Charlaine Harris Blog - nov 25 ( Sookie 10!!)

from Charlaine's blog from yesterday

Autumn is a time of winding down, of endings. The first season of TRUE BLOOD has come to a close in a most satisfactory finale. Though I’ve enjoyed every episode of Alan Ball’s creation, I’m almost glad to get a break. I’ve been doing three interviews or more per week, plus answering a lot more questions on the board than I normally get. Maybe this slack time will allow me to catch up on some things I’ve neglected.

By the time the next season rolls around, I’ll feel like a seasoned pro. If I go to that premiere party, I won’t be nearly as strung out and terrified as I was at this year’s. And though we barely know each other, I feel like I’m an old friend of the actors, because they’ve inhabited my characters. (Let me repeat here how pleased and surprised I was that they were all so warm and welcoming to me. And everyone on Alan’s team I met was like that, no matter what their position.) The HBO people are very obliging, too, and super at what they do.

I should be winding down the next Harper, too, but I’m very behind on it. Most of my December will be spent working hard, but that’s not a bad thing. Then I may write my short story for Toni and mine’s next anthology (you’re going to love it, it’s about supernaturals on vacation), and after that I’ll get to work on the next Sookie. On the advice of my agent, I’ve been turning down a lot of anthology offers. Some of them I really regretted, and it was hard to do, but he made me go over my schedule in a realistic way. I had to admit, “No” has to be a bigger part of my repertoire.

...The upside is that endings allow new beginnings. TRUE BLOOD will have a second season that may be even better than the first, and the ratings may go even higher. There’s a chance that this Harper will be better than AN ICE COLD GRAVE. The next anthology may sell even better than WOLFSBANE AND MISTLETOE, and I’ve already got some good ideas for Sookie 10.....So have a wonderful holiday season as the year winds down. There’s every chance next year will be better.

Charlaine Harris