A look into the life and personal challenges of the woman behind the Vampire Chronicles.
Early Years
Anne Rice was born with the unlikely name of Howard O'Brien on October 4, 1941, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The second child born to Irish Catholic parents, her mother named her Howard for several reasons. First of all, it was her father's name and secondly, being a bit of a bohemian, she thought it was an interesting thing to do. Howard became Anne on the first day of school when a nun asked her name. Her mother was with her and realizing how shy and self-conscious her daughter was, let it go. The name stuck.
Writing Horror
Although Anne Rice makes her home in California, most of her tales of horror are set in New Orleans. Her first book, "Interview With a Vampire," was published in 1976. She turned it into a series, which would come to be known as "The Vampire Chronicles." This Anne Rice collection includes: "The Vampire Lestat (1985), "The Queen of the Damned" (1988), "The Tale of the Body Thief" (1992), "Memnoch the Devil" (1995), "The Vampire Armand" (1998), "Merrick" (2000), "Blood and Gold" (2001), "Blackwood Farm" (2002) and "Blood Canticle" (2003).
Other Writings and Current Life
Under the pennames of Anne Rampling and A. N. Roquelaure, Anne Rice has also published erotica. In a Newsweek
article of 2005, she announced that after many years of atheism she returned to the Church and that her future writings would only be "for the Lord." Anne Rice is currently working on a trilogy that will chronicle the life of Christ.
Anne Rice left her home in New Orleans in the spring of 2005 after the death of her husband, Stan. She moved to California where her son, Christopher, resides. Michelle, who was Anne Rice's only daughter, died at the age of six of leukemia. It had been rumored that her move was also prompted by a lack of privacy from fans camping out in front of her house. Suffering from type one diabetes since 1998, Anne Rice has had more than her share of medical problems. Her weight at one time ballooned to more than 250 pounds and she went through gastric bypass surgery in January of 2003.
Anne Rice remains one of the world's best selling horror writers.
