Merrick

Anne Rice is a best-selling American author of metaphysical gothic fiction, Christian literature and erotica from New Orleans, Louisiana. Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history. She was married to poet and painter Stan Rice... for 41 years until his death from brain cancer in 2002. Rice was born the second of four daughters of Irish Catholic parents, Howard O'Brien and Katherine "Kay" Allen O'Brien, in New Orleans. Rice's father worked for the U.S. Postal Service and authored the book, The Impulsive Imp, which was published posthumously. Rice's older sister, the late Alice Borchardt, was a noted genre author. Her husband, Stan Rice was a highly regarded poet, and their son, Christopher Rice is a bestselling author. Rice's early years were marked by coping with her mother's advancing alcoholism and poverty. She lived in the Irish Channel of New Orleans, which she describes as an Irish Catholic ghetto, in the rented home of her maternal grandmother, Alice Allen, known as "Mamma Allen," at 2301 St. Charles Avenue.
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The Vampire Chronicles is a series of novels by Anne Rice that revolves around the fictional character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman turned into a vampire in the 18th century. Most of the books are in first-person perspective with only a few being in third-person. Interview with the... Vampire was made into a 1994 film starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater and Kirsten Dunst. Portions of The Vampire Lestat and Queen of The Damned both were used for the 2002 film Queen of the Damned, starring Stuart Townsend and Aaliyah. To date, The Vampire Chronicles have sold 80 million copies worldwide. The Vampire Chronicles and Lives of the Mayfair Witches had a few crossover novels making Lives of the Mayfair Witches part of the Vampire Chronicles world. Anne Rice's vampires are different in several ways from classic vampires like Dracula. Rice's creatures are not affected by the usual weapons against classic vampires: garlic, crosses, and they cannot be killed with wooden stakes. Like classic vampires, most do choose to sleep in some form of coffin during the day because sun exposure can cause death/pain.
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