True Blood: Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse Books In Order
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The Southern Vampire Mysteries, also known as The True Blood Novels and The Sookie Stackhouse Novels, is an urban fantasy novel series written by Charlaine Harris. that revolves around a world inhabited by supernatural characters, including vampires, werewolves, and magical beings. The first book, Dead Until Dark (2001), won the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Mystery in 2001. The books were adapted into the the HBO drama True Blood (2008–2014).
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The star of the series is Sookie Stackhouse, a telepath who works as a waitress in Louisiana. In the world of the books, vampires are known to the public, but other supernatural beings—including werewolves and magical beings—do not become public knowledge public until later in the series.
The author explained what made her approach to vampires unique: “I think of them as adventure novels. Maybe the difference in my approach is the humor, and the fact that my protagonist has no increasing supernatural powers and has trouble paying her bills. (The telepathy? It's up in the air in the books as to where that came from.)”
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Complete True Blood Novels by Charlaine Harris In Order
Interviews With Charlaine Harris
The author shares how the urban fantasy category has grown since she started, talks us trug her jump from mystery writer to urban fantasy author, and reveals which TV depiction of one of her True Blood characters she liked the best.
CHARLAINE HARRIS ON HER VAMPIRES USING SYNTHETIC BLOOD
My initial thought on the series was I wanted to write about a woman dating a vampire. But to make them less frightening, to give them a reason for being out, I had to develop a theory that would let them look less vicious. So they would have to have another food source. So I read some articles about synthetic blood, which never has really worked out before now—though people have made the attempt—and it seemed to me like a viable synthetic blood would be the perfect answer to my problems. Vampires would say, “Oh no, we’re not dangerous. We drink synthetic blood. We don’t want to grab you and bite you.” And people could believe that because people are gullible.
Read the interview: Feature Interview: Charlaine Harris - Fantasy Magazine
CHARLAINE HARRIS ON HOW URBAN FANTASY HAS GROWN AS A CATEGORY SINCE SHE STARTED HER TRUE BLOOD BOOKS
Well, there wasn’t an urban fantasy when I started out. That was kind of something that evolved around the first few writers in that area, like Laurell K. Hamilton, Jim Butcher, and Patricia Briggs. We all started out at roughly the same time. So it feels very exciting to have been in on the ground floor of urban fantasy and to see what’s happened to it since then. Though I keep hearing rumors that it’s a dead sub-genre, I still see books selling very well that are by people who are already in the field.
Read the interview: 'True Blood' Creator Charlaine Harris On Fan Backlash And 'Midnight, Texas'
CHARLAINE HARRIS ON WHY THE SHOW WAS DIFFERENT FROM THE BOOKS
The screen has different demands than the printed word. The books are in the first person, so everything is from Sookie's point of view. A TV show can't be filmed that way. Anna needs a break! So the writers of the show explore the other characters. I think the show is true to the books in spirit.
Read the interview: Charlaine Harris True Blood Interview
CHARLAINE HARRIS ON HOW SHE JUMPED FROM BEING A MIDLIST MYSTERY WRITER TO A MORE SUCCESSFUL URBAN FANTASY AUTHOR
My first series, the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries, were conventional mysteries. No supernatural in them at all. But as time went on, and I stayed stuck on the midlist, which is a fine place to be and I was grateful, but I guess I found I was ambitious. I kept thinking, “I’ve got to go up, I’ve got to climb a few steps up the ladder.” I set a goal for myself. I thought, “If I can make $70,000 a year, if I can just make that.”
I wanted to change my career. I sat and stared into space and thought about her and built her from a littler germ of an idea to a bigger idea to a bigger idea. Until I had her world set in my head.
At first, nobody liked it, it got turned down over and over for two years. Finally, due to Laurell K. Hamilton’s success at Ace, a junior editor at Ace took it. It was just instantly successful out of the gate. It was a delightful change for me. Also I felt like I was vindicated; I’d found something I could go to town with and not restrain myself.
Read the interview: Between the Lines with Charlaine Harris | | THE BIG THRILL
CHARLAINE HARRIS ON THE CHARACTER DEPICTION ON THE TRUE BLOOD SERIES THAT DELIGHTED HER THE MOST
Oh, for sure, Lafayette! Nelsan [Ellis]: Why he hasn’t gotten an Emmy, I don’t know. He was robbed. He’s brilliant, and he gave that character so much that was never in the books. People say, “Well, you killed him off in the books!” And I say, “Yeah, but he wasn’t the same Lafayette!” He’s much more fabulous in the TV show, and Nelsan gave him dimension and life and incredible lovable-ness that helped a lot of people relate to a character that they might not have related to in real life. There was just so much to him. He did deal drugs, but he was also a loving person. He was loyal to his family. He dabbled in magic. There’s a big system of checks and balances with Lafayette to make him seem [like] a real person. How could he not be your favorite? He was written beautifully.
Read the interview: Author Charlaine Harris on the End of True Blood, Viewer Backlash, and ‘Fabulous’ Lafayette
CHARLAINE HARRIS ON WHY IT’S NORMAL THAT SHE WRITES ABOUT “VAMPIRES AND PARANORMAL STUFF”
You know, to me, that is not extraordinary or weird in any way. I grew up reading Anne Rice, ghost stories and anything else I can find—Dracula, Frankenstein.
Read the interview: Black Gate » One-on-One with Charlaine Harris
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