I briefly heard her on the nightly news when I left my house last week. She actually is focusing some of her work now on her past illness (I can't remember what it was, but I think she had cancer).
I've not heard anything on her vampire books other than she completely ended the Chronicles because Lestat was based on her husband, and since her husband died, she didn't want the pain of writing about him anymore. But if she really was attached to her vampires, it would make sense for her to start a completely new series. I just haven't been focusing on it as of late.
