Leslie Esdaile Banks

Leslie Esdaile Banks was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

writer. She wrote in various genres, including African American literature

African American literature

African-American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. The genre traces its origins to the works of such late 18th century writers as Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano, reaching early high points with slave narratives and the Harlem...

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

She won several literary awards, including the 2008 Essence Literary Awards Storyteller of the Year.

Biography

Banks was born and raised in Philadelphia. She contributed to magazines, newspaper columns, and wrote commercial fiction for five major publishers: St. Martin's Press (NYC), Simon and Schuster (NYC), Kensington Publishing (NYC), BET/Arabesque (NYC), and Genesis Press (MS).

Books 1 and 2 of The Vampire Huntress Legend Series
The Vampire Huntress Legend Series
The Vampire Huntress Legend Series is a twelve book series written by Leslie Esdaile Banks under the pen name L.A. Banks. The series centers around a young twenty-something woman named Damali Richards who is a spoken word artist but is also The Neteru, a human who is born every thousand years to...

(Minion and The Awakening, respectively), have been optioned for Hollywood films by GothamBeach Entertainment and Griot Entertainment. Originally a nine book series, The Vampire Huntress Legend Series has now been expanded to twelve books (the last being called "The Thirteenth"). Banks was a founding partner of The Liars Club, a networking group of professional in publishing and other aspects of entertainment.

Illness

In June 2011 it was announced on Banks' website that she had been diagnosed with late stage adrenal cancer. It was revealed that due to the extreme costs of her medical care, her family opened up a charitable fund in her name in one of the local Pennsylvania banks. The literary community also rallied around the ailing author, with several supporters starting a series of auctions where the proceeds went towards Banks' medical care. Many well known people such as bestselling authors P.N. Elrod, Heather Graham

Heather Graham Pozzessere

Heather Graham Pozzessere is a best-selling US writer, who writes primarily romance novels...

and Charlaine Harris

Charlaine Harris

Charlaine Harris is a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing mysteries for over twenty years. She was born and raised in the Mississippi River Delta area of the United States. She now lives in southern Arkansas with her husband and three children...

donated books and services, as would others in the literary community. On August 2, 2011, the official website of L.A. Banks was updated to reflect her death.

Leslie Esdaile

ROMANCE

Sundance (1996)
Slow Burn (1997)
Love Notes (2001)
Love Lessons (2001)
River of Souls (2001)
Love Potions (2002)
Still Waters Run Deep (2002)
Tomorrow’s Promise (2002)
Through the Storm (2002)
Sister Got Game (2004)
Keepin’ It Real (2005)
Take Me There (2006)
Better Than (June 2008)

“Home For The Holidays” in Midnight Clear (et al.) (2000) (*)
“Time Enough for Love” in After the Vows (et al.) (2001) (*)
“Valentine’s Love” in Candlelight and You (et al.) (2003) (*)
“Shameless” in Sisterhood of Shopaholics (et al.) (2003) (*)
“A 'No Drama' Valentine's” in Valentin's Day is Killing Me (et al.) (2006) (*)

Alexis Grant
Men of the Delta Force Series

Sizzle & Burn
Locked at Loaded

NON-FICTION

How To Write A Romance For The New Market (1999) (*)

Leslie E. Banks

ROMANCE

Soul Food: For Better, For Worse (2002)
Soul Food: Through Thick and Thin (2003)

Leslie Banks

NON-FICTION

“Light at the End of the Tunnel” in Chicken Soup for the African American Soul (2004) (*)

CRIME/SUSPENSE

Betrayal of the Trust (2004)
Blind Trust (2005)
Shattered Trust (2006)
No Trust (final book) (September 2007)

LA Banks

CRIME/SUSPENSE

Scarface, The Beginning, Volume 1 (2006)
Scarface, Point of No Return, Volume 2 (TBD)

PARANORMAL
The Vampire Huntress Legend Series
The Vampire Huntress Legend Series
The Vampire Huntress Legend Series is a twelve book series written by Leslie Esdaile Banks under the pen name L.A. Banks. The series centers around a young twenty-something woman named Damali Richards who is a spoken word artist but is also The Neteru, a human who is born every thousand years to...

(12 books):

Minion (trade paperback) (Book 1) (2003)
Minion (mass market) (2004)
The Awakening (trade paperback) (Book 2) (2004)
The Awakening (mass market) (2004)
The Hunted (trade paperback) (Book 3) (2004)
The Hunted (mass market) (2005)
The Bitten(trade paperback) (Book 4) (2005)
The Bitten (mass market) (2005)
The Forbidden (trade paperback) (Book 5) (2005)
The Forbidden (mass market) (2006)
The Damned (trade paperback) (Book 6) (2006)
The Damned (mass market) (2007)
The Forsaken (trade paperback) (Book 7) (2006)
The Forsaken (mass market) (2007)
The Wicked (trade paperback) (Book 8) (2007)
The Wicked (mass market) (Book 8) (2008)
The Cursed (trade paperback) (Book 9) (2007)
The Cursed (mass market) (Book 9) (2008)
The Darkness (trade paperback) (Book 10) (2008)
The Darkness (mass market) (Book 10) (2008)
The Shadows (trade paperback) (Book 11) (2008)
The Shadows (trade paperback) (Book 11) (2009)
The Thirteenth (trade paperback) (Book 12) (2009)

NOTE: The Darkness (10), The Shadows (11), and The Thirteenth (12) are called The Armageddon Finale to The Vampire Huntress (trademark) Legend Series.

Crimson Moon Novels:

Bad Blood: A Crimson Moon Novel (Book 1) (2008)
Bite The Bullet: A Crimson Moon Novel (Book 2) (2008)
Undead on Arrival: A Crimson Moon Novel (Book 3) (2009)
Cursed to Death: A Crimson Moon Novel (Book 4) (2009)
Never Cry Werewolf: A Crimson Moon Novel (Book 5) (2010)
Left for Undead: A Crimson Moon Novel (Book 6) (2010)

Dark Avengers Series ebook:

Finders Keepers (Book 1) (2008)
Loser's Weepers (Book 2) (2008)

OTHER PARANORMAL

Stroke Of Midnight (et al.) (2004) (*)

(New York Times bestseller extended list 2004)

Dark Dreams (edited by Brandon Massey
Brandon Massey
Brandon Massey was born June 9, 1973, in Waukegan, Illinois. He grew up in Zion, a suburb north of Chicago. Brandon is a writer of thriller fiction who has at this writing six published novels, one story collection, and has edited three anthologies....

) (2004) (*)
Voices From the Other Side: Dark Dreams 2 (edited by Brandon Massey) (2006) (*)
Love at First Bite (et al.) (2006) (*)
My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding (edited by P.N. Elrod) (2006) (*)
Vegas Bites (et al.) (2006) (*)
Creepin' (edited by Monica Jackson) (2007) (*)
Dark Delicacies 2 (et al.) (2007) (*)
On the Line (et al.) (2007) (*)
Hotter Than Hell (edited by Kim Harrison
Kim Harrison
Kim Harrison is a nom de plume of American author Dawn Cook. Under the name of Harrison, she is best known for her Rachel Morgan urban fantasy series set in an alternate history where a worldwide pandemic caused by genetically modified tomatoes led to the death of a large portion of the world's...

) (2008) (*)
The Darker Mask (edited by Gary Phillips
Gary Phillips
Gary Phillips is a retired football goalkeeper who was last attached to Hemel Hempstead Town as manager.He started his career as a schoolboy at Southampton before moving to non-League Chalfont St Peter in 1978. He moved to Brighton & Hove Albion the same year. Phillips joined West Bromwich Albion...

and Christopher Chambers (2008) (*)
The Ancestors (et al.) (2008) (*)

(*) Indicates story was featured in an anthology.

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