She wrote seven books in a series that went on to be a hit TV show. After she was replaced by ghostwriters, she reclaimed her characters online in fan fiction.

Lisa Jane Smith "L.J. Smith," the author of the Vampire Diaries book series, died on Saturday, March 8, at 66 years old in Walnut Creek, California. Smith's partner, Julie Divola, as well as her sister, Judy Clifford, told the New York Times she "died in a hospital after enduring the cascading effects of a rare autoimmune disease for a decade."

Bestselling author L.J. Smith, best known for the book series "The Vampire Diaries," which also became a TV hit, has died at 66.