Novelist Anne Rice was born Howard Allen OBrien on October 4, 1941 in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1959, she began classes at Texas Womans College in Denton. She transferred to San Francisco State University, and earned her Bachelors Degree in Political Science and Creative Writing in 1964. She 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 Masters 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 Writers 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.