Rice puts vampires behind her, focuses on spirituality

The illustrious Anne Rice, now 67, is most famous for her lush vampire novels beginning in the '70s. The most famous is "Interview With the Vampire," 1976. Critics have said her vampire books compare favorably with Mary Shelley's legendary "Frankenstein." Her output has been diverse, and she has more than 30 novels to her credit, a few using pseudonyms, including Anne Rampling and A.N. Roquelaure.

Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, meaning she is one of the most widely read authors in modern history. She has also written a few erotic novels. Born in New Orleans, she was eccentrically christened Howard Allen O'Brien, the first name in honor of her father, but she introduced herself in the first grade as Anne — and that name has stuck.

A committed Roman Catholic until the age of 18, Rice left the church because she thought it was too restrictive. She became an atheist and has remained so most of her adult life. At the age of 20, she married Stan Rice, a poet, and that "wonderful marriage" endured until her husband passed away in 2002. A daughter died at age 5 of leukemia, and a son, Christopher, has followed in his mother's footsteps as a best-selling author.

After her husband died, Rice suffered from severe depression, which contributed to her weight rising to 254 pounds. The following year she successfully underwent gastric bypass surgery.

Ten years ago, after awakening from a diabetic coma, Rice returned to spirituality and once again became a Catholic.

This week, her memoir, "Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession," debuts in bookstores around the country. In it, she outlines the most notable episodes of her life, climaxing with her return to Christianity.

"I have no regrets for the time I spent writing vampire stories," said Rice during an interview at the Los Angeles Convention Center during the National Book Convention in May. "But I'm through with them now. That part of my life is over. I feel the need to turn my writing completely to Jesus Christ. I want to write the modern history of Christ. I try to be inspired, but I do not always accomplish it."

Rice said she wrote "Interview With the Vampire" to express "rebellion. I always felt like an outcast. I also felt guilt, because of everything Catholic girls were expected to do or not to do. When I became an atheist, my guilt slipped away. I knew the ancient history of the church — but I stopped following it in my adulthood, and so I don't know its recent history."

Nevertheless, Rice is glad she left the church and then came back, because she understands "both sides — but I don't recommend it to others."