Charlaine Harris Interview

Moonlight — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:00:14 +0000

Hey there readers, now most of you know who Charlaine Harris is and most of you have also watched the HBO show True Blood. But if you don’t or haven’t let me fill you in real quick. Charlaine Harris wrote the Sookie Stackhouse vampire series and the show True Blood is based on those books. Good? Good. At this year’s Dragon Con Charlaine Harris was interviewed about her books and the show.

When asked who her favorite character in her books was she said Sookie (of course) but that she loves all her characters as each one is a part of herself. Other than Sookie though, she said her favorite characters were Amelia Broadway (a witch in the books that hasn’t been in the show) and Vampire Pam (played by Kristin Bauer). Charlaine also explained that Alan Ball’s intention with the True Blood series was to base each season on each book. So season one of the show is based on book one and season two is based on book two… etc. She continues, saying that Alan made it clear that the series would most likely take on a life of its own…

“Alan Ball explained that because Sookie wouldn’t be able to carry the entire series on her own, other characters would have to become more developed. Hence Lafayette not being killed in season one, even though he was killed in the first novel, Dead Until Dark. This also explains why the character Jessica Hamby played by Deborah Ann Woll was created and why Tara Thornton played by Rutina Wesley has become a main character in the True Blood series.”

The interviewer then asks Charlaine who her favorite character on the show is. She sweetly praised the entire cast but singled out Nelsan Ellis for his “brilliant” portrayal of Lafayette Reynolds (and it sure is, he is amazing). She also said that she couldn’t believe how tall Alexander Skarsgård, who plays the delicious Eric Northman, is. Alexander is a whopping 6’4” so he totally towered over Charlaine. She did say that he was one of the nicest actors she’d met. Hot and nice? Mmm mmm. Ahem.

When it comes to season three, Charlaine showed excitement over who might be cast in the role of Debbie Pelt, one of the main characters in the Club Dead book. She noted that Club Dead was one of her favorite novels and she looked forward to how Alan Ball would rework it for True Blood. Charlaine and Alan don’t communicate regularly about the series said Charlaine told but said that she was “okay with the liberties that Alan Ball has taken with the True Blood series because she looks at True Blood as its own entity.”

Then when asked about whom Sookie will end up with – Eric or Bill, Charlaine Harris devilishly teases us by answering, “Who says it’s going to be a vampire?”

Eeeee! So excited now!

- Moonlight

Vampires in Literature

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:30:06 +0000

In fiction of course, the epidemy of vampire literature, would be Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”. There were sexual undertones, of course, relaying vampirism to be a sort of sexually transmitted disease. Its themes of blood, death, and sex made it’s way to Victorian Europe, rattled because of the spread of tuberculosis and syphilis. But the vampire was first introduced to Western literature, by Lord Byron, in his poem The Giaour. Though, his manservant, John Polidori, wrote the first vampire story, Lord Ruthven, which was partly based on Byron himself. No doubt for his certain promiscuous behaviour with women, which was a characterization of the romantic perspective of vampirism. The story was written during a “ghost story competition” in which Lord Byron was said to have encouraged his friend Percy Shelley’s wife, Mary Shelley, to write a ghost story. Apparently, she did.

Vampires have dominated American fiction through many popular modern authors, namely Anne Rice, Charlaine Harris, Valerie Hardin, Margaret L. Carter, Stephen King, amongst many others. Anne Rice is famous for her widely popular Vampire Chronicles, and various other novels written under other pseudonyms. She portrays the romantic vampire, both breaking boundaries of old vampire legends, and regenerating and rebuilding the old to complete a new breed of vampire. The beautiful deadly killers that have captivated audiences globally.

Charlaine Harris has written various mystery and horror novels, but is now a rising star of vampire fiction, with her debut vampire novel Dead Until Dark, featuring a humourous female heroine. Her refreshingly original style is highly entertaining, and published globally. Valerie Hardin, well known on the web for her six books of Gothic poetry, and novella Crimson Kisses, and will soon be collaborating with other authors to produce young adult novels. Margaret L. Carter is widely known for her paperback paranormal romances, among them, Tall, Dark, and Deadly. Stephen King’s most popular vampire novels, Salem’s Lot, and The Night Flier, still terrorize the world.

Vampires » dead until dark

Charlaine Harris Interview

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Vampires in Literature

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