Robert E. Vardeman was born just down the street from the Crazy Water Hotel in Mineral Wells, TX. While it is doubtful this exposure to "crazy water" led to his becoming a science fiction writer, stranger things have happened. He has published more than 200 books, some of which have been translated into diverse languages, including German, French, Russian, Japanese, Greek, and Indonesian. In addition to his science fiction and fantasy novels, some 100 of his books have been westerns in the Jake Logan and Trailsman series (under house names) as well as books under his own western pen name, Karl Lassiter. A new pen name, Jackson Lowry, graces the cover of his most recent adventure, Sonora… Noose.