Wednesday, December 10, 2008

This is my favorite Sookie Stackhouse book- Dead in Dixie

What you've never heard of that title ? Sure you have it was published just for Science Fiction Book Club in 2003 and it combines Dead until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas and Club Dead INTO ONE book !!

It's 612 page hardback book and I just love it -- check out the cover ... yes that is Bill and Sookie and check out Bill's archangel wings of blood.

Dead in Dixie
By Charlaine Harris,
Published by Science Fiction Book Club, 2003
ISBN 9780739434710
612 pages

*(Living Dead in Dallas will be published in hardback in January- it only was published in paperback in 2002)

True Blood's Harris Looks Ahead


Charlaine Harris--the best-selling author of the Southern Vampire Mysteries series (aka the Sookie Stackhouse series)--saw her work adapted as the hit TV show, True Blood, on HBO this year, and the book series continues with Dead and Gone, which is being previewed on Harris' Web site.

The series began in 2001 with Dead Until Dark, and the next installment hits stores in May 2009. True Blood, from Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball, returns with a second season in the summer of '09. The first season drops on DVD on May 12.

Harris--who is also the author of the Harper Connelly fantasy series and two mystery series, Aurora Teagarden and Lily Bard--talked to SCI FI Wire about Sookie, True Blood and her other work in this exclusive interview.

You started off in the mystery field. What initially inspired you to try your hand at fantasy with the Sookie Stackhouse series?

Harris: My mystery career was not flourishing. I was firmly stuck in the midlist. I wanted to appeal to a broader readership, and I was tired of the restrictions of writing conventional mysteries. It seemed to me that forging a path into the paranormal was the best answer. At the time I wrote Dead Until Dark, that territory was largely unmapped.

How do you keep the mystery aspect of the novels plausible when working in a fantasy setting in which the implausible is the norm?

Harris: Like mysteries aren't implausible? When was the last time your grandmother solved a murder by her knowledge of neighborhood life? And I don't know many private eyes who work for free because they're so determined to get to the bottom of a case that's no longer theirs. Genre writing largely consists of making the incredible believable ... no matter what the genre.


OK, so why vampires, and why Louisiana?

Harris: I was sure vampires would be fun to write, and I wanted to take a direction that was new and fresh. (At the time, it was!) I decided to be the anti-Anne Rice. (This is not a knock on her work, but an attitude.) Since she took romantic southern Louisiana, I'd take the northern part, which is much more prosaic. Since her vampires were romantic and pay a lot of attention to their clothes, mine would shop at the mall and have ordinary names. That can only go so far; after all, I had no intention of writing a parody or of mocking her work, which I admire. After deciding your style of writing for the work you want to do, you have to construct a credible world.

How did you go about constructing that credible world? What kinds of questions did you ask yourself in order to flesh out the setting?

Harris: My key question was "What kind of woman would want to date a vampire?" After I'd started building Sookie's character from that premise, I asked myself, "Why would the vampires want the world to know they were real, after all those years of concealment?" And then I asked myself, "How would the average man on the street react when he was in the company of a vampire?" That led to host of more questions, about how the government would react, how different societies across the globe would deal with vampires, about how the vampires would try to present themselves in their public relations campaign ... it just got to be more and more fun.

Where did the idea for the synthetic blood come from?

Harris:I had to have a reason for the vampires to become public, to want to mainstream. So I had to give them a talking point in their campaign, and that talking point was the fact that they didn't have to prey on humans anymore, now that synthetic blood had become available.

What was it like seeing your work adapted into a television series?

Harris: I love Alan [Ball], and I think he's a genius at casting. It's been tremendously exciting, and the fact that Alan and his staff and the people at HBO have treated my books and me with great respect is just gravy on the whole deal.

How has True Blood diverged from your books?

Harris: The most obvious is that all the secondary characters have a much more extensive part of the storyline. This had to be, since [star] Anna [Paquin, who plays Sookie,] couldn't be on camera in every single scene. My books are written in the first person, and that simply had to be altered to make the material work for television. That change, in turn, sparked more ideas for the writers. I've enjoyed being surprised by the original storylines in True Blood.

The ninth Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead and Gone, is due out in May of next year. What can you tell us about it?

Harris: Ha! Well, it has another great Lisa Desimini cover. And there's more supernatural warfare in it. It's more unified than the previous book, which turned out to be a series of episodes. The Werewolves finally come out into the open. Sookie learns a lot more about her great-grandfather. She has surprising encounters with most of her suitors, past and present.


You've also got another paranormal-mystery hybrid series, featuring the dead-finding clairvoyant Harper Connelly. With the success of True Blood, have there been lots of Hollywood inquiries into that property? Any possibility we'll see that brought to a screen (either silver or small)?

Harris: So far, no bites on Harper. There's been interest in my mystery heroine Lily Bard several times, but nothing's firmed up yet. Lily is without a doubt the darkest character I've ever written, and one of the toughest. I'd love to see a really good treatment of her difficult life.

I'm sure you and your publishers expected to get a sales bump from the TV series, but I'm sure no one expected you to end up with seven New York Times best-sellers all at once--what was that like?

Harris: That's still ongoing, believe it or not. All the books have been on the extended or print list for the last five weeks, give or take a week. And the boxed set is a hugely popular Christmas gift, apparently. Thanks, Alan Ball! For me personally, it hasn't made that much difference. I'm still faced with the problems I had before: a looming deadline, a book that won't write itself. Being the prom queen for a season hasn't changed the work any. --John Joseph Adams

They aren't going to have Bubba in True Blood ?

"..don't ever call him anything but Bubba"

How can there be no Bubba ?

He is a much beloved character in the Sookie books.
He should have been introduced at the end of last season - Bill assigns him to watch after Sookie and we continue to occasionally run into Bubba throughout the book series ...

This is what Alan Ball says about Bubba

MediaBlvd> Will viewers ever see Bubba on the show?

Alan> We’re not going to see Bubba. There is no way to do it, if it’s not Elvis. There’s just no way to do it without it being lame, so we’re not going to do it. The only way I thought about it was to have a guy who we never saw the face of, but then it felt like that guy from Home Improvement.


bk 1

"Sookie," Bill said warningly, "this isBubba." "Bubba," I repeated, not quite trusting my ears. "Yep, Bubba," the vampire said cheerfully, goodwill radiating from his fearsome smile. "That's me. Pleased to meetcha."
I shook hands with him, making myself smile back. Good God Almighty, I never thought I'd be shaking hands with Him. But he'd sure changed for the worse.
"Bubba, would you mind waiting here on the porch? Let me explain our arrangement to Sookie."
"That's all right with me," Bubba said casually. He settled on the swing, as happy and brainless as a clam.
We went into the living room, but not before I'd noticed that when Bubba had made his appearance, much of the night noise—bugs, frogs—had simply stopped. "I had hoped to explain this to you before Bubba got here," Bill whispered. "But I couldn't."
I said, "Is that who I think it is?"
"Yes. So now you know at least some of the sighting stories are true. Butdon't call him by his name.
Call him Bubba! Something went wrong when he came over—from human to vampire—maybe it was all the chemicals in his blood." "But he was really dead, wasn't he?" "Not... quite. One of us was a morgue attendant and a big fan, and he could detect the tiny spark still left, so he brought him over, in a hurried manner." "Brought him over?"

"Made him vampire," Bill explained. "But that was a mistake.
He's never been the same from what my friends tell me. He's as smart as a tree trunk, so to make a living he does odd jobs for the rest of us. We can't have him out in public, you can see that."
I nodded, my mouth hanging open. Of course not. "Geez," I murmured, stunned at the royalty in my yard.
"So remember how stupid he is, and how impulsive ... don't spend time alone with him, and don't ever call him anything but Bubba. Also, he likes pets, as he told you, and a diet of their blood hasn't made him any the more reliable. Now, as to why I brought him here ..."
I stood with my arms across my chest, waiting for Bill's explanation with some interest.
"Sweetheart, I have to go out of town for a while," Billsaid.

Photos taken june and august 1977 - property of UPI and Graceland

Screen Actors Guild today announced that strike authorization ballots will be mailed to paid-up SAG members on Friday January 2, 2009

Hours after Alan Rosenberg announced the voting schedule this morning on a local television show - apparently before the National Board had been informed - the union put out a hasty statement:

LOS ANGELES, DECEMBER 10, 2008 — Screen Actors Guild today announced that strike authorization ballots will be mailed to paid-up SAG members on Friday January 2, 2009, and will be tabulated on Friday, January 23. A yes vote by 75% of members voting is required to pass the measure, which would authorize SAG’s national board of directors to call a strike, if and when the board determines it is necessary.

Screen Actors Guild National President Alan Rosenberg said, ”SAG members understand that their futures as professional actors are at stake and I believe that SAG members will evaluate the AMPTP’s June 30 offer, and vote to send us back to the table with the threat of a strike. A yes vote sends a strong message that we are serious about fending off rollbacks and getting what is fair for actors in new media. I am encouraged by the response of the capacity crowd at our Los Angeles town hall meeting Monday night.”

”We want SAG members to have time to focus on this critical referendum, so we have decided to mail ballots the day after New Year’s. We will continue our comprehensive education campaign and urge our members to vote yes on the strike authorization. I am confident that members around the country will empower our negotiating team with the leverage and strength of unified Screen Actors Guild members. Our objective remains to get a deal that SAG members will ratify- not to go on strike,” said SAG National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, Doug Allen.

Ballots will be tabulated at Integrity Voting Systems in Everett, Washington. Passage requires 75% yes vote from those voting.

http://blog.sagwatch.net/

Eric is how old ?

Bk one

Bill seemed to relax. He bowed to Eric, somehow including Pam in the gesture, backed away for two steps, finally permitting me to turn my back to the couple.
"Gee whiz, what was that about?" I asked in a furious whisper. I'd have a big bruise the next day.
"They're older than I am by centuries," Bill said, looking very vampirey.
"Is that the pecking order? By age?"
"Pecking order," Bill said thoughtfully. "That's not a bad way to put it." He almost laughed. I could tell by the way his lip twitched.

"Sookie," Bill said, and something in his voice made me take notice. "Eric has told me to bring you to Shreveport again."
It took me a second to remember who Eric was. "Oh, the big Viking vampire?"
"The very old vampire," Bill said precisely.
"You mean, he ordered you to bring me there?" I didn't like the sound of this at all. I'd been sitting on the side of the bed, Bill behind me, and now I turned to look in his face. This time he didn't stop me. I stared at Bill, seeing something in his face that I'd never seen before. "You have to do this," I said, appalled. I could not imagine someone giving Bill an order. "But honey, I don't want to go see Eric."
I could see that made no difference. "What is he, the Godfather of vampires?" I asked, angry and incredulous. "Did he give you an offer you couldn't refuse?"
"He is older than me. More to the point, he is stronger."

Bk 2
It was quite a crouch, because Eric, tall and broad, looks exactly like what he is, a former Viking. "What has happened to you?" he asked.

Bk 4
From a six-foot-five ancient Viking vampire

Bk 5
Eric slid out of the booth and rose to his considerable height-around six foot four. His mane of blond hair rippled down his back, and his blue eyes sparkled from his white, white face. Eric has bold features, high cheekbones, and a square jaw. He looks like a lawless Viking, the kind that could pillage a village in no time at all; and that's exactly what he had been.
Vampires don't shake hands except under extraordinary circumstances, so I didn't expect any salutation from Eric. But he bent to give me a kiss on the cheek, and he gave it lingeringly, as if he wanted me to know he'd like to seduce me.

Bk 7
Eric decided action would speak louder than words. Suddenly, he was right in front of me.
He put a finger under my chin and lifted my face to his. His eyes, which looked simply dark in the irregular light, latched on to mine with an intensity that was both exciting and painful. Vampires; mixed feelings. One and the same.
Not exactly to my astonishment, he kissed me. When someone has had approximately a thousand years to practice kissing, he can become very good at it, and I would be lying if I said I was immune to such osculatory talent.

From wikipedia

The Viking Age

The period from the earliest recorded raids in the 790s until the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 is commonly known as the Viking Age of Scandinavian history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking

Whose license plate is this ?

Who's car had this license plate ? and these great bumperstickers
Alan Ball recreated them exactly from the book.




Yes, it's Malcolm's car

Post your answers in the comments ...

It's described like this in Dead until Dark

There was another car parked in front of the house, a Lincoln Continental, white with a dark blue top. A blue-on-white bumper sticker read vampires suck. A red and yellow one stated honk if you're a blood donor! The vanity plate read, simply,fangs 1.

Bon Temp Christmas Carols -Best Ye merry True Blood Fans

The Best Ye Merry True Blood Fans (sung to the tune of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen")

The Best ye merry True Blood Fans, let nothing you dismay,
Remember Alan Ball will film season two by May
To save us all from drifting off when we were gone astray.

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;
O tidings of comfort and joy.

On locations and on sets this series will be shot,
And all the problems will be fixed with characters and plot;
Our favorite things will stay the same like Grans house and Merlott's.

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;
O tidings of comfort and joy.

HBO sends a happy new year, happy New Year,
HBO sends you a happy new year.

See all our Christmas posts here

watch video here -thanks, sampup
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/F2OKlP8OcLlcOhMLbWea

You know you've watched too much True Blood when...

You're going to STOP wearing your silver jewelry, just in case.

You are not as excited about Christmas as you normally are because preparing for it is taking time away from True Blood / Sookie Books.

A co-worker tells you, "You need help...." after saying you think it would "rock" to "be with" a vampire.

You can say all of Sookie and Bill's lines for every episode.

You start all new conversations now with "Do you have HBO?"

You only want to talk to friends who you know can talk forever about True Blood because you just HAVE to HAVE a long conversation about Bill's accent and his piercing eyes or you won't make it through the day....

*post your favorites in comments

Bill's fashion choice - Henley shirts


We have been examining Bon Temp fashion and we have to look at Bill's fashion choices.

Bill of course, loves Henley shirts.

They do seem to suit him as they look a little old fashioned. You can dress the men in your life to look just like Bill.

* American eagle HERE

* L.L. Bean HERE


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Henley shirt is a collarless men's casual wear pullover shirt, characterized by a 10 cm to 15 cm (4-6") long placket beneath the round neckline, usually having 2-5 buttons. It essentially resembles a collarless polo shirt. The sleeves may be either short or long sleeve, or it can be made in almost any fabric, although cotton, and cotton-polyester blends, and thermals are by far the most popular. Henley shirts are generally regarded as menswear, but recently women's versions have appeared as well.
They were so named because this particular style of shirt was the traditional uniform of rowers in the English town of Henley-on-Thames.
Originally quite popular in the early 1990s, Henley shirts have recently made a fashion comeback, especially in Western countries such as the United States and Canada, but also in some East Asian Countries such as Japan and Korea

True Blood Music Video of the Day: Hanging by the Moment by Lifehouse



Hanging by the Moment by Lifehouse

Post your favorite video link in the comments or send to me
Truebloodindallas@gmail.com