C. W. Henslin

Collin Walter Henslin, best known for the original SOTNF novel series, was an extremely prolific writer with publishing credits ranging from 1952 through 1989.

Before he published the first SOTNF novel, The Clouded Tides, in 1972, Henslin had completed several other series including the high fantasy, The Southern Wyrms of Old, and the sci-fi western saga, Horsehead Gulch. Adherents to the shared universe theory claim that many of the minor, seemingly arbitrary, details in SOTNF are references to the aforementioned works.

Sadly, Henslin died of pneumonia on August 12th, 1991, before his novels were rediscovered by a new generation and adapted into the popular television series.