Alice Borchardt  Alice Borchardt (née Alice Allen O'Brien; October 6, 1939 – July 24, 2007) was an American writer of historical fiction, fantasy, horror. She shared a childhood of storytelling in New Orleans with her sister, the novelist Anne Rice, who was two years younger. A professional nurse, she also nurtured a profound interest in little-known periods of history. Alice Allen O'Brien was born in New Orleans on October 6, 1939. She was one of four sisters. Their father Howard, a postal worker, helped her apply for her first library card at age 7. "It was the best gift I ever received," Borchardt said in a 1999 interview with the "Austin American-Statesman". Her mother, Katherine, was a feminist who taught Alice to pursue her career goals. The O'Brien family moved to Richardson, Texas, when Alice was a teenager. She began her nursing career in Houston, where she met and married her husband, Cliff, and lived many years. After a 30-year career as a licensed vocational nurse, Borchardt faced staff reductions at the hospital where she worked. Her sister Anne, a successful writer since their mid-thirties, encouraged Alice, helped her find an agent, and wrote introductions to several of her books. Borchardt's death late on July 24, 2007, was reported next day by the mystery writer Bill Crider, a friend. The "Houston Chronicle" published an obituary five days later. In addition to her husband and sister, who lives in Rancho Mirage, Borchardt was survived by sisters Tamara Tinker of Daly City, Calif., Karen O'Brien and Micki Jenkins of Dallas; and by two nephews, Christopher T. Rice of Los Angeles and Daniel Tinker of Oakland. Borchardt was in her mid-50s when the first of her seven novels, "Devoted", was published by Dutton Penguin in 1995. She may be known best for the Legends of the Wolves trilogy about werewolves in medieval Rome ("The Silver Wolf", "Night of the Wolf", and "The Wolf King"). The orphaned Regeane and the nobleman Maeniel, both part wolf and part human, contend with bullying chieftains, embattled emperors and supernatural interventions. The last book in the series was published in 2001. In the tenth-century French town of Chantalon, Bishop Owen and his lady, Elin, marshall their forces in a desperate struggle against Viking raiders, but when Owen leaves to seek aid from his kinsmen and is captured by Bretons, Elin is left to defend Chantalon alone.