On this day, February 19, in 1963, Laurell Kaye Hamilton was born in Heber Springs, Alabama. She is best known for her two dozen (and counting) books featuring Anita Blake: necromancer, animist, vampire hunter and supernatural consultant to law enforcement. She also is author of the Merry Gentry series, where a princess of faerie lives in the “real” world as a private investigator; and other works that appear in various anthologies, as well as a handful of Anita Blake comics. The movement of her work from dark crime thriller to supernatural erotica has alienated some readers, but her works still remain incredibly popular. Currently living near St. Louis, Missouri, today she turns 56.
