to-- was certainly suggested by-- the "psychical investigators" who haunt much of weird or ghostly fiction. Curiously, perhaps, I have never cared for the type; they are almost always presented as infallible crusaders out to save the world from monstrosity, driving up at the end of the story with a star sign and a truck-load of dynamite to readily dispatch the supposedly invincible cause of peril and mayhem. I suppose that such scenarios simply do not frighten me. Well, my friend Professor Vorchek is a little different. Despite his dubious, oft questioned credentials, he is a pure man of science, dedicated solely to the acquisition of knowledge for its own sake, mainly esoteric and dangerous knowledge. He may, by the by, save someone from harm, but that is never his chief motivation. He considers a case successful if he learns, regardless of what becomes of his client.
Vorchek hails of unspecified foreign extraction. He is employed, to some degree, by a small college in Phoenix, Arizona, but he seems to earn most of his income from clients experiencing unusual problems. He is a mature, debonair gentleman, outwardly affable, steely inside. He has true regard, so it appears, only for Theresa Delaney.
Professor Vorchek has appeared in or been alluded to in a vast number of stories: "Realization: A Tale of the True Theory", "A Critique of Vorchek's Holobiologia", "Langley's Painting", "Peril In the Red Zone", "Canyon Diablo", "The Man Who Sought Blug", "The Legend of the Vulture Mine", "Cathedral Rock", "The Discovery of the X Force", "At the Bottom of Montezuma Well", "A Nature Scene", "Under the Natural Bridge", "Vorchek's Vacation", "The God In the Machine", "The Seal of Jacob Bleek", "The Mystery of the Old Church", "The Mystery of the Inner Basin Lodge", The Diary of Philip Wyler", "The Return of Vanek", "A Simple Solution", "The Willing of the Man", "The Revenge of the Past", "The Flaw In the Image", "The Old Camera", "Vorchek's Picnic", "The House On the Hill of Stars", "Into the Vortex", "A Chance Result", "On the South Face of the Medicine Man Mountain", "The Big Sedona Bash", "Queer Musings On Reality", "Yardreela", and "Among the Hoodoos".
Theresa Delaney: Vorchek's assistant, this lovely and loyal, querulous and hard-edged young woman first appears as a client, but that was only a device to introduce a serial character already conceived, one sharing traits with the brassy dames who cling to PIs in detective stories. What is important about her is that she functions always as Vorchek's Watson, the stand-in for the reader, so that he may, when he chooses, explain himself; also she serves, at times, as Vorchek's conscience or the moral heart of the story, when the professor is tempted to get completely out of line. Most often, however, he indulges in his excesses when she is not around to observe. Their relationship is unclear, but Theresa is definitely devoted to the older man, while he seems to require her good opinion, even as he sneers at her intellect.
Miss Delaney does not turn up in every Vorchek tale, but she only appears with him, in: "Peril In the Red Zone", "The Man Who Sought Blug", "The Legend of the Vulture Mine", "At the Bottom of Montezuma Well", "A Nature Scene", "Under the Natural Bridge", "Vorchek's Vacation", "The God In the Machine", "The Seal of Jacob Bleek", "The Mystery of the Inner Basin Lodge", "The Return of Vanek", "The Willing of the Man", "The Revenge of the Past", "The Flaw In the Image", "The Old Camera", Vorchek's Picnic", "The House On the Hill of Stars", "Into the Vortex", "A Chance Result", "The Big Sedona Bash", "Queer Musings On Reality", "Yardreela", and "Among the Hoodoos".
Jacob Bleek: He is the infamous sorcerer from a vaguely defined, long ago age who first rose from the dead in a great mass of poetry, later coming to life as a grimly obsessed scholar and adventurer wandering the wide world and beyond in search of the wisdom of the Gods. Bleek is very much the anti-hero; in fact, there is no way to consider him a nice guy, except sometimes by comparison with the even creepier opponents he faces. The stories reveal slices from every period of his unnaturally long life, from his initial youthful foray out into the world to personal appearances long after his reputed death.
Bleek is the author of the exceedingly dangerous Black Book, a volume which can no longer be found in complete form. That is a good thing, for even a stray chapter from this tome contains enough menace to shake the world. Professor Vorchek knows all about Bleek and his book, often invoking those writings as arcane sources.
Jacob Bleek has appeared as a character in several stories, has been referenced (often via his book) in many more: "The Book of Jacob Bleek", "A Critique of Vorchek's Holobiologia", "Langley's Painting", "The Love of Jacob Bleek", "The Man Who Sought Blug", "The Legend of the Vulture Mine", "Jacob Bleek On the Mountain", The Journey of Jacob Bleek, "A Tale of Dyrezan", "The Companion of Jacob Bleek", "The God In the Machine", "The Search For Maltheus the Wise", "An Eastern Tale", "The Seal of Jacob Bleek", "Morstenburg", "The City At the End of Time", "The Cave of Ceratos", "The Voice Out of Dyrezan", "The Journal of Reverend Winters", "The Old Camera", "The Big Sedona Bash", "Xenophor's Children", "The Cross of Xenophor", and "Among the Hoodoos".
Morca: One of the most esteemed lords of Dyrezan, he is as close as I am ever likely to get to Conan. A major player in that antique magical land lost to history, Morca wages war on semi- or non-human foes, when not struggling against the machinations of fellow wizards. Yes, unlike the endless stream of sword-wielding barbarian heroes, Morca is himself a mighty mage, as ready to cast a spell as hurl a spear.
He has appeared in a handful of Dyrezanian tales: "Skyrax, Lord of Dyrezan", "The Tale of Nantrech", "The Adventure of Captain Morca", and "The Voice Out of Dyrezan".
Xenophor: Creator and Destroyer, Lord of All Things, Xenophor is my most transparent homage to Lovecraft, this fearsome deity being strongly based on his Azathoth. Despite the Greek sounding name, this horrid god is understood to represent a cosmic evil whose worship spans the world and the cosmos. Foolish wise men through the ages have sought his favor-- the magicians of Dyrezan knew him-- as do occultists to this day, usually with dire results. Jacob Bleek devoted his life to seeking him, as the source of all knowledge and power. Xenophor occasionally makes what may be styled a "personal" appearance in tales, but is most often advanced as a dreadful background theme.
Xenophor is at least mentioned in a large number of stories: "The Book of Jacob Bleek", "Sedona", "A Critique of Vorchek's Holobiologia", "Langley's Painting", "Cathedral Rock", "Jacob Bleek On the Mountain", The Journey of Jacob Bleek, "The Seal of Jacob Bleek", "The City At the End of Time", "Skyrax, Lord of Dyrezan", "The Tale of Nantrech", "The Adventure of Captain Morca", "The Voice Out of Dyrezan", "The Revenge of the Past", "The Guardian of the Treasure", "The Flaw In the Image", "The Old Camera", "A Chance Result", "Kardowan", "Xenophor's Children", "The Cross of Xenophor", and "Among the Hoodoos".
Blug: This abysmal deity, representing everything foul and loathsome in existence, is my sole major creation designed for shock effect. I freely grant that Blug is sickening, that his worshippers are pitiful beyond redemption; all true, yet I find something about this entity horribly realistic. I can not shake the feeling that many people, deep in their hearts, do worship Blug. Eternal he may be, but he is also a sign of the times.
Blug appears mainly in stories devoted to him: "A Critique of Vorchek's Holobiologia", "The Man Who Sought Blug", "The God In the Machine", "The Search For Maltheus the Wise", and "Nantrech of Dyrezan".
Dyrezan: As a setting for my more straightforward fantasy tales I invented the fabulous Dyrezan, the "Sky City" of a forgotten era that hovers above the clouds, from where its magician masters rule a vast empire. It is a glamorous place, a place of marvels, and of cut-throat intrigue as well, with its powerful wizard lords jostling for supremacy. The Dyrezanians worship Xenophor, whom they consider the benevolent font of their power and happiness.
Dyrezan, and the ancient world of which it is part, play a role in the following stories: The Journey of Jacob Bleek, "A Tale of Dyrezan", "Skyrax, Lord of Dyrezan", "Nantrech of Dyrezan", "The Charming of Carmeline", "The Tale of Nantrech", "The Adventure of Captain Morca", "The Voice Out of Dyrezan", "The Guardian of the Treasure", and "Kardowan".