Born Howard Allen O’ Brien on October 4, 1941, in New Orleans, Louisiana, she was the second child of Irish Catholic parents. Although she now lives in California, most of her life has been spent in New Orleans, which provides a unique backdrop for her stories. Her mother named her Howard because that was her father’s name, and being a bit of a Bohemian, thought it was a very interesting thing to do. She became Anne on her first day of school when a nun asked her name. Her mother, who was with her, knew how self-conscious her daughter was and let it go. The name stuck.
Her first book, “Interview With The Vampire”, was published in 1976. That was the beginning of what would come to be called “The Vampire Chronicles” These include: “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).
Rice has also published erotica under the pen names of Anne Rampling and A.N. Roquelaure. In October of 2005, she announced in a “Newsweek” article that she “would write only for the Lord.” After many years as an atheist, she returned to her church and is working on a trilogy that will chronicle the life of Christ.
She left New Orleans in the Spring of 2005 devastated by the death of her husband, Stan Rice, and needing to be closer to her son Christopher who had moved to California. Her only daughter, Michelle, died of leukemia at the age of six. Some have said that the move was also prompted by a need for more privacy as fans often camped out in front of her house.
She has suffered from type 1 diabetes since 1998 and her weight at one time ballooned to 254 pounds. She had gastric bypass surgery in January of 2003.
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