The Miami Herald got the pleasure of talking to the amazing Charlaine Harris. All of us Trubies know about Charlaine since the hit HBO show True Blood is based off of the Sookie Stackhouse novels. The newest book in the series is called ‘Deadlocked’ and it has debut on the New York Times bestseller list at number 1!
Charlaine is on tour right now to talk about the ‘Deadlocked’ book. Of course with the release of this book the talk about the 13th book in the series is already starting. We of course want to know what the title is for the last book. Here is what Charlaine had to say about that:
“I blabbed it on a panel, but I wasn’t supposed to, so no, I don’t know what the title is! (laughs) Really, they’re going to announce it soon, and everybody will love it, I’m sure.”
Now since we aren’t writers we have to know if she discovers more as she writes. Well here is her answer to that:
“I do! Very often because — alas! — I’m not much of a planner. So it’s always discovery for me. It’s the way I write, whether good or bad. I’ve often wished when I started a book I knew what was going to happen. I talked to writers who write 80-page outlines, and I’m just in awe of that.”
Ass all of us know the show True Blood is different from the books, but we have to wonder if she ever asked herself the question of “why didn’t I do that?” or “Man, I wish I thought of that.” Here is her answer:
“I’ve certainly wished that I had thought of Jessica [the young vampire that bloodsucker Bill Compton was forced to create, who doesn’t exist in the books]! She’s just a great character.”
Of course The Southern Vampire books are very popular but you have to remember the other writers who also wrote about vampires like Ann Rice, Kim Harrison and Stephanie Meyer. So why did Charlaine Harris feel the need tow rite another story about vampires?
“Well, of course, there’s the erotic overtone. Anne Rice’s vampires could not have sex, but her books of course were very heavy on homo-eroticism. My vampires can because … when I started framing the books, I thought, “You know, I’ll just take whatever Anne didn’t want and see what I can do with it.” She took the southern part of Louisiana; I took the northern part. Her vampires were romantic and had wonderful names. Mine weren’t. And I love Anne’s work — I’m a huge fan — and I know her. There was no disrespect in this; it was a “let’s see what we can do.” And at the time the only other person writing anything like that was Laurell K. Hamilton. So I was lucky enough to have an open field. Now it’s very crowded.”
There is of course more to this interview and you can read that here.
Are you guys excited for the series to be coming in the end?? And are you guys happy with how the new book is? Let us know all of your thoughts below!
Source: The Miami Herald – “Dead treat: A chat with Charlaine Harris”
Image Source: John Shearer/Getty Image
