Robert E. Vardeman was born in
Mineral Wells, Texas, but is a longtime resident of
Albuquerque,
New Mexico. He graduated from the
University of New Mexico with a
B.S. in
physics and a
M.S. in materials science. He worked for
Sandia National Laboratories in the
Solid State Physics Research Department before becoming a full-time writer. He got his start in writing by writing for
science fiction fanzines, and was nominated for the 1972
Hugo Award for
Best Fan Writer. Vardeman is one of the founders of
Bubonicon, a
science fiction convention in
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Pseudonyms The first volume in Vardeman's
Keys to Paradise fantasy series was credited to the pseudonym "Daniel Moran", the publisher possibly being unaware of author
Daniel Keys Moran, but the second book in that series then stated that Vardeman was "writing as Daniel Moran." Vardeman started publishing two other series under pseudonyms in the late 1980s – the fantasy series
After the Spell Wars under the name
F.J. Hale, and the Star Frontier science fiction series under the name of
Edward S. Hudson. Both of these series were partially republished under Vardeman's own name. He also wrote
Gateway to Doom (1983) from
Tom Swift III, and
The Microbots (1992) and
Mutant Beach (1992), part of the
Tom Swift IV series of books under the house pen name,
Victor Appleton; as well as writing numerous westerns under the pen names
Karl Lassiter and
Jackson Lowry. He also wrote in the mid-1970s for Book Creations, Inc., under house pseudonym
Paul Kenyon for
The Baroness series, but the book was canceled before publication. Similar work includes eight novels written for the
Nick Carter adventure series, the novel
Sea Fire under the name
Cliff Garnett, more than 100 novels written for a major western series, plus eight novels written for another western series that was less enduring. == Works ==