LJ Smith Dead: Author Of ‘The Vampire Diaries,’ ‘The Secret Circle’ Was 66

deadline.com:

LJ Smith, the author whose bestselling Vampire Diaries novels were adapted into a hit TV show, has died aged 66. The New York Times reports that the bestselling author died on March 8 in Walnut Creek, Calif, after suffering effects of a rare autoimmune disease for a decade.

A statement on Smith’s website said: “Lisa was a kind and gentle soul, whose brilliance, creativity, resilience and empathy, illuminated the lives of her family, friends and fans alike. “She 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.” (Lisa Jane) Smith published the original four-book series, about two vampire brothers and an orphaned young woman, in 1991 and 1992, before they were turned into a hit TV show that debuted in 2009.

She wrote another trilogy in 2009-11. BBC News reports that in 2011 Smith was dropped by her publishers, who owned the rights to the series, and commissioned other writers to continue.

But later the series was added to an Amazon Kindle scheme, which gave anyone the right to publish fan fiction, and she continued to create new instalments for the characters she had created.