Saturday, May 15, 2010

Charlaine Harris not done with Sookie Stackhouse yet

By JOY TIPPING / The Dallas Morning News
jtipping@dallasnews.com

You might think that author Charlaine Harris, flush with success from her Sookie Stackhouse "Southern Vampire" series, might be ready to hang up her literary fangs and retire to her home in Southwest Arkansas.

She's written 10 Sookie books – the inspiration for HBO's smash series True Blood, which returns for its third season on June 13 – including the recently released 10th in the series, Dead in the Family. She's also written three other mystery series and a whole slew of short stories.

At 58, though, she says she's got at least two more Sookie books to write and a comic-book series in the works, among other projects. We talked to her by phone in advance of her tour stop Saturday in Dallas.

What's going on in the new book? Sookie's recovering from the terrible events of the last book, which involved a Faery War. ... This book really deals with a lot of family issues, and different types of families – formed families, blood families.

Do you feel like you're living in two separate Sookie-verses now? People who're watching the series and reading the books know that HBO has kept to the books' plots in some ways, but in other ways the show is radically different, so there's no telling what'll happen on the show. ... But even when I'm writing now, as good as those actors are, I don't see them in my head. I still see the same people I've been seeing all along, way before the TV show started.

That Season 2 scene with Godrick exploding on top of the Adolphus Hotel was awesome. What did you think? Did they shoot that there? I didn't know that! I love the Adolphus. That's where I usually stay when I'm in Dallas.

read on

Charlaine Harris will discuss and sign Dead in the Family at 2 p.m. today at Borders, 10720 Preston Road at Royal Lane, Dallas. Wristbands for admission will be handed out starting at 9 a.m. this morning. 214-363-1977. www.borders.com.

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