New and Forthcoming

In the Works:

Arilinn, a Darkover novel, is scheduled for 2024 and is in editorial phase. Matthew Stawicki, who painted the covers for The Children of Kings, Thunderlord, and The Laran Gambit, will be doing the artwork for this book, as well.

I'm thrilled about several projects. One is a novella-length version of "Many Teeth," in which a
swordswoman sets out to rescue a naturalist from a land of dinosaurs. The catch: the swordswoman's own mother was the guide for the first expedition, so she's gone missing, too! I'm also working on re-issuing Northlight with a new cover and description. As if that weren't enough, my editor at DAW is looking over a proposal for a series I'm super excited about.

For the latest news and sneak peeks, plus fun stuff, recipes, and cute cat pics, subscribe to my newsletter.

Single Short Fiction Stories

Here is a series of stand-alone single stories that can be read in a single sitting. The first five have never appeared in a collection, although they are reprints from recent volumes of Sword and Sorceress.
 
The first one, a novelette entitled, "Four Paws To Light My Way," features a blind swordswoman and her guide dog. The inspiration was our last German Shepherd Dog, a retired seeing eye dog named Tajji. Tajji was not only an amazing companion but a teacher, and I learned so much about what seeing eye dogs can do and the freedom and empowerment they bestow upon their humans.
 

They're available from the usual vendors (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play, Apple, and through your public library via Overdrive)

Four Paws To Light My Way (May 1, 2021)
The Poisoned Crown (June 1, 2021)
"The Fallen Man" (July 1, 2021)
The Girl From Black Point Rock (August 1, 2021)
Eagle's Beak and Wings of Bronze, or Something Unusual Happens to Allis (Sept. 1, 2021)
The Hero of Abarxia (Oct. 1, 2021)



Collaborators - Lambda Literary Award Finalist

When a crippled Terran spaceship makes landfall on an alien world.
The Terrans land, unaware that their advanced technology threatens the fragile balance of power for the native race. Aliens, for whom gender has a very different meaning and whose instincts can drive a crowd to madness.

Despite the Terrans best intentions, misunderstandings mount and violent retaliation escalates. Soon everyone — scientists and soldiers, rebels and lovers, patriots and opportunists — are swept up in a cycle of destruction.

A revised version, with maps and bonus materials, is available from Barnes and Noble, and Amazon and other outlets (Kobo, Apple, GooglePlay, Scribd, etc.) It's also available in hardcover and trade paperback, and your friendly local bookstore can order it through Ingram.


A Heat Wave in the Hellers, and Other Tales of Darkover, a collection of my own Darkover short fiction.  In print and ebook editions. At  Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other outlets. Your local bookstore can order the print version through Ingram.
“Midwife” relates the adventures of a young woman who inadvertently becomes the surrogate mother of a banshee chick — a smelly, sightless, carnivorous bird. …A pair of City Guards cadets invent an imaginary recruit in order to avoid their chores, and then must face the consequences…In the Ages of Chaos, a young wizard must rely on his uncertain powers to survive a haunted Tower…When the new lord of a captured castle is found murdered, the all-too-obvious suspect is an Aldaran assassin…Only the legendary Keeper could save her circle under the onslaught of forbidden weapons, but the results would cripple generations of women to come……and in the title story, written as a birthday gift, I send Marion Zimmer Bradley herself to Darkover to solve a crisis in “A Heat Wave in the Hellers”…


The print edition of Ink Dance: Essays on the Writing Life contains extra pages for your own notes. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your favorite indie bookstore through Ingram.
"A cup of inspiration, a dash of understanding, a bouquet of wisdom for writers new and old. From the desk of writer and editor Deborah J. Ross comes a collection of warm, insightful essays on “the writing life” – from getting started, negotiating with the Idea Fairy and creating memorable characters, to writing queries, surviving bad reviews, dealing with life’s interruptions and creative jealousy, to nourishing yourself and your creative muse. With space for personal notes."