In the second part of this unprecedented eight-part interview with novelist Charlaine Harris, ScriptSuperhero.com discusses with Ms. Harris such topics as audience considerations, narrative voice and making each character sound unique.

ScriptSuperhero.com: Let’s talk about audience considerations for a moment. Generally speaking, your work is often considered part of the “cozy mystery” subgenre, a category what seems to be defined by some modesty of narrative voice. Although you explore some dark topics and themes, the way those issues are explored through your narrative voice results in less profanity, less graphic descriptions of sex and violence and so forth. To what extent do you feel comfortable with this “cozy” label? Is it accurate?

Charlaine Harris: My earlier series (the Aurora Teagarden books and the Lily Bard books) were mostly under the “cozy” umbrella, but they were described as cozies with teeth, more than once. The Sookie books are in no way categorized as mysteries, much less cozies–which might more accurately be called conventional mysteries, books with a central puzzle to solve but no graphic sex or violence, and no supernatural elements, usually featuring an amateur detective rather than a police officer or private detective. Obviously, the Sookie books contain considerable violence and occasional sex, and they’re firmly based in the supernatural. The Harper Connelly books are sort of a hybrid, with a supernatural element but a somewhat lower sex and violence quotient. The Sookie books are usually housed in science fiction, the Harper books in mystery.

SS: Let’s take another angle on this. Do you feel you’ve chosen more modestly-voiced narrators because of the type of audience you want to attract and appeal, or is it more of a reflection of your own personality and narrative preferences?

CH: I’m not sure what you mean by modestly-voiced. Of course my books are a reflection of my personality and narrative preferences. The Sookie audience is incredibly wide, which is a real pleasure. The age range is from maybe fourteen to 100 (literally, I have one 100-year-old reader). I have a much higher percentage of female readers, but I have more male readers for this series than for any other.

SS: Do you ever foresee a situation in which you might create a narrator with a franker, more graphic voice?

CH: Sure.

SS: One of the qualities I admire about all of your work is your ability to create first-person narrators who sound unique from each other. Even if names and key identifying elements were not involved, I believe most readers familiar with your work could identify a paragraph from a Sookie Stackhouse voice, as opposed to paragraphs from a Lily Bard voice, Aurora Teagarden voice or Harper Connelly voice. Is this a difficult effect to pull off, or does it come naturally to you?

CH: It comes naturally. I try to get into the head of each character when I write, which I suppose is what actors do when they perform. The narrative flows most naturally the deeper I go.

SS: If you are so inclined, what would it be like if each of your four heroines were to describe an identical scene. I’ll keep it fun for you. Let’s imagine Sookie has a chance to shake hands with President Obama at a campaign stop. How would she describe that moment and her impressions of him? Just in maybe twenty-five words or so. Then, do the same moment for Lily, Roe and Harper, each from their unique voices and ways of looking at the world.

CH: Sookie would read his mind, of course, and be startled at what she found there. Aurora would be very excited, and pleased with the break in her routine. Lily would calculate how fit he was and wonder if she could bring him down before the bodyguards reacted. Harper wouldn’t bother to shake his hand, and she’d wanted to get out of the crowd as soon as possible.