Leslie Esdaile Banks


Leslie Ann Esdaile Banks was an American writer under the pen names of Leslie Esdaile, Leslie E. Banks, Leslie Banks, Leslie Esdaile Banks and L. A. Banks. She wrote in various genres, including African-American literature, romance, women's fiction, crime suspense, dark fantasy/horror and non-fiction.
She won several literary awards, including the 2008 Essence Literary Awards Storyteller of the Year.

Biography

Leslie Ann Peterson was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She married Michael Esdaile,; they had one child, a daughter, Helena Esdaile. The couple divorced and she remarried, to Al Banks, in 2000.
She attended University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, where she earned her undergraduate degree and then attended Temple University's School of Communications and Theater, earning her masters in fine arts. Before she began writing full-time, she worked at The Women's Opportunities Resource Center, where she helped develop micro-entrepreneurial career curriculums for women of low income in Philadelphia.
Banks contributed to magazines and newspaper columns, and wrote commercial fiction for five major publishers: St. Martin's Press, Simon & Schuster, Kensington Publishing, BET/Arabesque, and Genesis Press. She became the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, received the 2008 ESSENCE Magazine Storyteller of the Year award, as well as the 2009 Romantic Times Booklover's Convention Career Achievement Award for Paranormal Fiction. Books 1 and 2 of The Vampire Huntress Legend Series, have been optioned for Hollywood films by GothamBeach Entertainment and Griot Entertainment. Originally a nine-book series, The Vampire Huntress Legend Series has been expanded to twelve.
In addition, Banks wrote the book series for the network cable series "Soul Food," as well as the novelization of the movie "Scarface."

Illness and death

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. Authors including P. N. Elrod, Heather Graham and Charlaine Harris donated books and services to raise funds for Banks, as did others in the literary community.
Banks' official website was updated to reflect her death from cancer on August 2, 2011, at the age of 51. She is survived by her daughter, Helena Esdaile.

As Leslie Esdaile

Romance novels

Sundance Slow Burn Love Notes Love Lessons River of Souls Love Potions Still Waters Run Deep Tomorrow's Promise Through the Storm Sister Got Game Keepin' It Real Take Me There
  • ''Better Than''

Romance novellas

  • "Home For The Holidays" in Midnight Clear
  • "Time Enough for Love" in After the Vows
  • "Valentine's Love" in Candlelight and You
  • "Shameless" in Sisterhood of Shopaholics
  • "A 'No Drama' Valentine's" in ''Valentin's Day Is Killing Me''

Alexis Grant

Men of the Delta Force SeriesSizzle & Burn
  • ''Locked at Loaded''

Non-fiction

  • ''How to Write A Romance for The New Market''

As Leslie E. Banks

Drama, TV adaptation novels

Soul Food: For Better, For Worse Soul Food: Through Thick and Thin
  • ''Soul Food: No Mountain High Enough''

As Leslie Banks

Non-fiction

  • "Light at the End of the Tunnel" in ''Chicken Soup for the African American Soul''

As Leslie Esdaile Banks

Crime and suspense

Betrayal of the Trust Blind Trust Shattered Trust
  • ''No Trust''

As L. A. Banks

Crime and suspense

Scarface, The Beginning, Volume 1 Scarface, Point of No Return, Volume 2

Paranormal

[The Vampire Huntress Legend Series]
  1. Minion
  2. The Awakening
  3. The Hunted
  4. The Bitten
  5. The Forbidden
  6. The Damned
  7. The Forsaken
  8. The Wicked
  9. The Cursed
  10. The Darkness
  11. The Shadows
  12. The Thirteenth
NOTE: The Darkness, The Shadows, and The Thirteenth are called The Armageddon Finale to The Vampire Huntress Legend Series.
Vampire Huntress Graphic Novel Books
Source:
  1. The Hidden Darkness #1
  2. The Hidden Darkness #2
  3. The Hidden Darkness #3
  4. ''The Hidden Darkness #4''

Neteru Academy

  1. ''Shadow Walker: A Neteru Academy Novel''
    Betrayal of the Trust Books
Source:
  1. Betrayal of the Trust
  2. Blind Trust
  3. Shattered Trust
  4. ''No Trust''
    Crimson Moon novels
  5. Bad Blood
  6. Bite The Bullet
  7. Undead on Arrival
  8. Cursed to Death
  9. Never Cry Werewolf
  10. ''Left for Undead''
    Dark Avengers Series
  11. Finders Keepers
  12. Loser's Weepers
The Dark Series
  1. Surrender the Dark
  2. Conquer the Dark
    Paranormal novellas

Articles

Interviews

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Reviews

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