Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris | |
---|---|
Born | Charlaine Harris November 25, 1951 Tunica, Mississippi, United States |
Occupation | Novelist |
Nationality | American |
Citizenship | American |
Genre | Mystery fiction/Southern Gothic |
Notable works | The Southern Vampire Mysteries/True Blood |
Notable awards | Lord Ruthven Award (2003) |
Spouse |
Hal Schulz (m. 1978) |
Children | Patrick Harris Timothy Harris Julia Harris[1] |
Relatives | Robert Harris (father) Jean Harris (mother) Ashley Robert Harris III (brother)[1] |
Website | |
www |
Charlaine Harris Schulz (born November 25, 1951) is an American author who specializes in mysteries.[2] She is best known for her book series The Southern Vampire Mysteries, which was adapted as the TV series True Blood. The television show was a critical and financial success for HBO, running seven seasons, from 2008 through 2014.[3] A number of her books have been bestsellers and this series was translated into multiple languages and published across the globe.
Harris was born and raised in a small town in the Mississippi River Delta area of the United States. She now lives in Texas with her husband; they have three grown children and grandchildren.[2] She began writing from an early age, and changed from playwriting in college to writing and publishing mysteries, including several long series featuring recurring characters.
Life and career
Harris was born and grew up in Tunica, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta. In her early work she wrote poems about ghosts and teenage angst. She began writing plays while attending Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Her most recent mysteries have been in the urban fantasy genre.
After publishing two stand-alone mysteries, Harris began the lighthearted Aurora Teagarden books with Real Murders, nominated as a Best Novel 1990 for the Agatha Awards. Harris wrote several books in the series before the mid-1990s, when she began branching out into other works.[3] She did not resume the series until 1999, with the exception of one short story in a Murder, She Wrote anthology titled "Murder, They Wrote".
In 1996, Harris published the first in the Shakespeare series, featuring cleaning lady detective Lily Bard, set in rural Arkansas. At the time, a New York Times interview with Harris noted that she "live[d] in small-town Arkansas".[3] The fifth book in the series, Shakespeare's Counselor, was published in fall 2001, followed by the short story "Dead Giveaway", published in the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in December 2001. Harris has said she is finished with that series.
Next Harris created The Southern Vampire Mysteries series, about a telepathic waitress named Sookie Stackhouse who works in a Northern Louisiana bar.[3] The first book, Dead Until Dark, won the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Mystery in 2001. Each book follows Sookie as she tries to solve mysteries involving vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures.[3] The series has been published in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Spain, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Argentina, Poland, Serbia, Brazil, Great Britain, Ireland, Mexico, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Portugal, Iceland, Czech Republic, Romania, Estonia, and Israel. Harris wrote thirteen novels in the series; the last, Dead Ever After, was published in May 2013.[4] A supplemental book, After Dead, was published in October 2013.[5]
October 2005 marked the debut of Harris's new series, entitled The Harper Connelly Mysteries, with the release of Grave Sight. The series is told by a young woman named Harper Connelly, who after being struck by lightning, is able to locate dead bodies and to see their last moments through the eyes of the deceased.[6] In October 2010, it was announced Harper Connelly's series had been optioned for a television series named Grave Sight.
2014 marked the debut of the Cemetery Girl series, a graphic novel series co-written with Christopher Golden and illustrated by Don Kramer.[7]
Professionally, Harris is a member of the Mystery Writers of America and the American Crime Writers League.[8] She is a member of the board of Sisters in Crime, and alternates with Joan Hess as president of the Arkansas Mystery Writers Alliance.
Personal life
In her personal life, Harris has long been married. She and her husband have three grown children and two grandchildren.[3] She is a former weightlifter and karate student,[9] she is also an avid reader and cinemaphile. Harris formerly resided in Magnolia, Arkansas, where she was the senior warden of St. James Episcopal Church,[3][10] and currently lives in Texas.[11]
Bibliography
This section is missing information about Several series are missing..(January 2020) |
Aurora Teagarden series (1990–present)
- 1 Real Murders (1990) ISBN 0-8027-5769-3
- 2 A Bone to Pick (1992) ISBN 0-8027-1245-2
- 3 Three Bedrooms, One Corpse (1994) ISBN 0-684-19643-3
- 4 The Julius House (1995) ISBN 0-684-19640-9
- 5 Dead Over Heels (1996) ISBN 0-684-80429-8
- 6 "Deeply Dead" in Murder, They Wrote
- 7 A Fool and His Honey (1999) ISBN 0-312-20306-3
- 8 Last Scene Alive (2002) ISBN 0-312-26246-9
- 9 Poppy Done to Death (2003) ISBN 0-312-27764-4
- 10 All the Little Liars (2016) ISBN 1250090032
- 11 Sleep Like a Baby (2017) ISBN 978-1-250-09006-5
Lily Bard (Shakespeare) series (1996–2001)
- 1 Shakespeare's Landlord (1996) ISBN 0-312-14415-6
- 2 Shakespeare's Champion (1997) ISBN 0-312-17005-X
- 3 Shakespeare's Christmas (1998) ISBN 0-312-19330-0
- 4 Shakespeare's Trollop (2000) ISBN 0-312-26228-0
- 5 Shakespeare's Counselor (2001) 0-312-27762-8
- 5.1 "Dead Giveaway" published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (December 2001)
Sookie Stackhouse series (2001 - 2014)
For more detailed information see The Southern Vampire Mysteries/True Blood.
# | Title | Also In | Publication Date | ISBN | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dead Until Dark | Sookie Stackhouse 8 Copy Boxed Set | May 2001 | ISBN 0-441-00853-4 | |
2 | Living Dead in Dallas | Sookie Stackhouse 8 Copy Boxed Set | Mar 2002 | ISBN 0-441-00923-9 | |
3 | Club Dead | Sookie Stackhouse 8 Copy Boxed Set | May 2003 | ISBN 0-441-00923-9 | |
4 | Dead to the World | Sookie Stackhouse 8 Copy Boxed Set | Mar 2004 | ISBN 0-441-01167-5 | |
4.1 | Fairy Dust | Powers of Detection
The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories |
|||
4.2 | Dracula Night | Many Bloody Returns
The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories |
|||
4.3 | Dancers in the Dark | Night's Edge | novella | ||
5 | Dead as a Doornail | Sookie Stackhouse 8 Copy Boxed Set | May 2005 | ISBN 0-441-01279-5 | |
5.1 | One Word Answer | Bite
The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories |
|||
6 | Definitely Dead | Sookie Stackhouse 8 Copy Boxed Set | May 2006 | ISBN 0-441-01400-3 | |
6.1 | Tacky | My Big, Fat Supernatural Wedding | Dahlia short story[12] | ||
7 | All Together Dead | Sookie Stackhouse 8 Copy Boxed Set | May 2007 | ISBN 0-441-01494-1 | |
7.1 | Lucky | Unusual Suspects
Between the Dark and Daylight The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories |
|||
8 | From Dead to Worse | Sookie Stackhouse 8 Copy Boxed Set | May 2008 | ISBN 0-441-01589-1 | |
8.1 | Gift Wrap | Wolfsbane and Mistletoe
The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories |
|||
8.2 | Bacon | Strange Brew | makes an offhand reference to Jim Butcher's wizard, Harry Dresden; | ||
9 | Dead and Gone | May 2009 | ISBN 0-441-01715-0 | ||
9.1 | The Britlingens Go to Hell | Must Love Hellhounds[12] | |||
9.2 | Dahlia Underground | Crimes by Moonlight | takes place during All Together Dead; | ||
10 | Dead in the Family | May 2010 | |||
10.1 | Two Blondes | Death's Excellent Vacation
The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories |
|||
10.2 | Small-Town Wedding | The Sookie Stackhouse Companion'[13]'
The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories |
novella | ||
10.3 | A Very Vampire Christmas | Glamour Magazine | Dec 2010 | a Dahlia short story[12][14] | |
11 | Dead Reckoning | May 2011 | |||
11.1 | Death by Dahlia | Down These Strange Streets | a Dahlia short story[12][15] | ||
12 | Deadlocked | May 2012 | |||
12.1 | If I Had a Hammer | Home Improvement: Undead Edition
The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories |
|||
12.2 | Playing Possum | An Apple for the Creature
The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories |
|||
13 | Dead Ever After | May 2013 | The final Sookie Stackhouse novel[4] | ||
13.1 | The Blue Hereafter | Games Creatures Play
The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories |
|||
14 | After Dead: What Came Next | The World of Sookie Stackhouse | October 29, 2013[5] | ||
15 | Dead But Not Forgotten: Stories from The World of Sookie Stackhouse | November 25, 2014 |
Harper Connelly series (2005 - 2009)
- Grave Sight (2005) ISBN 0-425-20568-1
- Grave Surprise (2006) ISBN 0-425-21203-3
- An Ice Cold Grave (2007) ISBN 0-425-21729-9
- Grave Secret (2009) ISBN 0-441-01830-0; ISBN 978-0-441-01830-7
Graphic novels
- Grave Sight Part 1 (June 2011) ISBN 1-60690-229-6, 978-1-60690-229-5
- Grave Sight Part 2 (November 2011) ISBN 1606902393, 978-1606902394
- Grave Sight Part 3 (March 2012) ISBN 1606902695, 978-1606902691
Cemetery Girl series (with Christopher Golden)
- Book One: The Pretenders (2014) ISBN 978-0-857-38908-4.[16]
- Book Two: Inheritance (2015) ISBN 978-0425256671
- Book Three: Haunted (2018)
Midnight, Texas Trilogy (2014 - 2016)
- Midnight Crossroad (May 2014)
- Day Shift (May 2015)
- Night Shift (May 2016)
Gunnie Rose series
- An Easy Death (2018)
- A Longer Fall (2020)
- The Russian Cage (2021)
Stand-alones
- Sweet and Deadly (1981) ISBN 0-395-30532-2. republished in UK as Dead Dog
- A Secret Rage (1984) ISBN 0-395-35323-8
- Layla Steps Up (2010)
- A Taste of True Blood (2010)
- Indigo (2017)
Anthologies and collections
Anthology or Collection | Contents | Publication Date | ISBN | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
Murder, They Wrote | Deeply Dead | 1997 | ISBN 1-57297-194-0 | |
Powers of Detection | Fairy Dust | Oct 2004 | ||
Night's Edge | Dancers in the Dark | Oct 2004 | ISBN 0-373-77010-3 | |
Bite | One Word Answer | Sep 2005 | ||
My Big, Fat Supernatural Wedding | Tacky | Oct 2006 | ISBN 0-312-34360-4 | |
Many Bloody Returns | Dracula Night | Sep 2007 | ||
Blood Lite | An Evening with Al Gore | Oct 2008 | ISBN 1-4165-6783-6 | |
Wolfsbane and Mistletoe | Gift Wrap | Oct 2008 | ||
Unusual Suspects | Lucky | Dec 2008 | ISBN 0-441-01637-5 | |
Strange Brew | Bacon | Jul 2009 | ||
Must Love Hellhounds | The Britlingens Go to Hell | Sep 2009 | ||
Sookie Stackhouse 8 Copy Boxed Set | Dead Until Dark | Sep 2009 | ||
Between the Dark and Daylight | Lucky | Sep 2009 | ISBN 1606480596, 9781606480595 | |
A Touch of Dead | Fairy Dust
Dracula Night One Word Answer Lucky Gift Wrap |
Oct 2009 | ISBN 0-441-01197-7 | |
Crimes by Moonlight | Dahlia Underground | Apr 2010 | ISBN 0425235637, 9780425235638 | |
Death's Excellent Vacation | Two Blondes | Aug 2010 | ||
Delta Blues | Crossroads Bargain | 2010 | ISBN 1935562061 | |
Home Improvement: Undead Edition | If I Had a Hammer | Aug 2011 | ||
The Sookie Stackhouse Companion | Small-Town Wedding | Aug 2011 | ||
An Apple for the Creature | Playing Possum | Sep 2012 | ||
Down These Strange Streets | Death by Dahlia | Oct/Nov 2011 | ||
The World of Sookie Stackhouse | After Dead: What Came Next | Oct 2013 | an anthology with interviews,
FAQ, recipes, and more | |
Games Creatures Play | The Blue Hereafter | Apr 2014 | ||
Inherit the Dead | Five | 2014 | ISBN 1451684754, 9781451684759 | |
Urban Allies | Blood for Blood | 2016 | ||
Matchup | Dig Here | 2017 | ISBN 1501141597, 9781501141591 | |
The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories | “Fairy Dust” copyright © 2004 by Charlaine Harris
“Dracula Night” copyright © 2007 by Charlaine Harris “One Word Answer” copyright © 2005 by Charlaine Harris “Lucky” copyright © 2008 by Charlaine Harris, Inc. “Gift Wrap” copyright © 2008 by Charlaine Harris, Inc. “Two Blondes” copyright © 2010 by Charlaine Harris, Inc. “Small-Town Wedding” copyright © 2011 by Charlaine Harris, Inc. “If I Had a Hammer” copyright © 2011 by Charlaine Harris, Inc. “Playing Possum” copyright © 2012 by Charlaine Harris, Inc. “In the Blue Hereafter” copyright © 2014 by Charlaine Harris, Inc. |
Nov 2017 | ISBN 9780399587597 (hardcover), 9780399587603 (ebook) | ACE
Published by Berkley An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014 |
As Editor
- Many Bloody Returns (September 2007) (co-editor with Toni LP Kelner)
- Wolfsbane and Mistletoe (October 2008) (co-editor with Toni LP Kelner)
- Crimes by Moonlight (April 2010)
- Death's Excellent Vacation[17] (August 2010) (co-editor with Toni LP Kelner)
- Home Improvement: Undead Edition (August 2011) (co-editor with Toni LP Kelner)
- An Apple for the Creature (September 2012) (co-editor with Toni LP Kelner)
Adaptations
Television
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/True_Blood_2008_logo.svg/220px-True_Blood_2008_logo.svg.png)
Her series of novels The Southern Vampire Mysteries was adapted into the show True Blood. The series lasted seven seasons and totaled 80 episodes. It was nominated for dozens of awards. True Blood aired on HBO. The show was also the most viewed show on HBO since The Sopranos.[citation needed]
In 2014, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries began adapting Harris' Aurora Teagarden novels into a series of television films, starring Candace Cameron Bure.[18]
Harris's series Midnight, Texas was developed as a TV series by NBC and began airing on their network in 2017.[19]
Video games
- Dying for Daylight (February 2011)
- Shakespeare's Landlord - an interactive game (January 2018)
- Video game adapted from Charlaine Harris' novel of the same name, developed by One More Story Games[21]
- Based on Book 1: Shakespeare's Landlord
See also
- True Blood
- Sookie Stackhouse
- Aurora Teagarden
- Midnight, Texas—a television series based on the book series
- List of crime writers
- Romance novel
Notes
- ^ a b c Wright, Thea. "Biography of Charlaine Harris". Retrieved 7 October 2012.
- ^ a b Harris, Charlaine. "Charlaine Harris: oBiography". Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g Deborah Solomon, "Questions for Charlene Harris: Once Bitten: The writer talks about her 10th vampire novel and the hit TV series it inspired," New York Times Magazine, May 2, 2010, p. 18.
- ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-19. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b http://charlaineharris.com/?p=256
- ^ "Charlaine Harris, author of Sookie Stackhouse books, is born - Nov 25, 1951 - HISTORY.com". HISTORY.com. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-03-01. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ American Crime Writers League Archived September 28, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Charlaine Harris: Putting the Bite on Cozy Mysteries" Archived March 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved on 2009-10-27.
- ^ Shepard, Martha Hunter (Fall 2007). "Charlaine Harris: Dead-On Author". Rhodes Magazine. Rhodes College. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
- ^ "Charlaine Harris (1951–)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
- ^ a b c d e f g a Southern Vampire story without the character of Sookie Stackhouse
- ^ "September 11, 2010 Wall Post". Facebook.com. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
- ^ "August 15, 2010, August 21, 2010, and November 16, 2010 Wall Posts". Facebook.com. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
- ^ "Bibliography — Sookie Stackhouse". Charlaine Harris. Archived from the original on 2012-01-30. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
- ^ "Story Behind Cemetery Girl by Charlaine Harris". Upcoming4.me. 2014-01-02. Archived from the original on 2014-01-03. Retrieved 2014-01-02.
- ^ "February 6, 2009". Charlaineharris.com. 2009-02-06. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
- ^ "'True Blood' Author's 'Aurora Teagarden' Franchise Coming to Hallmark (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. 8 July 2014.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 29, 2015). "'Midnight, Texas' Drama Based On 'True Blood' Author Books Set At NBC". Deadline.
- ^ "Dying for Daylight". Dying for Daylight. 2010-12-22. Archived from the original on 2011-01-28. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
- ^ "OMSG announces deal with Charlaine Harris, #1 NYT bestselling author". Archived from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Official website
- Fantastic Fiction Author Page
- Charlaine Harris at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Charlaine Harris Collection (MUM00221) owned by the University of Mississippi Department of Archives and Special Collections
- Charlaine Harris's Lifestyle Blog
- Story Behind Cemetery Girl — Online Essay by Charlaine Harris
- 1951 births
- 20th-century American novelists
- 20th-century American women writers
- 21st-century American novelists
- 21st-century American women writers
- American Episcopalians
- American horror writers
- American mystery writers
- American women novelists
- Anthony Award winners
- Living people
- People from Magnolia, Arkansas
- People from Tunica, Mississippi
- People from Texas
- Rhodes College alumni
- Urban fantasy writers
- Writers from Arkansas
- Novelists from Mississippi
- Women science fiction and fantasy writers
- Women horror writers
- Women mystery writers