Vampire Diaries Author L.J. Smith Dead at 66

L.J. Smith, the author of The Vampire Diaries novels, died at 66 on March 8 in Walnut Creek, Calif.

Her partner, Julie Divola, told The New York Times that Smith died in a hospital after struggling with the long-term symptoms of a rare autoimmune disease over the past decade. Smith’s death was also confirmed on her website.

Born Lisa Jane Smith on Sept. 4, 1958, in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., her family soon relocated to Southern California. Raised in Villa Park, Calif., Smith chose to model her pen name after her two favorite fantasy writers, Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien and The Chronicles of Narnia author C.S. Lewis.

The late author earned her Bachelor of Arts in experimental psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1982. She taught kindergarten and special education for several years before pursuing writing professionally.

Smith published over 24 books and reportedly left behind three unpublished works upon her death. Many of these novels were geared towards young adult readers. She began writing her first fantasy novel, The Night of the Solstice, while in high school. This novel attracted the attention of Alloy Entertainment, a book packaging company since acquired by Warner Bros.

The publishing group signed Smith on to write The Vampire Diaries as a young adult answer to the success of the 1994 film adaptation of Anne Rice’s 1976 gothic-romance vampire novel Interview with the Vampire. The first in Smith’s series of novels was published in 1991.

Both the novel series and the television adaptation of The Vampire Diaries center on high school student Elena Gilbert, who finds herself caught in a love triangle between 19th-century vampire brothers Damon and Stefan Salvatore.

Smith’s novels, initially published by HarperCollins throughout the early 1990s, gained a cult following in the mid-2000s, when they were adapted into the hit CW network show of the same name starring Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert in 2009.

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Not realizing it was a work-for-hire contract, Smith was fired by Alloy and replaced with a ghostwriter after writing her initial Vampire Diaries novels, prompting a long hiatus from writing. She returned in the 2010s, reclaiming her own original characters through the emerging medium of fan fiction.

The Vampire Diaries was among the most prolific television shows from the vampire media renaissance of the late 2000s and early 2010s, alongside other fan favorites like Twilight and True Blood.

Smith’s agent, John Silbersack, told The New York Times that she was writing until the very end.

“She had been quite ill, but despite the difficulties and the pain, she was fiercely dedicated to continuing to write,” Silbersack said.

Smith is survived by Divola. The couple do not share any children.