Anne Rice revealed that she has “always possessed a profound and abiding love for my characters” in her final interview, published Wednesday by the New York Times.

Rice, the prolific author best known for her bestselling Vampire Chronicles series of gothic novels, died Saturday at the age of 80. She contributed answers to the Times’ “By the Book” interview series, in which authors discuss their reading habits.

Asked about the last great book she read, Rice chose David S. Reynolds’ 2020 biography Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times, which she called “an absolute feast for us history buffs.”

Rice named as her favorite obscure book Kings Row, Henry Bellamann’s novel about scandal in a small Midwestern town. “It’s such a rich exploration of how we survive in a world full of ugliness, loneliness and suffering,” Rice said. “As soon as I finished it, I went right to Amazon and posted a five-star review.”

Rice said that she loves her own characters and appreciated when other authors exhibit a fondness for the people in their own stories. “Cynicism in fiction repels me as does an author’s simmering contempt for all of their subjects,” she said.

She also gave some advice on how to wrangle books that you’re in the middle of reading.

“Recently I asked people not to laugh at me on Twitter when I suggested using potato chip bag clips to hold open large hardcover novels on your lap,” she said. “But it works beautifully. Try it if you don’t believe me.”

Rice’s novel Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris, written with son Christopher Rice, will be published on Feb. 1, 2022.

Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.