LJ Smith, the creative mind behind the Vampire Diaries novels, has tragically passed away at 66.
The author succumbed to a rare autoimmune disease in a Danville, California hospital on March 8, her family revealed.
Battling the illness for over ten years, Smith’s literary legacy includes the TV-adapted Vampire Diaries which starred actress Nina Dobrev and Hollywood hunk Ian Somerhalder and more than two dozen other works, such as the Night World series. She leaves behind three yet-to-be-published manuscripts.
Her journey as a YA novelist began with The Night of the Solstice in 1987, followed by its sequel Heart of Valor in 1990. The Vampire Diaries saga, which started in 1991, revolved around a high school girl caught in a romantic tangle with two vampire siblings.
The initial trilogy’s success led to an expanded series, eventually inspiring the CW Network’s television adaptation.
By 2014, the Vampire Diaries books had flown off shelves, with sales topping five million copies, as reported by the New York Times, reports the Mirror.
A heartfelt homage on her website reads: “Lisa was a kind and gentle soul, whose brilliance, creativity, resilience and empathy, illuminated the lives of her family, friends and fans alike.”
Fans and fellow writers will cherish memories of her boundless creativity, her groundbreaking contributions to supernatural fiction, and her kindness, warmth, and generosity that shone through both in her writing and in her personal life.
Upon hearing the news of her passing, fans flocked to social media to express their condolences. One Twitter/X user shared: “I’m absolutely sobbing at LJ Smith passing away, thank you so much for creating The Vampire Diaries!”.
Another fan wrote: “I will never recover from this news #ljsmith I’m never going to see that last Night World book,” while a third fan reminisced: “RIP LJ Smith. A trip to your worlds was my entire middle school life.
(Image: ITV)
“I still have an entire shelf with every single one of your book series. One of the authors I always say raised me! lol Thank you for being apart of my childhood!”.
A fourth fan paid tribute, saying: “The book world is mourning, Author LJ Smith has passed away at 66. She was one the reasons I became addicted to Paranormal fiction. Her The Forbidden Game series was such addiction to me as teenager. RIP to THE QUEEN of the paranormal YA book series.”
LJ Smith is survived by her close friend Julie Divola, her sister, and her nieces and nephews.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
