Wednesday, August 3, 2011

LA Banks, Best Selling Author of Vampire Huntress Series Passed Away


It is with a great, heavy and sad heart I share that, Banks died on August 2, 2011, aged 51.

She wrote romance, women's fiction, crime suspense, dark fantasy/horror and non-fiction. Her pseudonyms were LA Banks, Leslie Esdaile, Leslie Banks and Leslie Esdaile Banks.

HER AUTHOR PAGE IS HERE: http://www.leslieesdailebanks.com/about.php


I was awed to meet her when I recruited her for a spot as a chat guest on YALITCHAT and then she was so gracious to be a guest at the Maryland Writer's Conference in April this year where I got to meet her.

When she first saw me, she gave me the biggest hug and THANKS lil' ole me for inviting her.

SHE WAS A GIVING AND WARM SPIRIT OF A WOMAN.

Please support her family buy purchasing her book (She self-published her YA Series) and that money would go directly to her family.


HERE'S MY DAUGHTER'S REVIEW OF HER BOOK - SHADOW WALKER, NYIA





SHADOW WALKER Synopsis from Goodreads:

Set in a post-apocalyptic world following the Armageddon, in Shadow Walker, Sarah and the teenage children of the world’s Guardians of the Light must learn to hone their extra-sensory talents to one day join in the battle with their parents.

While they are secreted away in the Temt Tchaas Academy, (aka Neteru Academy), these students must learn to fight evil as well as learn to resist the temptation of fighting with each other. Although these young people have super powers, they still struggle with the same dramas and insecurities like any other high school student – and just because their parents may be superhuman doesn’t mean their parents are perfect. Far from it. That only makes life more confusing, as peer pressure, budding romances, decisions about whether or not to snitch, or whether or not to use one’s supernatural gifts for personal gain must be sorted out.

In this coming of age story, Sarah Rivera and her twin brother, Alejandro, must figure out when to use their wings or fangs, how to get along with their compound siblings, how to fit in with others in a huge new school, and perhaps most importantly, how to pick their battles to always fight for what is right.

NYIA’s REVIEW:

I’ve never read anything like this before. And I loved it! My mom got this on ebook for just $3.99 (she told me to tell you to pick it up on smashwords (http://www.smashwords.com/b/33128) and started reading it and loved Sarah. The kids talk in slang, which made the book really unique to me, and made the kids sound realistic. Sarah scares easy but doesn’t realize she is a Shadow Walker, one of the most strongest guardians there is to fight the evil ones. This world is filled with vampires, zombies, demons, werewolves and angelic mixes with magical creatures. It was very original and interesting enough to keep me read. There was a little bit of romance, but it wasn’t really a serious one like in most of the teen books. I would have liked to see more of that, but there was so much other exciting stuff going on in the book that I didn’t miss it not having the love triangle that most books have. I liked how Sarah grew into the hero even though she was scared so I gave this 5 out of 5 FIREWORKS.

HERE ARE SOME OF HER OTHER SERIES:

Crimson Moon

Vampire Huntress and Shadow Walker

Romances

7 comments:

Kelly Hashway said...

This is such sad news. I don't even know what to say. She was such a sweetheart on yalitchat. What an awful loss.

Lola7384 said...

Such a talented author and beautiful person.... I was lucky to have met her. She will be missed.

Author Dawn Brazil said...

That is so sad. She was a talented author. I wish I could have met her but I've visited her site countless times. She will be missed.

Mary A. Shafer said...

It is so very difficult to put this news together with my memory of the very much alive, vibrant, vital woman who owned the room when she spoke and owned the table when we sat together with you at the MD Writers Conference. I was looking so forward to getting to know Leslie better, and to learn more about this fabulous woman, accomplished speaker and prolific writer. I guess the good really do die young. So sad for those they leave behind...

Mardel said...

Of course I never met her, but I remember a few times websearching and seeing a few pictures of her and I was always impressed by her big-assed smile. She looked like a woman who knew how to really enjoy her life. I hope she's in a good place now, and that her family is doing as well as they can. She was also a very prolific writer - I was amazed a while ago, when I saw how many books she wrote under so many names. Amazing.

Enjoyed your daughter's review also - there's some talent there, huh? She made me want to go buy the book. :) which I will the minute I get some more money in my bank account.

Drkaraam said...

we have lost a beautiful mind...I just found out about her Neteru Academy and was blown away because I authored a book entitled The Ankh Akademy...great minds think alike, I guess...peace, love and light to her and her family

cleemckenzie said...

I have her book and will read it with her in mind. Terrible to lose a good writer so soon in their career.