Charlaine Harris is an author best known for her True Blood books that were adapted into a hugely successful television series. What was remarkable about True Blood was that it brought Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance to the attention of mass-audiences who’d usually not go anywhere near either genre. Personally, I feel this is because of the complexity and brilliance of some of the plot threads. Of course, True Blood wasn’t to everyone’s taste, but you’d be missing out on some excellent books if you were to allow yourself to think she writes stories only of that nature.
I found this out a few months back when I read Charlaine’s very excellent Cemetery Girl, a graphic novel she worked on with Christopher Golden that focused on a girl who wake up in a cemetery without any real memories. As she begins to explore her past she realises that whatever happened to her has left her not quite human… Similarly, when I picked up Charlaine’s latest novel, Midnight Crossroad, which is advertised as ‘a sharper, darker mystery than anything the author has written before’ it was far more than I’d imagined. And, you know what, perhaps that was unfair of me. After all, Charlaine is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the American Crime Writers League, on the board of Sisters in Crime, and president of the Arkansas Mystery Writers Alliance. For those who enjoy gentle thrillers and appreciate Urban-Fantasy elements, Midnight Crossroad is one you should give a shot. It’s a short novel packed full of memorable characters – some familiar and some new – and has a truly intriguing story. Here’s the blurb:
From Charlaine Harris, the bestselling author who created Sookie Stackhouse and her world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, comes a darker locale—populated by more strangers than friends. But then, that’s how the locals prefer it…
Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town.
There’s a pawnshop (someone lives in the basement and is seen only at night). There’s a diner (people who are just passing through tend not to linger). And there’s new resident Manfred Bernardo, who thinks he’s found the perfect place to work in private (and who has secrets of his own).
Stop at the one traffic light in town, and everything looks normal. Stay awhile, and learn the truth…
I was delighted when Charlaine got in touch through her publishers Gollancz and said she’d be willing to stop by before she started her Blog tour and answer a few questions we had about Midnight Crossroad, her writing and the leaving behind of Sookie Stackhouse.
Sorry to start with a question that I’m sure you’ve answered a hundred times on this blog-tour already, but specifically for the Urban Fantasy readers among us, could you tell us what Midnight Crossroad is about and why you think we should pick it up?
Midnight Crossroad takes places in a mostly defunct Texas town. The largest business is the old pawn shop, which contains (as well as flat-screen TVs) many amazing object. The clientele at night is very different from the day clientele. Not too many people live in Midnight, but they are there for a reson.
Through use of a omnipresent narrative, you create a real sense of isolation, claustrophobia and mystery in this novel – did you find it easy to create the kind of tension that ensure a reader is quickly turning those pages?
I hope I succeeded in doing that! Given the somewhat isolated location of Midnight and the scarcity of its population, it wasn’t too hard to ratchet up the tension.
I don’t know very many series that were as popular as your Sookie Stackhouse novels. I guess many authors may have kept going with a series that popular until demand dried up (which it certainly didn’t) or create a new series that is ‘the same, but different’. Writing a new series that certainly does feel very different, did you feel any pressure as to what you wrote (in terms of tone, audience, plot-lines and so on)?
Gosh, yes! So much! I think every book has to find its own audience, so I couldn’t worry about how readers will receive it, but I’m very conscious of the fact that its success or failure is not mine alone. And thanks for the reassurance on Sookie’s ending.
A number of creatures from your other novels popup in Midnight Crossroad – much to the delight of us readers – is this a conscious decision before the book begins to link your work together or do you find yourself adding them in at convenient parts as you write?
I had the idea fairly early on. I really wanted to use Manfred Bernardo again, and my agent was a big fan of Bobo Winthrop’s. So I thought it would be entertaining to see some people again and find out what they had been doing.
I remember reading your blog a few years ago and you were reading the work of authors such as Jeff Lindsay, J.K. Rowling (as Robert Galbraith) Jim Butcher and Benedict Jacka, all of whom feature memorable characters (just like Manfred, Fiji & Co in Midnight Crossroad). In your opinion, what are the qualities that characters in a crime series must possess to be memorable?
Characters can’t be perfect. I think all the writers you mention have great character flaws, great in the sense that the reader can identify with those issues and like the character in spite of t hem . . . or maybe because of them. This is most notable with Benedict Jacka; Alex Verus has a bad past and admits his talent is survival, not being a moral example. Yet he’s sympathetic. Harry Dresden makes mistakes all the time and is terrible at reading people emotionally. Robert Galbraith’s detective is one step away from a breakdown. Jeff Lindsay’s is a sociopath. But these writers can enlist our support for a character that we might otherwise regard with distaste, distrust, or loathing.
True Blood (both the series of books and the TV show) were incredibly popular and surely the success of the show suggests that TV executives will be watching what your write very closely. Whilst reading this novel I couldn’t help but think how easy it would be to do a really cool adaption for TV one day. I wonder if your experience seeing True Blood made for television meant you ever considered how this show may work as a TV Show too. Would / did this change how you write at all?
No. At least, not consciously! My obligation lies in writing t he best book I possibly can, and that doesn’t mean for television.
Also, you recently worked on a graphic novel (which I read and loved!) how did that compare to your normal writing process?
I had a lot to learn. Fortunately for me, Chris Golden was great at teaching me the format and instilling the basic principle of graphic novel writing. You can’t write what the artist can’t draw. It seemed to take me forever to get that. Sigh.
Finally, back to Midnight Crossroad, what is it about this novel that you are most proud of? Is there a particular scene or character for example?
There are several scenes I really like, but I confess I’m fond of the First Annual Picnic section of the book.
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If you truly can’t wait a few more days until the book’s release, our friends over at Gollancz have published the first four chapters on their website. Go check ’em out!