Momnesia

Author Charlaine Harris Talks About 'True Blood,' the Future of Sookie Stackhouse, and More!

Augusta, Ga. - Momnesia has new information from Charlaine Harris of Sookie Stackhouse and "True Blood" fame!

Yes, jealous bitches! That's right. I scored this interview. You may touch me.

Actually, Ms. Harris may have been the nicest, most dryly funny person I've ever interviewed on the phone. She's a Southern lady, after all, and after 29 years of publishing fiction books, has learned a deft way of handling interviewers.

When I called, she was running behind schedule - a rarity for her, she said. But she was picking up around the house before a portrait painter arrived. He has a technique where he takes famous writers and paints them in the guise of old masterpieces. His idea for her is "Death of Marat," by David.

"But I'm not going to be naked in the bath tub, so we're still negotiating that," she said, with an audible grin.

She spent about 30 minutes answering questions from readers of The Metro Spirit and Metro Augusta Parent, as well as Facebook friends and friends from years back who came out of the woodwork to satisfy their curiosity. The story ran in the Jan. 20 edition of The Metro Spirit, but I've included a few outtakes here.

Twenty-nine years is a long time to keep writing. What keeps you motivated as a writer?

I love doing it, and I'm not really good at anything else. I've always been a terrible employee. If I didn't do this, I'd have to find something else to justify my existence.

How would you characterize your career?

I got very lucky. I took a class from Shannon Ravenel, who of course is now the editor of Algonquin Press, but had just left Houghton Mifflin while her husband was doing an internship. She was teaching a (college) class on creative writing to make a little money on the side while she figured out what she was going to do.

Harris wrote her first book, "Sweet and Deadly," while a student in the class. Ravenel liked it, and was able to get it into the hands of the right people.

And how would you characterize your writing motivations? Are you drawn to characters, plots, immersing yourself in a certain universe?

I would say immersing myself in a universe. If I have to choose, I say that I am character-driven. Because my plots develop as I'm writing. How are the characters going to be affected? What's their growth trajectory going to be?

What do you think of the "True Blood" series?

I think of the books and the television series as two completely different animals. I like being surprised by what I see on the screen. It keeps it fresh for me. But Alan Ball doesn't tell me how to write the books, and I don't tell him how to write the series.

I love Tara being black. I wish I'd thought of that. And I love Jessica. I wish I'd thought of that. I really like those choices, and I can see where they're going and how they fit.

I also love Lafayette. In the books, he wasn't as flamboyant. But if he had been, and if I'd had Nelsan [Ellis, who plays the character], Lafayette would have lived.


Momnesia will post more from the interview later. But it's not fair to post everything before the story prints in The Metro Spirit. I have to give them a chance to share in the awesomeness.