Friday, October 30, 2009

A Writer goes on a journey: Charlaine Harris

from Writer goes on a journey

Background

Charlaine Harris looks like a very sweet mother figure, with three teenagers, three dogs and a duck. It’s probably cliché to say this, but she doesn’t look like the sort of person who would dream up the darkly handsome Bill, or frighteningly fine Eric. Vampires, werewolves, shifters and a whole bunch more, Charlaine Harris is the pinnacle of the sub-genre that has so captured the reading world. It’s not just romance and sex Mills and Boon style; Harris ultimately is a mystery writer.

She has written over 30 novels and numerous short stories since 1990. Her most famous series is that of the Southern Vampire Mysteries, also known as the Sookie Stackhouse novels (2001). It was barely a few years before Alan Ball, executive producer of Six Feet Under, brought Harris’ popular book onto television with the series True Blood. Gathering brilliant talent such as from England, Sweden, Australia as well as the US, the series has received critical acclaim and attracted many awards.

Charlaine is working on the 10th Sookie novel, Dead in the Family, and also on a new series she started in 2005, Harper Connelly.

Q&A

  • Where were you when you thought of Sookie and her story?trueblood2

Sitting in my office, which is a separate building attached to my house.

  • Do you find the characters sometimes take control of the story and take you to places you didn't expect? (What was the most surprising moment when a character did this, what moment did you not expect?)

The writer should always be in control. Those sudden moments when everything falls into place are the best reasons to be a writer. Of course it’s not the characters taking control; it’s another part of your brain, a part that knows the characters so well it’s suggested a plot twist.

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