Charlaine Harris ('The Sookie Stackhouse Novels', 'True Blood')

Interview by Alan Kelly

Charlaine Harris is the bestselling author of The Sookie Stackhouse books. A collection of stories adapted for the small-screen by Six Feet Under's Alan Ball which has since become phenomenally successful, quickly becoming both a critical and a commercial success and probably the best genre show since Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.

Unfairly compared to Twilight (a bit like comparing Sigourney Weaver to Megan Fox), the books and the show are closer in style and substance to David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. Full of Southern Gothic soap operatics, massive bloodshed, betrayal, psychotic Maenads, twisted Were-bitches, Sapphic vampire queens, malevolent faeries and an endearing, cute-as-a-button telepathic waitress with a hard edge. Harris talks exclusively with us about her work and the TV series.

I've always been curious about The Great Revelation - what first gave you the idea to write about vampires integrating into society?

I thought it would add an interesting dimension to what otherwise might become just a vampire-and-human woman romance. It’s worked out much better than I expected, especially now that the Werewolves have followed suit. Since the books are about acceptance and what constitutes monsterdom, I thought if the vampires had just emerged from the shadows I could really illustrate my thoughts through that device.

Dead in the Family is the tenth book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. One thing I've noticed about Sookie - in the books - is that with every experience she has with supernaturals, she gets a little bit harder. DITF even has her contemplating whether joining the undead would be a better option than growing old. Do you always know where you're going with the character and can you tell me a bit about where she might be heading next?

I don’t always know the specifics. As the books develop, I see what MUST happen to the character if she’s going to be a credible person, and I think it’s inevitable that Sookie will harden as she becomes used to horrific events and multiple betrayals. She isn’t going to backtrack on this, but I hope she reaches a plateau, so to speak.

Are you pleased so far with Alan Ball's adaptation True Blood, what are some of your favourite storylines and characters?

Yes, I’m delighted with Alan Ball’s imagination and his talent for hiring wonderful people to work for him. I’m especially fond of Jessica, a character I think is a stroke of genius.

Are the characters in your books based on real-life people or entirely fictional?

Half and half. Of course I observe the people around me, and I pick up on snippets here and there; that’s part of being a writer. But writers create their own people by mixing things they know to be true with things they need to make the book move forward, and that’s what my characters do.

You are a board member of Mystery Writers of America. Who would be some of your favourite crime/mystery/horror writers, and why?

I love to discover writers I haven’t read before, and I try to promote other writers on my website. There are so many people I love to read. Most of them are science fiction, urban fantasy, or mystery writers. If we’re sticking to live ones, I always read Lee Child , Barry Eisler, Harlan Coben, Dennis Lehane, Denise Swanson, Toni Kelner, Naomi Novik, Sarah Monette, Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, Laurell K. Hamilton, Jeaniene Frost, Jeanne Stein . . . on and on.

Would I be correct in saying that with your Lily Bard series you exorcised a lot of your own demons, the character was a survivor of rape and Sookie Stackhouse also suffered sexual abuse during her childhood. Is it ok to ask about your own experiences with this?

Yes, it’s ok. I’ve never been secretive about the fact that I’m a rape survivor. (In contrast, I had a lovely childhood with wonderful parents, so I was lucky that way.) I am happy to be alive every day, to have survived and overcome what happened to me. It has helped to write about women wrestling with the same demons.

The supernaturals are metaphors for people living on the margins of society, the most obvious being LGBT people; Sookie is also an outsider. Was this a conscious decision you made before you began the series?

Yes.

Are there any actors you'd like to see play characters in True Blood?

Sometimes I spot actors or meet actors and I imagine them being in the show, or they’ll tell me they’re interested in being in True Blood. But I think Alan hires the right actor for the right role; it’s part of his genius.

Your books balance the light and the dark, the humour and the pathos really well. Is getting that balance between tragedy and comedy just right hard work?

Yes. Writing is hard. That’s why more people don’t do it – which is fine with me. It makes me crazy when people ask me how long it takes me to “crank out” a book. Truthfully, I’m still looking for an easy way to write a book, and I’ve written quite a few!

What advice would you give to budding authors?

Read, read, read. Write, write, write.

Visit Harris at www.charlaineharris.com