The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

Site in 2005, Charlaine introduced us to a new heroine, Harper Connelly, and her stepbrother, Tolliver Lang. The series was quickly embraced by fans for its quirky characters and darker, noir-like feel. Although the books and characters were popular with readers, Charlaine felt that the story was told, and the series ended with the publication of the fourth book in the series, Grave Secret , in 2009.

CHARLAINE AND HER FANS
    Charlaine has commented that she has “the greatest readers in the world.” Her close relationship with fans led her to establish a website in 2001. Increasing fan usage soon made it obvious that a more flexible site would be needed, and in March 2004, charlaineharris.com became the place where fans could meet to discuss her books and characters, read her weekly blog and book review column, learn of her touring schedule, and share everything from recipes to prayer requests. Charlaine’s willingness to visit the website daily and interact with her fans, and her obvious enjoyment of her readers in personal appearances, led to the establishment by fans of her official fan club, Charlaine’s Charlatans, in 2006. The fan club voted that its first goal was to help Charlaine reach the number one spot on the New York Times hardback bestseller list. In May 2009, Dead and Gone , the ninth book in the series, debuted in the number one spot on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list. Charlaine’s fan club was thrilled!
    As True Blood enters its fourth hit season and the Sookie Stackhouse series continues, Charlaine’s earlier series are experiencing a rebirth. Fans who have been enchanted with Sookie are now turning to Aurora, Lily, and Harper, and finding that these other stories are just as compelling and the characters as fresh as they were when first introduced. Charlaine continues to develop new characters and offer new pleasures for readers all over the world.

Recollections Around the Duckpond
    The Fans of Charlaine Harris
    BY BEVERLY BATTILLO
     
     
     
     
     
    F an clubs are very dangerous things. I should know; I started one, and my life will never be the same.
    My story began fifty years ago with my best friend Ellen and I playing our favorite game—school. Since Ellen was four years older, she got to be the teacher, and a terror she was! As the hapless student, if I didn’t learn my spelling words, Ellen would energetically apply her ruler to my backside. I was soon a most exemplary student and kept my excellent study habits for the remainder of my life. The greatest tribute to Ellen’s tenacious teaching style was that by the time I was five years old I could read at first-grade level. Doors began opening in my mind, and reading became my greatest pleasure and one I pursued voraciously. Ironically, Ellen now works for the IRS and continues, at least metaphorically, to apply her ruler.
    Reading became my addiction. I took another quantum leap in junior high when I registered for a speed-reading course. Now I not only read a lot, but I read a lot really fast . In addition, my ability to completely block out all activity when reading was a talent that drove my parents totally crazy. If we ever have a nuclear war, I doubt I’ll know it until the universe is completely annihilated and I complete whatever I happen to be reading and find angels playing harps all around me.
    My taste in literature has always been rather eclectic. If it’s in print, I’ll read it, whether biography, romance, mystery, cereal boxes—I’m sure you get the idea. I can’t say my reading has led me to any great revelations or astounding insights. My life in general has remained boringly normal. I have discovered many friends in books—ones that I revisit again and again with great pleasure—and I marvel at the talent and imagination of those who can create worlds within worlds for us to enjoy. It wasn’t until late in life that I discovered something that led me to stray from my steadfast and steady existence.
    My first breach into a different world came in 1964 when a favorite teacher introduced me to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were literature the likes of which I had never experienced—a realm filled with astounding characters and a new language of its own. Dipping into fantasy a bit in later years, I happened upon a book by a new writer named Laurell K. Hamilton. Hamilton’s first book, Nightseer , caught my fancy, and I still believe it to be one of her