Rice 'obsessed' with her new hero, a killer recruited to do God's work

By Sue Nowicki
snowicki@modbee.com

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The wildly popular vampire craze that has sunk its teeth into books, TV shows and movies started with Anne Rice. Long before Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series hit the best-seller list, before there was a Buffy the Vampire Slayer, before "The Vampire Diaries" books and TV show, and before Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels formed the basis for the Showtime hit "True Blood," Rice's "Vampire Chronicles" made Lestat a household name. Her "Interview with the Vampire," published in 1976, is one of the best-selling books of all time.

But in 1998, Rice turned from her decadeslong religious skepticism and embraced the Catholicism of her youth. She said in her 2008 memoir, "Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession," that she felt a call to use her storytelling tools only for God.

Since that time, Rice suffered the death of her husband, poet and painter Stan Rice, in 2002 from brain cancer, moved from New Orleans (before the flood) to Southern California and wrote two fictionalized books on the life of Jesus, "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt" and "Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana."

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Her newest release, "Angel Time: The Songs of the Seraphim," will be out Thursday, just in time for Halloween. But no vampires or witches here. Instead, this novel concerns a young hit man, an angel of God and an assignment to

respond to a prayer from a Jewish family facing mob violence in the English town of Norwich during the Middle Ages.

As the well-told story develops, Toby, the main character, must first accept that God can forgive any sin, even murder, before he can be reconciled to God. Toby, like Rice, grew up in the Catholic Church and even gives some thought to becoming a priest before turning away due to a traumatic incident unveiled partway through the story.

Rice, in an e-mail interview with The Bee, talked about her faith and her latest book:

Q: How have your vampire fans reacted to your change of subject matter in your books? Have they pleaded for more vampire books? And do you miss writing about your vampire characters?

A: My vampire fans have run the gamut on my conversion, with some protesting and condemning, others accepting, and some insisting that I write more vampire books. I would say the vast majority have not only accepted my move into Christian fiction, but have claimed that they see the continuity binding all my work and are eager to read the new books.

No, I really don't miss writing about the vampire characters. I'm obsessed with my new hero, Toby O'Dare, and the possibilities that await him as he works with the angels.

Q: In "Angel Time," your main character has a childhood history of Catholicism that slips away in his teenage years and in his decade of being a hit man, yet he is still drawn to the missions and chapels. Is this a bit autobiographical?

A: Yes, I would say that Toby O'Dare's love of the missions in my novel is a reflection of my earlier love for churches even when I wasn't a believing Catholic. Toby is partly autobiographical. Alienated from God as I was, he wanders churches, trying to pray, angry and grief stricken for his lost faith. I certainly used to do that, too. He, too, had an alcoholic mother. And suffered as a consequence.

Q: Toby must come to grips with the idea that God can forgive any sin, even murder, before he moves forward. Was that an important concept for you? Do you think most people understand that, or do they most often think, "God could never forgive what I've done," and so stay away from him and faith?