Anne Rice first began penning vampire chronicles on a whim while living in Haight-Ashbury during the early ’70s. Her neighbors marched San Francisco
against the Vietnam War, but she stayed home trying to make peace with herself
via writing.

She took a chance exploring fantasy with her debut, “Interview with the Vampire.” At the time, the literary world was fixed on realism and social commentary. Novels about the supernatural were marginalized, dismissed as cult
fiction by publishers.

Rice’s work, however, depicts fanged night creatures as elegant anti-heroes struggling with moral and existential issues. Her erotic prose captivated readers en masse, and the 1976 novel launched a best-selling series.

Over the years, she has mused on other mythical figures, including witches and mummies. It was a surprise to fans in 2005 when she declared that all of her future books would be devoted to religious themes, as she returned Catholicism
after a near-death scare.

Read the entire interview on NJ.com

source..:http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2010/10/interview_wi...