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RSSCharlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris is one of the biggest names in dark fantasy and cozy mysteries, responsible for an impressive number of long-running series since the early 90s, including the smash hit Southern Vampire Mysteries, which were adapted into HBO’s critically acclaimed show True Blood. Her first mystery series, Aurora Teagarden, has been adapted into 21 beloved TV films at last count, and her more recent Midnight, Texas trilogy was made into a wonderful series on NBC. In addition to other great series such as Lily Bard and Harper Connelly, she’s done numerous short stories for highly enjoyable anthologies featuring many of the most popular writers in her genres, and her latest alternate history series, the wild-west-meets-the-Romanovs Gunnie Rose, is concluding this month, with the final volume, The Last Wizards’ Ball, coming out on July 22nd. Charlaine is a wonderful worldbuilder and a lovely person, and it was so nice speaking with her today about her long-running and exciting career.
Links
Keep up with Charlaine’s latest work and events on her official site.
The Last Wizards’ Ball can be pre-ordered on Kobo or Amazon now. The full series is available on Kobo and Amazon as well.
Charlaine has contributed to and edited many great anthologies, but my personal favorite will always be Wolfsbane and Mistletoe. I cannot recommend this one enough.
I also absolutely love and highly recommend the Southern Vampire Mystery series, which has such a great Southern Gothic paranormal vibe, so if you haven’t read it (even if you’ve seen True Blood), it’s an absolute must-read. Find hard copies at any bookstore or the ebooks on Kobo and Amazon.
And of course she’s got many other books, series, and stories to enjoy, with hard copies also available in bookstores or on Kobo and Amazon.
Happy reading!
Harris writes a lot of amazing series but I’m with the interviewer on this one: the Wolfsbane and Mistletoe collection is brilliant.
Sookie is my kindred spirit (and so is Charlaine).
CH always makes her settings feel so goshdarn cozy and alive. I adore her.
Charlaine Harris. Cozy book royalty.
Books > TV. That is all.
She’s so loveable!
Huge Midnight, Texas fan. It sucks the TV adaptation only ran for 2 years while True Blood got so much more.
100%. François Arnaud can get it anytime.
Imo she’s got some of the most bingeable books in the world. I’m about to go in for round 5 of Sookie.
Go Charlaine! Proud fan from Texas here!
Yes! JA Konrath is brilliant.
I don’t even know how many hours this wonderful woman has spent with her fans, making us all feel so loved and appreciated. Best author!
Never take the haters personally Charlaine! Every fandom has its toxic crazies. WE LOVE YOU.
I’ve reread every Roe book and seen every film adaptation no less than three times. Making my way through Gunnie Rose now and LOVING IT.
aaaahhh you can tell how much she loves her work whenever she talks, and she’s so SO nice to her fans
I did something similar to your kayak writing ordeal! I’m an aspiring writer and once went on a hike and refused to come down until I’d finished writing a certain amount. Being out in nature is a huge inspiration!
I ADORE HER!!!!
We don’t deserve Charlaine! <3
I remember people being so mean about her back in the day because she didn’t “look” like someone who would be writing the vampire books. All I have to say is that she’s one of the most beautiful people!
charlaine is a class act. ive always thought so ❤️
Cross genres storytelling is a great description of her work. She’s my favorite! She does it so well.
Aurora was my first cozy mystery series, so Charlaine’s got a very special place in my heart 🙂
Thanks for including Kobo links! I’m so done with kindle and amazon. I switched to kobo last year and love that it’s your default instead of amazon.
Aww this was super fun!
Charlaine thank you for creating some of the most honestly human series I’ve ever read! Your work means so much to me!
Aurora Teagarden is my mother’s favorite series! She got me into Charlaine’s work too, and now I’m obsessed.
I remember meeting Charlaine years ago and was a blubbering mess because I was so nervous and she made me feel so comfortable right away and was insanely nice to me despite my probably bizarre behavior😆
As far as I’m concerned, nobody writes loveable protagonists like Harris. I love plenty of series, but her characters always hit me a bit differently and feel more real maybe? Or just more relatable? Like I’m a big fan of Mercy Thompson but I don’t feel like I could know her in real life the way I feel about Sookie or Lily.
Well for someone who was so “bathed in love” as she said for so long, she’s got to be one of the most down to earth celebrities out there. I’ve never heard or thought a bad thing about her. She managed to stay normal
Charlaine, I know you probably won’t see this but maybe someone can pass it on to you. I want to thank you for all the incredible characters and stories you’ve given us over the years and for sticking to your guns on the ending of Sookie and giving her the life she and we deserved despite the backlash. You’ve created some of the most memorable book series I’ve ever read and I truly thank you from the bottom of my heart and wish you the best.
I have to say, I ADORE how you two were both so engaged in each other’s little anecdotes haha
The fact that she never posts negative reviews and only focuses on suggesting good work to support other authors… Pure class.
Lily Bard doesn’t get enough love. I know Sookie and Aurora are the big ones, but Lily and Harper are so good too!
Awe this makes me smile so hard!
Was she one of the first to blend cozy mysteries with other genres? Most dark fantasy series I can think of are gritty urban fantasy. Can’t think of others that had the same cozy paranormal Southern vibe.
Woot! Charlaine Harris is friggin fabulous at world and character building.
I can’t believe how long she’s been writing and how many entire SERIES she’s put out that have done so well. She’s incredible.
Harris is very, very generous with her fans, and it’s one of the reasons I will buy every single book she ever writes (the other reason is her books are damn good, obvs).
I love you guys for talking about the treatment of cozy writers and women because they totally do overlap. This interview rules.
What a lovely lady! I’m kind of shocked. I guess I just assumed the woman who wrote the Sookie Stackhouse books would be…raunchier? Younger and wilder? She’s like my grammie 😭
She’s what I picture in my head when someone talks about Southern hospitality, vampires and all lol.
Charline’s books capture something special. My mom bought me the whole Aurora Teagarden series for Christmas one year and I read them so fast, I was instantly obsessed.
Charlaine Harris 10/10 human being 🤗
Amazing conversation, you two. So many great memories and thoughts (and some nasty ones, stalkers wtf). It’s nice to hear you talk about it so candidly though.
Anyone who gives this lovely lady air time is good with me ❤️
God this was so wholesome 💞
Aw bless her. Harris has written some of my very favorite female protagonists over the years.
To anyone to hasn’t read the Sookie books and only saw True Blood, the books are waaaaaaaay better than the show. Like not even on the same level. Just read them.
I remember meeting Charlaine Harris at a signing and babbling to her about how I was a writer too (lol) and how much she inspired me, and she was so patient and encouraging with me. I never forgot that. I am not a writer now – realized my talents are not in that direction sadly – but it was such a nice conversation.
I’m glad the show got more pepole into the books, and it’s good that she sees it in a positive light, but the show made no sense to me. Did anyone on the writing staff even read a single one of the books before churning out that mess?
I can’t actually put into words how much Sookie means to me. I love those books with all my heart.