Novelist Anne Rice was born Howard Allen O'Brien on October 4, 1941 in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1959, she began classes at Texas Woman's College in Denton. She transferred to San Francisco State University, and earned her Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and Creative Writing in 1964. Rice published her first short story in 1965 called October 4, 1948. She began graduate school at San Francisco State University in 1966, began writing Interview with the Vampire in 1969, and earned her Master's degree in 1972. In 1973, Rice turned Interview with the Vampire into a novel in a five week period. It was rejected when she submitted it, but in 1974, while attending a Writer's Conference in… Squaw Valley, she met an agent, who agreed to represent her. In 1976, Interview with the Vampire was published. It was made into a film starring Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst, and Tom Cruise in 1994. She wrote various series in the same genre, such as the rest of the Vampire Chronicles, the Mayfair Witches books and two series under pen names. In 1998, Rice returned to the Catholic Church. In 2002, she decided to only write for Christ or about Christ. Her more recent works include Christ the Lord, Out of Egypt; Christ the Lord, the Road to Cana; and Called Out of Darkness. Rice's most recent series is The Wolf Gift Chronicles Series. The first book in the series, The Wolf Gift, was published in 2012 by Knopf. The second book in the series, The Wolves of Midwinter was published in 2013 by Knopf. Both books in the series made the New York Times bestsellers list.