(1963- ) US editor and author who became involved in Small-Press publishing in his teens, beginning to publish short fiction with "Vernon's Dragon" in 100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories (anth 1984) edited by Isaac Asimov, Terry Carr and Martin H Greenberg; an earlier sale was the poem "The Argia" (Summer 1982 Space and Time), with Homer billed as co-author. In the early 1980s he worked with editor George Scithers at Amazing, soon founding a literary agency with Scithers and Darrell Schweitzer; in 1987 the three of them relaunched Weird Tales. In 1989 Betancourt became an editor for Byron Preiss Visual Publications, Inc, an important sf packager.
His first novel, Starskimmer (1986), a light comedy with numerous sf-author Tuckerisms, was published in TSR's short-lived "Amazing Stories" imprint but has no connection to the television series Amazing Stories; most of his subsequent fiction has been Ties [see Checklist below]. Rogue Pirate (1987) is fantasy, as is the more impressive The Blind Archer (1988), in whose ornate venue – the vast city of Zelloque – the Club Stories assembled in Slab's Tavern and Other Uncanny Places (coll 1990 chap) are also set. His first book of direct sf interest, Johnny Zed (1988), embeds a somewhat desultory political analysis of revolutionary movements in a portrait of a Near-Future USA whose Congress has become a hereditary gift of the rich, and whose populace has become lassitudinous. The Hercules trilogy opening with Hercules: The Wrath of Poseidon (1997), is historical fantasy. The futuristic devices of his second novel of sf interest, Rememory (1990), include brain-scans and the bio-engineering of humans into animal shapes, but the mystery plot that sends the cat-person protagonist down the mean streets of a corrupt government does not, in itself, generate much interest; and Pacifica (2005) with Linda E Bushyager is a Near Future tale set on an Island which draw tourists into a plan to govern the world.
Betancourt continues to seem an author whose skills are greater than his achieved work might lead one to assume – a sense of his writing career which, given his clear intelligence and ambition, could change at will. Given his founding with Kim Betancourt of {WILDSIDE PRESS} in 1989, and his subsequent active management of the firm, he may continue not to concentrate – beyond the production of Ties – on creative work. [JC]
John Gregory Betancourt
born St Louis, Missouri: 25 October 1963
died
works
series
Hercules
individual titles
- Amazing Stories Book 5: Starskimmer (Windhaven, Wisconsin: TSR/Amazing Stories, 1986) [pb/Doug Chaffee]
- Rogue Pirate (Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: Windwalker Books, 1987) [pb/Jeff Easley]
- The Blind Archer (New York: Avon, 1988) [pb/Romas Kukalis]
- Johnny Zed (New York: Popular Library, 1988) [pb/Beau and Alan Daniels]
- Rememory (New York: Popular Library, 1990) [pb/Paul Youll]
- Born of Elven Blood (New York: Byron Preiss Visual Publications/Atheneum, 1995) with Kevin J Anderson [hb/John Howe]
- The Dragon Sorcerer (New York: iBooks, 2003) [pb/Ciruelo]
- Pacifica (Holicong, Pennsylvania: Wildside Press, 2005) with Linda E Bushyager [pb/]
collections
ties
series
Robert Silverberg's Time Tours
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: other
Roger Zelazny's Dawn of Amber
Roger Zelazny's Shadows of Amber
individual titles
nonfiction (selected)
works as editor (selected)
series
Ultimate
- The Ultimate Dracula (New York: Byron Preiss/Dell, 1991) uncredited, with Byron Preiss [anth: Ultimate: pb/Bruce Jensen]
- The Ultimate Frankenstein (New York: Byron Preiss/Dell, 1991) with David Keller, Megan Miller and Byron Preiss [anth: Ultimate: pb/Bruce Jensen]
- The Ultimate Werewolf (New York: Byron Preiss/Dell, 1991) with David Keller, Megan Miller and Byron Preiss [anth: Ultimate: pb/Bruce Jensen]
- The Ultimate Zombie (New York: Byron Preiss/Dell, 1993) with Byron Preiss [anth: Ultimate: pb/Bruce Jensen]
- The Ultimate Witch (New York: Byron Preiss/Dell, 1993) with Byron Preiss [anth: Ultimate: pb/Bruce Jensen]
- The Ultimate Alien (New York: Byron Preiss/Dell, 1995) with Byron Preiss [anth: Ultimate: pb/Bruce Jensen]
- The Ultimate Undead (New York: ibooks, 2006) with Byron Preiss [anth: Ultimate: pb/Bruce Jensen]
Weird Tales
Megapack
For the full series, see the entry for either co-editor.
individual titles as editor
links
Previous versions of this entry