Swamp Nymph Paperback - 2020

"Thompson was a better writer than his genre deserved," Paperback Warrior

This was the first published novel by John Burton Thompson (1911-1994), a Louisiana native and World War II veteran who went on to write 75 books under his own name and many pseudonyms, including Kevin McLeod, Bowie Morton, Gordon Greene, Todd Marshall, and Burton St. John.

He broke into publishing in 1950 at age 39 by writing a fan letter of Jack Woodford, author of two books on writing, and a controversial (and highly writer of "sleazy" fiction. Woodford encouraged Thompson to send him copies of his unpublished manuscripts. Thompson did, and Woolford immediately sold them, adding his name to the manuscripts and beginning a professional co-authoring and publishing relationship that would last for several years...and get them both into trouble in the early 1950s with New York City police for writing "indecent work."

But Thompson's many novels, racy at the time and tame by today's standards, were clearly a cut above what other authors were doing in the "sleaze" genre. He had literary aspirations and, surprisingly, often achieved them with his strong characters, rich writing, and provocative plots, which were psychological and cultural dramas mostly set in his native Louisiana.