Deadlocked: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel

say, yuck again? This kind of drama isn’t fun in real life and the only thing that makes fictional relationship drama tolerable is that it’s fictional, and I’m not having to endure it in my real life, but other than that it sucks just as much. It also tends to complicate my life as a writer, because almost nothing screws up a story arc like relationship choices, though I have had action scenes go so differently from what I’d planned that an entire third of a book had to be thrown out. It was a better book for it, but still, near deadline that was hard.
    What’s the hardest thing about writing such a long running series?
    LKH: The beginning of the book is easy, because you always want that to be interesting and lure in both old and new readers. It’s the middle of the book that becomes more complicated. As a writer you always have to think that you may have brand new readers picking up your book, so you have to explain the characters, the world, everything, but you don’t want to over explain to the long time readers. The other problem with a series is that each book needs to stand alone as much as possible, but you also want character growth and world development from novel to novel, so again, it’s a balancing act. I make sure that each opening is different enough that you won’t be left wondering, did I read that already. It’s an issue I’ve had with other series that I read. It gets very challenging when you get in double digits to make everything fresh, but familiar. I’m lucky that I’m still discovering new things about Anita, Jean-Claude, Edward, Nathaniel, everyone, and the world continues to grow and surprise me. My fictional world is like the real one, I never know quite what’s coming next.
    CH: The hardest thing is keeping track of previous developments and details. My memory just wasn't up to it, and I had to hire someone (the fabulous Victoria Koski). When you create a world, there are a thousand small things that make it credible, and it's easier than you'd think to forget whether someone is a werefox or a werelynx, or whether it's still daytime during the narrative or if you've passed into darkness. I think it's important to catch as many little errors as you can, so readers don't get yanked out of the world. I'm not the kind of reader who notices, but there are many readers who do.
    Photo Laurell K. Hamilton © Stefan Hester
    Photo Charlaine Harris © Sigrid Estrada
    Review
    “Harris is a master at taking several paranormal worlds and plunging them into our reality with humor.” *Tulsa World
    “The Sookie Stackhouse series seamlessly mixes sensuality, violence and humor as readers experience the people of small-town Louisiana through Sookie’s eyes.” Boulder Weekly*

DEADLOCKED

Ace Books by Charlaine Harris
    The Sookie Stackhouse Novels
    DEAD UNTIL DARK
    LIVING DEAD IN DALLAS
    CLUB DEAD
    DEAD TO THE WORLD
    DEAD AS A DOORNAIL
    DEFINITELY DEAD
    ALL TOGETHER DEAD
    FROM DEAD TO WORSE
    DEAD AND GONE
    DEAD IN THE FAMILY
    DEAD RECKONING
    DEADLOCKED
    A TOUCH OF DEAD: SOOKIE STACKHOUSE,
THE COMPLETE STORIES
    Ace Books Edited by Charlaine Harris
    THE SOOKIE STACKHOUSE COMPANION
    Ace Anthologies Edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner
    MANY BLOODY RETURNS
    WOLFSBANE AND MISTLETOE
    DEATH’S EXCELLENT VACATION
    HOME IMPROVEMENT: UNDEAD EDITION
    Berkley Prime Crime Books by Charlaine Harris
    SWEET AND DEADLY
    A SECRET RAGE
    The Harper Connelly Mysteries
    GRAVE SIGHT
    GRAVE SURPRISE
    AN ICE COLD GRAVE
    GRAVE SECRET
    The Lily Bard Mysteries
    SHAKESPEARE’S LANDLORD
    SHAKESPEARE’S CHAMPION
    SHAKESPEARE’S CHRISTMAS
    SHAKESPEARE’S TROLLOP
    SHAKESPEARE’S COUNSELOR
    The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries
    REAL MURDERS
    A BONE TO PICK
    THREE BEDROOMS, ONE CORPSE
    THE JULIUS HOUSE
    DEAD OVER HEELS
    A FOOL AND HIS HONEY
    LAST SCENE ALIVE
    POPPY DONE TO DEATH
    Berkley Prime Crime Anthologies Edited by Charlaine Harris
    CRIMES BY MOONLIGHT

DEADLOCKED
    Charlaine Harris

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) • Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a