John William Groves (1910-1970) was a quiet voice in a loud room. That room is Science Fiction. Publishing a dozen stories sporadically over four decades. He once wrote of himself: “I’ve had no career. Just jobs. And, occasionally, short story sales to the magazines. I switched to novels about the end of 1967.” He mentions he married Edith Winterbourne and they have no children.
His first publication was “The Sphere of Death” (Amazing Stories, October 1931) for T. O’Connor Sloane. Groves would have been 21 at the time. The experience must have been underwhelming because he didn’t publish another thing until almost two decades later. Of the story E. F. Bleiler called it “…a trite idea, but well handled as a thriller.” (Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years, 1998).
His return came with the end of the Pulp era in the 1950s. But first he appeared in the British magazine New Worlds #8, Winter 1950 with “Robots Don’t Bleed”. This was his only British sale, which is odd since he was from the UK and John Carnell’s magazine was a big deal. The story was reprinted twice in No Place Like Earth (1952) and The Best of New Worlds Science Fiction (1955) both edited by Carnell.
“Regrowth” (Startling Stories, January 1950) was the beginning of an American spree. His run in 1953 is probably the closest he ever came to writing SF full-time.
“Cygnian Harvest” (Astounding Science-Fiction, January 1951) Groves was able to sell to John W. Campbell (though admittedly during the Dianetics craze when many of his regulars jumped ship.)
“Hospitality” (Planet Stories, September 1951)
“Thin End” (Fantastic Story Quarterly, Spring 1952)
“Upon the Stair” (Thrilling Wonder Stories, June 1953)
“Green-Eyed Monster” (Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1953)
“Where Sex Met Space” (Planet Stories, September 1953) Much of Groves’ work centers around a romantic relationship with this story title the most blatant.
“Password” (Planet Stories, November 1953)
“Hoydens Aweigh!” (Planet Stories, May 1954)
After 1954, Groves disappears again until “The Sincerest Form” (Galaxy, June 1964). This may have been a warm-up for his novels published with Robert Hale.
Shellbreak (1968) is a time travel novel in which a man sleeps to awaken in a future world where his knowledge will topple the cruel regime that holds the populace. It was followed by The Heels of Achilles (1969), a book about what happens when the dead mysterious come back from the dead.
Groves passed away in 1970 at the age of sixty. His works are little remembered, having been little celebrated while alive, he is a good example of the dedicated Science Fiction writer who embraced the “a walking stick, not a crutch” ideal.