Fans are mourning the loss of a legendary author.

L.J. Smith, who wrote The Vampire Diaries novels, died on March 8 after a decade-long battle with a rare autoimmune disease, her partner Julie Divola and her sister Judy Clifford told The New York Times. She was 66.

“Lisa was a kind and gentle soul, whose brilliance, creativity, resilience and empathy, illuminated the lives of her family, friends and fans alike,” a statement on her website read. “She will be remembered for her imaginative spirit, her pioneering role in supernatural fiction, and her generosity, warmth and heart, both on and off the page.”

Growing up in Southern California, L.J. (real name Lisa Jane Smith) had dreams of becoming a writer as a young child after a teacher, per her website, “praised a horrible poem I’d written.”

Years later, she began working on her first fantasy novel The Night of the Solstice, labelled for readers ages 8 to 12, while in high school. And as she continued to pour glimpses of her vivid imagination onto the page, she quickly gained a cult following when her vampiric series was adapted into a hit television show in 2009, starring Ian Somerhalder, Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley, among others.