The Art of True Blood by Rod McKie

Rod writes about True Blood / Sookie art ..

Or at any rate, the art of Lisa Desimini, for the covers of Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Novels, adapted for TV as True Blood; but that really doesn't trip off the tongue.

Let's begin with the TV series itself before we look at the books, because True Blood begins its British TV debut on FX later this week, and I have an interest in vampire lore. Many more moons ago than I care to admit, I began a thesis on The Role of the Gothic Outsider. I had high hopes for the thesis, and I was surrounded by people who had authored books on Gothic literature and even edited the The New Critical Idiom series on the subject, but during the research phase, I stopped believing in the subject matter.

Then I saw Guillermo del Toro's steam-punk vampire tale, Cronos and I was interested in the Gothic all over again. My appetite whetted, I even reread Anne Rice's Lestat books, two of them at least, and even partly resumed my studies, for my own benefit, and then, well, nothing much happened for the longest time, until that is, Let the Right One In appeared. My God, that is one seedy book. The movie of the book, which is brilliantly acted, is less seedy, but disturbing on many levels, especially if one has read the book beforehand, which many of the reviewers had clearly failed to do.

Read on

Charlaine Harris and news about next Sookie book!

Thanks to the lovely MK for the great photos from the Charlaine Harris event last night in Chicago and to 'Keeper of Stars' for the run down on the Sookie tidbits from Charlaine about True Blood and the next Sookie book.

Charlaine Harris spoke in Chicago last night and droped some bombshells as to Sookie #10

Book stuff…
~ CH is getting ready to sign a contract for FOUR more Sookie books.
~ Alcide will appear in the first chapter of the next book.
~ While she loves Quinn, he won’t be appearing in the next book. But he will appear again at some point.
~ We’ll be seeing Eric’s sire in the next book.
~ CH killed off Claudine because she wanted to wrap up the fairy storyline. She says she tried to make her brave until the very end to give her a good send off.
~ Bubba will appear again but she’s not sure when. She says he’s out wandering around looking for stray cats right now. :P
~ Bill will still be seriously ill from the silver poisoning in the next book.

Not book related, but show related…
~ She loves Anna Paquin as Sookie.
~ She loves seeing Ryan Kwanten… on screen. :P She also enjoys hugging him.
~ She just loves Jessica. So much that she wishes she had created the character herself.
~ She’s glad the show isn’t a carbon copy of the books and she likes the choices Alan Ball has made.
~ She had other offers other than Ball’s for the Sookie books.

Read on here



Some more from Lou
Charlaine Harris book signing & spoilers by Jenni Lou

It was crazy at the Oak Brook, IL Borders. Insane crazy! I don’t think the store was expecting the turnout it got. Literally hundreds of people came to see Charlaine Harris and have books signed and pictures taken. Me? The Q&A was over a little after 7:30 and I didn’t get my book signed until five minutes to midnight. And I wasn’t even the last one in line! So yeah, crazy. And Charlaine sure is a trooper, eh?

During the Q&A she offered up a few tasty spoilers for book 10. And she had a few other things to say, as well.

» She thinks Alan Ball is a genius and happy with what True Blood is.
» It took 2 years and six editors before she able to sell Dead Until Dark.
» She “doesn’t get Twitter.” :lol:
» Claudine died because CH was trying to close the fairy storyline, but she thought the her death was a good and noble one.
» “I don’t write by committee,” she says when asked if she tries to please both Bill and Eric fans. “I am the queen.”
» Next Harper book is the last. And after that she is going to start another new series. Probably a supernatural one.
» Sookie still has the infamous bullet. Someone asked, but I doubt it will ever make an appearance again.
» She is writing a short story with Sookie and Pam on a road trip! HOW FUN!

This is your Book 10 Spoiler warning!

» Quinn probably will not appear.
» “Definitely” going to see Alcide. He even shows up in the first or second chapter.
» Eric’s maker WILL appear. (Could that be why he was unable to rescue Sookie in DAG?)
» She will try to weave Bubba into the story if there is a natural way to do it.
» Bill is seriously ill with silver poisoning.

read on

'True Blood' ratings: Still not sucking!

by Michael Ausiello

Viewers' thirst for True Blood is intensifying: After taking a week off, the bloody good vampire saga's latest episode on Sunday attracted a series-high 3.9 million viewers. The potent Blood helped lift Hung, which grew 29 percent from its debut with 3.6 million viewers, and Entourage, which kicked off its sixth season with 3.4 million viewers -- its largest audience in more than two years.

HBO’s “True Blood” comes to Clinton, La., to film

From LSUReveille

Trash lined the streets, panties hung from the statues and graffiti stained the walls of downtown Clinton on Friday afternoon.

Mardi Gras didn’t come early — the cast and crew of HBO’s hit show “True Blood” were in town, filming scenes for the 10th episode of the show’s second season.

At sunrise, crew members transformed Clinton’s quaint town center into Bon Temps, the fictional Louisiana town where the series is set. Its littered, disruptive look was for a yet-to-be-revealed plot twist.

“True Blood” follows feisty, mind-reading waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) and her relationship with the dashing Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) — a 173-year-old vampire.

In Sookie’s world, vampires have “come out of the coffin” thanks to a newly developed synthetic blood drink that allows them to survive without human blood.

But not all vampires choose to give up humans cold turkey — making Bon Temps a dangerous place to live.

This isn’t “Twilight” — the violence is brutal, and the sex is explicit. A creepy gumbo of mystery, dark humor, romance and Louisiana culture, the season premiere of “True Blood” on June 14 attracted more viewers than any other HBO show since the series finale of “The Sopranos” two years ago.

“True Blood” was created by Alan Ball, the man behind HBO’s popular, Emmy Award-winning series “Six Feet Under” and the Academy Award-winning film “American Beauty,” and is based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris.

read on

Google Friend me, please and contest winner announced

If you have a Gmail account , AIM id or Yahoo id please please join this site ( see Google friend box in right column mid way down )

Thanks ....

Rita you won the "help sookie pack " contest from the weekend, email me please to claim your prize!
We will have another contest this weekend ....and the prize is something from our last Shreveport trip.

If you have a contest idea ( you know I like the ones that make you think and work ;-) ) post your suggestion in the comments ..

Double thanks "D"

Hotel Vampire Porn - are you kidding me ?

Goodness....
Sookie can choose from some interesting adult movie selections at the Hotel Carmilla, choices include such greats as : Intercourse with a Vampire, His First Fangbang or Co-ed Chowdown ( with vamp on vamp action)

True Blood: Blood Work Season 2 Ep.4

Our good friends at Camp Blood, Andy and Brian take on episode 4.

Sploshing ???? hahahha best review so far guys!

Blood Work! "True Blood" video blog 2.4
by campbloodbuzz

True Blood S2 Episode 3 Subtitles "Scratches"

True Blood Season 2 Ep3 Subtitles

True Blood Episode 5 'Never let me go' promo

Vampire Bill eats a Steak ???

• Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, having a romantic dinner at Sullivan’s restaurant in Baton Rouge, La. Seated across from each other, the True Blood costars and real-life loves held hands throughout dinner – a martini and white wine and grouper for her, diet soda and steak for him – and split the warm chocolate brownie for dessert.
People magazine

HBO and True Blood Are Happy to Be Riding the Wave of Bloodsucker Mania

From New York Mag

While network-TV audiences are eroding this summer at a clip so fast it's made Ben Silverman too depressed to even muster up the energy to pop his top and sing the blues, the execs over at HBO are probably sitting around the office this afternoon poppin' Cris and ritually high-fiving each other. For their network is the home to what has quickly — and largely unexpectedly — become the most buzzed-about show on television this summer, True Blood. Each of the first three episodes that aired during this, the show's second season, has been viewed by over 10 million people, a number that looks even more impressive when you consider that the network's subscriber base is only 30 million people. So how did this show, which wasn't exactly well received by critics when it launched last fall, turn into such a big hit?

The success of True Blood (as well as HBO's newest series, Hung) comes much to the chagrin of HBO's rivals over at Showtime, who reportedly had been calling the network "HB-Over" for some time. However, for all of Showtime's recent success, they don't have a show about vampires on their network. Anyone who has been paying attention to the pop-culture universe over the last year and change recognizes that vampires are all the rage, which isn't something that show creator Alan Ball, or even the executives at HBO, realized when the show started being developed back in late 2005. The show's first season began slowly, but momentum built up over time, culminating in DVDs of the show's first season flying off store shelves faster than you can say "Edward Cullen." Ball is careful to point out that a lot of the show's summertime success is due to the fact it's "popcorn television," but also acknowledges that the show is certainly benefitting from the current trendiness of bloodsuckers. “It is sort of vampire time,” he confessed. And indeed, it is.

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/07/true_blood_1.html

With a Little ‘True Blood,’ HBO Is Reviving Its Fortunes [NYT]

True Blood Awards : Anna discussed for Emmy's drama-actress race

Nominations will be announced Thursday- from LA Times

Anna discussed at about 4:00

I agree with our Emmy seers and forum moderators Chris "Boomer" Beachum and Robert "Rob L" Licuria (AwardsHeaven.net) on four likely nominees for the six spots in the race for best drama actress: Sally Field ("Brothers & Sisters"), Anna Paquin ("True Blood"), Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer") and last year's champ Glenn Close ("Damages").

However, here in our video smackdown, I clash with them over picks like Jeanne Tripplehorn ("Big Love") and omissions like Mariska Hargitay ("Law & Order: SVU"). Here you can read more about their specific predix and expanded commentary on this category. Here you can see our video bout over the comedy-series battle.

Television without Pity has

I am most excited for Nelsan !
Outstanding Drama Series
“Battlestar Galactica”
“Friday Night Lights”
“Lost”
“Mad Men”
“Sons of Anarchy”
“True Blood”

Outstanding Lead Actress, Drama
Connie Britton – “Friday Night Lights”
Glenn Close – “Damages”
January Jones – “Mad Men”
Mary McDonnell – “Battlestar Galactica”
Anna Paquin – “True Blood”
Jeanne Tripplehorn – “Big Love”

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
Nelsan Ellis – True Blood
Michael Emerson – Lost
Vincent Kartheiser – Mad Men
John Noble – Fringe
Terry O’Quinn – Lost
Ron Perlman – Sons of Anarchy

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series
Lisa Edelstein – House
Elizabeth Mitchell – Lost
Sandra Oh – Grey’s Anatomy
Katey Sagal – Sons of Anarchy
Annie Wersching – 24
Rutina Wesley – True Blood

'True Blood' season 2 film crew takes over Clinton, La., then heads for New Orleans

From Times- Picayune

Clinton, La. -- Standing in for fictional downtown Bon Temps, La., the blocks surrounding the East Feliciana Parish Courthouse looked like they'd been hit by a lusty tornado over the weekend.

The steamy HBO drama "True Blood" came to Clinton for several days of location shooting, and the town's streets (and trees) were strategically strewn with trash but mostly clothing, for a saucy storyline to play out in a few weeks on the show's 10th episode of the current season.

Saturday, shooting started at about noon and concluded after 2 a.m. Sunday. Wilting heat and humidity prevailed, broken occasionally by light rain.

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True Blood Music Video of the Day: Gravity by Sara Barelles

Gravity by Sara Barelles LYRICS

Thanks, timisdelicious