Who is Laurell K Hamilton ~ Author of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Series

Laurell K. Hamilton's passion for fantasy took root early-and a bit tragically. When her mother died in a car accident, Hamilton was raised by her grandmother, whom Hamilton credits with sparking her interest in fantasy. The older woman told horror stories that Hamilton remembers to this day. Growing up in the Midwest, Hamilton's first encounter with fantasy fiction was entitled "Pigeon from Hell," and soon after, she discovered The Natural History of the Vampire in her school library.

Years later, childhood reading and those bedtime tales would dovetail with influences like Robert B. Parker's Spencer series and Robert E. Howard's Conan The Barbarian, to create Hamilton's popular series, Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter. Now, Hamilton has found new success with her exploration of an entirely different realm of fantasy.

In her latest works, it's not vampires but faerie who share the world with human beings. In the best-selling A Kiss of Shadows, Hamilton introduces Meredith, a lovely fey princess on the run from the faerie court. A Caress of Twilight finds Meredith working as a private investigator in L.A.-and in a furious race with cousin Prince Cel for the throne of the Unseelie Court. The first of the two to successfully procreate wins the crown. Meredith takes on a series of lovers with passion and zest, dodging assassination attempts, and even a serial killer who stalks the city's fey and human populations.

Hamilton likes to spice up her dark and magical plot lines with healthy doses of sex and violence. "Two things I do well in books are sex and violence," she says. "I want a kiss to be so believable that it gives the reader shivers." In a lesser author's hands, such tactics might seem gratuitous, but Hamilton's prose is grounded by her first person narrative and her research into mythology and folklore.

"I think people have a real need to believe in things invisible," says Hamilton. "I think that in times of stress, we often turn to escapism." With her latest series, Hamilton continues to provide readers the means to do just that. Source

Laurell's grandmother, Laura Gentry, was responsible for Laurell's interests in things that go bump in the night. Mrs. Gentry related tales of horror originating in the hills of Arkansas, the state where she grew up. From those stories Laurell got this lesson: "Rawhide and bloody bones will get you if you aren't good".

When Laurell was 13, she discover a short story collection titled "Pigeons from Hell". "It was the first heroic fantasy I'd read. It was fights, swords, monsters I decided not only did I want to become a writer, it was this I wanted to write". She chanced upon another book in the high school library " The Natural History of the Vampire". She read it so many times she nearly memorized it. When it's suggested that her choice of creepy films and stories were unseemly when her friends' companions were dolls: "I wasn't like most girls" she said.

Laurell was born in Heber Springs, Arkansas but grew up in Sims, Ind. A hamlet with a population of 100. Laurell's mother was killed in a car crash in 1969. Laurell's mother Suzie Kline and her grandmother had been the other's strength with Mrs. Gentry the one who kept the household together. Her mother's death, her grandmother's role in raising her and growing up with no male in the home are "the three things that made who I am," she says. Though she still believes she would have grown up to be a writer regardless.

Laurell K Hamilton resides in St. Louis County in Missouri with her family. Source

I fell in love with Laurell K Hamilton's writing after reading her Guilty Pleasures novel, the first in her Anita Blake series. Never before had I read a book by any other author that engaged me so thoroughly into their world. She is my favorite author for so many reasons, but here are the top three.

1. Laurell is not afraid to "put it out there". She writes in a style usually reserved for male authors. Laurell's novels are so direct and refreshing - from her battle scenes to her romantic encounters.

2. I have always had a love for vampires and other supernatural creatures. Laurell has created a world filled with such characters -- and made it so believable. I have to admire an author who can take reality and myth and entwine them so seamlessly.

3. Laurell has a college degree in biology and has researched vampire (and other) myths extensively, so this gives her an edge on describing the supernatural creatures in her novels. She uses her knowledge to make her storyline as realistic as possible and she does not cheat the reader by using cheap tactics to get the story written. All of the supernatural feats in her books are based on her knowledge and it makes for an incredibly stimulating read.

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Author Laurell K Hamilton
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