Teresa Edgerton (born 1949) is an author of fantasy novels and short stories set in worlds that parallel the Middle Ages and the 18th century.

Literary biography

Born Teresa Ann Waller in Van Nuys, California, in 1949, she lived in the Los Angeles area until the age of 14, when her family moved to

northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

. In high school, she spent her lunch hours in the school library, devouring one historical novel after another. At about that same time she discovered fantasy writers

T. H. White Terence Hanbury "Tim" White (29 May 1906 – 17 January 1964) was an English writer best known for his Arthurian novels, published together in 1958 as ''The Once and Future King''. One of his most memorable is the first of the series, '' The Sw ...

, J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, and science fiction writer Andre Norton, whose combined influence would inspire her to begin creating imaginary worlds of her own. She met her husband, John Edgerton, in 1971, when she was working as a

Tarot reader Tarot card reading is a form of cartomancy whereby practitioners use tarot cards to purportedly gain insight into the past, present or future. They formulate a question, then draw cards to interpret them for this end. A traditional tarot deck con ...

at a local Renaissance faire, and he was part of a Society for Creative Anachronism troupe putting on demonstrations of medieval tourney combat. They have four children. She and her husband live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her interest in medieval society, alchemy, magic, and

Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed a ...

led her to begin writing the Green Lion Trilogy. The first book of the series, ''Child of Saturn'', was a finalist for the

Compton Crook Award The Compton Crook Award is presented to the best English language first novel of the year in the field of science fiction, fantasy, or horror by the members of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society at their annual science fiction convention, Baltic ...

. It is set in Celydonn, a fictional Celtic realm. After completing this trilogy, her interest turned from epic fantasy to the pseudo-sciences of the 18th century, which resulted in the

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...

ish fantasy of manners ''Goblin Moon''. Other books and short stories followed. However, publication of ''The Queen's Necklace'' didn't produce enough sales to satisfy her publishers, and for a time she was unable to renew her publishing contract. In 2004 she was offered the chance to relaunch under the pseudonym Madeline Howard, and has since started a new trilogy, ''Rune of the Unmaking'', with the first novel, ''The Hidden Stars''.

Published works

Novels

''The Queen's Necklace'' (2001)

Celydonn

=The Green Lion trilogy (the first Celydonn trilogy)

= #''Child of Saturn'' (1989) #''The Moon in Hiding'' (1989) #''The Work of the Sun'' (1990)

=Second Celydonn trilogy

= #''The Castle of the Silver Wheel'' (1993) #''The Grail and the Ring'' (1994) #''The Moon and the Thorn'' (1995)

Mask and Dagger duology

#''Goblin Moon'' (1991) #''The Gnome's Engine'' (1991)

The Rune of Unmaking series (writing as Madeline Howard)

#''The Hidden Stars'' (2004) #''A Dark Sacrifice'' (2007)

Short stories

*"The Ghost in the Chimney" (1991) *"Titania, or The Celestial Bed" (1994) *"My Soul into the Boughs" (1995) *"A Wreath of Pale Flowers for Vitri" (1996) *"Tower of Brass" (1997) *"Rogue's Moon" (1997) *"Dying by Inches" (2001) *"Captured in Silver" (2004)

External links

Official Teresa Edgerton forum
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edgerton, Teresa 1949 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American women short story writers American women novelists People from Van Nuys, Los Angeles Women science fiction and fantasy writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers