Saturday, March 5, 2011

Charlaine Harris Book and blog : she talks about reading new books, meeting Sam's family and the fast approaching Spring


I found a very interesting biography of L. Frank Baum, Finding Oz. I’ve been rereading the Oz books and wondered what kind of man he was. As I discovered, Baum was in some ways as fantastical as any of his creations. His mother-in-law was a famous feminist at a time when feminists were despised, his wife a strong-willed woman who was not as idealistically focused as her mother but who nonetheless had her own way of ruling what she considered her territory. After trying a number of ways of making a living (selling lubricant, selling knick-knacks, running a baseball team, producing a newspaper), and failing miserably at all of them, Baum moved his growing family (four sons) to Chicago at the time of the World’s Fair. Schwartz gives the reader a clear blueprint of how previous events in Baum’s life came together to inspire “The Wizard of Oz,” and it’s amazing to follow his particularly yellow brick road.
When writers lament that allowing the couple to finally come together kills the tension in a book series, I always mention Jeaniene Frost. In her Grave books, Cat and Bones are still the hot duo they’ve always been, married or unmarried. This Side of the Grave is a continuation of the ongoing story of this vampire couple as they struggle to establish a safe position in the vampire world. Cat’s unusual eating habits and lineage make her a propaganda tool in the war of the ghouls vs. vampires, and she and Bones must visit Marie Laveau to enlist her aid in the war effort. Cat’s mom has a small part in this book; she’s in training at Cat’s old stronghold, to do the sort of job Cat did before she met Bones. (Justine is a character I’ll never trust or like, and she’ll go on my little list of Fictional Characters To Throw Under a Bus.) I really enjoy Frost’s style, and I’m always happy to read a new book of hers.


She also posted about Sam's family 394 duckpond100 2011-03-03 07:50

You will meet Sam's whole family in the novella in the Sookie Companion, "Small Town Wedding."

Charlaine Harris

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