A TALE OF TWO L.A.S NATIVE SON STEPHEN RANDALL PLAYS HOLLYWOOD AGAINST THE VALLEY IN 'THE OTHER SIDE OF MULHOLLAND'.

As Stephen Randall labored on a treadmill at the 24-Hour Fitness gym on Pico Boulevard, the wheel in his head began turning in unison with his feet. He glanced below and saw not just a gym but two different worlds: one of glamour and spectacularly chiseled bodies preening, the other of regular people futilely trying to resist the effects of aging.

He saw the caste system of the gym as a metaphor for Los Angeles, with its glitzy Hollywood image overwhelming the everyday family life of the San Fernando Valley.

Randall turned the idea into the beginning of his first novel, ``The Other Side of Mulholland,'' a story fast-paced like the city but with the down-to-earth morals of the Valley. Randall's first and likely only Valley book signing is 2 p.m. today at Portrait of a Bookstore in Studio City.

An executive editor at Playboy magazine and teacher of magazine writing at the University of Southern California, Randall initially didn't intend his idea to become a book.

He set out to write a newspaper serial for longtime friend and former colleague Sue Horton, then editor of LA Weekly. He wrote the first four installments - which later became the first four chapters - and gave them to Horton for approval.

``It didn't have that quality of cliffhanger at the end of every chapter,'' Horton said. ``I told him it wasn't Silver Lake enough, as Steve won't let me forget. It didn't quite fit into LA Weekly at that point. But, all that said, I loved it. I instantly loved the characters. I thought it needed to be a novel.''

But Randall wasn't sure he wanted it to be a novel. He had planned to write the serial for LA Weekly under the pseudonym Nicholas Adams - his son's name is Nicholas Adam - which he had used in the past to write in magazines such as Men's Fitness. Playboy doesn't like the names of its editors in other magazines.

Horton took the four sample chapters to St. Martin's Press and suddenly Randall had a deal to write a novel.

He took two weeks' vacation from Playboy, where he manages the magazine's West Coast office, and begin writing. ``I thought I needed to hit the ground running and get the tone down because then I would have to go back to work and write sporadically,'' he said.

Main characters Tim and Perry are twin brothers with one major difference - Tim is gay and Perry is straight. The story follows the twins as they separately try to mix in with the Hollywood lifestyle as writers but always come back to their Valley roots and Koo Koo Roo dinners with Mom and Dad.

Few characters in the book are based on real people, much to the relief of Randall's family.

``Basically, I was able to take all my neurotic behavior and spread it through all the male characters and still have neurotic material I haven't used,'' Randall said.

Randall, who has thick, silver-threaded hair, said he gave Perry his superfluous obsession with hair-care products. Tim's experiences with celebrity coverage were based on Randall's own encounters with celebrities at an early age.

``When I was 23 or 24, I worked for a syndicated radio show,'' he said. ``My job was to go out and interview celebrities. I interviewed Peter Frampton, Tony Curtis, Lucille Ball and Gene Wilder.''

The novel contains many observations of real-life Los Angeles people and places experienced by Randall, 51, a third-generation Angeleno who grew up in Santa Monica, attended USC and now lives in Westwood with his wife, Gail, and their son, Nick, who just started at USC.

``It allowed me to vent,'' Randall said of the novel. ``The problem with being at a magazine is you are the recipient of Chicago and New York views and misconceptions about Los Angeles that eventually drive you crazy.''

Randall finished the book in eight months, let his wife read it and gave it to St. Martin's. After hardly hearing from Randall, the publisher was surprised to get a finished copy.

``I didn't show it to anybody in progress,'' Randall said. ``I got it exactly where I wanted it and showed it to my wife. It's difficult for her, but she'll tell me if it sucks. Then I gave it to my publisher and he was surprised because he thought I was blocked. Apparently, most writers give updates to the editor.''

Randall has received his 15 minutes of fame as a result of the novel. In addition to the book signings and newspaper articles, he appeared on Merrill Shindler's restaurant show on KLSX to discuss what Shindler totaled as 30 Los Angeles restaurants mentioned in the book.

The strangest consequence of the novel, according to Randall, has been the former acquaintances calling him out of the blue to say they know the real-life identity of characters in what Randall calls the least autobiographical novel ever written.

``Six people have called and said they know who (Tim's entertainment Web site boss) Simon James is and all gave different people, none of which had any accuracy,'' Randall said. ``People so want it to be about people they know that they manufacture it.''

It sounds as though writing a novel has given Randall a slew of new observations on the eccentric behavior of his favorite city. He hadn't considered writing a follow-up to ``The Other Side of Mulholland,'' but questions from fans at book signings have made him consider a sequel.

``My entire life has been as a journalist,'' Randall said. ``It's always about getting facts straight, so it's fun to make stuff up. If I wanted there to be 257 vice presidents at Sony, I could just say it. It was really fun. I could just twist things any which way I wanted.''

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