RBL Presents!
Charlaine Harris






       




One of the best parts of RBL is the fact that we share our love of books with each other. Through RBL I’ve found so many authors I never would have tried or experienced. A wonderful example would be the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. I picked up her first one due to pressure from my RBL girlfriends and devoured it. I couldn’t put it down. Now I anxiously await every book, and this month the next book in the series, DEFINITELY DEAD, is being released. I am so pleased to present Ms Charlaine Harris for her first RBL interview.





Leiha: Welcome to RBL, Ms Harris, we are honored to have you here. First off, we would like to get to know you better. Could you tell us a little about Charlaine Harris, the person?

Charlaine: There’s really not a lot to tell. I’m middle-aged, the mother of three, wife of one. I went to college at Rhodes, in Memphis. I’m a true daughter of the South. I love animals, movies, and reading.

Leiha: Most RBLers are animal lovers also - what animals do you have? What is your favorite book? ... and your favorite book in the last year?

Charlaine: I have three dogs - Sugar, Rocky and Oscar. Sugar was living in the woods with her puppies when we adopted her, Oscar was in the pound, and Rocky is the strange result of a tryst between a boxer and a cocker spaniel. I love cats, too, but my husband and daughter are allergic to them. I had two ferrets, but they went to ferret heaven. We do have a duck, but I don't have a close personal relationship with him.

My favorite book of mine, or my favorite book, period? I've always been partial to SHAKESPEARE'S CHAMPION, of my own books. My favorite book of someone else's - impossible to say. JANE EYRE is a great book, and anything by Jane Austen is just wonderful. My favorite book of the past year would have to be Sarah Monette's MELUSINE.

Leiha: When did you know you wanted to be a writer? How long did it take you to sell your first book?

Charlaine: I always wanted to be a writer, from the time I learned to read. It seems to me the most wonderful thing in the world, that I am able to do what I always wanted to do. It didn’t take much time at all to sell my first book - 25 years ago – to Houghton Mifflin. I sent it in, maybe waited a couple of months.

Leiha: I would love to hear about your first book - how do you feel about it now? What was the title? Is it still in print? How much has your writing style changed?

Charlaine: My first book was SWEET AND DEADLY. Of course, it's long out of print. I haven't read the book for many years, so I can only hope my writing has improved.

Leiha: You are currently working on two series as well as the shorts you write throughout the year. Are you a fast writer? How much of your day is spent writing? What is the process like for you?

Charlaine: That’s a very big question. I am writing faster than I want to, right now, because I’m writing two books a year. I hope to slow down a bit in the future, so the process will be more fun for me. I spend about half a day writing, the other half wearing my other hats. As my deadline grows closer, I work longer hours. I come into the office for an hour or two most afternoons, these days.

Leiha: When you write, how much of the book do you outline?

Charlaine: Ah ... none.

Leiha: I can’t believe you write without an outline, you have so many characters in your books and so much happening. Do you find that your books end up differently then what you planned on when you begin the story?

Charlaine: Sure. I have new ideas all the way through the book, and those ideas influence the outcome.

Leiha: I am someone who considers herself a strictly romance reader, and but due to some strong recommendations from fellow RBLers, I have had to broaden my range of reading to books that don’t qualify as romance books, yet are. I feel like your Southern Vampire Series featuring Sookie Stackhouse falls into that category. How would you categorize this series?

Charlaine: Southern romantic vampire mysteries.

Leiha: Where did the idea come from for the Sookie books?

Charlaine: From the grab-bag in my head. I wanted to write about a woman who dated vampires, and the rest just kind of evolved from that germ of an idea.

Leiha: I hope that you’re not offended but when I try to describe your books to people I call your books Laurell K. Hamilton "light." Your books are similar in that you have all kinds of paranormal activity and they are written in the first person, but your books are a much faster lighter read with more humor. I love Sookie’s outlook on everything. What made you decide to write the books in the first person?

Charlaine: Well, that’s not my favorite description. Laurell and I bring different things to the table. We have different goals. I use the first person because it helps me get inside Sookie’s head. I really like writing in the first person, though every now and then I take a break.

Leiha: How much of the series do you have planned out ahead of time? For instance, did you always plan on Eric and Sookie to hook up or did that evolve as the books evolved?

Charlaine: The Eric and Sookie situation evolved. I do have some fixed plans for the series, but a lot of it just occurs to me as I work. That’s the part I really enjoy.

Leiha: I, for one love Eric and Sookie together, but that was an interesting choice to have Bill cheat on Sookie. I was shocked. What was the fan reaction to this?

Charlaine: They’re still debating about that on my website. There’s the "Bill had no choice" camp and the "Lying cheating dog" camp. I warn you, there are more interesting choices to come.

Leiha: The fact is, Sookie has four viable romantic options - Bill, Sam, Eric and Alcide - and let’s not forget Calvin and Quinn. How in the world is a girl to choose? Will Sookie be playing the field for awhile?

Charlaine: Absolutely. She’s making up for lost time. After all, she didn’t date in her teens, like most girls. She’s inexperienced in the dating game.

Leiha: Personally, I would like to know if we will be seeing more of Eric in DEFINITELY DEAD? Can you give us any other clues about your next book?

Charlaine: Yes, Eric’s in DD. He has a couple of vivid scenes. But there’s much more Quinn. (Note from Leiha: Color me intrigued!)

Leiha: How did you come up with the idea for Bubba? That is a flash of pure genius.

Charlaine: Thanks, but it just seemed to be so logical when it occurred to me. I was thinking about the scene in "Men in Black" when Will Smith enters the headquarters of the Men in Black and sees the screen with all the aliens who are working on earth, some of them very famous "people." Everything clicked into place.

Leiha: My absolute favorite scene in DEAD AS A DOORNAIL is when Sookie is telling Eric about the time they were together when he had amnesia. Whenever I read it, I have to re-read that scene over at least once, sometimes twice, because it’s so funny. Do you have any favorite scenes from your books?

Charlaine: Sure, but my favorites are hardly ever anyone else’s. I guess the scene I thought said more about Sookie was in LDID, when she returns to watch the vampire meet the sun. That says so much about her character, and it’s poignant.

Leiha: Does this series have a definitive end, and, if yes, how many books are you planning for the series?

Charlaine: I’ve planned the end, but I can take a long time getting there. (Note from Leiha: YAY!)

Leiha: I read on your website that it took you a couple of years to sell the Southern Vampire series and that your agent originally didn’t even want to try, and now it’s being made into a series by Alan Ball. That’s pretty amazing. How do you feel about this? I know that it will provide incredible exposure to your books, but the books are always better then the movies (or series). However, it seems like he is a huge fan of the books. Are you helping with the screenplays at all? Do you have any kind of say in the series? Who do you envision as Sookie?

Charlaine: How do I feel? Vindicated, really. I knew I had a winner, but of course I could never have imagined how much people would like Sookie. It’s lovely to have so many readers after all these years. I have nothing to do with the screenplays. I have no say whatsoever. Alan is kind enough to keep me posted, and I’ve read the pilot script, but it’s really not my project and that’s okay with me.

Leiha: GRAVE SIGHT is the title of the first book in your new series. It came out last November. Could you tell us a little about that?

Charlaine: GRAVE SIGHT (and its sequel, GRAVE SURPRISE, which has been completed and lies on my editor's desk) is about a young woman named Harper Connelly, who was struck by lightning when she was fifteen. Since then, she's been able to find bodies. She's had a terrible home life and rough background, and she travels America with her "brother" Tolliver, making her living by finding the dead.



Thank you, Ms Harris, for the interview. Coming up for the very busy Ms Harris will be: DEFINITELY DEAD, a Sookie Stackhouse story, in May; a short story in Pat Elrod's anthology, MY BIG FAT SUPERNATURAL WEDDING, in June; and GRAVE SURPRISE, a Harper Connelly book, in November. Works in progress are the next Sookie Stackhouse, and a short story for the anthology MANY BLOODY RETURNS.


~Leiha~


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