L.J. Smith dead: ‘Vampire Diaries’ book series author was 66

L.J. Smith dead: ‘Vampire Diaries’ book series author was 66


Author L.J. Smith, who created the โ€œVampire Diariesโ€ book series that inspired the CW drama of the same name and contributed to pop cultureโ€™s obsession with vampires, has died.

Smith died March 8 in a hospital in Walnut Creek, Calif., The Times confirmed. A statement shared to Smithโ€™s website says she died โ€œpeacefullyโ€ after โ€œa long bout with illness.โ€ The authorโ€™s partner Julie Divola and sister Judy Clifford confirmed to the New York Times on Wednesday that Smith, a Danville, Calif., resident, died โ€œafter enduring the cascading effects of a rare autoimmune disease for a decade.โ€ She was 66.

โ€œLisa was a kind and gentle soul, whose brilliance, creativity, resilience and empathy, illuminated the lives of her family, friends and fans alike,โ€ the announcement on Smithโ€™s website said. โ€œShe will be remembered for her imaginative spirit, her pioneering role in supernatural fiction, and her generosity, warmth and heart, both on and off the page.

Smith, who was born in Florida in September 1958,, wrote several young-adult book series including โ€œNight Worldโ€ and โ€œThe Secret Circleโ€ but was best known for creating the โ€œVampire Diariesโ€ novels. Smithโ€™s inaugural entries for the fantasy series famously laid the groundwork for the CW adaptation of the same name by producers Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson.

The CWโ€™s โ€œVampire Diaries,โ€ riding off of pop cultureโ€™s vampire obsession reignited by Stephenie Meyerโ€˜s โ€œTwilightโ€ series and film adaptations, aired from 2009 to 2017. โ€œVampire Diariesโ€ starred Nina Dobrev as teenager Elena Gilbert, who finds herself in a love triangle between vampire brothers Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) and Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) while navigating the less-mythical throes of high school and moving on from her past.

Smith grew up in Southern California and began writing as a child. She published her debut fantasy novel, โ€œThe Night of the Solstice,โ€ in 1987, according to her website, and caught the attention of an editor at Alloy Entertainment. Alloy signed Smith to begin its โ€œVampire Diariesโ€ book series, according to NYT. She published the first four โ€œVampire Diariesโ€ books from 1991 to 1992. Alloy hired Smith on a work-for-hire contract โ€” meaning she did not own the rights to her characters โ€” but she did not realize it at the time, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2014.

Years after entering the literary scene, Smith took a hiatus from writing to deal with family matters, including her motherโ€™s death. She reentered the world of โ€œVampire Diariesโ€ in 2007 amid the success of Meyerโ€™s vampire franchise. She struck another deal with Alloy to pen more โ€œVampire Diariesโ€ books, published in 2009 and 2010. Shortly after, Smith parted ways with HarperCollins (which bought the โ€œVampire Diariesโ€ book series) and Alloy, reportedly over creative differences.

Despite this, Alloy hired a ghostwriter to write new novels and complete the โ€œVampire Diariesโ€ series. โ€œI didnโ€™t realize that they could take the series away from me,โ€ Smith told the WSJ in 2014. โ€œI was heartbroken.โ€

Though Smith turned her focus to other work after the fallout with Alloy and HarperCollins, she ultimately picked up โ€œVampire Diariesโ€ where she left off โ€” writing the story her way through fan fiction. In Amazonโ€™s now-defunct Kindle Worlds fan-fiction publishing platform, Smith reclaimed her beloved characters in informal โ€œVampire Diariesโ€ entries.

Smithโ€™s writing portfolio also included short stories that she published on her website. She most recently finished the latest books in her โ€œNight Worldโ€ and โ€œStrange Fateโ€ series and the adult book โ€œLullaby,โ€ according to her website. In an entry in her FAQ, Smith says โ€œI didnโ€™t choose or decideโ€ to become a writer.

โ€œI have been a storyteller since before I learned how to read or write,โ€ she said. โ€œI knew from my earliest childhood โ€” the first things I rememberโ€” that I would only be happy as a storyteller.โ€

Smith is also survived by her sister Judy Clifford; her niece Lauren Clifford and Laurenโ€™s son Wyatt; and her nephew Brian Clifford and his wife, Taylor Acampora.

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