Anne Rice, the author who brought the world, the Vampire Lestat has died at the age of 80.

She attained world fame with her 1976 book Interview With the Vampire, which was turned into a movie in 1994, starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst and Antonio Banderas.

Interview With The Vampire was initially rejected by publishers and critics were at first not too enthused. A Doubleday editor said, “The Interview With The Vampire lacked the plot, characters or writing finesse necessary for a hardcover novel.”

The best arbiter of all, the public, loves Anne Rice’s books. Memnoch The Devil is a masterpiece and if you haven’t read it, well do so.

Rice was a prolific writer, penning 30 novels including her Vampire Chronicles featuring Lestat.

On writing, she once said: “If you want to be a writer, write. Write and write and write. If you feel blocked, write through it until you feel your creative juices flowing again. Write. Writing is what makes a writer, nothing more and nothing less.”

Anne Rice was born in New Orleans and raised as a Catholic later becoming an agnostic. In her later years, she again embraced Christianity. Her books have sold 150 million copies.

A diabetic, she died of a stroke in hospital on Sunday, December 11.

Her son Christopher Rice said of her, “She taught me to embrace my dreams, reject conformity and challenge the dark voices of fear and self-doubt. As a writer, she taught me to defy genre boundaries and surrender to my obsessive passions.”

To all writers and authors out there, heed Anne Rice’s words: “Go where the pleasure is in your writing. Go where the pain is. Write the book you would like to read. Write the book you have been trying to find but have not found. But write. And remember there are no rules for our profession. Ignore rules. Ignore what I say here if it doesn’t help you. Do it your own way. Every writer knows fear and discouragement. Just write. The world is crying for new writing. It is crying for fresh and original voices and new characters and new stories. If you won’t write the classics of tomorrow, well we will not have any.”

Anne Rice, you were a fabulous writer and God himself will tell you that, perhaps even the Devil too.

Rest In Peace.