Rosemary Edghill (1956 – April 7, 2026) was an American writer and editor. She also wrote under the names James Mallory and eluki bes shahar (lower case intentional)Locus obituary, May 3, 2026. Her primary genres were science fiction and fantasy, but she began by writing Regency romance novels.
Career The publishers of her first novel felt that "eluki bes shahar" (her legal name at the time) sounded insufficiently English to attract readers, so she adopted the pen-name Rosemary Edghill,What's in a Name? Interviewing Rosemary Edghill from Vision: A Resource for Writers, by Lazette Gifford, archived at sff.net which became her legal name in 2004. Her sister, a reference librarian, writes as India Edghill.Authors: India Edghill [Accessed 2012-07-28]
Edghill cited some of her influences:
Too many to count. Damon Runyon and Mark Twain, for use of language. C. L. Moore and Eric Frank Russell, ditto. For storybuilding and sheer artfulness, John Le Carre. For language (again!) Margaret Atwood. For a great story, which is the First Thing in my book, John D. MacDonald, Peter O'Donnell, Ian Fleming, Leslie Charteris, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett (and we're back to the language thing again). Kipling. Poe. Clark Ashton Smith. Robert E. Howard. Robert A. Heinlein. Lovecraft. For that matter, I think I owe as much to the great editors of SF's silver age as to the writers, so here's to you: John W. Campbell, Groff Conklin, and Damon Knight.
She collaborated in writing fiction with Andre Norton, Mercedes Lackey,Legacies, Lackey & Edghill [Accessed 2012-07-28] and Marion Zimmer Bradley. Her books with Andre Norton include Shadow of Albion and Leopard in Exile. Her books with Mercedes Lackey include Spirits White as Lightning and Mad Maudlin.
Personal life and death Edghill lived in upstate New York with cats and King Charles Spaniels. She trained and showed her dogs in obedience competitions.
Edghill died of sepsis on April 7, 2026, at the age of 69.
Bibliography According to WorldCat, her bibliography is as follows:Worldcat
Regency Romances Turkish Delight (1987) Two of a Kind (1988) The Ill-Bred Bride (1990) Fleeting Fancy (1993)
Hellflower series The Hellflower series features Butterfly St Cyr, a female starpilot trying to make a living as a tramp cargo hauler, as she befriends Valijon Starbringer (or, as Butterfly calls him, "Tiggy Stardust") a teenage hellflower (slang for a mercenary) who is totally out of his depth. Hellflower (1991) (reprinted in 2022 by Ring of Fire Press, ) Darktraders (1992) (reprinted in 2022 by Ring of Fire Press, ) Archangel Blues (1993) (reprinted in 2022 by Ring of Fire Press, ) The three were collected in: Butterfly and Hellflower (1993); hardcover, omnibus ed., 640 pages, published by New York Guild America Books ()
Bast series The Bast series features an amateur female detective who is a New York City Wiccan. They were collected in Bell, Book, and Murder.Authors: Rosemary Edghill [Accessed 2012-07-28] Speak Daggers to Her (1994) Book of Moons (1995) The Bowl of Night (1996)
The Twelve Treasures The Empty Crown (SFBC Omnibus Edition of the three "Twelve Treasures" novels)(1997) The Sword of Maiden's Tears (1994) The Cup of Morning Shadows (1995) The Cloak of Night and Daggers (1997)
Others King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow novelization (1992), in The King's Quest Companion. Smoke and Mirrors (1997) (not to be confused with Smoke and Mirrors (2005) by Tanya Huff) Met by Moonlight (1998) The Warslayer (2002) Vengeance of Masks (2003) Paying the Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Other Stories (2003)
with Marion Zimmer Bradley Ghostlight (1995) Witchlight (1996) Gravelight (1997) Heartlight (1998) with Tom DeFalco
Time's Arrow: The Future (X-Men & Spider-Man #3) (1998)
with Andre Norton The Shadow of Albion (Carolus Rex, Bk 1) (1999) Leopard in Exile (Carolus Rex, Bk 2) (2001)
with Mercedes Lackey Beyond World's End (2001) Spirits White as Lightning (2001) Mad Maudlin (2003) Bedlam's Edge (2005) Music to My Sorrow (Bedlam's Bard) (2005) Dead Reckoning (2012) The Shadow Grail series Legacies (2010) Conspiracies (2011) Sacrifices (2013) Victories (2014)
with Mercedes Lackey (as James Mallory) The Obsidian Mountain Trilogy The Outstretched Shadow (2003) To Light a Candle (2004) When Darkness Falls (2006) The Enduring Flame Trilogy The Phoenix Unchained (2007) The Phoenix Endangered (2008) The Phoenix Transformed (2009) The Dragon Prophecy Trilogy Crown of Vengeance (2012) Blade of Empire (2017) Deliverance of Dragons (2025)
Short fiction "The Ever-After" in Dragon Magazine (1989) and anthologized in A Dragon-Lover's Treasury of the Fantastic (1994) "Child of Ocean" in Dragon Magazine (1991) "Is Your Coworker a Space Alien?" (1994) "The New Britomart" (1995) "To Light Such a Candle" (1995) "An Axe for Men" in Young Warriors: Stories of Strength (2005)
References
External links
Locus obituary, May 3, 2026