L. J. Smith

L. J. Smith (Lisa Jane Smith, 4 September 1958 to 8 March 2025) was an American young adult novelist, best known for The Vampire Diaries, which began in 1991 and was adapted for television in 2009.

Smith was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, grew up in Villa Park, California, and studied experimental psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She taught at an elementary school for three years before leaving to write full time in 1989. Her first books, The Night of the Solstice (1987) and Heart of Valor (1990), sold poorly. The Vampire Diaries began with The Awakening in September 1991, and the first four books (The Awakening, The Struggle, The Fury and Dark Reunion) were published by Harper Paperbacks between 1991 and 1992, with UK editions from Hodder Children's Books. She followed with The Secret Circle (1992), The Forbidden Game (1994), Dark Visions (1995) and Night World (from 1996).

After a break from 1998 to 2008, she returned to The Vampire Diaries with the Return books (Nightfall, Shadow Souls, Midnight, 2009 to 2011). Because she had written the original books under a work-for-hire contract, the rights belonged to Alloy, and after Midnight she was removed from the series and replaced by ghostwriters. The same happened with The Secret Circle. Television versions of The Vampire Diaries (2009) and The Secret Circle (2011) followed. She died in Walnut Creek, California, aged 66.

For collectors: The key books are the original Harper Paperbacks printings of the first four Vampire Diaries novels (1991 to 1992), starting with The Awakening. Volumes published after Midnight (2011) were ghostwritten, so the Smith-authored books form a distinct group within the series.