Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Writer Charlaine Harris is a lady with a vamp

From NOLA.com

Charlaine Harris once referred to herself as the "anti-Anne Rice, " and she meant that in a good way, in the most complimentary sense.

"A Touch of Dead: Sookie Stackhouse: The Complete Stories" by Charlaine Harris. "Since Anne has so ably done the dramatic and picturesque, " Harris said, "I chose the mall and the shallowness. I went for horror and humor. She picked the southern, really dramatic part of the state, and I settled for the northern part."

Seems fair. Particularly when Harris comes up with such howlers as "What happens in Shreveport, stays in Shreveport, " a line from one of the stories in "A Touch of Dead: Sookie Stackhouse: The Complete Stories."

Here's how Sookie describes the geographic divide: "Northern Louisiana is pretty darn different form southern Louisiana in several fundamental ways: it's the Bible Belt without the pizzazz of New Orleans; it's the older sister who stayed home and tended the farm while the younger sister went out partying. But it shares other things with the southern part of the state, too: bad roads, corrupt politics, and a lot of people, both black and white, who live right on the poverty line."

read on


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Author! Author!

Charlaine Harris appears Thursday at 8 p.m. at Montrel's Bistro, 1000 Decatur St., at the fourth annual wine-tasting sponsored by Anne Rice's Vampire Lestat Fan Club. Tickets are $35 for members, $45 for nonmembers. She also appears Friday at 9 p.m. at the Tru Blood and Gold Ball at Republic New Orleans; tickets are $20 for members, $30 for nonmembers. Harris makes a special Halloween appearance signing her new books, "A Touch of Dead" (Ace Books, $23.95), as well as "Grave Secret" (Berkley Prime Crime, $24.95) Saturday, 1-3 p.m., at Garden District Book Shop, 2727 Prytania at the Rink. (harris will only sign two books at a time per person.)

1 comments:

Rita said...

Well i think any town in the southern
states can be like Bon Temps,as we
all have the same problems of life
as in school,dating getting along
with other people both with color,gay
or not,church,wealth,poverty,it rea-
lly don't matter where you live,life
can be the same the town that i live in is larger but you can relate to
Ms.CH with the books,this is the
bible belt,some people change and
some don't,some things change and
some don't,but thank you Ms.CH
for the wonderful ride you give us
readers.