She is right up there with Clive Barker and Stephen King as far as I'm concerned.
Her novel, MINION, Book One (2003) in her Vampire Huntress series hooked me from page one. Her heroine, Damali Richards, who is a spoken word artist gets tossed into the realm of vampire huntress with nary a Buffy-ism in sight (I do love that TV show though).I loved Banks'world of non-White characters where a Tamika could be a "'round the way girl' as well as a vampire. Banks was from my hometown too. She inspired me to write my science fiction series with my own Black female main character.
L.A. Banks. born Leslie Ann Petersen, known also as Leslie Esdaile Banks hailed from Philadelphia, PA. A prolific scribe, her series comprised 12 novels, the last one ironically named, THE THIRTEENTH (2009).
In June 2011, BBanks was diagnosed with late stage adrenal cancer. Well liked in the romance writing community, notables such as P.N. Elrod, Heather Graham and Charlaine Harris donated to a fund set up for banks' medical care. Sadly, Banks died August 2, 2011 at the age of 51. She is survived by a daughter, Helena.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Esdaile_Banks
List of her works:
Hello P.J Dean,
ReplyDeleteLove your novels and L.A. Banks novels are lovely.
Thank you Bain
Thanks for loving and reading my books. Yes. L. A. Banks was one of the greats. I miss her imaginative spin on vampires
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