Reading good writing has always inspired me to get cracking on whatever writing project I’m working on at the moment. That’s been true lately. I just read the first chapter to Charlaine Harris’ upcoming Grave Secret, available on her Web site, and it made me want to fire up MS Word 2007 and work on my next chapter on my novel.

That’s exactly what I’ll do as soon as I get these blogs finished and get a good night’s sleep under me, in fact. I need the sleep, of course; don’t want to put myself in a position where I need the help of Seattle personal injury attorneys, after all…

Thanks to our blowout eight-part interview with author Charlaine Harris, ScriptSuperhero.com has been a much busier place these days. Hopefully Ms. Harris will benefit from it as well, though her star is so firm in the literary heavens by now, I’m not sure there’s much more we can do for her, other than what we did, which was attempt to cover some ground that most interviews never delve into.

But now it’s over, the cardboard displays are down, and the next step for ScriptSuperhero.com is to get back to talking about the craft of writing… at least until the next time we can land a big interview with a big-name author. It only took us three years or so to land this one, so…

Back to business.

All good things must draw to a close; in the final installment of our unprecedented, wide-ranging interview with New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris, our discussion turns to matter of faith and craft, and how well the two mix in this revealing finale.

ScriptSuperhero.com: One final topic, and one that perhaps is not as commonly asked of you. You are active in your church, serving even as a church officer. Discuss for a bit, if you will, how you have reconciled your faith with your writing.

Charlaine Harris: I don’t see that there’s much to reconcile. I do write about people who do bad things, but I think that’s taking a moral stance against those bad things. I don’t glorify evil, or excuse wrong-doing. In fact, Sookie has many moral issues that she struggles to resolve. I did worry for a while, but the letters I get that tell me, “While I was going through a terrible time, your books gave me relief.” They reassure me that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

SS: Have you ever faced any criticism or questions from within your congregation, regarding something you’ve written? If so, how do you handle such situations?

CH: They are all far too polite to mention such a thing.

SS: There are certain segments of Christianity which would look on the supernatural elements in your novels unfavorably. Do you see your writing as something completely separate from your faith? Do you view your novels as little “alternate realities” that are absent religion? Or have you found a way to reconcile your subject matter to your religious beliefs?

CH: See above.

SS: Do you consider Sookie to be an allegorical character, at any level, in matters of faith? I ask this because in later novels she seems to regard herself as being not as good of a Christian as she was before… presumably meaning before she met Bill in DEAD UNTIL DARK. To what degree have you planned Sookie’s journey to work on an allegorical level?

CH: I don’t see her as an allegorical character at all, but as a human woman struggling to retain her faith in the face of her overwhelming desire to survive.

SS: Thank you for your time and for opening up with us on so many areas about your craft, your life, your career and even your faith. ScriptSuperhero is certainly looking forward to all your future novels.

CH: Thanks so much! And nice to answer some unusual questions.

As ScriptSuperhero.com’s interview with novelist Charlaine Harris, creator of the novels behind the HBO original series TRUE BLOOD, enters its penultimate installment, the discussion turns to the mystery genre in general and other random matters.

ScriptSuperhero.com: Nearly all your novels have kept one foot in the mystery genre, even as you’ve branched out and mixed other genres in. What appeals to you most about the mystery genre?

Charlaine Harris: It’s home to me.

SS: It has always seemed to me that mysteries are one of the harder genres to write well, because first you have to figure out what actually happened, but then you have to figure out several alternative ways to look at the same situations and fit red herring suspects to the same crime in at least temporarily believable ways. Describe your process for plotting out your mysteries.

CH: I’m afraid it’s distressingly random and involves a lot of backing and filling.

SS: Most writers have a lot of unused ideas that they’ve had rumbling about in their minds for years. Briefly, what is your favorite concept for a novel or character that you dreamed up as a younger, unpublished writer, that you have yet to get around to dusting off, and do you ever think you’ll go back to one of those ideas?

CH: I’ve used all my novel ideas.

SS: Some people think its easy for a published writer to keep getting published, and even Stephen King’s critics have joked that his grocery list would hit the top of the New York Times Bestsellers List. You’ve been atop the NYT list now; have you found that it’s easier to get your new ideas looked at now than it was before you had experienced this level of success, or is it still a struggle to get your agent and publisher to consider new ideas, as opposed to the next Sookie novel.

CH: There’s always the possibility that I could think of something that would sell even more than Sookie, right? Sure, my agent and publisher are interested in hearing my ideas.

SS: Now that Hollywood has “discovered” you through the success of TRUE BLOOD, have any of your other series characters drawn interest from the West Coast? Is anyone interested in bringing Harper, Roe or Lily to the big or small screen?

CH: I’ve had nibbles.

SS: On your Web site, you often mention your friend, Paula. Along with her, who in your life helps keep you grounded and writing, now that you have achieved a certain level of success and commercial appeal?

CH: My children and my husband. They take what I do quite for granted. They just want to know what’s for supper.

In the sixth installment of our interview with New York Times bestselling novelist Charlaine Harris, ScriptSuperhero.com finally delves into her two current and most popular creations, psychic waitress Sookie Stackhouse of TRUE BLOOD fame, and the corpse-locating Harper Connelly.

ScriptSuperhero.com: Sookie Stackhouse represents a marked turning point in your career. Prior to DEAD UNTIL DARK, you had not pushed the boundaries of the “amateur detective mystery” subgenre that much. What served as inspiration to begin mixing genres as you did with Sookie?

Charlaine Harris: This always sounds crass, but not only did I want to write something different, I wanted to appeal to a broader readership.

SS: Sookie is now older than Aurora Teagarden, in terms of the number of novels written about her world, yet you have often said you have several more stories to tell about her. What do you think makes Sookie a more durable character from a storytelling standpoint?

CH: There’s so much in Sookie’s world that’s different from our world, though she’s anchored in reality. I think the reader can easily accept the variety of strange things that happen to her and around her. When I was writing “cozy” mysteries, I had moments when I asked myself how many bodies a librarian could find in her life. I have to believe in the world, too; maybe that’s the difference.

SS: The most recent addition to your library of series characters is Harper Connelly, which represents a step back toward the traditional amateur detective mystery subgenre, while still maintaining a supernatural element, though with a lighter touch than is found in Sookie’s world. What served as inspiration for Harper?

CH: I became interested in lightning and lightning strike survivors. That was the seed of Harper and her world.

SS: The first three Harpers read like a very strongly tied-together trilogy, and later this year your fourth Harper novel is scheduled to be published. Do you feel like Harper has the potential to be as durable a character as Sookie, or do you feel a resolution to her story somewhere out there on the horizon?

CH: I think the fourth Harper book may well be the last. I like Harper a lot, and I like what she does, but I made a mistake in thinking a “travelling” series would be entertaining to write long-term.

SS: Although Harper is not related by blood to her “brother,” Tolliver, the emotional bond they shared was very close to a sibling bond. How has the decision to change that dynamic to a romantic one been received by readers and other audiences?

CH: Very well, actually. Or maybe the people who thought it was sickening just quit reading my books for good and never told me how they felt.

SS: There have been some recent rumblings on your Web site discussion boards of a new concept you’ve been considering, tentatively titled CEMETERY GIRL. At what stage is this project and do you see fitting it into your schedule at some point in the near future? Share with our readers the basic premise.

CH: No, I don’t want to talk about it. The more talk, the less action, in writing.

In the surprising fifth part of our eight-part exclusive interview with novelist Charlaine Harris, ScriptSuperhero.com learns that the writer experienced unusual success in selling her ideas to publishers. We discuss her first two series characters, Georgia librarian Aurora Teagarden and Arkansas cleaning service woman Lily Bard.

ScriptSuperhero.com: Once you returned to writing in 1990 with REAL MURDERS, what do you think secured that novel as being the one that broke through for you?

Charlaine Harris: I’m not so clear on this question. I didn’t have a lot of extra books hanging around – none, in fact. So it was REAL MURDERS or nothing. My writing time was not exactly abundant. I thought RM had a clever premise, and I hope that Aurora was sort of endearing.

SS: Aurora Teagarden and Lily Bard were your first two series characters once you relaunched your writing career. Describe the appeal of both these characters to you, from a writing perspective.

CH: Aurora was facing a new South. These books are pretty old, remember. She was torn between what she wanted to be and what tradition demanded she be, and her life was a constant surprise to her. She never could seem to walk the correct path to take her to the pot of gold. Her reaction to her life and the expectations she and her mother had, that was interesting. Lily was much darker, and gave me a chance to clean out some emotional caves. I really enjoyed writing someone so active, mentally and physically.

SS: You have said elsewhere that you have not ruled out returning to Aurora Teagarden someday. With eight novels under your belt focusing on her, what do you think keeps Roe fascinating enough that there could still be more story there to tell with her?

CH: I don’t know if she is. I wouldn’t mind finding out, though.

SS: Now, as for Lily Bard, you have said elsewhere that Lily is not a character you can foresee ever returning to, even though you wrote only five novels focused on her world. What made her a less enduring character, from a story standpoint?

CH: I don’t want to ruin her. I’d said everything about her I had to say. I could have written more books about her, and in fact I’d developed a different story line for her, but it would have diluted her, and that would have been a pity.

SS: You had experienced a fair amount of success with Roe and Lily when you changed track and decided to create the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire series. How much of a risk was it to introduce a new series when you already had fans devoted to your existing characters? What made it worth the risk?

CH: Both those series, while satisfying to write, never had stellar sales. I felt I’d reached a crossroads in my career, and it was time to make a great leap. I just didn’t worry about it working or not working.

Halfway through our eight-part interview with writer Charlaine Harris, whose Sookie Stackhouse novels have been transformed into the HBO series TRUE BLOOD, ScriptSuperhero.com asks the novelist to discuss her journey from aspiring writer to published novelist to full time mom and back again to bestselling writer.

ScriptSuperhero.com: I’d like to concentrate a bit more on your history at this point. Let’s start at the beginning. At what point did you recognize an interest in writing, and when did that interest develop into a specific focus on writing for a living?

Charlaine Harris: That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do since I learned to read.

SS: Tell me about the first time you saw your name in print… not necessarily your first novel, but your first published work in any form. What was that like?

CH: I’m trying to remember. It was probably one of those poetry press things while I was in high school, where they “select” your poem and then you pay an outrageous amount to get a copy. But it’s like being an addict, I guess; you see your name in print once, you can’t wait to do it again.

SS: What drew you to long-form fiction – novels – specifically over other storytelling forms, like short fiction or scriptwriting?

CH: I knew I could do it.

SS: How long did it take for you to get noticed and get your first novel, SWEET AND DEADLY, accepted for publication?

CH: I wrote that book as part of a creative writing course at the University of Missouri St. Louis, when I was about 27. My teacher had left Houghton Mifflin in Boston to move to St. Louis, and she recommended it to an editor there. It was published the next year.

SS: What qualities about that first novel do you think helped it stand out from the crowd of other submissions?

CH: I have no idea. Maybe the voice, or the sense of place.

SS: When you were trying to get your first break as a writer, did you pursue an agent first, or submit directly to publishing houses instead? What was the approach that worked best for you?

CH: Joshua Bilmes was an agent of a writer I’d corresponded with, Barbara Paul. Before I wrote my third book, he called me and we talked. He’s been my agent ever since.

SS: After your first couple standalone novels were published (SWEET AND DEADLY in 1981 and A SECRET RAGE in 1984), you took several years off from writing, presumably to be a mom. What, if any, writing did you do during this period of time? Was it difficult to set writing aside for an extended period of time like that?

CH: No, it wasn’t difficult. I was totally wrapped up in my momhood. It came to me a little late, and I was very grateful to have my children. As anyone who’s taken care of infants knows, it’s pretty draining on the inner resources. I didn’t find time to write until both of them were a little older, and when I began working again I found out I was pregnant again. However, I worked through it this time, because I’d gotten the bit back in my mouth and I didn’t want to let go.

SS: What led to your decision to start novel-writing again? What fears and mental hurdles did you have to overcome?

CH: I was only glad I was able to get back to it. The relief was immense. Stupidly enough, I’d never considered that it might be difficult.

SS: Did having a couple novels under your belt help you at all in re-launching your writing career, or was it like starting over?

CH: It was awfully like starting over, which was a shock. At least by then I had an agent. Probably the previous two novels ensured that a few editors read the book, and finally Janet Hutchings, then with Walker, took REAL MURDERS.

In the third installment of our exclusive interview with Sookie Stackhouse novelist Charlaine Harris, ScriptSuperhero.com asks the New York Times bestselling writer about her approach to the craft and the actual process of writing, from draft to print.

ScriptSuperhero.com: Getting back to the craft of writing, could you describe your typical routine while working on a novel, from concept to final draft?

Charlaine Harris: It varies. I’m still searching for the best way to do this job. Sometimes, I just turn on the computer, flex my fingers, and dive in. Lately, the background on the Sookie books has gotten so complex that I’ve started putting sticky notes on the wall by the computer to remind me of threads I need to resolve or include somehow in the book. Usually, I have a key scene I’ve imagined, and I build the book around that. I’m trying to do more planning now that I’m taking a little more time. I get into trouble if I write too swiftly.

SS: On average, you are able to publish about two novels per year, it seems. Do you work on one novel at a time, or do you juggle projects in various stages of completion?

CH: One at a time.

SS: How many drafts do you go through, on average, before you consider a novel ready to send to your editor, agent, or whoever?

CH: It’s hard to say. I start each working day by reviewing the previous day’s work, and editing them. Also, I have new ideas while I’m working in and I have to go back and plant the seed of that idea in earlier pages. Then I try to write at least six to eight new pages a day. Sometimes I don’t get to do that for weeks, because of interviews and family commitments. I start getting very nervous then.

SS: It is often stated these days that editors at publishing houses don’t edit much anymore, in terms of being gatekeepers of quality control. To what extent has this been true in your experience?

CH: You know, Ginjer might read this! Actually, I think it’s becoming more and more valuable to have trusted readers who check the manuscript before you even send it to your editor. I’m lucky enough to have two, Toni L.P. Kelner and Dana Cameron, also writers of course. Then I have a continuity person, Debi Murray, and I’ve added another one, Victoria Koski. The mythology gets so complex, it’s hard to remember what happened when and to whom. I’m trying so hard to keep mistakes to a minimum. I hate to get letters from readers telling me what “factual” errors I’ve made.

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.

It’s a rare thing for a blogger to land an interview with a published writer, and to land an interview with a New York Times bestselling author is even more difficult. Fortunately, ScriptSuperhero.com has overcome the odds and landed an exclusive interview with just such an author, Charlaine Harris, best known for her Sookie Stackhouse novels that last year were transformed into the HBO original series TRUE BLOOD by Alan Ball, currently airing its second season.

Ms. Harris granted us an extensive, wide-ranging interview of nearly unprecedented depth in which she discusses not only her recent success, but her career as a whole and the craft of writing in general.

This interview will be published in eight parts, beginning today, with each successive part scheduled to debut at 11:59 PM Central Daylight Time until the interview is complete. In tonight’s first installment, Ms. Harris discusses the benefits and pitfalls of sudden success.

BIOGRAPHY*

Charlaine Harris has been a published novelist for over twenty-five years. A native of the Mississippi Delta, she grew up in the middle of a cotton field. Now she lives in southern Arkansas with her husband, her three children, three dogs, and a duck. The duck stays outside.

Though her early output consisted largely of ghost stories, by the time she hit college (Rhodes, in Memphis) Charlaine was writing poetry and plays. After holding down some low-level jobs, she had the opportunity to stay home and write, and the resulting two stand-alones were published by Houghton Mifflin. After a child-producing sabbatical, Charlaine latched on to the trend of writing mystery series, and soon had her own traditional books about a Georgia librarian, Aurora Teagarden. Her first Teagarden, REAL MURDERS, garnered an Agatha nomination.

Soon Charlaine was looking for another challenge, and the result was the much darker Lily Bard series. The books, set in Shakespeare, Arkansas, feature a heroine who has survived a terrible attack and is learning to live with its consequences.

When Charlaine began to realize that neither of those series was ever going to set the literary world on fire, she regrouped and decided to write the book she’d always wanted to write. Not a traditional mystery, nor yet pure science fiction or romance, DEAD UNTIL DARK, broke genre boundaries to appeal to a wide audience of people who just enjoy a good adventure. Each subsequent book about Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic Louisiana barmaid and friend to vampires, werewolves, and various other odd creatures, has drawn more readers. The southern vampire books are published in Japan, Great Britain, Greece, Germany, Thailand, Spain, France, and Russia.

In addition to Sookie, Charlaine has another heroine with a strange ability. Harper Connelly, lightning-struck and strange, can find corpses… and that’s how she makes her living.

In addition to her work as a writer, Charlaine is the past senior warden of St. James Episcopal Church, a board member of Mystery Writers of America, a past board member of Sisters in Crime, a member of the American Crime Writers League, and past president of the Arkansas Mystery Writers Alliance. She spends her “spare” time reading, watching her daughter play sports, traveling, and going to the movies.

* This biography appears on Ms. Harris’ Web site and has been reprinted here with the permission of the author.

ScriptSuperhero: Ms. Harris, thank you for agreeing to this interview. In the past year, you have enjoyed quite a bit of success. You recently saw your ninth Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire novel, DEAD AND GONE, published, and the second season of the HBO series based on that series of novels, TRUE BLOOD, debuted in mid-June. Let’s start out by talking about your recent success. How much has all of this attention provided an obstacle, if any, to your regular writing schedule?

Charlaine Harris: Success is its own obstacle, as it turns out. At times, I’ve done three interviews a day by phone and a couple more via email. Sometimes reporters are scheduled to come to the house, along with photographers. With the best will in the world, it does get tiresome and intrusive answering the same questions over and over and over. However, I’m sure this is only a small sampling of what people on the film end undergo.

SS: To what extent are you consulted in the production process for True Blood? How much has Alan Ball brought you into the show’s creative process?

CH: I’m not consulted at all. I wrote the books, and they’re the basis of the show. That’s a huge involvement, and one I’m comfortable with. They’re the experts on producing television; I’m not. I picked the right person to trust, and for me that was the best choice I could make.

SS: Are you satisfied with your level of involvement?

CH: Yes. If I were more involved with the show, I’d have even less time to write the books.

Everything is in place! Everything is done! It all begins on Sunday, July 5 at 11:59 PM CDT!

At that precise moment, and every 11:59 PM CDT from July 5 through July 12, ScriptSuperhero.com will bring you an unprecedented, in-depth interview with New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris, whose Sookie Stackhouse novels are the basis for the HBO original program TRUE BLOOD.

In this interview, Mrs. Harris will discuss in-depth her journey from aspiring writer to best-selling novelist, how she first got published, touch on every one of her characters, talk about the craft and work behind being a full-time novelist, the challenges of sudden fame and even some personal matters.

So get ready for us to set aside the usual ramblings about curing writer’s block, fun writing exercises, and even the occasional aside about the best weight loss supplements (because I really do need to drop some of my waistline). It’s all going by the wayside for a while as we zero in on the wisdom Ms. Harris has agreed to share with us.

July 5 through July 12, at one minute before midnight each night. It’s eight days of Charlaine Harris. Don’t miss it!

All the pieces are in place now, and it didn’t even require me calling in a favor from a to-be-named-later Frisco Dentist. I have all the assets in place, the responses back, and now it’s just a matter of time to plan and post.

That’s right, ScriptSuperhero.com’s exclusive interview with novelist Charlaine Harris will begin very soon. It’s a long, comprehensive interview that takes us into areas few interviews have traveled with Ms. Harris. So it should be a blow-out even for her fans, as well as aspiring novelists.

I will start the process soon and once the interview begins appearing, I will have it appear in several parts, each part appearing at one minute before midnight each night until the interview is complete. So be sure to tune in… soon!