Charlaine Harris Talks About Fan Reactions to DEAD EVER AFTER

In an new interview with the Shreveport Times, Charlaine Harris gets blunt about the fans who hated on Dead Ever After:

Q: You’ve just wrapped up the series with “Dead After Dark” and gotten a lot of up and down feedback from that. I’ve seen a lot of anger displayed. Has that subsided now since it’s been over a month?

A: A lot of the hating has. There are some people who evidently have no life what so ever, that are evidently going to pursue this until they drop dead of old age, and I don’t know what to think about that. Are their lives so empty that they cannot get over a book series ending in a way they had not anticipated? The accusations have been really vile and disgusting. I can only think that these people would not say that to my face or hope that they wouldn’t because I just think the Internet is responsible for a lot of this overly invested entitled attitude.

One reader said “You should turn over characters to someone who can write them they way we want them.” I said “You know, you don’t get it. It’s not like going into a bakery and ordering a cake where you say ‘I want butter cream filling and chocolate icing and I want a decoration of pink roses.’ Writing a book is not like that. You don’t get to vote on how I write my books. They’re mine,” and they would have never have met any of those people if they hadn’t come out of my head. They say “You sold out” and I say “To whom?” To whom did I sell out?

After some painful painful days and thinking I might not ever come out of my house again, I’m kind of coming out of the other side of that. I’ve gotten an overwhelming expression of support and pleasure in the book from many more people than ever told me they hated it, and it’s in its fourth week on the New York Times best-seller list.

Q: Had you ever dealt with anything like that before?

A: Yes, on a smaller scale, but I had and I could tell the past two books especially when I said the thirteenth book will be the last one. I could tell which way the wind was blowing. I did everything but put a neon sign saying “This will not end the way you think it will” and I just felt like I made it very obvious and clear, more so than I wanted to. Nothing was going to stop this from happening.

We said pretty much the same thing in our podcast reviewing the book, but it’s a surprise to have her be so open about it in public. Charlaine also reiterates that she is not involved in True Blood and gives us a few more details about After Dead, coming in October:

Q: Can you tell me about the book you have coming out in October, “After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse”?

A: It’s not a novel, it’s an alphabetical listing of the major characters with additional art work by Lisa Dissemi who does all the covers. The artwork is charming. She’s just great, and the books are so distinct. This is a listing of all the characters, not all of them but a lot of them with what happened to them after the last book. It’s a fun addition.

Read the full interview here.