About Charlaine Harris
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.
Check out Ms Harris' website at: www.charlaineharris.com
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.
Check out Ms Harris' website at: www.charlaineharris.com
Charlaine Harris -- April 6, 2008
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Post Activity Recap
For those who weren't able to make it, you missed a REALLY good time tonight! Our April Special
Activity brought us to the Panera Community Room in Ramsey, NJ with our special guest,
Charlaine Harris -- direct from I-Con (literally, Todd picked her up immediately following her last
panel of her busy weekend!). Charlaine Harris has Southern Charm just oozing from her and it
made her visit with us that much more special.
We had a larger than expected turnout for such a last minute event at an earlier time than usual
AND on a Sunday no less.
Ms Harris delighted us and enjoyed fielding our questions on everything from Sookie
Stackhouse (the heroine from her wildly popular Southern Vampire series) to Harper Connelly
and Aurora Teagarden to the upcoming HBO series, True Blood, based upon the "Sookie"
stories.
"born". A few years into the Southern Vampire series, Ms Harris sought to write something
"darker" and began a series about a heroine, Harper Connelly, who finds dead people.
For those who weren't able to make it, you missed a REALLY good time tonight! Our April Special
Activity brought us to the Panera Community Room in Ramsey, NJ with our special guest,
Charlaine Harris -- direct from I-Con (literally, Todd picked her up immediately following her last
panel of her busy weekend!). Charlaine Harris has Southern Charm just oozing from her and it
made her visit with us that much more special.
We had a larger than expected turnout for such a last minute event at an earlier time than usual
AND on a Sunday no less.
Ms Harris delighted us and enjoyed fielding our questions on everything from Sookie
Stackhouse (the heroine from her wildly popular Southern Vampire series) to Harper Connelly
and Aurora Teagarden to the upcoming HBO series, True Blood, based upon the "Sookie"
stories.
"born". A few years into the Southern Vampire series, Ms Harris sought to write something
"darker" and began a series about a heroine, Harper Connelly, who finds dead people.