Lisa Jane Smith (usually known as L.J. Smith) is a popular American author of young-adult fiction that combines horror, fantasy and supernatural romance. Best known for The Vampire Diaries, she went on a ten year hiatus from writing in 1998 due to illness and other personal issues, leaving her latest series, Night World, incomplete; Amazon states the final book Strange Fate to have a release date of 'Unavailable'.
Since 2007, L.J. Smith has had her books reissued, starting with The Vampire Diaries and The Secret Circle. A new trilogy based on The Vampire Diaries was published in 2009, and her website
has several short stories that contain characters and settings from her published work.
Two of her book series, The Vampire Diaries and The Secret Circle, were adapted into TV series (although the former was increasingly In Name Only - albeit still highly successful - while the latter was short-lived).
Works with their own pages
- The Vampire Diaries (1991 - 2011): It should be noted that Smith only wrote the first seven books; the rest are written by a ghostwriter.
- The Forbidden Game (1994)
- Dark Visions (1994 - 1995)
- Night World (1996 - TBA)
Her other works include:
- Wildworld duology
- The Night of the Solstice (1987)
- Heart of Valor (1990)
- The Secret Circle (1992)
- The Initiation
- The Captive
- The Struggle
- Evensong: An Alternate Continuity of The Vampire Diaries from Midnight onwards, published as fanfiction.
- Paradise Lost (2013)
- The War of Roses (2014)
- Into the Wood (TBA)
Smith's works provide examples of:
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: A common theme in her books involves blondes portrayed as pure and angelic in contrast to brunettes who are bad or more mischievous.
- Development Hell: Several of her books ended up here after she took a hiatus from writing due to years-long health issues and family issues (including her mother dying of lung cancer and her brother-in-law getting cancer, resulting in her stepping in to help support her sister's children). She's been working on Night World's final book, Strange Fate, for over two decades. The third book in the Evensong arc has had no updates since 2015. She also announced she planned to write a sequel to The Forbidden Game and there were rumors she's planning a third instalment in the Wildworld series but there's been no news on these, either.
- God Does Not Own This World: This became a huge problem for her with The Vampire Diaries. Following the publication of The Return trilogy, Smith and her publishers disagreed on the direction of the series and certain plot points (allegedly, who Elena was going to be romantically paired with was
especially contentious). Consequently, Smith was booted off The Vampire Diaries and a ghostwriter was hired to write the subsequent books, though they're still published under her name. Smith stated it was due to her unwittingly signing a "work-for-hire" contract back in the 1990s when she first started writing the series, which she now regrets as it means the publishers hold the rights to the franchise rather than Smith herself, so her hands are tied. Smith ultimately decided to write and publish her own continuation of The Vampire Diaries as fanfiction (the Evensong arc).
- Love Triangle: She has yet to write a trilogy that doesn't somehow involve her female protagonist being torn between a Knight in Shining Armor and a Bad Boy.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Both The Vampire Diaries and Night World feature vampires and while there are several similarities, Smith's take on the creatures differs between the two series:
- In The Vampire Diaries vampires burn in sunlight unless they're wearing jewellery made from lapis lazuli, they're allergic to the vervain plant (which can also prevent humans from being mind-controlled by them), they can't enter homes without the occupant's invitation, they cannot cross running water, and to become a vampire a human must die within 24 hours of consuming a vampire's blood (with the exception of the Old Ones, who were never human). They appear to lack any kind of formal society.
- In Night World sunlight weakens a vampire's power and hurts their light-sensitive eyes, but it's otherwise harmless; running water doesn't bother them either. Vampires can enter people's homes with no trouble unless a witch's talisman or protective spells have been placed around the property. Vampires are divided into two sub-groups: lamia (who were born as vampires, will age unless they consciously choose to stop it, and can have children the old-fashioned way) and made vampires (humans or witches who exchange blood with a vampire enough times that they die and resurrect as a vampire; they're frozen at the age they were turned and are infertile). They're especially susceptible to wood; wounds caused by wood take longer to heal and can be fatal. They are also strictly governed by a Council of Vampires.
- Paranormal Romance: Several of her books fall under this genre, featuring humans romancing supernatural beings or romances with some supernatural element to them. In the 1990s, she was one of the most prolific and successful writers of this genre aimed at young adults (especially considering the genre hadn't quite broken into the mainstream yet); her books saw a resurgence in popularity after The Twilight Saga became a hit in the late 2000s.
