Deborah J. Ross

Deborah J. Ross
Born	April 1947
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Author
Known for	Fantasy and science fiction, collaboration with Marion Zimmer Bradley

Deborah J. Ross (born April 1947), once Deborah Wheeler, is an American published science fiction and fantasy author.

Biography

Ross was born in April 1947 and grew up in California. She has always told stories, even as a very young child. Ross attended Portland State University, graduating in 1973. After two degrees (biology and psychology), a marriage, and trying to split her time between her career as a chiropractor and her first child, she decided to settle down to write professionally.

Around this time, she became friends with Marion Zimmer Bradley. When Marion was asked to edit the first Sword and Sorceress, Ross submitted a short story for the anthology, "Imperatrix" (1984). "Imperatrix" became her first published short story, under her married name of Deborah Wheeler. Deborah Wheeler continued to write for years, producing a number of short stories and two novels, Jaydium and Northlight, through DAW books.

Before Marion's death in 1999, Ross was invited to work on a project with her set in Darkover. As she explains on her website:

As Marion's health declined, I was invited to work with her on one or more Darkover novels. We decided that rather than extend the story of "modern" Darkover, we would return to the Ages of Chaos. Marion envisioned a trilogy beginning with the Hastur Rebellion and the fall of Neskaya, the enduring friendship between Varzil the Good and Carolin Hastur, and extending to the fire-bombing of Hali and the signing of the Compact. While I scribbled notes as fast as I could, she would sit back, eyes alight, and begin a story with, "Now, the Hasturs tried to control the worst excesses of laran weapons, but there were always others under development . . ." or "Of course, Varzil and Carolin had been brought up on tales of star-crossed lovers who perished in the destruction of Neskaya . . ."
Marion passed away in September 1999, and I was privileged to participate in her funeral. In completing this project, I hope to honor her memory and the enduring vision she has left to us all.

After a divorce, she changed her legal name back to Ross. She now lives in the wilderness of the Santa Cruz redwoods with her husband (and fellow writer), Dave Trowbridge. She is mother of two children, has two cats and one german shepherd.

Bibliography

Novels as Deborah Wheeler

• Jaydium (1993), DAW Books, ISBN 0-88677-556-6 (out of print)
• Northlight (1995), DAW Books, ISBN 0-88677-639-2 (out of print)

Darkover

Ross worked with Marion Zimmer Bradley on several books in the Darkover series.

• The Clingfire Trilogy:
  • The Fall of Neskaya (2001), DAW Books, hardback: ISBN 0-7564-0034-1 paperback: ISBN 0-7564-0053-8
  • Zandru's Forge (2003), DAW Books, hardback: ISBN 0-7564-0149-6 paperback: ISBN 0-7564-0184-4
  • A Flame in Hali (2004), DAW Books, hardback: ISBN 0-7564-0218-2 paperback: ISBN 0-7564-0267-0

• The Modern Darkover series, which is a continuation of Zimmer Bradley's novel Traitor's Sun.
  • The Alton Gift (2007), DAW Books, hardback: ISBN 0-7564-0019-8 paperback: ISBN 978-0-7564-0480-2
  • The Children of Kings (2013), hardback: ISBN 9780756407971
  • (forthcoming, not yet titled)

• Hastur Lord (2010), DAW Books, hardback: ISBN 978-0-7564-0622-6

The Seven-Petaled Shield

An original fantasy series, intended to be a trilogy

• The Seven-Petaled Shield (2013), DAW Books, ISBN 978-0756406219
• Shannivar: Volume Two of The Seven-Petaled Shield (2013), DAW Books, ISBN 978-0756409203

Anthologies

• Lace and Blade (2008), Norilana Books.
• Lace and Blade 2 (2009), Norilana Books.

External links

• Deborah J. Ross's personal website
• Bradley's Literary Works Trust
• DAW Books
• Deborah J. Ross at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database