By Christina Radish
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Charlaine Harris at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention Book Fair held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Houston, Texas on April 28, 2007. |
With a career spanning more than two decades, writer Charlaine Harris has achieved the success that many authors only dream about. Having released All Together Dead, book 7 in her paranormal Southern Vampire series about telepathic barmaid Sookie Stackhouse, this past May, and with An Ice Cold Grave, the third book in her Harper Connelly mystery series due out in September, the New York Times best seller is also looking forward to the 2008 debut of the HBO television series True Blood, based on her Sookie books, and starring Academy Award winner Anna Paquin, in the leading role.
The southern Arkansas resident talks to MediaBlvd Magazine about what it’s like to juggle two best selling book series, while still maintaining a personal life with her family.
MediaBlvd Magazine> How is All Together Dead different from the previous Sookie books?
Charlaine Harris> Of course, readers can expect continuing complications in Sookie’s love life. That’s pretty much a given. And, they can expect this book to be heavy on the vampires, rather than the weres, and heavy on the vampire politics. This book is a little more political, rather than personal.
MediaBlvd> Was that something you felt you needed to address because you hadn’t really gotten into it too much before?
Charlaine> Yes, partly. And, also, I think it’s good for Sookie to be out of her own environment, every few books. It gives her a fresh perspective and a different set of adventures.
MediaBlvd> Sookie seems to get involved with weddings on a regular basis, and has three on her calendar in All Together Dead. Do you just like writing about weddings, or are you trying to punish her for something?
Charlaine> She only actually attends one wedding in this, but there’s another wedding in the next book. It’s a rite of passage, and I think it seems, to Sookie, that everyone she knows is getting married, but her. And, that’s part of her psychology, at the moment.
MediaBlvd> Since the beginning of the series, Sookie has gone from being someone who was more timid to being someone who really understands what she wants, especially when it comes to relationships. Has that been intentional, or has it just been a natural progression?
Charlaine> It’s been intentional, on my part. There are series characters who never seem to learn anything, from book to book, and I didn’t want Sookie to be like that. She’s growing and moving, as a person, and I certainly wanted the books to reflect that growth.
MediaBlvd> Will the issue of her fairy blood continue to play a role in the story? Will she find out whether or not that’s going to be significant to her?
Charlaine> Yes, she will. She’s finding out in the next book.
MediaBlvd> When the young witch, Amelia Broadway, came into the story, did you know that she would become Sookie’s housemate, or did that surprise you?
Charlaine> It kind of surprised me, but I thought that it was time that Sookie had a new female best friend, who was someone she could talk to and who would actually be a help to her, rather than the drag that most of her female friends seem to be. So, I thought Amelia might be good for that.
MediaBlvd> Does the addition of new characters help keep things interesting for you?
Charlaine> Yeah, it definitely does, and it also provides new complications and twists for the series, as it goes along.
MediaBlvd> Will readers be seeing more of Amelia and her familiar, Bob the cat, throughout the series?
Charlaine> Oh, yes. They’re front and center in the next book.
MediaBlvd> Do you think that Sookie will ever try to have a relationship with someone who’s not a vampire or a were? Or, do you think that, because of her telepathy, that’s something that’s just never going to be possible for her?
Charlaine> I’m afraid that, because of her telepathy, that’s never going to be possible. And, I’m sorry for it, but it’s the same thing that it was before she even met up with any of these extraordinary people.
MediaBlvd> Will we ever get to see a little more of Sookie’s boss, Sam Merlotte?
Charlaine> I need to find a space for him. I’m not sure if it’s going to be in the next book, but you’ll get more of his background soon.
MediaBlvd> Will Sookie’s unresolved issues with her former vampire lover, Eric, continue to come up, and do you see there ever being any resolution to their issues?
Charlaine> He is certainly going to be in the series, and he’ll keep on being in the series, at least for the foreseeable future. But, I’m not sure how their relationship is going to develop. He has a lot more issues with it than she does.
MediaBlvd> You’ve said before that Pam is one of the characters you most enjoy writing. Is that why you’ve added her into the story a little bit more, and will you continue to do so?
Charlaine> There are characters I really like, but they don’t always work into the story. So far, she is not so much in the next book, but that might change. She might come front and center in the next book, but probably not as much as she did in All Together Dead. She is a fun character, definitely.
MediaBlvd> Will you delve deeper into the dynamics among the werepanthers, now that Sookie’s brother, Jason, is one, or is it hard for you to work that in, since the stories are told from Sookie’s point of view?
Charlaine> It’s a little harder, and I’m not seeing that happening in the next book. Maybe it will, in the book after that. But, they’ll always be a part of the books because Jason’s married into the clan now. There will always be one or two of them on the edges of the action, if not at the center. They’re a community unto themselves and they have their own rules, and we don’t know all those rules.
MediaBlvd> Now that you’ve released the 7th book in the series, do you ever worry that you’ll run out of original ideas for Sookie, or do you still see it as an open-ended series?
Charlaine> I see it as open-ended. I haven’t run out of any ideas for Sookie yet. In fact, I drew up a list of plotlines that I needed to conclude or mention, and came up with 20. I thought, “Well, okay, I can write these for awhile more.” I just wanted to remind myself of the things that I had left open-ended, and the details that hadn’t yet been concluded in the books, that I could pick up and run with, if I needed to.
MediaBlvd> What can fans of the Harper Connelly series expect from An Ice Cold Grave, due out September 25th?
Charlaine> It’s a pivotal book in the series, and it’s a serial killer book. Harper has not encountered a serial killer yet. So, it’s a scarier book, and it’s got some very important emotional stuff in it.
MediaBlvd> Since you write fairly complicated mysteries, do you spend a lot of time plotting them out and figuring out what will happen, before you do the writing?
Charlaine> Oh, I wish. No. It just happens.
MediaBlvd> Is it hard to juggle two best selling series, or does working on two series help keep things fresh for you?
Charlaine> It really helps me to change from one to the other. It freshens my point of view and makes me more eager to switch, when the time comes.
MediaBlvd> What is your process for doing that? Do you write one book until it’s finished, and then switch to the other series and do the same thing?
Charlaine> Yeah. I can’t be writing two things at one time. My head would be spinning around, like the girl in The Exorcist.
MediaBlvd> Do you ever come up with ideas for the mystery aspect of a story for one series, and then realize it would be better suited for the other?
Charlaine> No, that hasn’t ever happened. When I’m in the space of one, that’s where I am, and I don’t think about the other one.
MediaBlvd> Do each of your series have a different set of readers, or are there a lot of cross-over readers between the two?
Charlaine> Luckily, for me, there’s some of both. People who are just crazy about conventional mysteries tend to like the Harper books a little better. Fantasy people, who love science fiction, always like the Sookie books better. But, there is plenty of cross-over, thank God.
MediaBlvd> When you started the Harper series, were you worried at all about those books finding an audience?
Charlaine> One thing I’ve never done is worry about my career. I write what I want to write, and I make it as good as I can make it, and I hope people like it.
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Charlaine Harris at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention Book Fair held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Houston, Texas on April 28, 2007. |
MediaBlvd> Do you ever get stuck, coming up with titles for the books?
Charlaine> Oh, yeah, all the time. My editor and her staff work on that a lot. And, my agent helps me. I’ll email friends and say, “Come up with something cute.” So far, we’ve managed to title every single one -- not always with my favorite title, but usually with something that I, at least, like. There’s lots of back and forth, on some of them. An Ice Cold Grave was called An Ice Cold Grave from the beginning, but with others, we’ve gone back and forth for several rounds, until we’ve settled on something.
MediaBlvd> Which one of your books was the most difficult to come up with a title for?
Charlaine> Probably All Together Dead. There’s no telling how many ideas we floated past each other on that.
MediaBlvd> Can you talk about your upcoming anthology Many Bloody Returns, due out in September, and what that entailed for you, as an editor?
Charlaine> The main theme is vampires and birthdays, and I had so much fun doing it. If I hadn’t had Toni Kelner to back me up, I never would have risked editing something because I had very little confidence in my editing ability. I’m still not real sure about it. But, we had such a good time asking people we admired, almost all of whom were able to participate in the anthology, and we just got a wonderful batch of stories to go over. There are stories from Carolyn Haines, Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong and Bill Crider, among others. We just have a wonderful line-up. It’s half mystery writers and half science fiction writers. We would alternate taking the stories, as the primary editor. One would come in and I would do the primary edit on that, and then Toni would go over what I’d done. And then, Toni would take the next one. Then, we would jointly email the writer to say, “This was a great story, but there is a small area here that might need work.” It was really a great experience.
MediaBlvd> What is the Sookie story about?
Charlaine> It’s about Dracula’s birthday.
MediaBlvd> Now that True Blood has a cast, does that make the fact that there will be an HBO TV series based on characters that you’ve created feel more real to you?
Charlaine> It really does. And, I can hardly wait now. Before, I was just, “Eh,” because who knows if it’s going to happen or not. Now, I’m really getting anxious and my foot is tapping. I’m ready for something to happen.
MediaBlvd> How much is executive producer Alan Ball involving you in the development of the series?
Charlaine> He’s kind enough to email me, from time to time, to let me know what progress he’s making, which is a lot more than he’s obliged to do. He’s not obliged to do anything, so I just appreciate hearing from him and learning what he’s doing.
MediaBlvd> What do you think of Anna Paquin as Sookie? Is she anything at all like what you pictured the character to be?
Charlaine> I don’t think they could have found someone who was exactly like I pictured Sookie because I’ve been living with her for some years now. But, Anna Paquin is such a fine actress, and Alan has faith that she can do the part, so I’m sure it’s going to be wonderful.
MediaBlvd> Are you willing to make yourself available to her, or any of the actors, if they want to talk with you about their characters?
Charlaine> I think that is a very unlikely possibility, but of course, I would be glad to do it. That would be a surrealistic experience, but I would be glad to do it, if they genuinely wanted to do it.
MediaBlvd> With the resurgence of vampire series on television, in the upcoming season, are you worried at all that True Blood could get lost in the shuffle, or do you believe in the story enough to feel confident that it will find its audience on TV as well?
Charlaine> It’s given me pause, but I think Alan is such a superior talent, and I think my books are well-known enough, to feel that we’ll at least get a good chance to show our stuff.
MediaBlvd> Did you have any hesitation, when you were approached about doing a TV show? Or, did you jump at the opportunity, since it was Alan Ball?
Charlaine> I had three offers on the table, at the same time. They were all very flattering, and I was tempted by all of them, but ultimately, Alan was such a great talent, and he made such a wonderful, personal appeal to me, that I was really glad to sign with him.
MediaBlvd> What it was about the books and the story that made him want to devote what could be a few years of his life to telling it?
Charlaine> He liked the mixture of humor and tragedy and horror.
MediaBlvd> When filming begins, do you have any plans, or hopes, to visit the set?
Charlaine> I’d love to watch some of the filming, and Alan has said that would certainly be possible, from his point of view. I’m looking forward to it.
MediaBlvd> Do you know when it’s supposed to start filming?
Charlaine> They’ll be filming in June. I’m not sure if they’ll start before then, or not, but he’s mentioned that they might be doing some location shots in June. And, the series will probably start airing in January 2008.
MediaBlvd> Do you still feel like you’re growing as a writer, or do you feel like you know all there is to know about it, now that you’ve been doing it for so long?
Charlaine> You never know all there is to know about writing. It’s foolish to imagine you ever could. I hope I’m always growing and improving.
MediaBlvd> Do you feel comfortable where you’re at now?
Charlaine> I’d be a fool not to, but I really hope that I keep getting better.
MediaBlvd> When you started out, did you ever imagine that you’d still be a successful writer, over 25 years later, or does it still surprise you, when you look back at how your career has gone?
Charlaine> I never really had a concept of my career, as such. The only time I ever sat down and thought about it was when I started the Sookie series, and I made a conscious decision to start something new that would appeal to cross-genre. Other than that, I never have put a lot of thought into my career. I just kept on writing what I wanted to write and hoped that, sooner or later, it would find the audience it was intended for.
MediaBlvd> How does it feel to know that you’re published in different countries and different languages?
Charlaine> It feels pretty damn good. But, it does seem strange.
MediaBlvd> You seem to enjoy reading and watching movies, as much as you enjoy writing. How do you find the time to continue to read and watch films, as often as you do, while juggling the writing for two book series?
Charlaine> Well, I probably don’t do anything as well as I should. I don’t really have any hobbies, but reading and watching my daughter play softball, so that’s pretty much all I do.
MediaBlvd> Over the years, have you ever felt that one suffered for the other, as far as juggling your professional life with your personal life, or do you feel like you were able to find a good balance for everything?
Charlaine> I’ve done the best I could to balance things. I’m sure there have been times when my work would have been better, if I hadn’t had children. And, I’m sure there are times when my children would have been better, if I hadn’t been a writer. But, I’ve done my best to balance it.
MediaBlvd> Does your family read your work?
Charlaine> My middle son, who’s in the Army, is reading my work, but he never comments on it. I just know he’s reading it because he’ll ask me for the next book. My oldest son has never read any of my books. My daughter tried to read one, but she said it made her too scared.
MediaBlvd> Does your son read both of your series?
Charlaine> He does. I’m curious, as to what he thinks, but I’m scared he would just say, “Oh, I don’t like them,” so I don’t ask. He’s hard to understand. I’m just glad he’s reading them.
MediaBlvd> Is there someone whose opinion you trust, if you ever get stuck on an idea and need advice or suggestions?
Charlaine> Yes, Toni Kelner. She reads all my stuff. She’s a very talented mystery writer, in her own right, and an award-winning short story writer.
MediaBlvd> Do you enjoy meeting fans when you do book tours?
Charlaine> That’s the only part of it that is fun. It’s really pretty much just airport, bookstore, hotel, in each city. But, I do enjoy meeting the people that are reading my books.
MediaBlvd> Are there certain things the fans ask you about most often?
Charlaine> Everybody wants to know about Eric. And, everybody seems to enjoy Bubba. Everybody is really hoping that Bubba won’t meet Bob while Bob is a cat.
MediaBlvd> Were you surprised that Eric became such a popular character, or did you always think he would be popular?
Charlaine> I just kind of threw him out there to see if anybody took the bait, and lots of people do seem to like him a lot.
MediaBlvd> Do you have any ideas for what you might want to write, once you finish with either Sookie or Harper, or both?
Charlaine> I have one or two ideas, but I’m probably going to keep them under my hat for now.
MediaBlvd> Do you want to stay within the same genre, or explore other genres as well?
Charlaine> We’ll see. I’ll probably stay somewhere in the territory I’m in now.
