The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

population, myself included. Where did his character come from? Is he your dream man or a product of the plot? Is Alexander Skarsgard what you imagined Eric to be like?
    —MARIANNE MCCLEARY
     
    Eric has surprised me over and over. When I began establishing him, I thought it would be fun to include a Viking as a counterpoint to Bill, my Civil War veteran. In many ways, Eric is Bill’s opposite, absolutely on purpose. Around that time, I happened to see a movie called The Thirteenth Warrior , based on a Michael Crichton book. I thought the actor Vladimir Kulich (a Czechoslovakian who plays Viking leader Buliwyf) was a great presence—commanding, regal, determined (and handsome). Although Eric is not completely based on Kulich’s portrayal of Buliwyf, the film character was certainly a factor in fine-tuning Eric. The process of character building is a mysterious one, not least to the writer. So, no; Alexander is not exactly what I imagined Eric to be like, but then, no one is.
     
     
    Would you ever consider bringing someone from the Sookieverse into a different author’s books? Maybe Dresden Files . . . Amelia could be in the Witch Network for New Orleans. . . .
    —KRISTINA MINCEY
    Jim Butcher would have a few things to say about that, and so would his lawyer. As much fun as such a crossover sounds, not only would I have to agree with the other writer on how such a “visit” would be accomplished, but we’d have to figure out how to blend two different worlds in a seamless way and reconcile two separate publishers (in some cases, though Jim and I have the same publishing house), two separate agents, and two separate contracts. There’s a lot more to consider than the fun of it—which would be considerable.
     
     
    Would you ever do a spin-off series based on any of the characters in your books?
    —JOHN BONFIGLIO
     
    I don’t have any plans for that right now, but I certainly don’t rule it out. I will not write the same story from another point of view, which is a related question I get frequently.
     
     
    As a writer, is it hard to “not bring the work home”? Do you plot literary murders over breakfast? Take a pause to write down an idea while watching a movie? Miss sleep while wondering how to tie up a loose end?
    —SILJE ARSETH
     
    I do plot murders over breakfast, and while I’m in the car, and while I’m on planes. I have ideas all the time—when I’m showering, when I’m doing the dishes, when I’m having phone conversations . . . and I apologize to the person on the other end of the conversation, here and now. I don’t miss a lot of sleep, but sometimes I think over what I’ve written during the day as I’m drifting off to sleep or just waking up, and I’ve gotten some resolutions to problems at those times. The trick is remembering them long enough to get them into the book.
     
     
    I’ve just finished reading Dead in the Family , and I was somewhat confused that Sookie can feel Eric, Alexei, and Appius Livius Ocella in the bond—but not Pam. If they are all from the same blood, surely Pam should be present in the bond between Eric and Sookie.
    —PATRICIA DE VRIES
    The bond works “up.” Sookie can feel the one she’s bonded with (Eric) and his maker, and therefore the maker’s other child (Alexei) . . . but she can’t feel “down,” which would be Eric’s children or Alexei’s child, if he’d ever sired one.
     
     
    In Sookie’s world, can vampires be brought back to human life once they are made vampire?
    —SALLY JOHNS
     
    No. They’ve already died, so life is not an option for them.
     
     
    If a vampire has been publicly found guilty of killing a human, will he or she be tried in human court?
    —BRIAN COTTRELL
     
    Yes, unless the vampires catch him or her first. They don’t want bad publicity, and such a trial would definitely be detrimental to the image they’re trying to project—if the guilty vampire simply killed from overfeeding or for the pleasure of it. However, if the vampire was being attacked by a group of Drainers, the vampire hierarchy would be glad to see the trial, since it would send a message to those who were thinking of doing the same thing.
     
     
    It is well-known that when vamps cry, it is blood. So my question is, Do vamps go to the bathroom? We also know that vamps are very sexually active, so if they cry blood, what is in place of their “other” bodily fluids? Is this why Sookie couldn’t get pregnant?
    —JENNIFER VAN