Charlaine Harris event
Allison, Kate, Charlaine, Debbie and Jacq
What a privilege it was last night to join ARRA members Debbie, Allison (representing Galaxy Bookshop), Jacq (representing Bookthingo) and Sydney-based book sellers in an intimate cocktail party to welcome Charlaine Harris to the country on her first Australian tour. Charlaine and her sister flew in only yesterday morning, so she was doing very well to not only be upright and coherent, but gracious and lovely to the attendees. She made sure to speak to everyone at least once, shake hands, sign books, and generally spread herself (and her adorable Southern accent) around.
The bad news is that she was absolutely adamant about not dropping any hints about the final instalment of the Sookie Stackhouse novels (the 13th and final book, Dead Ever After, is due out next year). Although, when asked about the Sookie–Bill–Eric love triangle, she did say, “why does everyone assume it’s going to be one of them?” A hint? A clue? Just an offhand remark? Only time will tell. Charlaine sure isn’t.
She did say that she is looking forward to moving on from Sookie. Her next series is the Midnight Palm series and will feature an ensemble cast set at a crossroads in Texas, featuring a little bit of mystery and a little bit of paranormal. Charlaine hopes that some readers at least will follow her out of Bon Temps.
All in all, it was a lovely evening, and Charlaine was just gorgeous. Huge thanks to Jaki and Kate from Hachette for organising and for the invitation—and for the food. I flew in from Melbourne for the evening, and what with plane flights and public transportation and getting where I needed to go, I didn’t have a chance to eat all day, so I was very appreciative of the lovely spread!
Kate Cuthbert
We scored a signed book to give away to one lucky ARRA member. Leave a comment telling us what you would have asked Charlaine if you had been there, and you will go in the draw to win the signed copy of Deadlocked. The giveaway will close on 20 August. (The giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Anne Gracie.)
There is still an opportunity to meet Charlaine at events in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane. You can find all the details here.
I am really keen to see a HEA for Bubba. Maybe some sort of miracle fairy-hobgoblin hybrid blood can solve his “not quite rightness” and his penchant for eating cats. So I would have tried to subtly convey that possibility to Charlaine if I had been there. Probably by mental telepathy so she thought it was her idea.
I would have asked Charlaine if she was planning any more Harper Connelly books — I do love Sookie, but Harper and Tolliver are fab, too.
There was a mention of a future for Harper in her introduction, but when I asked her about it, she said that she wasn’t planning to write more Harper Connelly books, but there was a TV series in the pipeline to be aired on Syfy, not HBO. But she didn’t seem to want to commit to that info until the show airs. I guess a lot can change.
Jealous!!!!
Aimee
Hmm, so the love triangle may or be not even be a triangle! Interesting
Anne Gracie snatched one of the first questions to leap to mind (*snap* Anne) about Harper and Tolliver. I think another question would be how she keeps her writing time given her ever increasing workload or about future works – how the process was working with Christopher Golden.
I wish I could have been there! Would like to know if she has any control over the actors chosen to read the audio versions