On Saturday, December 11^th, author Anne Rice passed away at the age of 80 after complications from a recent stroke.

Her son, Christopher Rice, announced her death in a statement posted on Facebook and Twitter. In a tribute to her, he wrote, “As a writer, she taught me to defy genre boundaries and surrender to my obsessive passions.” He further stated, “In her final hours, I sat beside her hospital bed in awe of her accomplishments and her courage.”

Rice is renowned for her vampire fiction, has written and published over 30 novels, and has sold over 150 million copies during her career. She is best known for The Vampire Chronicles, Interview with a Vampire, and Queen of the Damned. Rice’s work has inspired and captured the interest in works of many vampire genres seen today.

Her first novel and major success came after the loss of her 5-year-old daughter to Leukemia. Rice and her husband Stan Rice found themselves grieving her loss. During this time, she began writing and revising a story she had written, which later came to be Interview with a Vampire. The book was later adapted to movie starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in 1994.

Her writing has impacted literature and entertainment. She wrote upon many themes in her novels including immortality, death, female sexuality, and queerness, which gained her many critics. However, her willingness to defy boundaries aspired many of her fans. In an interview with The Times in 1990 she stated, “What matters to me is that people know that my books are serious and that they are meant to make a difference and that they are meant to be literature.”

Victoria Wilson, her editor, described her as a fierce storyteller who was “decades ahead of her time.”

A public memorial to celebrate her life is planned for some time next year in New Orleans.