Author Rosemary Edghill, Dead at 69

Noted editor and author Rosemary Edghill, also known as eluki bes shahar (typically uncapitalized) has died, passing away on April 7, 2026. She is survived by her wife, Jenara Edghill, her sister, author India Edghill, and a nephew who is an actor.

Mrs. Edghill had been in ill health for some time, so while the news of her death is a shock and a sorrow, it does not come as a total surprise

Author Sharon Lee on Rosemary Edghill

Author Sharon Lee offered this eulogy on Facebook:

My friend eluki, who wrote many things under many different names, among them eluki bes shar, Rosemary Edghill, and James Mallory, died yesterday [04/07/26] of sepsis. This news coming to me from eluki’s wife. Aside Steve, eluki is the writer I’ve known the longest. She was a remarkable person — brilliant and difficult, which can be said of many of us. She taught me more about writing than anyone else, again, save Steve.

We’d grown apart after her move to the opposite coast, but I’m going to miss her, so much.

Please share this, so we can hopefully catch everyone who ought to know.

Thank you, Sharon Lee for sharing your words about Rosemary Edghill

From Star Wars and Spider-man to Hellflower and Back

Rosemary Edghill, aka eluku bes shar, began with the writing of fan fiction. She started her literary career writing and illustrating fanfic (fan fiction), principally Star Wars, under the name Eluki bes Shahar. Some of her plots and characters would eventually be recycled into her Hellflower trilogy. Her first professionally published books were Regency romances:

She got her start as a professional writer in the same way as Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure island. She read an inadequate book and said to herself, “I can so better than this”. Both Stevenson and Edghill proceeded to do so.

Rosemary Edghill was born June 1, 1956. She wrote in a variety of genres, including romance, mystery, weird western, science fiction, and especially fantasy, and was a master craftswoman in all of them.

The Ultimate Team Player

She was perhaps best known for her collaborations. She co-wrote books with Mercedes Lackey, Tom DeFalco, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Andre Norton. She was a supportive mentor to younger readers, and her death has doubtless caused many broken hearts among her protegees who hoped to someday collaborate on a book with her.

Rosemary Edghill mentioned once her proudest accomplishment was winning a Marvel No Prize in her youth.

She was vehemently opposed to the current political administration and went out in her wheelchair to protest. She used a wheelchair for mobility for the past few years.

Edghill was very fond of dogs and in her younger days, she bred, trained and showed King Charles spaniels for competition.

For some time, she had a regular feature on Facebook, Dear Author, where she would point out errors in basic logic by certain authors. No names mentioned, no, never any names mentioned. It was rather likr NotAlesysEight.com, very amusing to read, but every would-be weriter on Facebiik hoped they would not be the subject of a future Dear Author post..

The Science Fiction/Fantasy community is in mourning tonight, as the news of her passing wends its way from the Pacific Northwest to Vermont and New York, down to Florida, and back again to the Midwest.

Farewell, Rosemary. We’ll miss you. She lived her life fully to the last minute. She wrote, she edited. She kept an=breast of current events. Rosemary Edghill refused to lie in a sickbed and let life pass her by.