The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

on the air.
     
     
    Here is my big general question for Charlaine. I’m curious about her plotting. How much of it does she do in advance and how much of it is spontaneous? It just amazes me how some seemingly minor details in one book turn out to be huge later on. For example, Sookie mentions her cousin Hadley, but Sookie has no idea what happened to her. Now, many books later, we find out that Hadley mentioned Sookie to Queen Sophie-Anne, which started her whole relationship with vampires. Not to mention that Hadley had a child and that boy is now in the books—yet to be determined whether he becomes a major character.
    —DENISE DUNNELL WELLS
     
    I don’t plot much in advance. Many of the big turning points in the books have been the result of spur-of-the-moment revelations. I’m always scattering seed in the field, though I’m never sure which will spring up and which will die in the ground. To me, that’s the fun of writing. Of course, sometimes instead of scattering seed, I’m planting land mines to blow up in my face in the future.
     
     
    How much of Sookie’s personality is a reflection of yours, or is she more like an alter ego?
    —JESSICA SMITH
    There are definitely elements of Sookie in me—or, more correctly, there are elements of me in her. I think there’s a sliver of me in all my characters. I wish I were as brave as she is!
     
     
    Is there any limit to the animals Sam can shift into? Can he shift into creatures that are more than one animal (like a hippogriff, perhaps)?
    —PATRICIA RUOCCO
     
    Sam can’t shift into mythical animals, and he refuses to shift into the form of another human being. To a true shifter, that’s a disgusting perversion. True shifters almost invariably stick to mammals when they choose their animal form, and most of them have a favorite.
     
     
    Are some of the minor characters based on people you know/knew?
    —SANDRA RUSSELL
     
    The correct answer is, not entirely. I pick up on bits and pieces of people as I go through life: a physical trait, a speech habit, a character flaw or strength. I build my minor characters (though no character is really minor) based on an accumulation of observations.
     
     
    Bubba seems to like keeping to himself, but I imagine he can get lonely at times. Would he ever consider creating a companion by turning one of those cats he’s so fond of?
    —LINDSEY NEELY
     
    I got a lot of questions about Bubba, so let me just condense this answer. (Animals can’t become vampires in my mythology, by the way.) Bubba does like to keep to himself. He still loves to perform, when he’s in the mood, but he hates to be reminded of his former status, so characters don’t mention his life name. Most vampires have gone through several names since they died, since they’re constantly reinventing themselves, by the way. They had to, before they were able to come out of the coffin. But Bubba will stick to Bubba.
    How long did Eric know about Bill’s “mission” to seduce Sookie for Sophie-Anne ? And why didn’t he arrange for her to find out about it earlier?
    —LADA KYST
     
    Bill’s mission was not to seduce Sookie; it was to investigate Sookie and verify her power. Seduction was just one option in his investigation. Bill was the obvious guy for the job since he already had a home in Bon Temps. Though Bill came to Bon Temps on this assignment for the queen, Eric did not know what Bill’s specific mission was until he arrived in New Orleans in Definitely Dead . For several different reasons, Eric forced Bill to tell Sookie that he’d had a hidden agenda.
     
     
    This has been bugging me lately. Did Bill set the Rattrays up? It seems that a vampire would know better than to go with strangers, and he should have been able to overpower them or at least put up a struggle. Also, did he offer Sookie the blood that the Rats drained from him so that she would have a connection to him, which he got anyway when he healed her later?
    —JANEL SMITH
     
    Bill did not set the Rattrays up. He should have known better than to go with them, but he was sure they were offering blood and sex. He misread the situation and was taken by surprise. He offered Sookie the blood because it would have been a big clue to her character if she’d taken it.
     
     
    Did you originally intend the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries to be more in the mystery vein, like your previous novels, and instead did you find that they snowballed into a much more