L. J. Smith is the author of more than twenty books for young adults, including the bestselling Vampire Diaries and Night World series. She lives in Northern California, in a rambling house in a small town.

Lisa knew that she wanted to be a writer since she was about six, when a teacher praised a poem she'd written. She wrote her first book in high school, finishing it in her first year of college. Then she became a special education teacher before she became a writer full-time.