The Master of Rampling Gate

It seems pretty ironic for an author to change from Gothic fiction, erotica, then to Christian literature, but American author, Anne Rice did just that. She was born Howard Allen Frances O'Brian in 1941 in New Orleans. Somehow, being born in New Orleans seems fitting for an author most famous for her popular series of novels entitled, The Vampire Chronicles.

Rice was raised in a Catholic family, but chose to be an agnostic as a young adult. She was very successful coming right out with her first novel......Interview with the Vampire. With that success, she began writing sequels to that novel in the 1980's. In the mid- 2000's, she returned to Catholicism and published novels that were fiction about some happenings in the life of Jesus. She distanced herself several years later from organized religion, siting disagreement with their position on social issues, but vowed her lasting faith in God.

Rice's books have sold over 100 million copies......thus, her immense popularity as an American author. She was married to her husband, Stan Rice, for 41 years until he passed from brain cancer in 2002. They had two children, one who died of leukemia at fie years old, and a son Christopher, who is also an author. Several of her novels have been adapted to film. Many ask about her strange given name...... Howard Allen Frances O'Brien. She answers with......her father's name was Howard, and her mother thought that giving her a man's name would give her advantages in the world as she grew up. On her first day of Catholic School, when the Nun asked her name, she just said Anne because she thought it was a pretty name. The name has served her well.