Charlaine Harris’ official site hosts a large forum which conducts a tightly moderated discussion of the Sookie Stackhouse series.
Harris follows the posts, and often answers questions about the characters and the series. While she doesn’t give much away about future plotlines, her answers are useful for clarifying some of the ambiguity contained in the already published books.
Occasionally the responses just muddy the waters further as she tries to answer without giving anything away. Often they are as open to interpretation as the passage that prompted them. And sometimes, they are clear enough to be helpful. No matter what, they’re always very brief! I’m including some of her less cryptic answers on this page as a reference. This will be a work in progress and I’ll add to it when I can.
I have edited some of the questions for clarity and grammar, and the answers for relevance. All answers were posted by the author (duckpond100) – I have not included questions answered by moderators.
SOOKIE
Q: Could Sookie ever reconsider becoming a vampire when this story finally comes to an end?
A: Sookie will never become a vampire.
Q: Is it theoretically possible that Sookie’s lifetime can be extended by magical means?
A: It’s possible but it’s not gonna happen.
Q: Even though Sookie often professes that she wants to stay away from the supernatural world, she always reverses herself fairly quickly, and now she seems to be increasingly comfortable with her life in the supe community. Do you forsee a point when she might *really* sever her ties with the supernatural world and want to live out a regular human existence? Or is she growing more comfortable that her place in life is within the supernatural community, bridging the gaps between the humans and the supes?
A: Sookie is enjoying her life too much to go back. She could not go back as she had such a hard time before, so she will end up staying in the supernatural community (May 2008).
SOOKIE’s HEA (Happily Ever After)
Q: In Dead and Gone, when Niall says goodbye to Sookie he makes a comment to the effect that he’s a good man/vampire, he loves you – but he doesn’t say who, leaving Sookie wondering. Will we eventually find out who Niall meant?
A: I’m not sure you’ll ever find out. You may have to imagine the answer.
Q: Do you know if Sookie’s HEA won’t be discovered until the last book? Or is there a chance of a book or two with the definite happy couple featuring?
A: I don’t know yet.
Q: Would it be possible that Sookie and Bill could end up together, despite the skeptics or over analysts?
A: I don’t think Sookie and Bill will ever have the same relationship. However, Bill is in the next book in no small way.
Q: Dear Ms Harris, is it even potentially possible for Sookie to have romantic interest in Bill anymore? Wanting him as sex partner again? If , say, she finally discovers all the complexity of the sire-child relationship? Anytime in the future? Or is it truly over forever – in your plot line and your universe?
A: I seldom completely rule out anything, though some plot developments seem pretty unlikely. (August 2008)
ERIC
Q. In book 6 Eric made Bill tell Sookie that Bill was sent to seduce her. Did Eric find out about Bill’s mission when he went to see the Queen or did he know before that?
A. No, Eric found out when he went to New Orleans [book 6]
Q. If you don’t mind, could one of you tell me if Mrs. Harris has answered any questions on Eric’s Anemsia. On whether or not he was faking it?
A: No, Eric genuinely had amnesia (March 2010).
Q. Did Eric suspect the culprit [in the Fangtasia theft] was Long Shadow and use the situation to evaluate Sookie’s abilities? Or, did he genuinely need her assistance to find the guilty party?
A. He genuinely needed her assistance.
Q: At the beginning Definitely Dead I noticed a change in Eric’s behaviour toward Sookie. While DAAD finished with a passionate kiss given by Eric to Sookie, in the first chapters of DD Sookie says that Eric had just started to ignore her, avoiding talking or seeing her, as much as possible. I would like to know why at the beginning there’s this abrupt change of behaviour from Eric.
A: Eric is conflicted in his feelings about Sookie. The next books will clarify this. (August 2009)
ON THE BLOOD BOND AND MAKER/CHILD RELATIONSHIPS
“The maker-child relationship is the strongest. It never weakens, but it’s different in nature. If Sookie and Eric never saw each other again, never took each others’ blood again, their bond would eventually weaken and dispel. The tie between the maker or sire and the new vampire is unbreakable except by death. Yes, if Eric were to be staked, Appius and Pam would both feel it, and Sookie would feel his absence emotionally and know he was in pain, though she would not actually experience it” (July 2009).
BILL
Statement by poster: “I just wish Ms Harris hadn’t turned against him…Bill was such a sweetie, and everything Sookie would have wanted in terms of stability and loyalty, even if he did have separate vampire issues which tested the latter…I guess I’m just a romantic at heart.”
A: “Turned against him” implies that Bill was a friend of mine whom I decided I didn’t like. Like all the characters I write, Bill is complex. He is neither a hero nor a villain, but has elements of both.
Q: Ms Harris, when in your mind, does Bill fall in love or start having deep feelings for Sookie??
A: I think Bill knew very quickly, however reluctantly, that Sookie was not just an assignment; and let me point out that he was not anxious or willing to undertake the assignment.
On True Blood Bill, during the airing of Season 1 [2008]
“It’s interesting to see this rush of sympathy for Bill (fuelled, I believe because Stephen Moyer is so sympathetic). The books will continue for the forseeable future, and I hope you all enjoy the result.”
On the Trunk Scene:
[Comment posted in response to a reader who incorrectly asserted that Harris has previously denied the trunk scene was a rape].
“I don’t know if I should step in here or not. Obviously, this passage in the books has sparked hot debates and strong emotions. I am going to say the reader has to make of it what she will; I don’t believe in interpreting and explaining my books, which must stand on their own.
I don’t remember saying that episode wasn’t rape, and I would also be very interested in hearing what you’re basing that statement on, rclaurel”. (December 2008)
QUINN
Q: What is Eric actually asking Sookie in DAG when he asks her if she regrets Quinn? Is he asking does she regret dating him or, does she regret that Eric banished him from Area 5?
A: Eric is asking if she regrets breaking up with him.
On Quinn’s attraction to Sookie:
“Quinn isn’t a blood drinker, like the vamps, so Sookie’s little percentage of fairy blood doesn’t attract him in the same way vamps are attracted, though Sookie thinks it makes her more interesting to all supes” (June 2009 – edited for content).
[SVB: Sookie thinks it makes her more interesting to all supes??]
“Quinn and Eric know each other by reputation. Eric has also seen Quinn fight in the pit.”
PAM
Q: Do you think we will see a love interest for Pam in the future?
A: I’m not sure that a “love interest” is what Pam wants.
ON PLOT AND SUBTEXT
“I don’t explain the occurences in the books, unless I simply can’t stand it. That’s up to the reader. I usually feel I’ve built the explanation in. I know sometimes I’m wrong!”
Sookieverse 