I put this here, cause it discusses a vampire series being filmed by HBO and this authors latest book. Because I couldn't decide which forum to put it in, it ended up here.

Charlaine Harris is a happy kind of nervous these days. That sort of thing happens when your new novel is taking you on tour, while your old ones are being filmed by HBO.

"They're still shooting it, I was just there yesterday," Harris says of "True Blood," the upcoming series. "It's very interesting, and very unusual to see people you created walking around. But the director, Alan Ball ("Six Feet Under"), is such a tremendous talent, and the characters seem to be holding true."

Hollywood may seem like a long way from southern Arkansas, but the self-professed "softball mom" is used to bizarre changes. That's what working with vampires will do for you.

'FROM DEAD TO WORSE'

Harris will appear at The Poisoned Pen on Friday to promote "From Dead to Worse" (Ace Hardcover, $24.95), the eighth installment of her popular vampire/adventure series. Her novels walk the same dark streets as gothmeister Anne Rice. But Harris' protagonist - telepathic barmaid Sookie Stackhouse - walks them with a sense of humor and sass.

"You need a center point for your stories," Harris says. Sookie provides a likable guide for tales that leap into the vampire and werewolf realms. "She's a very good, young woman. Sookie makes her mistakes, and she's not always patient," she says. "But she's loyal and brave and a very hard worker."

"From Dead to Worse" tests both her heart and survival skills. As the supernatural world reels in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Sookie finds herself caught in the middle of a werewolf war. "I wanted this book to answer some questions raised earlier in the series, and raise some questions we'll confront later on," Harris says.

In so doing, she shares a task with her heroine - solving Sookie's mysterious ancestry while steering her around danger and toward ... what?

Harris laughs. "I know the ending of the series - but only very roughly," she says. "I'm learning as I go, and having a great time getting there."

FAME AND IMMORTALITY

Harris' journey from literary obscurity to fantasy cult favorite was more hard work than luck. An author of 27 years' experience, the Arkansas native honed her chops writing conventional drawing room mysteries.

"There are a lot of rules you have to observe to make a mystery work," she says. "You have to bury the motivation and identity of the murderer; you have to plant credible red herrings along the way."

But, like Sookie, Harris was just "more relaxed" around vampires. "Fantasy is a different place. I enjoy doing things I couldn't do before - like writing (vampires)."

Eight novels into the series, the creator of countless vampires is still a little mystified by their allure. "I think it has something to do with eternal life," she says. "People have trouble thinking about their own deaths. Here are these creatures. They're still people. They're not spirits. They have bodies and can love. But they live forever."

And their antics may throw more light toward a certain Southern softball mom.

"Things are changing with (the HBO series) coming up," Harris says. "It's a very conservative area - polite, good manners, very respectful. I blended really well before this. But I may lose my protective coloration a little bit."


Is anyone familiar with her books?

Source: eastvalleytribune.com

Sounds like something to watch...

OK, now I feel silly. I lived in "south western" Arkansas for 13 years. I've never heard of her. She must not have done much promoting locally. Maybe I'll check it out and see what the fuss is about.

More news on this upcoming series!

True Blood: first episode leaks
Is it TV leaking season again? The new show from Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball has vampires and Anna Paquin, and has leaked onto the Internet already...
For those not tuned in to the viral marketing campaign that’s been pervading the Internet recently this is yet another take on the premise of vampires, as if the last ten years hasn’t had some show or other on the subject running.

The show is loosely based on the Southern Vampire Mysteries books by Charlaine Harris, and has been developed for HBO by Alan Ball, who previously fronted Six Feet Under.

In it, vampires are a race that the public has been aware for two years, and as such products and services for them have emerged. One of these is a more socially acceptable food source, a Japanese-made synthetic blood called ‘True Blood’.
But these are just convenient metaphors to hang a love story about prejudice and bigotry, when Anna Paquin, a psychic Louisiana bar waitress, falls for Stephen Moyer as an unlikely prince of darkness.

Paquin pulls off her part as the independently-minded Sookie Stackhouse well, although she does take wide-eyed wonderment to uncharted extremes in her performance. I was less impressed with Moyer, who appeared to be taking the direction or ‘more is less’ to the point of statuesque on occasion. There was some chemistry, but it’s far too early to work out if it’s the right kind or not.

Being HBO they’re also managed to spice up the proceedings with some strong language, a little nudity and sexual content. The world of True Blood is certainly a sexually charged one, where the steam of the Bayou isn’t the only thing coursing through peoples veins. Vampires by their very nature have sexual overtones, but this is given additional edge by vampire blood having supposedly highly aphrodisiac effects on humans that consume it. Due to this and the thoughts as sensed by Sookie as she plies beer in the bar, the vampire character we’re presented with seems significantly more sympathetic than any of the humans we encounter. Maybe there are some nice people in Louisiana, but they obviously drink elsewhere.

A limitation of Sookie’s is that she can’t read vampire Bill’s thoughts, and that only adds to her obviously mounting urges to know him better. But given the locals, she could do much worse. Less satisfying are the cursory efforts on the ‘mystery’ side of this coin, where an unsolved murder and hidden female watcher in the woods are telegraphed plot points for where the story arc might take us next.

They’ve also thrown in some very talent character actors, specifically the superb William Sanderson as Sheriff Bud Dearbourne, and Lois Smith as Sookie’s grandmother. None is given much to do, but they’re top quality performers who can deliver if given more.

Overall the show kept by interest, but wasn’t the kick in the ribs a pilot show really needs to unleash. My hope is that like The Sarah Connor Chronicles did last year, that it gives it a solid enough platform to build something more substantial on in the first half a dozen episodes.


17/06/08

Source: www.denofgeek.com