John Gregory Betancourt John Gregory Betancourt ( b . October 25 , 1963 in Missouri ) is a writer of science fiction , fantasy and mystery novels as well as short stories , who wrote " " from the " Tales from Jabba ' s Palace " anthology . He is also the writer of four novels and the new prequel series , as well as a dozen original novels . He has worked as an assistant editor at " " and editor of " Horror : The Newsmagazine of the Horror Field " , the revived " " magazine , the first issue of " " , " Cat Tales " magazine , and " Adventure Tales " magazine . His essays , articles , and reviews have appeared in such diverse publications as " " and " " . Biography . Childhood . Betancourt ' s father is archaeologist Philip P . Betancourt . John Betancourt spent his childhood summers in remote parts of Greece , especially Crete , where his father worked on the excavation at Pseira . There , in his early years , he developed a love for reading and discovered such diverse writers as Clark Ashton Smith , Michael Moorcock , and Jack Vance through books imported from the United Kingdom . When he ran out of books to read , he began making up his own stories to entertain himself . First published work . His first published work was a poem , " The Argia , " in " Space & Time " magazine at age 15 . At age 16 , he made his first professional sale , " Vernon ' s Dragon , " to the anthology " 100 Great Fantasy Short - Short Stories " , edited by Isaac Asimov , John F . Carr , and Martin H . Greenberg . He began his first - published novel , " The Blind Archer " , at age 17 , finished it at age 18 , and sold it to Avon Books at age 19 . Betancourt has alternated between writing and editing throughout his career . In college , he worked for " Amazing Stories " as an assistant editor . When the Philadelphia office shut down , he co - founded a literary agency with George Scithers and Darrell Schweitzer . A year later , Betancourt , Scithers , and Schweitzer licensed the name " " from Weird Tales , Ltd . and revived the magazine . In 1989 , Betancourt married Kim Hermo - married name Kim Betancourt - and moved from Philadelphia to Newark , New Jersey . They founded in 1989 to publish a collection of essays by Fritz Leiber designed to commemorate Leiber ' s appearance as Principle Speaker at Philcon that year . The book , " Fafhrd & Me " sold out quickly , and Betancourt decided to publish additional titles as a hobby . Betancourt was named science fiction editor for in 1990 . He worked for Byron Preiss for 7 years , rising to Senior Editor , before leaving to write full - time and take care of his and Kim Betancourt ' s first child . This marked the beginning of his most prolific period as an author . Print on demand . In 1998 , Betancourt discovered print on demand technology , which produces one book at a time . He became a pioneer in the field , bringing hundreds ( eventually thousands ) of books into print through PoD . Betancourt incorporated Wildside Press in 2004 and continued to expand the company , as gross annual sales continued to grow . As of May , 2008 , Wildside Press had more than 4 , 500 books in print , ranging from classic literature to genre titles by H . Beam Piper , John W . Campbell , Jr . , Andre Norton , and too many others to count . Wildside Press took up an increasing amount of his time , though Betancourt still managed to produce one novel and several short stories most years . He brought in genre writers and editors to work on Wildside Press projects . Employees in the 2000 - 2007 period included such authors and editors as P . D . Cace ] , Darrell Schweitzer , George H . Scithers , Vera Nazarian , Stephen H . Segal , and Sean Wallace . In 2006 , Betancourt partnered with AudioRealms to release new and classic science fiction , fantasy , and horror in Audiobook format . Initial releases included H . Beam Piper ' s and Andre Norton ' s , as well as works by Robert E . Howard and H . P . Lovecraft . In 2007 , Betancourt received the Black Orchid Novella Award from the Nero Wolfe Society and for his novella " Horse Pit . " The award , which consisted of a certificate , a prize of $ 1 , 000 . 00 , and publication in Alfred Hitchcock ' s Mystery Magazine , was presented at the Wolfe Pack ' s annual Black Orchid Banquet on December 1 , 2007 . With Kevin J . Anderson as his co - author he wrote the original young adult fantasy novel " Born of Elven Blood " . He has solo written other original novels , which include " The Blind Archer " , " Johnny Zed " , and " Rememory " . He currently lives in Maryland with his wife , Kim and two sons , Ian and David .