Author L.J. Smith, who created the 'Vampire Diaries' otherwordly book series that inspired the CW drama of the same name, died this month. She was 66.

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.

Author LJ Smith, whose best-selling Vampire Diaries novels were turned into a hit TV show, has died at the age of 66. Lisa Jane Smith published the original four-book series, about a love triangle involving two vampire brothers and an orphaned young woman,