She wrote in various genres, including African-American literature, romance, women's fiction, crime suspense, dark fantasy/horror and non-fiction.
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.
[9][10][11] 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.
[12] Banks' official website was updated to reflect her death from cancer on August 2, 2011, at the age of 51.