Charlaine Harris Interviewed in the Author Hour

For someone who writes in the fantasy genre with such a twisted point of view, Charlaine Harris would choose a very practical supernatural power for herself: perpetual good health. That's not nearly as flashy as the abilities she has given to her characters like Sookie Stackhouse, but thanks to her great imagination, life is still very exciting for Charlaine these days as she relishes in her immense popularity and success. In an interview with "The Author Hour," Charlaine Harris talks about her books, past and future. During the introduction, you get a sense for the vast scope of Charlaine's accomplishments in her 26-year career as an author. The Sookie Stackhouse series has made her an international bestseller. She has been nominated for various national book awards. Charlaine is also a member of a number of organizations--for mystery writers, romance writers, horror writers, female writers, Arkansas writers--and has leadership positions in some of them, too. Each of the groups that she participates have different goals, one of which is to help new writers who are trying to get into the business. She is pleased by all of her success, but she still remembers the years when not many people were reading her books and looks to help those starting out in the field. Charlaine discusses the Southern Vampire series and how telepathy was the worst thing she could come up with to be a burden on Sookie:

"Well, when you think about all the unkind things you think of everyday. You know, like, 'Oh gosh, her butt looks so big in those pants.' Or, 'This driver ahead of me is a total idiot.' Or, 'Gosh, if this woman doesn't stop talking, I think I'm just going to scream and walk away.' You know, all those little thoughts, if we could hear all those, this would be a terrible world."

Charlaine has at least three more books to write about Sookie and her life of vampires, shifters, and faeries. Along the way, she might decide to conclude things with Book 13, if she feels like the spark is gone from the story. That's what happened with her previous series--Charlaine felt like she had said everything she wanted to say with Lily Bard, Aurora Teagarden, and Harper Connelly, although she might one day return to them if she feels so moved. Her next projects are to make the editing changes to Dead in the Family, and to write a novella for the Sookie Companion, which will be released next year. Charlaine promises that Book 10 "answers a lot of questions." On the topic of the hit HBO vampire series inspired by her books, Charlaine says that True Blood has been delightful to watch. She thinks Alan is a genius, and loves the work that the cast and crew are doing to produce such a fun and excellent show. She doesn't know what direction the third season will take, or how closely it will adhere to her corresponding book, Club Dead, but she seems to enjoy being surprised. Charlaine also talks about Grave Secret, her latest in the Harper Connelly series. She sees those books as more of the classic detective stories "with a little twist." Harper was struck by lightning and discovered that she had the power to locate dead bodies. She travels to different places, making a living by finding out how people died. To hear the complete interview with Charlaine, visit the Author Hour website! SOURCE: Matthew Peterson / theauthorhour.com (Photo credit: eldoradonews.com)

http://truebloodnet.com http://truebloodnet.com/community http://truebloodnet.com/forums