The author shares how the urban fantasy category has grown since it began, talks about her jump from mystery writer to urban fantasy author, and reveals which TV portrayal of one of her true blood characters she liked best.
charlaine harris on her vampires using synthetic blood
My initial thought about the series was that I wanted to write about a woman who dates a vampire. but to make them less scary, to give them a reason to be outside, I had to develop a theory that would allow them to appear less vicious. so they would have to have another food source. so i read some articles about synthetic blood, which had never really worked before, although people had tried it, and it seemed to me that 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 might believe that because people are gullible.
read the interview: featured interview: charlaine harris – fantasy magazine
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charlaine harris on how urban fantasy has grown as a category since she started her true blood books
well, there was no urban fantasy when I started. that was something that evolved around early writers in that area, like laurell k. Hamilton, Jim Butcher, and Patricia Briggs. We all started more or less at the same time. so it feels very exciting to have been on the ground floor of the urban fantasy and to see what has happened since then. Although I keep hearing rumors that it’s a dead subgenre, I still see great selling books written by people who are already in the field.
read 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 it’s all from sookie’s point of view. a TV show can’t be shot that way. Ana needs a break! so the show’s writers 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 went from a mid-list mystery writer to a more successful urban fantasy author
my first series, the aurora teagarden mysteries, were conventional mysteries. nothing supernatural about them. but as time went on i got stuck on the middle list which is a good place to be and i was grateful but i guess i found out i was ambitious. I kept thinking: “I have to go up, I have to go up a few steps on the ladder”. I set a goal. I thought, “If I can make $70,000 a year, if I can do that.”
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I wanted to change my career. I sat and stared into space and thought of it and built it from a smaller germ of an idea to a larger idea to a larger idea. Until I had his world in my head.
at first, nobody liked it, it was rejected again and again for two years. finally, due to laurell k. Hamilton’s success at Ace was taken by a junior editor at Ace. it was an instant hit from the start. It was a delicious change for me. I also felt vindicated; I found something I could go into town with and not hold back.
read the interview: between the lines with charlaine harris | | the great emotion
charlaine harris on the portrayal of the character in the true blood series that delighted her the most
oh sure, lafayette! nelsan [ellis]: why he hasn’t got an emmy, i don’t know. was stolen is brilliant, and he gave so much to that character that was never in the books. people say, “well, you killed it in the books!” and I say, “yeah, but he wasn’t the same lafayette!” he’s so much more fabulous on the tv show, and nelsan gave him dimension and life and an incredible cuteness that helped a lot of people relate to a character they may not have related to in real life. there was so much to him. he dealt drugs, but he was also a caring person. he was loyal to his family. he dabbled in magic. there’s a great system of checks and balances with lafayette to make him look [like] a real person. How could he not be your favorite? it was beautifully written.
read the interview: author charlaine harris on the end of true blood, the negative reaction of the viewers and the ‘fabulous’ lafayette
charlaine harris explains why it’s normal for me to write about “vampires and paranormal things”
You know, to me, that’s not extraordinary or weird in any way. i grew up reading anne rice, ghost stories and whatever else i can find: dracula, frankenstein.
read the interview: black door » face to face with charlaine harris
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