Rice, Anne (1941– )

US writer. She gained a vast cult readership for both her supernatural novels, such as the Vampire Chronicles (1976–88), a trilogy, and for her sadomasochistic erotica under the pen-name A N Roquelaure, as in Beauty's Punishment (1984). She also wrote mainstream fiction, using the pen-name of Anne Rampling.

The Vampire Chronicles include Interview with the Vampire (1973; filmed 1994), The Vampire Lestat (1985), and The Queen of the Damned (1988; filmed 2002). She began publishing her Christ the Lord novels, chronicling the life of Jesus Christ, in 2005.

She was born and grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, which she used as the setting for many of her books. Named after her father, she legally changed her name as a young girl. She studied at Texas Women's University 1959–60, San Francisco State College (BA 1964, MA 1971), and at the University of California, Berkeley 1969–70.