Sad news broke today of the death of Interview with the Vampire author Anne Rice, who passed away on Saturday following complications from a stroke. The news was broken by the author’s son Christopher, who has been recently working hard with his mother to bring her beloved books to screen in two new series coming to AMC soon. While the news will come as a shock to her millions of fans around the world, her legacy is about to live on when the Lives of the Mayfair Witches and The Vampire Chronicles arrive next year.

Anne’s son Christopher posted on Twitter yesterday, sharing a post he wrote on the author’s Facebook page to announce the news. In his Twitter post, he said, “Earlier tonight, my mother, Anne Rice, passed away due to complications resulting from a stroke. She left us almost nineteen years to the day my father, her husband Stan, died. Below is the statement I posted to her Facebook page moment ago.” His statement on the author’s Facebook account gave more information. In that post he said:

“Dearest People of Page. This is Anne’s son Christopher and it breaks my heart to bring you this sad news. Earlier tonight, Anne passed away due to complications resulting from a stroke. She left us almost nineteen years to the day my father, her husband Stan, died. The immensity of our family’s grief cannot be overstated. As my mother, her support for me was unconditional — 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. In her final hours, I sat beside her hospital bed in awe of her accomplishments and her courage, awash in memories of a life that took us from the fog laced hills of the San Francisco Bay Area to the magical streets of New Orleans to the twinkling vistas of Southern California."

"As she kissed Anne goodbye, her younger sister Karen said, "What a ride you took us on, kid." I think we can all agree. Let us take comfort in the shared hope that Anne is now experiencing firsthand the glorious answers to many great spiritual and cosmic questions, the quest for which defined her life and career. Throughout much of her final years, your contributions to this page brought her much joy, along with a profound sense of friendship and community. Anne will be interred in our family's mausoleum at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans in a private ceremony. Next year, a celebration of her life will take place in New Orleans. This event will be open to the public and will invite the participation of her friends, readers and fans who brought her such joy and inspiration throughout her life.”

Anne Rice was born in 1941 in New Orleans, and her novels were full of gothic horror and vampire romance that later would serve as inspiration to many other vampire-based works of fiction such as True Blood and The Vampire Diaries among others. Rice wrote her first novel, Interview with the Vampire, while grieving the loss of her daughter Michelle in the early 1970s. The novel would become an instant hit, and was adapted into the 1994 movie of the same name starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, which itself earned a number of BAFTA wins and Oscar nominations.

While the few other movies made based on the author’s work have received mixed reviews and not managed to hit the same level of success as Interview With The Vampire, that all seems set to change in the near future with her Vampire Chronicles novels and her other series, Lives of the Mayfair Witches, both being turned into series for AMC.

It was only last year after striking the deal that Rice was quoted as being very excited about having both series of novels being brought to life under the same company, which would allow the characters to be fleshed out and cross over as intended. She told Variety, “It’s always been my dream to see the worlds of my two biggest series united under a single roof so that filmmakers could explore the expansive and interconnected universe of my vampires and witches. That dream is now a reality, and the result is one of the most significant and thrilling deals of my long career.”

As the author of over 30 novels, it brings a bittersweet feel to her passing, as she managed to see the future of her work on screen being set into motion as she had always wished it to happen, but sadly passed before being able to witness that world finally come to life when the series begins rolling out next year. For her fans, it will simply be another reason to watch the new series and make it the success it deserves to be in her memory. Our thoughts are with Christopher Rice and the rest of the author’s family and friends as well as her millions of fans. Rest in peace, Anne Rice.