Roberta Leah Jacobs Gellis (September 27, 1927 – May 6, 2016) was an American writer of historical fiction,

historical romance Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Lord Byron, Byron helped popularize in the early 19th century. The genre often takes the form of the novel. Varieties ...

, and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

. She held master's degrees in both

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

and

medieval literature Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (that is, the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. AD 500 to the beginning of t ...

. Many major writers of historical romance cite her as an important influence. She has collaborated with

Mercedes Lackey Mercedes Ritchie Lackey (born June 24, 1950) is an American writer of Fantasy literature, fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar (fictional co ...

on historical-fantasy fiction.

Early life and education

She was born September 27, 1927, to Margaret Segall Jacobs and Morris B. Jacobs. Gellis grew up in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. She earned a B.A. in chemistry and English in 1947 at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

, and master's degrees in biochemistry and medieval literature. Gellis worked in New York City as a research chemist for about a decade before becoming a writer.

Writing career

After leaving her research lab job when her son was born, Gellis wrote her first novels, ''Bond of Blood'' and ''Knight's Honor'', in the 1960s. She went on to write more than fifty novels. These included more than twenty historical romances, including the ''Roselynde Chronicles'' and the ''Heiress Series'', medieval murder mysteries, historical fantasies, space opera, and a mystery featuring

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto. Her family arranged ...

as an amateur detective. Her pseudonyms included Max Daniels, Priscilla Hamilton, and Leah Jacobs. In 1981, the publisher of ''

Romantic Times ''Romantic Times'' was an American magazine, genre magazine specializing in romance novels. It was founded as a newsletter in 1981 by Kathryn Falk. The initial publication took nine months to create and was distributed to 3,000 subscribers. In ...

'' named Gellis as one of the most popular historical romance authors.

Personal life and death

She married Charles Gellis on April 14, 1946, and they had one son. Gellis died on May 6, 2016, in Michigan and is buried at Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, MI.

Awards

*Best Series Writer of 1983, ''

'' *1984 Porgie Gold Medal for best historical romance, ''West Coast Review of Books'' *1986 Romance Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award

Books

Pseudonymous books

Gellis wrote books published under at least three pseudonyms. * ''The Psychiatrist's Wife'' (1966), as Leah Jacobs * ''Space Guardian'' (1977), as Max Daniels * ''Offworld'' (1979), as Max Daniels * ''The Love Token'' (1979), as Priscilla Hamilton

Fantasy and science fiction

* ''Offworld'' * ''The Space Guardian'' * ''Irish Magic'' (contributor) * ''Irish Magic II'' (contributor) * ''Overstars Mail''

Greek mythology

* ''Dazzling Brightness'' * ''Shimmering Splendor'' * ''Enchanted Fire'' * ''Bull God'' * ''Thrice Bound''

Medieval books

* ''Knight's Honor'' * ''Bond of Blood'' * ''The Dragon and the Rose'' * ''The Sword and the Swan'' * ''The Rope Dancer'' * ''Masques of Gold''

The Royal Dynasty series

* ''Siren Song'' * ''Winter Song'' * ''Fire Song'' * ''A Silver Mirror''

The Roselynde Chronicles

* ''Roselynde'' * ''Alinor'' * ''Joanna'' * ''Gilliane'' * ''Rhiannon'' * ''Sybelle'' * ''Desiree''

Tales of Jernaeve

* ''Tapestry of Dreams'' * ''Fires of Winter''

Napoleonic era

* ''The English Heiress'' * ''The Cornish Heiress'' * ''The Kent Heiress'' * ''Fortune's Bride'' * ''A Woman's Estate''

Gellis and Mercedes Lackey

Gellis and

wrote four prequels in the

Baen Books Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher an ...

series "Serrated Edge", whose first four novels Lackey co-wrote with others from 1992 to 1994."Serrated Edge – Series Bibliography"
ISFDB. Retrieved 2014-07-27. These are Gellis's works most widely held in

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

libraries."Gellis, Roberta"
WorldCat. Retrieved 2014-07-27. * ''This Scepter'd Isle'' (2004) * ''Ill Met by Moonlight'' (2005) * ''By Slanderous Tongues'' (2007) * ''And Less Than Kind'' (2008)

Mysteries

Magdalene la Bâtarde series

Historical mysteries featuring 12th-century madam-turned-amateur detective Magdalene la Bâtarde: * ''A Mortal Bane'' (1999) * ''A Personal Devil'' (2001) * ''Bone of Contention'' (2002) * ''Chains of Folly'' (2006)

Other

Featuring Lucrezia Borgia: * ''Lucrezia Borgia and the Mother of Poisons'' (2003)

Other

* ''A Delicate Balance'' * ''Sing Witch, Sing Death''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gellis 1927 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American romantic fiction writers Writers of historical mysteries American women science fiction and fantasy writers American women romantic fiction writers American women mystery writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages American women historical novelists American historical novelists