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Charlaine Harris is the international bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, which has been translated in over 30 languages, won the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Mystery and has been adapted as a popular TV series on HBO called True Blood. Charlaine has also written the Aurora Teagarden series, Lily Bard series, and the Harper Connelly series. Two of her books have been nominated for the Agatha Award for Best Novel. Charlaine has also been a board member of the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, a member of the American Crime Writers League, and past president of the Arkansas Mystery Writers Alliance.
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This episode originally aired on 11/19/2009 with the following authors:
Note: The following interview has been transcribed from The Author Hour radio show. Please excuse any typos, spelling and gramatical errors.
Interview with Charlaine Harris | | |
Bonus Question(s) that Didn't Air on the Live Radio Show
Note that you can also listen to this while you read it.
Matthew Peterson:
Let me ask you a bonus question, here. And this’ll just be a fun one and then maybe I’ll ask a little serious one too.
Charlaine Harris:
Okay.
Matthew Peterson:
If you were a supernatural character in your book or had a power, what would it be and why?
Charlaine Harris:
Oh, my goodness!
Matthew Peterson:
That’s the fun question. [laughs]
Charlaine Harris:
If I had a supernatural power. Um . . . I would be healthy! [laughs]
Matthew Peterson:
[laughs]
Charlaine Harris:
I would be healthy all the time. I would never have arthritis or a headache or allergies or anything.
Matthew Peterson:
Oh! That’s a good power.
Charlaine Harris:
I think that would be what I would pick.
Matthew Peterson:
Oh yeah! Perpetual health.
Charlaine Harris:
Perpetual health.
Matthew Peterson:
That would be good. That’s my super power. Like Unbreakable. I think that’s how he is. He never gets sick.
Charlaine Harris:
Yeah.
Matthew Peterson:
Okay. Little more serious question. You’ve been a board member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, a member of the American Crime Writers League, and past president of the Arkansas Mystery Writers Alliance. I was just a little curious. What were some of the things that you did as a board member or as president?
Charlaine Harris:
Well, we have a lot of issues ahead of us all the time, mostly dealing with what services to offer people who want to be writers, what things we need to lobby for, for people who are writers. There are many big issues on the table, many. I’ve just finished voting on one of them today, relating to how Sisters in Crime can help librarians buy books and how to help librarians get more people to read mysteries. So there are always things that we’re trying to offer organizational members. That having been said, the two organizations are very different with very different goals.
Matthew Peterson:
And you have to facilitate some of those things. And you really do help newer writers with that, it sounds like.
Charlaine Harris:
Yeah. Especially. I belong to Romance Writers, too, and Horror Writers. And I think Romance Writers of America does the most, really, to help the potential writer meet her goals.
Matthew Peterson:
Well, that’s very admirable. I only belong to one writers’ group. The Arizona Writers Association, ‘cause that’s where I’m from: Arizona. And it’s kind of a small organization, but we have a lot of new writers--a lot of new writers that are always looking for help. I think that’s great.
Charlaine Harris:
Yeah. I think that they deserve some help. I mean, I certainly try to do my part. That having been said, my knowledge of how to get published is not completely in tune with the writers marketplace of today. Because I started getting published 26 years ago and I am not up on writing query letters and so on, because I never had to do that.
Matthew Peterson:
Yeah. Well nowadays, the doors are closed. I mean unless you have an agent, it’s extremely hard to get your foot in the door--at least for a big publisher.
Charlaine Harris:
It’s always been hard to get your foot in the door, but I think it’s getting harder. I agree.
Matthew Peterson:
Yeah. Exactly.
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