Ballard was a prolific pulp writer, most notably for the legendary mystery magazine Black Mask under the name W.T.
Ballard, Neil MacNeil, Jack Slade, Hunter D'Allard, Clay Turner, John Hunter, Sam Bowie, Parker Bonner, Brian Fox, and Clint Reno.
He wrote numerous teleplays for shows such as Death Valley Days and Shannon.
Ballard wrote thousands of magazine stories and over fifty television scripts.
"Many of Ballard's novels are set... in Las Vegas, and he always does a convincing job of portraying this fasinating, seldom utilized desert locale with its wide-open casinos, its moral ambiguity, and the uneasy alliance between gamblers and police.