Anita Blake Vampire Hunter ~ Laurells Blog

We’re mentioned in the latest issue of "TV Guide". Page 14. Look for the still from TRUE BLOOD, the show based on Charlaine Harris’, Sookie Stackehouse books. The headline is, "The Twilight Effect". There’s also another vampire series mentioned above mine that I’ve never even heard of. Does it bother me that series that I predate by a decade, or more, are above my mention? No.

Let’s face it, Twilight kicked ass as an international bestseller, by taking my genre and sanitizing it within an inch of it’s life, but her original audience was under twelve, so my level of sex and violence would have been totally inappropriate. The fact that her books have found a much wider audience range is probably what contributed to her getting more violent in the last book. When you know you aren’t traumatizing preteens, you can play a little rougher. The movie version of the book was a box office phenomena, which means that almost every media mention of fiction with vampires in it is going to be associated with that movie. Period.

Of the three series mentioned Charlaine’s books are the only ones that have film stills to put in the magazine, because her series is already finished with it’s first season. It’s done well for her, and so it gets the bigger visual, because it has a television visual to use.

They have actors tied to the second series mentioned, and the visual is the face of one of those actors. Again, a television tie-in, that I do not have yet.

There was some discussion about putting the cover of Skin Trade by my mention, but I voted with the television people. Once upon a time I was an art editor and I knew that though a lovely cover, Skin Trade, would not look as eye catching done small. But that the comic book cover of Anita would look good big, or small. So there we are in TV Guide with my name spelled right, and Anita Blake spelled right, too. It’s all good.