BOOKS

I had hours of reading pleasure while I was on tour, and I hope you all can enjoy some of these books, too. The most fun reading was the ARCs (advanced reading copies) I got from my publisher and from friends, and I have to tell you there wasn’t a dud among them. I got to read my friend Steve Brewer’s CUTTHROAT, which is a great thriller. I also got to read Laurell K. Hamilton’s HARLEQUIN, which is the best Anita Blake in years. I always relish Laurell’s work, but HARLEQUIN was just super. And I read Lilith Saintcrow’s next Dante Valentine novel, THE DEVIL’S RIGHT HAND. If it’s possible to have more action than the previous two Valentines, RIGHT HAND does. So you have lots of good reading to anticipate. Steve’s book will be out in September, as with Lilith’s. Laurell’s book will be out in June.

My happiest recent reading discoveries are books that people have recommended to me for a long time; I was just too stubborn to believe them. I’m referring, of course, to Naomi Novik’s wonderful Dragon books, starting with “His Majesty’s Dragon.” For those of you who read CS Forrester’s Hornblower books when you were growing up, Novik’s series is like Hornblower with dragons. For those of you who didn’t, Naomi Novik’s premise is that all the countries involved in the Napoleonic wars had the use of dragons as war animals. HIS MAJESTY’S DRAGON starts with the capture from a French ship of a very rare dragon’s egg by Captain Will Lawrence, and Lawrence’s subsequent and unwilling change of career. I’ve gotten to read THRONE OF JADE, the second book, and I can hardly wait for BLACK POWDER WAR.

Happily, I have a stack of wonderful books waiting for me, too, since my publisher very kindly forwards a package of books to me from time to time, titles they think may interest me. So, happy reading!

BLOG

The beginning of my tour seems kind of misty to me now. I do remember Romantic Times, and I remember driving home with forensic writer Andrea Campbell to do my laundry and pack my Big Suitcase for the tour. I did do Malice Domestic somewhere in there, and had the pleasure of seeing many friends -- Eve Sandstrom (Joanna Carl), Patricia Sprinkle, Dana Cameron, Carolyn Hart, Carol Nelson Douglas, and of course, Toni Kelner – and the huge delight of seeing Toni win the Malice Domestic Agatha for best short story. And I’m happy to tell you that I’ll be Malice Guest of Honor next year, a red-letter achievement for me.

Along the road, I encountered several names I recognized. Thanks one and all for coming out to see me and making me welcome in your community. Thanks for all the good questions. Thanks for buying the book and making it so successful. And thanks for all the thought you put into figuring out my characters and their motivations. I admit, sometimes I think you all go into left field a bit, but reading your speculations on the website and listening to them in person really keeps me entertained and makes me feel quite profound.

While I was in Los Angeles, I had the pleasure of meeting with Alan Ball again and touring the set of TRUE BLOOD. It’s still under construction, and I was so impressed when I met the producers and directors and designers of various phases of the show. They all had a copy of DEAD UNTIL DARK. They all had questions. They all seemed genuinely excited and delighted to be working on the project. It seemed perfectly appropriate to me that I got to meet the dogs who will play Sam and the cat who will play Tina. How “Hollywood’ is that?

Now that I’m home I have to buckle down and finish the next Sookie. So wish me luck while I’m writing, and thanks again for making my tour and the debut of ALL TOGETHER DEAD so successful.

Charlaine Harris