Charlaine Harris Q&A and Essay about Sookie and True Blood for Borders

Charlaine's Borders Q&A and Essay
I will say that she was asked that questions about spinning off a story about a character from he Sookie books when I saw her in January in Houston and she said then that she's like to write about Stan Davis ( nerd Sheriff of Dallas , now King of Texas )

A Conversation with Charlaine Harris

Is Sookie based on someone you know/is there a real Sookie in your life?

Charlaine Harris: Sookie isn't based on any one person I know, though I think she has become very much like my daughter.
Or maybe my daughter's grown up to be like Sookie: brave and loyal, smart and kind.

Why did you choose small town Louisiana for the setting of the series?

CH: I took northern Louisiana because Anne Rice had staked out (haha) southern Louisiana. I wanted to take something distinctly unpicturesque and make it my own. And I love small towns.

How did you come up with the notion of a synthetic blood substance?

CH: I had to imagine circumstances under which vampires would announce their reality. They would have to appear unthreatening to humans, and for that to obtain, they would have to have an alternative food source.

What?s next for Sookie and the series?

CH: I have no idea.

Any thoughts of doing a spinoff series about one of the smaller characters in Sookie?s world?

CH: A lot of people have asked me that, but I haven't planned anything yet. Maybe someday I'll have an idea stemming from the Sookie books.

Essay-Sookie and Me and HBO

If you're reading the Sookie Stackhouse books, you may also have had the pleasure of watching True Blood on HBO. If you haven't seen True Blood yet, you may be in for a surprise. The show isn't a carbon copy of the books, at least if you expect True Blood to follow the plot line as I've revealed it, page by page.

In my opinion, this is a great plus. Between producer/writer Alan Ball and me, people get two good experiences?at least, that's what we're aiming for. The books are adventures, full of action and horror, romance and humor; and so is the television show. I knew that would be the case after I'd talked to Alan about the way he saw the characters I'd written. That's why I trusted him to bring them to the screen.

I knew, also, that True Blood couldn't be filmed, plot point for plot point, to match Dead Until Dark or Living Dead in Dallas. Though I hope the way I write has made for entertaining books, it wouldn't make entertaining television.

The books are all told from Sookie's point of view. That won't work for television. Anna Paquin (who is a great Sookie Stackhouse) would be exhausted if everything on the screen happened the way it does in the books. And Alan's imagination has supplied lots of different, visual ways to cue viewers to the revelations of the book.

So read the books, watch the show, and enjoy both experiences for the entertainment they provide in very different ways. That's what I'm doing.

Charlaine Harris

http://www.borders.com/online/store/ArticleView_harris

What is the favorite dog in Bon Temps ? The Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog

Terry bought a very expensive Catahoula hunting dog about every four years.
He wasn't turning in the old models for new ones. Something always seemed to happen to Terry's dogs, though he took great care of them. After he'd had the first hound about three years, a truck had hit him. Someone had fed poisoned meat to the second. The third one, the one he'd named Molly, had gotten snake-bit, and the bite had turned septic. For months now, Terry had been on the list for one in the next litter born at the kennel in Clarice that bred Catahoulas.'

The idea that Native Americans bred their dogs with or from red wolves is not supported by recent DNA work. Several recent studies have looked at the remains of prehistoric dogs from American archaeological sites and each has indicated that the genetics of prehistoric American dogs are similar to European and Asian domestic dogs rather than wild New World canids. In fact, these studies indicate that Native Americans brought several lines (breeds) of already domesticated dogs with them on their journeys from Asia to North America.
There is a plethora of published sources detailing the domestic dogs found in prehistoric archaeological sites. Clearly, the red wolf was not the only canid located in the Mississippi River Valley before the arrival of Europeans. There were also foxes and grey wolves as well as various domesticated Native American breeds.
In the 1800s, French settlers arrived in Louisiana with their Beauceron.
They told of strange looking dogs with haunting glass eyes that were used by the Indians to hunt game in the swamp.[9] It is thought the Beauceron and Red Wolf/war dog were interbred to produce the Catahoula. The word 'Catahoula' is actually a combination of two Choctaw words 'okhata', meaning lake, and 'hullo', meaning beloved... or a French transformation of the Choctaw Indian word for their own nation, 'Couthaougoula' pronounced 'Coot-ha-oo-goo-la'.(Don Abney) Jim Bowie and brother, Rezin Bowie, who spent much of their youth in Catahoula Parish are reported to have owned a pair of Catahoulas. It was said that they would sleep with a Catahoula at their feet.During the early 1900s, Teddy Roosevelt used the Catahoula when hunting. Louisiana Governor Earl K. Long had an interest in the breed and collected them. This interest was recognized by an annual competition known as Uncle Earl's Hog Dog Trials. In 1979, Governor Edwin Edwards signed a bill making the Catahoula the official state dog of Louisiana in recognition of their importance in the history of the region.

http://www.akc.org/breeds/catahoula_leopard_dog/history.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catahoula_Leopard_Dog

20% off on all DVD today at HBO

20% off on all DVD today at HBO

http://store.hbo.com/

The Red Unicorn quizz answer !

The question was when did Sookie come in contact with this ?

Yes, this is the red unicorn that was stamped into the wax seal on the envelope from Niall in Bk8, the envelope contained the address for Remy Savoy ( and Hunter)

Thanks to rita, nancy, april, tiffany, tara , debra, kristie and amy
You guys are very smart.....

What Sookie shouldn't say on a first date ( part1)

This is from Charlaine Harris website and from a poster called AtlantaSassyBelle. Ha!

"What NOT to tell someone on your first date ", by Sookie Stackhouse.

1) I'm telepathic and I can also read some supes minds (and maybe some vamps now).
2) My brother is part Were-Panther.
3) I've had vamp blood from multiple sources.
4) I slept with Bill and Eric (both vampires, whee!)and a Were Tiger named Quinn...no pressure on you for comparison or anything...
5) I'm part Fairy. :::bats eyelashes::: No really! I suggested this nice restaurant because this is where Eric brought me to meet my Great Grandfather for the first time. He's a Fairy PRINCE! Apparently he's very high up there and quite powerful and protective. I could like, snap my fingers...and poof, there's Pappy! Everyone seems a little scared of him and my own cousins call him "My Lord". I just think its great to have him around. I can't WAIT to introduce you to him. Do you like hunting? He says he's a really great hunter but I'm not sure what kind of game he likes to hunt...but he says that he has this thing called The Great Hunt so I'm SURE its SO much fun!!!
6) I had a funny uncle (so lets talk therapy bills) but my ex Vampire boyfriend Bill killed him for me. :::smiles prettily:::
7) My grandmother was brutally murdered by the man who wanted to kill me for sleeping with the first guy I ever dated who happened to be a vampire who was sent to Bon Temps to seduce me because the Queen of Louisiana heard about me from my now deceased deceased (twice) estranged cousin Hadley who was also her lover.
8 )My best friend was part of a sex club. A few of them died in the woods when a Maened killed them. Oh, and that Maened tortured me too. Wanna see my scars?
9)My boss is a shape shifter. A true shifter. He can be anything he wants.
Its really cool! The last time he turned into a LION and killed a bunch of folks. He's very protective...and he's got this HUGE thing for me and sometimes I wonder if there might be something more there, ya know??
10) My former best friend is now a member of the Fellowship of the Sun. I think she might be part of a plot to kill me now...or at least really make my life miserable.
11) I've seen the man from Memphis and he likes to eat dogs and cats.
12) I'm a friend of the Shreveport pack. Again. Well, after their enemies tried to kill me. And then I helped their Pack Leader figure out he was being duped after a lot of people got killed. There was this whole Were War and it was CRAZY! And now my friend Alcide, who I think still sorta wants to, uhh, well... Anyway, he's Pack Leader now.
13) Some of the Mississippi Weres want to kill me and continue to try to make my life miserable. They constantly send spies and I had to have the last one hexed by witches. Did I mention they are also my roommates? The witches, I mean. Anyhoodle...the spy is now no longer under the psycho from Mississippi's influence so she SHOULD be safe... But if my former sister-in-law starts to act funny again and spend lots more money we may have to take further steps... Well, I don't know how obligated I am to that cheating Were Panther hooker...she cheated on my brother while she was pregnant with his child! My brother :::rolls her eyes::: arranged for me to "accidentally" find them at the same time her Uncle did (he also wanted to date me, its very flattering!). Since SHE cheated, I had to break her Uncle Calvin's hand in some weird Were Panther ritual. It was awful. I'm really mad at my brother right now and I'm not sure if I'm going to speak to him for a while. So if he comes over, I need YOU to tell him to go away. He only gets furry a few nights of the month so it SHOULD be fine.

True Blood Music Video of the Day:Taking Over Me by Evanescence

Taking Over Me by Evanescence by LYRICS

Thanks, islove

From Dead to Worse audio review ..a fast way to refresh your memory before 'Dead and Gone'.

Amberkatz reviews the 'Dead to Worse' audio book.

Do you want to read Bk 8 again before Bk 9 comes out on Tuesday ? Download the audiobook from iTunes or your favorite audio book provider. If you haven't heard a Sookie book, you'll be pleasantly surprised, it is as Katz says, a whole new experience.

Sookie Stackhouse is in trouble again and this time it is from all sides. Accidently mixed up in the were war and a vampire takeover she is also confronted with the fact that she has more family than her brother Jason. With the help of Sam and her room mate she manages to survive the newest problems life throws at her but in the end there are even more.

This book only came out last year and I remember being extremely happy that I was home ill when it arrived in the post. However while listening to this audiobook I really have to admit that I hardly remembered any of the story. Sure some bits and bobs seemed familiar but on a whole the story was practically new to me.

I loved every minute of this audiobook and have to say that the narrator is amazing. She really brings Sookie to life and I am longing to get my hands on more of these audios because they are such a joy to listen to. Also the format of the audio is great. No tracks as long as chapters but nice 3 to 5 minute tracks so you aren't forced to finish a chapter or pause in the middle of a chapter.

Read on

Sookie-True Blood Promotion by Borders and Charlaine book signing Oak Brook, IL Chicago July

Vampire enthusiasts can't seem to get enough of these mysterious creatures, found in abundance in the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris and TRUE BLOOD(SM), the HBO(R) series based on the books. That's why Borders.com(R) - just in time for the May 5 release of Harris' newest book in the series, "Dead and Gone," and the May 19 DVD and Blu-ray(TM) releases of "True Blood(SM): The Complete First Season" - is giving fans access to unique video content as well as exclusive pieces penned by Harris that will immerse them even deeper into this alluring world. In addition to enjoying special video and author content, fans can conveniently pre-order their copies of the DVD and book at Borders.com.

Video Content on Borders.com

Beginning today only at Borders.com, fans of the show and the books can visit www.borders.com/trueblood to enjoy unique video from the first season provided by HBO including:

• Behind-the-scenes footage - A sneak peek at the making of the TRUE BLOOD series, including interviews with director Alan Ball and actors Anna Paquin, who plays Sookie Stackhouse, and Stephen Moyer, who plays her 173-year-old vampire boyfriend Bill Compton.
• Character pieces - Video vignettes on favorite TRUE BLOOD characters including Sookie, Bill, Sam, Tara, Jason and Lafayette.
• Series trailer - Exciting highlights of scenes from the first season of the hit HBO series.

Exclusive Author Content

Understanding that fans often want to delve deeper into the books they love, Borders has teamed with Penguin, the publisher of Harris' novels, to provide fans with special author insider information when they visit www.borders.com/trueblood including:

• Chapter excerpt - Advanced access to a unique excerpt chosen by the author - and unavailable anywhere else - of Harris' highly anticipated new release "Dead and Gone."
• Exclusive Q&A with Harris - In this Q&A, Harris reveals how she feels about her enigmatic leading lady Sookie.
• Exclusive author essay - Titled "Sookie and Me and HBO," the essay explores Harris' thoughts on HBO's adaptation of her books.
• Not-yet-published book covers - Fans can get an advance look at yet-to-be released book covers for Harris' other Sookie Stackhouse novels: "Living Dead in Dallas," "Club Dead," "Dead to the World," "Dead as a Doornail" and "All Together Dead."

Author Event - Charlaine Harris Only at Borders July 13-Chicago Area

Harris will be in the Chicagoland market at Borders in Oak Brook, Illinois, July 13 to greet her fans and sign copies of "Dead and Gone."

"We've collaborated with HBO and Penguin to put together an incredible Web page filled with unique video content, book cover images, a special piece written by Charlaine Harris just for Borders and more - all to get fans really excited about the release of Charlaine's newest book 'Dead and Gone' as well as the releases of 'True Blood(SM): The Complete First Season' on DVD and Blu-ray," said Rich Fahle, vice president, Borders.com.

"We're especially thrilled to host Charlaine for a signing and meet-and-greet with her fans at our Borders store in Oak Brook," Fahle added. "This brand is truly exploding and we could not be more pleased to be a destination for all things TRUE BLOOD and Charlaine Harris."

New HBO series 'Hung" will follow True Blood Sunday nights

HBO to Get "Hung" on June 28

LOS ANGELES HBO will get "Hung" on Sunday nights beginning June 28.

The newcomer will air at 10:00/9:00c following the second season of "True Blood" at 9:00/8:00c.

Years ago in high school, Ray Drecker (Thomas Jane) was athletic, popular and destined for success. Now, as a high-school teacher and basketball coach, he's underpaid, uninsured, and embittered that his wife of 20 years (Anne Heche) has left him for her dermatologist. After a fire damages the rundown Detroit home he inherited from his parents, Ray's fortunes reach an all-time low when his twin children, who had been living with him, move in with their mom and her clean-freak hubby. Lonely, run-down and at wit's end, Ray attends a local self-help class whose mantra is to identify a personal "winning tool" to market for financial success. After a not-so-fulfilling encounter with a fellow attendee - an ex-flame and would-be poet named Tanya (Jane Adams) - Ray has a "eureka" moment. With the help of Tanya, Ray resolves to take advantage of his greatest asset, in hopes of changing his fortunes in a big way.

Charlie Saxton and Eddie Jemison also star in the hour, which comes from co-creators Dmitry Lipkin and Colette Burson. Alexander Payne helmed in the pilot.

HBO web page http://www.hbo.com/events/hung/

From Variety HERE

Lynn (Dawn Green) Collins is a hit in new Wolverine movie

Dallas notes that Lynn is a Texan and grew up in Houston!

No joke: Lynn Collins' role was vital to Wolverine' story
By RICK BENTLEY Kansas City Star

LOS ANGELES - Lynn Collins had little time to think once she was cast as Kayla Silverfox, the love interest in the new summer action film "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."

"When I got the job, within 72 hours, I was on a cliff in my underwear kissing Hugh Jackman in New Zealand. I had no time to prepare," Collins says during an interview at the 20th Century Fox lot.

The Texas native was already nervous about being cast in the biggest movie of her career - she is the only major female character in the film. She's appeared in an assortment of television and film roles - from "True Blood" and "The Lake House" - but nothing compared to the kind of notice she's going to get from "Wolverine." She felt like she was representing the entire female audience.

All that pressure looked like it was about to overflow when early in the filming Jackman told her there was a problem with the early footage: Her outfits weren't skimpy enough.

That made sense. Collins' character is supposed to be alluring enough to win the heart of Wolverine.

"So, I was like, '(expletive deleted). OK. Whatever.' He was like, 'So, we found something for you. We put it in your trailer. Can you please try it on?'" Collins says.

She went to her trailer and found a tiny silver Spandex dress - which she describes by forming a box with her hands. The dress was so tiny it didn't cover everything that needed to be covered. Collins had a panic attack.

Finally, after some clever adjustments of the material, she emerged from her trailer.

"I opened the door and everybody was cracking up. Hugh said, 'April Fool's,'" Collins says. "I finally decided it was OK because I didn't have to wear the green-and-black outfits Kayla Silverfox has had to wear in some of the comics."

Collins' familiarity with the character doesn't come from growing up as a comic reader. Friends have filled her in on the character's legend.

Collins spent her youth living in both Houston and Singapore because of her father's work in the oil business.

Read on

Strange Brew : Short story anthology with story 'Bacon' release July 7th

I sure hope you've read the Sookieverse short story 'Tacky' from the anthology My Big fat Supernatural Wedding.

If not your going to need to get it and read it before Strange Brew comes out in July. Strange Brew will feature a story called 'Bacon' with the character Dahlia that you met in 'Tacky' and we also see her serving as judge with Bill on the panel of judges in the vamp court case in All Together Dead...
Ok, we can almost start fretting over the next Sookie book/story! July '09

Strange Brew : Short story anthology (pre-order below)

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (July 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312383363
• ISBN-13: 978-0312383367

Charlaine on her blog, described it as Pat Elrod's witch anthology. Short story collection about witches and witchcraft.STRANGE BREW, a witchly urban fantasy anthology with nine new stories by Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Karen Chance and others.

Fans of paranormal mystery will love this anthology, which provides plenty of magic and mayhem in conveniently small packages. Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher and other notables in the field offer nine short stories perfect for brain-melting hot days when even the fluffiest novel is overwhelming. —Rose Fox

Dead and Gone ebook available 12:00am cst May 5th

Can't wait for the book store to open at 9 am,
download the book in e -format at 12 midnight

http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?BODY=viewbook&BOOK=425619

This book has not yet been released for download.
If you pre-order it, your download link will be activated at 12:00am CST Tuesday, May 5, 2009. $20.58

True Blood goes to the movies: Towelhead directed and written by Alan Ball

Towelhead is a 2008 film written and directed by Alan Ball and based on Alicia Erian's novel of the same name. The film made its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on September 8, 2007 under the name Nothing is Private.

Towelhead tells the coming-of-age story of a young Lebanese American girl named Jasira (Summer Bishil). When her mother's live-in boyfriend becomes sexually interested in her, Jasira is sent from her mother's home in Syracuse, New York to live with her old-fashioned and domineering Lebanese-Christian father (Peter Macdissi) in Houston, Texas. Thirteen-year-old Jasira begins to have sexual feelings and at the same time must cope with the new men in her life who are sexually interested in her - her adult next-door neighbor (Aaron Eckhart) and a class-mate of her own age. Jasira is alienated from her father as he would rather spend time with his new girlfriend and whenever father and daughter are together, he demands blind obedience. When her father beats Jasira, another female neighbor (Toni Collette) offers Jasira her house as a refuge. Jasira eventually tells her father and the neighbors about having sex with her adult next-door neighbor, whose son she had been baby-sitting, and he is arrested for statutory rape. The film also deals with the racial attitudes of the people in Jasiras' life.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0787523/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Is_Private
http://wip.warnerbros.com/towelhead/

Towelhead the book by Alicia Erian http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1416589309

Yes, that,s Carrie ( Arlene) Preston y0u see in the trailer.

Alexander Skarsgard fan vid from Paley !

Thanks to my friend Beadrbop for the great video!

Loving True Blood in Dallas book suggestion: The Good Fairies of New York

With Dead and Gone, Sookie book 9 only a few days away you would be wise to get very familiar with fairies !! How about trying this book ?

The Good Fairies of New York
by Martin Millar

British author Millar offers fiercely funny (and often inebriated) Scottish fairies, a poignant love story as well as insights into the gravity of Crohn's disease, cultural conflicts and the plight of the homeless in this fey urban fantasy. Due to the machinations of the obnoxious Tala, Cornwall's fairy king, only a few humans can see the 18-inch-tall fairies who alight in Manhattan: Magenta, a homeless woman who thinks she's the ancient Greek general Xenophon; Dinnie, an overweight slacker; and Kerry, a poor artist/musician who hopes her Ancient Celtic Flower Alphabet will win a local arts prize. Fairies Heather MacKintosh and Morag MacPherson scheme to put Dinnie and Kerry together, rescue fairy artifacts and prove that in love or war, music is essential. Neil Gaiman provides an appreciative introduction.

“Read it now, and then make your friends buy their own copies. You’ll thank me someday.”—Neil Gaiman

'Staying Home' by Charlaine Harris from Femmes Fatales blog

from Femmes Fatales blogs by Charlaine Harris

This has been a strange year for me. I’ve been home since January.

I realize that’s the norm for most people, but in today’s book-touting business, it’s almost unheard of for a writer to remain at home for five months. Solid. I don’t know when writing switched over from being an ivory tower occupation to being a traveling salesman’s occupation, but now the writer that doesn’t hit the road is a writer whose sales don’t mount, at least in the normal run of things.

The reason for my unusual stint on the homefront is simple. Our only remaining high schooler will graduate next month. I missed some things in previous years with our older children – not too many events, because I wasn’t much in demand. But with my increasingly hectic schedule of the past three years, I’d already lost out on things I wished I’d shared with our daughter, and I decided to dig in for her last semester at home.

Read on HERE

True Blood Music Video of the Day: Candyman by Christina Aguilera

This is an Alexander Skarsgard fanvid with TB pics.

Candyman by Christina Aguilera LYRICS

Thanks wickedspice83