Lisa Jane Smith, author behind hit TV show The Vampire Diaries, dies aged 66 (2025)

Author of The Vampire Diaries Lisa Jane Smith – best known as L. J. Smith – has died at the age of 66.

Smith, of Danville, California, died peacefully on Saturday, March 8, 2025, after a ‘long bout with illness’, the author’s website announced.

Born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on her father’s birthday, to Kathryn J. Smith and Glenn C. Smith, Smith grew up to become a New York Times bestselling author of young-adult fiction.

Of over 29 books she wrote over the course of her career, Smith was best known for theVampire Diariesseries – later adapted into a hit television show – and theNight Worldseries.

He debut novel wasThe Night of the Solstice,which she wrote in 1987, followed three years after by the sequelHeart of Valor,which she finished in 1990.

She grew up in Southern California, in the small town of Villa Park.

The tribute on the author’s website read: ‘Lisa was a kind and gentle soul, whose brilliance, creativity, resilience and empathy, illuminated the lives of her family, friends and fans alike.

‘She will be remembered for her imaginative spirit, her pioneering role in supernatural fiction, and her generosity, warmth and heart, both on and off the page.’

She is survived by her ‘devoted long-time friend’, Julie Divola, her beloved younger sister, Judy Clifford, Judy’s children, Lauren Clifford and Brian Clifford, Brian’s wife, Taylor Acampora, and Lauren’s son, Wyatt Nicholson.

Smith wrote seven books on the series in the 1990s, and the remaining six were ghostwritten, but she went on to publish fan fiction based on her version of the story.

The Vampire Diaries premiered on the CW in 2009 and ran for 171 episodes, following a love triangle between vampire brothers Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) and Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder), as they fought for the affections of human Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev).

Set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls,Virginia,the story soon unearths a whole supernatural world simmering beneath the surface of normal life.

The Vampire Diaries TV show concluded in 2017 after becoming the most-watched series on the network, passed only by Arrow, The 100, Riverdale, and The Flash.

Of The Vampire Diaries TV show, Smith once wrote: ‘I think it is a brilliant story, brilliantly written, beautifully acted, with terrific direction, cinematography, and music.

She added: ‘Of course, I still wish that someone as talented as Kevin Williamson [creator] would come along and tell the story the way it is told in the books, but that doesn’t dull my appreciation of the version that is out.’

On becoming a writer, she said: ‘I didn’t choose or decide.I have been a storyteller since before I learned how to read or write. I knew from my earliest childhood – the first things I remember – that I would only be happy as a storyteller.’

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