The things writers do to pay the bills. Loren Beauchamp was the pseudonym of multiple award-winning sci-fi author Robert Silverberg, a highly respected authour who wrote more than 80 sci-fi novels, hundreds of short stories, scores of non-fiction books, and countless thought-provoking articles. But in the late fifties, when the sci-fi market was minimal, the man whom the Science Fiction Writers of America would eventually name a Grand Master turned to softcore sleaze novels, which he wrote under a couple of different names.
1959’s Unwilling Sinner was about a nympho wreaking havoc on the male population of a small town, while 1962’s Wayward Widow concerned the desperation of a twenty-two-year old widow to obtain sexual satisfaction.
Unluckily for smut fans, Mr. Silverberg unceremoneously bade so long to schlock after a few years and went on to earn multiple sci-fi Nebula and Hugo awards. But not before he produced more than twenty sleaze books, mostly working for Midwood publishing. Those novels are floating around on various vintage and auction sites, and we recommend you mail order one and curl up for a titillating read. We doubt you’ll be disappointed, though we haven’t actually read these yet. We’ll get around to it. The artist on both, by the way, was Paul Rader, who painted hundreds of paperback covers. More info on him here.
