UPDATE: Latest On The Status of Charlaine Harris and “Deadlocked” (via @EricSookieLover)
For today’s (Day 20) fangalicious Fang-A-Thon 2012 post, I figured I’d focus on the books once more, because Charlaine Harris updated her status on Facebook (with a special message for you), and we have an update on where “Deadlocked” is sitting on the New York Times Bestseller List!
First, we’ll share with you Charlaine’s Facebook status:
Thanks to all of you for letting me know you enjoyed the book. I’m hard at work on the last one. I put up a new Book & Blog on my website (www.charlaineharris.com). Got the advanced readering copies for “An Apple for the Creature,” the next anthology I co-edited with Toni L.P. Kelner.
Now let’s see where “Deadlocked” stacks up on the New York Times Bestseller List! A version of this list appears in the June 3, 2012 issue of The New York Times Book Review. Rankings reflect sales for the week ending May 19, 2012.
Below, are the Top 5 Books under Hardcover Fiction, which represents new or just released books and doesn’t take into account ebooks, etc.
This Week Last Week Hardcover Fiction Weeks
on List1 STOLEN PREY, by John Sandford. (Putnam, $27.95.) When a Minnesota family is murdered, the Minneapolis investigator Lucas Davenport believes a Mexican drug gang is involved. 1 2 1 11TH HOUR, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. (Little, Brown, $27.99.) Detective Lindsay Boxer and the Women’s Murder Club investigate a possible serial killer. 2 3 2 DEADLOCKED, by Charlaine Harris. (Ace, $27.95.) The telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse investigates a murder that has more to do with her than she imagines. 3 4 THE COLUMBUS AFFAIR, by Steve Berry. (Ballantine, $27.) The daughter of a disgraced journalist is held by a man who wants to force her father to help him discover a secret left by Columbus. 1 5 7 CALICO JOE, by John Grisham. (Doubleday, $24.95.) A pitcher beans a promising rookie, ending both their careers; years later, the pitcher’s son brings them together.
If you’re worried and/or are disappointed that “Deadlocked” is slipping in the rankings…don’t be. It’s perfectly understandable. I’m sure many of us have read it by now or have at least purchased it, even if you haven’t read it yet. It’s okay, #3 isn’t bad either, especially because the book has only been on the shelves for 3 weeks.
If you read Charlaine’s Book & Blog, you might find what she says about some of the books she’s reading interesting and she also talks about Memorial Day and what it means for her. You should definitely check it out!
Thoughts? Please share ‘em below!
via UPDATE: Latest On The Status of Charlaine Harris and “Deadlocked”
How I’d End the Final Book, Part 2 (via @mswriteok)
~~~
“Hello, Eric,” she said as she opened the door and stood aside so the tall, blonde vampire could glide in.
“Hello, wife,” he said, reminding her of the vampire ceremony she had unwittingly participated in at Fangtasia.
“You sure about that?” she asked. “I’m going to find out what it takes to get a divorce, just so you know. I’m giving you the information you did not give me. I broke our blood bond and now I’m undoing this, so you can just take yourself to Oklahoma and marry Freyda.
“How dare you think I’d use the last fairy magic I had to get you out of a situation you can take care of yourself?”
As she kept going, she felt herself losing her temper.
“I cannot believe you thought enough of yourself, and so little of me, to think I would take all the heat for you not marrying a woman when your maker — the maker who is DEAD NOW — set up for you. How dare you think I could take care of this little problem for you. If you needed that much proof of my love, well, you can simply forget it. I’m glad I saved Sam. Sam has been a better friend to me that you ever have.”
As she said it, she was aware of things clicking into place and a new and amazing idea bloomed in her mind.
“Sam has always been there for me. He has always been my friend. He has always been kind to me, even when I didn’t deserve it. We have been friends for so long.
“We kissed you know,” she said, remembering sitting on the same couch in Sam’s arms. “If Bill hadn’t walked in right then, who knows what would have happened.”
“I’d sure like to find out.”
Sam’s drawl rocketed thorough the room, surprising both Sookie and Eric.
“Chere, I know I’d be dead right now if you hadn’t done whatever it is you did,” he said, staring at her with a new, soft light in his eyes. “I’m looking forward to finding out.”
“Eric, it’s time for you to go,” Sookie said, realizing she meant it with all her heart. “You go back to Shreveport and we’ll talk more about this later. Sam and I have some catching up to do.”
Eric was staggered, horrified that his selfishness had now cost him the one thing he had wanted since she sashayed into his bar.
“Sookie, please,” he began.
“Eric, don’t make me rescind my invitation to you. Please, for once, be a gentleman and leave,” Sookie said steadily. “Go now.”
He left.
She turned to face Sam almost shyly. It had come back to her that the Cluviel dor only worked if the wish she made was based in love.
“Hi Sam. You hungry? I’ll fix you something.”
At that moment, a voice she loved interrupted her sun-drenched reverie.
“Shug, lunch is ready. You want to grab the kids and come inside now?” Sam said.
“Yup. We’re on our way,” she said, recalling their brief courtship, his sweet proposal, their simple and lovely wedding and her surprise pregnancy which probably happened on their honeymoon in Miami.
~~~
The rest of “Dead Ever After” would be the details of her conversations with Bill and Eric, Eric’s decisions about Freyda and the vampires’ final acceptance of Sookie’s real love for Sam Merlotte and how they would carry on with their eternal lives without Sookie Stackhouse, who had made her choice and moved on.
How I Would End the Final Book, Part 1 (via @mswriteok)
I’m not Charlaine Harris and I’m glad I’m not, but if I could creep into her consciousness long enough to write the final Sookie Stackhouse book, “Dead Ever After,” here’s what I would do.
I’d set it five years from the end of “Deadlocked.”
~~~
Sookie would by lying outside her much-improved home on her chaise, soaking up the sun, and not far away would be a kiddie pool with two small children splashing away.
Sam would walk out the front door, carrying a plate of raw hamburgers and hot dogs. The grill would be heating up nearby and he’d stop by the chaise and give Sookie a loving kiss right on the mouth, saying, “Hey there, Sook.”
“Hi, honey,” Sookie would answer. “You might want to put a little more sunscreen on Sammy and Adele. The last thing they need is a sunburn.”
“Sure,” Sam said. “Right after I get this meat on the grill.”
As the meat sizzles, Sam picks up his twins and with a lot of giggling and hugs, he re-applies suncreen to his little blonde children.
“What’s up for tonight?” he asks.
“I think Eric and Bill both are coming over to see their ‘teacup human’ godchildren, and Jason and Michelle will be bringing Jason Jr. over and they’re going to babysit so you, me, Eric and Bill can go out for dinner tonight to celebrate our anniversary.”
“Which one?” Sam asks with a twinkle in his eye.
“Oh, all of them,” Sookie replies airily.
Closing her eyes again, Sookie thinks back to how this all came about. She never thought it would end like this.
Five years ago tonight, she brought back Sam from the dead, using the Cluviel dor. Eric wouldn’t return her calls and Bill was impressed she had stood up to the Viking. She knew Bill expected that she would run back to him right after Eric said he was going to marry Freyda.
Eric surprised everyone. He broke of all contact with the Queen of Oklahoma and came back to Sookie, expecting for her to forgive him like she always had.
He was in for a shock. So was Bill.
She remembered the private conversation she’d had with each.
Bill checked in first, as always.
He’d come by as soon as he was up, showered and dressed. Sam and Sookie were in the house, getting ready for bed in separate rooms. After Sam was alseep, Sookie took a deep breath and walked into her living room.
She had told him then that breaking their bond was the best thing she had ever done. She was free to be with her human friends, to do things that lasted all afternoon into the night without worrying about who would think what when a vampire walked in.
She hugged him then, a warm, close hug, and whispered into his ear, “Bill, I will always love you because you were my first love, first in so many things. You made me the woman I am today, but I will never be yours. Never.”
Bill was quite surprised, but stepped back and took a good look at her.
“You’ve changed,” he said, stunned. “I believe you mean this.”
“Oh, I do, Bill. I do,” she said.
The handsome vampire stayed a while longer, drinking a glass of True Blood and considering what the woman he would love for eternity had said. He began to realize she meant it.
After a few hours, he bade her good night and with a kiss to her forehead, he left.
She was asleep on her couch in front of her TV when she heard another knock on her front door. She had no doubt who it was.
~~~
SPOILER ALERT: What’s In A Name? (via @EricSookieLover)
For today’s (Day 7) fangalicious Fang-A-Thon 2012 post…we’re focusing once more on the Southern Vampire Mysteries. This won’t be a Quopic of the Day, like I previously planned because…guess what? Charlaine Harris has revealed something you will find very interesting in regards to her last and final Sookie book, Dead Ever After!
This is what I would definitely call a MAJOR spoiler.
WARNING: If you don’t want to know – don’t read below!
As we’ve revealed in some of our posts from various Charlaine appearances and book signings, Eric’s other child (EOC) will be making an appearance in the last and final book, Dead Ever After. We know she will have blonde hair and blue eyes, just like Sookie and Pam. We also know that she is fierce, just like Pam, only worse.
This is what Charlaine herself revealed in the forum at her website a little while ago!
3084 Maker – 2012-05-17 12:20
I will reveal Eric’s other child’s name. It’s Karin.
Charlaine Harris
The definition of the name Karin means: pure. It originated in Greece.
This got me interested in finding out what Eric and Pam’s names mean too.
The definition of Pamela means: honey. It also originated in Greece. Eric means: honorable ruler. It (of course) originated in Scandinavia. Just for kicks…I looked up Sookie’s name, but not surprisingly nothing came up.
Now it’s time for speculation…if Pam’s name means, honey…and we know what kind of vampire/character she is…imagine what someone who’s name means, pure will be like if it’s in a similar context? I have NO idea…but I’m dying to find out. I just hope she likes Sookie too.
What are your thoughts? Feel free to share your speculation below!
Lions and tigers and shape shifters, Oh my! (via @mswriteok)
I’ve been reading all the Fangathon blogs and I’ve noticed something: Sam’s pretty much a no-show, so today, I’m writing a love letter to Sam Merlotte, owner of Merlotte’s bar and grill in Bon Temps.
Well, we all knew that, and we know he’s a shape shifter. We also know he has been sweet on one of his employees since day one.
Even in the first book, Charlaine Harris made it plain that Sam has it bad for Sookie. He was about ready to ask her out the fateful night Vampire Bill walked into his bar.
Makes you want to compare Sam to Rick, the world weary bar owner in Casablanca.
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world he walks into mine.”
First, Bill breaks Sookie’s heart. Then, she and Alcide are always out of step. She’s interested, he’s not, and vice versa. Then, Eric wins her over when he can’t remember what he did. In the book, Quinn and Sookie have all the right intentions of having a relationship, but a bomb literally blows that relationship to kingdom come. Eric steps back in, but the in book does something much more surprising than anything imagined in True Blood.
Actually, way back in the early days of both the books and the show, Sookie and Sam kiss, but that’s quickly quashed by an extremely jealous Bill.
In the book, Sam has dated several other women, ending with werewolf Jannalynn, the Shreveport Pack’s enforcer. If you’re read “Deadlocked,” you know how that turns out and you also know there is a very big “IF” left at the end of the book, leaving fans practically drooling for the final Sookie Stackhouse novel, “Dead Ever After.”
In True Blood he had a standard booty call with Tara. Other than that, most of his relationships end badly. The jury is still out on how his relationship will go with Luna, a fellow shape shifter who was married to a werewolf, who happened to be Shreveport’s Pack Leader. He’s gone now, thanks to Alcide, so the jury is out on how this will affect Sam and Luna’s dating life.
I like the way Sam is described in the book. I love the “red gold” description of his hair, the way he is always just a tiny bit scruffy. He’s a good-hearted guy, the kind most girls would be happy to take home to mom and dad. He just doesn’t seem to ever get that far, which I find sad.
Did I mention he has a killer smile?
I’ll go out on a limb here and flat out say that I wish Sookie and Sam would wind up together. So many people think I am insane, that either Bill or Eric would be better for her because she can’t read their minds, but she has trouble reading Sam’s a lot of the time too.
Sam has never hurt Sookie. (Well his brother did when he was pretending to be Sam in the show, but Sam himself never has). He respects her as a person and her decisions, even when he disagrees with them. He doesn’t make decisions for her, like both vampires have.
Also in his favor, he has saved Sookies like more than once, just like Bill and Eric. In my world, he’s a serious contender. In the book, he shifts into a lion to defend Sookie. A LION. Now that’s someone willing to protect you in any way possible.
And, since he still has a beating heart, he can stay out in the sun, something Sookie won’t give up. She loves the daylight and she can only share it with Bill and Eric if they get a big ole Sookie cocktail before they step outside, and even then they can only stay a little while.
And hey, if they had a fight and Sookie told him he was in the doghouse, he should simply shift to Dean to collie and go for it. What more could a girl want?
So Sam, this blog’s for you. You’re a great guy, you deserve a great girl and I hope you find one. Personally, I hope it’s Sookie, both in the book and in the series.
Charlaine Harris (via @EricNorthmanSVM)
Without her I wouldn’t even be doing this. Without her I wouldn’t have waited with toe curling anticipation each year for the release of the next book. Without her there would be no True Blood.
I have to confess that Dead Until Dark was a bit dicey for me. There were interesting aspects to it and I enjoyed her spin on the vampire legend. However, at first, I found the detailed descriptions of Sookie’s wardrobe and her daily routine uninteresting. Then I gave the Living Dead in Dallas a try and fell in love with Sookie’s pluck, Eric’s fascination with her and learning more about vampire culture and heirarchy. Not all of the successive books were good but when they were, they were exciting, unexpectedly funny and very sexy.
What I’ve enjoyed the most from the books is the development of Eric and Sookie’s relationship. They argue. They fight side by side. They surprise each other. They fall in love. It’s an adult relationship where they talk and respect each other. Oh and there’s lots of monkey sex.
So Charlaine, there’s only one book left. I refuse to speculate as to what will happen in Dead Ever After. I’m putting my full faith in you that, no matter Sookie’s fate, it will be a fun, touching and leave me wanting more just like a good story should.
via Charlaine Harris
Deadlocked into Dead Ever After (via @DarlingSookie)
Pam and I were honored to be joined by Eric and Sookie Lovers very own Erika for last week’s episode of True Bites.
We got right down to business and discussed the topic that everyone’s been debatin’ over for years…
Who will Sookie Stackhouse wind up with?
Of course, Erika was convinced it will be Eric. Pam whooped us all upside the head with the theory that Sam would be the best for Sookie. And of course, I rounded things out with my theory that Sookie will either wind up with Eric or completely alone.
But that’s not all we discussed and to hear it all just tune in to Deadlocked into Dead Ever After.
Tune into tomorrow’s all new episode of True Bites called All about the Blood.
Charlaine Harris Interview SciFi Now UK (via @vs4as)
SciFi Now UK spoke with Charlaine Harris and the interview and page scans are in the gallery below. She speaks a bit about the end of the Sookie Stackhouse series. Dead Ever After is due out May 2013 and will be the final installment in the series. She also speaks of the faux pas committed by Alan Ball during a press conference. She had confided in him that she was contemplating having the character of Bill Compton die in an upcoming book (book 9). Well good old Alan Ball let that one slip at Paley Fest 2009. The way he said it was just unbelievable. It mislead fans a bit. So glad she finally said something about this!!
The page here on the site has the full size scans link here:
Gallery has the page scans:
Who Becomes Dead Ever After? (via @EricSookieLover)
In my first post in the 2012 Fang-A-Thon, I thought what would make a better post to start this off with than a post about what I wish for in Dead Ever After? It goes without saying, I want Eric and Sookie to end up together in the end…but what about those who I want to see dead?
You know someone is going to die in the last and final book…but who, how, and why are the most important questions.
These are my picks and the reasons why they should die or the reasons why I want them to die. I’ve also kindly included how I want them to die. (As you can imagine…this post has been very therapeutic for me. LOL)
In no particular order…
Continue reading via Who Becomes Dead Ever After?.
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