Alexander Skarsgård

Press & Interviews - EricNorthman.net

Interview with Charlaine Harris, conducted over the telephone using Blog Talk Radio on April 20, 2011. Click here to download an .mp3 of the interview.

CHARLAINE: Good evening!

DEEDEE: Hi, Charlaine!

CHARLAINE: Hi, how are you? Thank you for inviting me.

DEEDEE: Oh, well, thanks for coming! I know that you're really busy right now with the book about to come out.

CHARLAINE: It is my busy season.

DEEDEE: Well, are y'all having bad weather over there?

CHARLAINE: No, but it's getting gray, and the trees are tossing around, so we'll probably have a storm pretty soon.

DEEDEE: Where I am in Starkville, Mississippi, we just came out of a tornado warning, so...

CHARLAINE: Oh my gosh!

DEEDEE: Yeah, we had some bad weather.

CHARLAINE: It sure sounds like it!

DEEDEE: Congratulations for the award you got from PFLAG.

CHARLAINE: Thank you so much! I was so honored, and my daughter and I had a wonderful time at the gala.

DEEDEE: I'm sure you did. And just for me personally, it was really great to see a Christian especially getting recognized for something like that. I thought that was cool.

CHARLAINE: Well, actually, I thought it was pretty cool, too. And it was just amazing to me that people were noticing, you know, what I was doing. I just thought that was incredible.

DEEDEE: Are you planning to go to the season four premiere for True Blood?

CHARLAINE: I haven't really made up my mind. They don't plan as far ahead as I do, so I try to keep some time empty for that in July, and we'll just see if they're gonna have it on a day when I can go.

DEEDEE: Okay. I hope you can.

CHARLAINE: Well, I hope so, too, though truthfully, it's pretty much, you know, the same? I've found that you can get used to almost anything, no matter how fascinating it is the first time you do it.

DEEDEE: Oh, it gets kinda old after a while?

CHARLAINE: Well, yeah, and I don't want to sound ridiculous, 'cause obviously, going to a premiere is a wonderful thing, and doing the red carpet is wonderful, and I feel very fortunate to be blessed like that. But at the same time, once you've done it twice, you go, "Okay... Actually, I'm spending a lot of time and money doing this, and my feet hurt!"

DEEDEE: Sure, yeah. Well, let me get to an Eric question, since we have to do those. Did you have any kind of back story in mind for how Eric got the pink spandex that he wore in book two?

CHARLAINE: No, I didn't. I just thought it was amusing. I thought, "What would a guy like Eric look for if he had been told to turn up looking gay?" He would probably... and he's also, of course, proud of his body.

DEEDEE: Right.

CHARLAINE: So he would pick something tight and revealing, but I thought the pink was just the right touch for Eric.

DEEDEE: Well, speaking of the pink spandex, a lot of us were sorely disappointed that we didn't get to see Alex do that scene on True Blood. Was there any particular scene in the first few books that you really would've gotten a kick out of seeing on screen if they could've worked it in?

CHARLAINE: Well, of course, that scene wouldn't be viewed too... Well, yeah... You know, you're right. Well, I think that we will get to see amnesia Eric this season, and that will be fun because without that, you know, that was like the core of the fourth book. And I would be really disappointed. But they are gonna include that. There have been a couple of scenes, but Alan... the big scenes, Alan has presented, though some of them in a different form. But, you know, he can tell a big, emotional punchline as well as the next person.

DEEDEE: Well, Michelle would like to know what you think of people writing fanfiction based on your books. Is it something you just kind of tolerate, or do you think it's a good creative outlet?

CHARLAINE: Oooh. Um... I had to have the idea explained to me several times when I first became aware that there was something like fanfiction, and even then, I've gotta say, I just don't get it. To me, if you're gonna write, you're gonna want to create your own characters, so I don't understand the basic drive behind writing fanfic, and I would never, never read it because to me that's just, you know, that's just off limits. It's not something I would ever do. However, I can't stop people from doing it, and if they enjoy it, I'm not exactly for it, but I'm not against it, either. If people enjoy it, and it gives them pleasure, I'm certainly not gonna stand around and rail against it.

DEEDEE: Okay. In book seven, Pam told Sookie about how she was turned. Could you tell us a little more about it from Eric's point of view? Like, had he been watching her, or did he sort of pick her on the spur of the moment?

CHARLAINE: Oh, no, he had definitely been watching her, and I think he read her character correctly. He could see the incipient rebellion in her, the willfulness, the fact that she was wanting to break out of the constraints that society had laid on her, and he deliberately picked her.

DEEDEE: Okay, so it wasn't just like he saw a pretty girl and bit her or anything.

CHARLAINE: Oh, no. I mean, pretty girls are, you know, pretty easy to find. But he looked until he found the right girl.

DEEDEE: Well, Pam also told Sookie that Eric has at least one other child, and Kaspi wants to know if we'll ever hear from any of the other vampires that Eric has made.

CHARLAINE: He's only made one other, and that has just not come into the story yet. I don't know if it will with just two more books to go.

DEEDEE: Ashley Sue sent in this question: will Sookie ever see Jason in his panther form?

CHARLAINE: Oh, my goodness! Well, there are two... I hadn't thought about writing that scene, but I have no objection to it. And if it works as a natural part of the story, yes, I'd be glad to do that.

DEEDEE: Most Eric and Sookie fans just love the idea of the blood bond, but you've said in some earlier interviews that you regret using it. Do you still feel that way, and why...?

CHARLAINE: Oh, gosh, yes. I just... not because I hate the bond itself, but because I hate the attempts to explain it. You know, I just get really tired of that, and it turns out to be so hard to explain. I mean, it seems that - not all readers, but some - expect it to be like 3+4=7. And so if you do this, and you do that, you come out with the same result every time. And it's just not like that. It's as, you know, as difficult as spreading some diseases - as chancey as any connection between people. It's not just, well, if you swap blood three times and go out under the full moon and say, "Yabba-dabba-doo," you'll have a blood bond. Yeah, it's just not like that. So many things to do with vampires aren't automatic and following a procedure. It's - they're unpredictable. So that's the part I don't like, is my stumbling attempts to explain it all the time.

DEEDEE: Okay, so it's not so much the blood bond itself.

CHARLAINE: Right, it's not the blood bond itself. It's the fact that there's no really neat explanation of, "Well, this will happen every single time if you do this." So...

DEEDEE: Okay. What's... I know that you know about all the, you know, Team Eric and Team Bill and all this kind of stuff.

CHARLAINE: Yeah...

DEEDEE: What's your favorite quality about each of the four main guys in Sookie's life - Bill, Eric, Sam, and Quinn? What's your favorite thing about each one of them?

CHARLAINE: Well, of course, I like the fact that Bill is a very... in his own way, a really steady guy. He really does love her. He really wants the best for her. And that is admirable, though he doesn't always show it in a way that we think is great. Eric, of course, has a lot of joie de vivre, he's dashing, he's handsome, he thinks she's wonderful physically, he loves making love to her, and that's, of course, very attractive. Quinn is like, you know, my homage to Vin Diesel. And actually, Yul Brynner, who was an early sex symbol for me. I think he's just fantastically sexy, he's warm, he's very... he's capable of great devotion to women. But he just came with so much baggage. And Sam is really... He's a great guy, he's really fond of her, he's really a good person in his heart, and I think that just counts for a lot.

DEEDEE: Osterby wants to know if you have another series planned after the Sookie books, and if yes, would you give us a hint?

CHARLAINE: I have so many choices of things to do after the Sookie books that honestly, I could not tell you what I'm gonna do first. I've thought about writing a book about the Britlingens, the two bodyguards. That would be fun. I'd love to have time to write another Aurora Teagarden some day. I would love to write a book about some of the spin-off characters from different series that I would like to revisit, that might be able to carry a book on their own. Honestly, I just have too many options. And it would be lovely to think of one I thought would become as popular as Sookie, but I'm not sure I can. I'll try, though!

DEEDEE: Have any members of your family played that new game that's based on your character?

CHARLAINE: I have. I don't think any of my family members have. My sons generally like more action games, and my daughter is way too busy. But I have played it, and I had never played a computer game before, so I had an excellent time doing it... though my assistant, Paula, had to help me quite a bit because I would get frustrated and I would go, "Now, wait a minute, do I have to go back into the theater?" And she would say, "Yeah, you have to go back into the theater." I thought, "Oh, not again." But anyway, once I understood what was expected of me, I had a great time doing it.

DEEDEE: Let me ask you a question about Bill. I know that True Blood went the route that when the Rattrays attacked her, Bill knew about that, and he let it happen so that he could give her blood. Is that how you had pictured it in the book as well?

CHARLAINE: No. I had Bill being absolutely straight about not knowing it was going to happen. But I can see how that passage could be interpreted both ways. And I don't always... [overlap] I beg your pardon?

DEEDEE: I was gonna say, I was really surprised when that came out on the show that way, because I had never seen it that way. But I know some people have.

CHARLAINE: Well, it really almost makes sense, but in my mind, Bill is not quite that devious.

DEEDEE: And speaking of devious, there's also a thing going around that Eric was faking the amnesia in book four. Is that something you could put to rest?

CHARLAINE: Haha! No, he wasn't! Excuse me!

DEEDEE: [overlap] Thank you!

CHARLAINE: I'm the writer!

DEEDEE: Thank you!

CHARLAINE: He was cursed by the witches. That was genuine. I don't think Eric would put up with the loss of dignity if he didn't have to.

DEEDEE: Thank you for clearing that one up.

CHARLAINE: Sure! Glad to do it!

DEEDEE: Somebody in the chat is asking this, and I'm not really sure what it means, but they want to know if you've deliberately written the Sookie books with the alchemical process?

CHARLAINE: Hmmm... okay, I'm not really sure what they're asking, either, I'm afraid.

DEEDEE: Okay. Well, I guess that answers the question.

CHARLAINE: I mean, I understand what the alchemical process is, but I don't really understand how that pertains to the writing. I would have to get a little more explanation on that before I would attempt to answer.

DEEDEE: Okay, and the last question, since I know you have to go. Tiffany wants to know what you would say to some of the die-hard Eric and Sookie fans who are afraid to read book eleven.

CHARLAINE: Why on earth are they afraid to read the book?

DEEDEE: I guess some people are afraid of them breaking up.

CHARLAINE: Well, I would think that would make them happy. [laughter]

DEEDEE: He'd be a free man again, huh?

CHARLAINE: It seems to me - and truthfully, I'm not saying this is everybody - but it seems to me that no matter what I do, I make someone unhappy. So I'm just gonna stick to making myself happy and writing the books the way I see them. And people will either like them or they won't. That's just not my responsibility. I always hope people like them. I try to write the best books I can every single time. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don't. But I always try really hard. And I just hope they'll turn out, and people will enjoy them.

DEEDEE: Okay. Well, we're counting down the days until book eleven. We've already, you know, read the chapters that are online, whatever we can.

CHARLAINE: Oh, that's great!

DEEDEE: Thanks again, Charlaine, for taking the time.

CHARLAINE: Oh, sure. My pleasure.

DEEDEE: And you and your family have a happy Easter.

CHARLAINE: Well, thank you. You too. I enjoyed talking to you.

DEEDEE: Alrighty.

CHARLAINE: Bye-bye.

DEEDEE: Bye-bye.