Rachel Ruth Cosgrove Payes, also known as E.L. Arch and Joanne Kaye (11 December 1922, Westernport,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

– 10 October 1998, Brick Township,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

) was an American

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

, and author of books on the

Land of Oz The Land of Oz is a fantasy world introduced in the 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by William Wallace Denslow, W. W. Denslow. Oz consists of four vast quadrants, the Gillikin Countr ...

Biography

Born in Maryland to mine foreman Jacob A. Cosgrove and teacher Martha (née Brake), Cosgrove was educated at

West Virginia Wesleyan College West Virginia Wesleyan College is a private college in Buckhannon, West Virginia, United States. It has an enrollment of about 1,055 students from 35 U.S. states and 26 countries. The school was founded in 1890 by the West Virginia Conference of ...

(B.S. 1943). Trained as a research biologist, she worked as a medical technologist at various hospitals. She married Norman Morris Payes in 1954; they had a son and daughter.Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, vol. 2, R. Reginald, 1979, pg 800 Her first book, ''

The Hidden Valley of Oz ''The Hidden Valley of Oz'' (1951) is the thirty-ninth book in the Oz series created by L. Frank Baum and his successors. It was written by Rachel R.C. Payes and illustrated by Dirk Gringhuis. The book was followed twelve years later by '' Merr ...

'', was published by

Reilly & Lee The Reilly and Britton Company, known after 1918 as Reilly & Lee, was an American publishing company of the early and middle 20th century, best known for children's and popular culture books from authors like L. Frank Baum and Edgar A. Guest. Fou ...

in 1951. Her second, '' The Wicked Witch of Oz'' (1954) was denied publication on the grounds that the

Oz books The ''Oz'' books form a book series that begins with ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900) and relates the fictional history of the Land of Oz. Oz was created by author L. Frank Baum, who went on to write fourteen full-length ''Oz'' books. Baum ...

were not selling. The book was published by

The International Wizard of Oz Club The International ''Wizard of Oz'' Club, Inc., was founded during 1957 by Justin G. Schiller, a then thirteen-year-old boy. The sixteen charter members were garnered from the mailing list found among the papers of the recently deceased Jack Sn ...

in 1993. She had a tendency to dismiss adult Oz fans and insist that Oz books are "for kids!", a view she expressed in the documentary, '' Oz: The American Fairyland''. The bulk of Cosgrove's work consisted of historical

romance novel A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primarily focuses on the relationship and Romance (love), romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed ...

s, many published by

Playboy Press PLBY Group, Inc. is an American global media and lifestyle company founded by Hugh Hefner as Playboy Enterprises, Inc. to oversee the ''Playboy'' magazine and related assets. Its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California. The company is focus ...

, one under the name Joanne Kaye. She also wrote science fiction novels for

Avalon Books Avalon Books (originally Bouregy & Curl) was a small New York City, New York-based book publishing imprint (trade name), imprint owned by Thomas Bouregy & Company. Established in 1950 by Thomas Bouregy, it would be run by his daughter, Ellen Bou ...

under the name "E.L. Arch", an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

Rachel Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...

, as well as shorter sf and fantasy under her own name. Payes also wrote gothics, such as ''The Black Swan''.

Publications

*''

'' (Reilly & Lee, 1951) *''Bridge to Yesterday'' (

, 1963) *''Planet of Death'' (Avalon, 1964) *''The Deathstones'' (Avalon, 1964) *''The First Immortals'' (Avalon, 1965) *''The Double-Minded Man'' (Avalon, 1966) *''The Man with Three Eyes'' (Thomas Bouregy & Co.,1967) *"Mattie Harris Galactic Spy" (Vertex, 1974) *"Tower of Babble" (Vertex, 1974) *"The Eyes of the Blind" (Vertex, 1975) *''The Black Swan'' (Berkeley, 1975) *''Moment of Desire'' (Playboy Press, 1978) *''The Coach to Hell'' (Playboy Press, 1979) *''Bride of Fury'' (Playboy Press, 1980) *''Satan's Mistress'' (Playboy Press, 1981) *Seven Sisters Series (Playboy Press, 1981) **Book 1: ''Love's Charade'' **Book 2: ''Love's Renegade'' **Book 3: ''Love's Promenade'' **Book 4: ''Love's Serenade'' **Book 5: ''Love's Escapade'' *''Lady Alicia's Secret'' ( Harlequin Regency, 1986) *'' The Wicked Witch of Oz'' (The International Wizard of Oz Club, 1993) *"Percy and the Shrinking Violet" ( Hungry Tiger Press, 1995) *"Spots in Oz" (Hungry Tiger Press, 1997) *"Rocket Trip to Oz" (Hungry Tiger Press, 2000)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Payes, Rachel Cosgrove 20th-century American novelists American children's writers American fantasy writers American romantic fiction writers American science fiction writers American women novelists American women science fiction and fantasy writers People from Westernport, Maryland People from Brick Township, New Jersey 1922 births 1998 deaths American women children's writers American women romantic fiction writers 20th-century American women writers Oz (franchise)