Author interview: Charlaine Harris

Author interview with Charlaine Harris

Author bio:
Charlaine Harris has been a published novelist for over twenty-five years. A native of the Mississippi Delta, she grew up in the middle of a cotton field. Now she lives in southern Arkansas with her husband, her three children, three dogs, and a duck. The duck stays outside.

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BP: First off, could you give us a short introduction as to who Charlaine Harris is? What are you hobbies, likes and dislikes?

CH: I’m a grandmother now, and that’s a huge, huge thing.  Really cool, though I never thought I’d say that. I read a lot, I like a few television shows (“Life below Zero,” “The Americans,” “Game of Thrones,” “Justified.”) I used to garden a lot, but arthritis makes that uncomfortable, and I always seem to be working. 

BP: You have been writing for many years now, do you still know when and where you decided that you wanted to become an author?

CH: Not a specific moment. I always thought reading was amazing, and then I began to realize that real  human beings wrote the books I read, and t hen I began to think that maybe, maybe, I could be one of those human beings who wrote books!

BP: In your writing years you have written many different books in many different series. The Sookie Stackhouse series had gotten a large fan base and was converted into the TV series True Blood. How did you react to this new and had you ever dared to imagine that it would get that much media attention?

CH: I don’t think it’s possible to imagine that. Writers work in solitude, at least this writer does, and I don’t think I could ever have pictured myself doing some of the things I’ve done. It’s been a wild ride.

BP: After Sookie Stackhouse was translated into the TV series, did you feel any pressure when you were writing a new book in the series? Or with starting up your new series, Midnight Texas?

CH: I always feel pressure, but it’s to write the best book I can. I can’t worry about the TV audience, real or potential.

BP:  May will see the release of your brand new series Midnight, Texas with Midnight Crossroad being the first book in the series. If you would have to sell your book with a single sentence, how would it go?

CH: People living at a mystical crossroads encounter troubles with the rest of the world.  That’s not very good, is it? Maybe not at my sharpest this morning.

BP: Even with your experience in the writing field did you still encounter any specific problems when you were writing Midnight Crossroad?

CH: I always encounter problems, and this book posed some acute ones. I wrote it in the third person from multiple points of view, which is completely different from the Sookie novels, and her voice had been so strong in my head for so long it was very, very difficult to switch gears. 

BP: What was the most difficult part when you were writing Midnight Crossroad?

CH: Deciding what to put in and what to leave out, since there are two other Midnight books to come. At least I had the luxury of picking and choosing; I didn’t have to cram it all into one book.

BP: Besides the hardest part of Midnight Crossroad, which chapter or scene did you enjoy writing about the most?

CH: There are several scenes I really enjoyed writing. When Manfred and Lemuel meet is one of my favorites.

BP: Midnight, Texas is advertised to be different from the Sookie Stackhouse series, can you give us a sneak peak as to what is in store for the reader?

CH: It’s certainly different. Multiple points of view ensure that difference.  But I think the story moves quickly for that reason, and there are also multiple little surprises.

 And some big ones.

BP: You finished Sookie Stackhouse last year and started a new trilogy with Midnight, Texas as well as a graphic novel collaboration with Christopher Golden, Cemetery Girl. Do you have any more idea’s that you would like to pursue in the near future?

CH: So many! There’s just not enough time. I’d love to return to classic mystery for a book or two, I’d love to write a ghost story, and I have some plans for another urban fantasy series as well. 

BP: Thank you very much for your time Charlaine and good luck with your new series, may it be just a success as Sookie Stackhouse!