Charlaine Harris Q&A: Gunnie Rose series continues with ‘All the Dead Shall Weep’

Siblings are reunited in Texoma—only to break apart before the Wizard’s Ball held in San Diego, which will determine all their fates...

#1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Charlaine Harris soon returns to her version of America where magic is acknowledged but despised. Her upcoming novel All the Dead Shall Weep is the fifth title in her Gunnie Rose series, which follows a young gunslinger a on deadly mission across an alternate version of 1930s America.

The Gunnie Rose series mixes the wild west, magic, and Russian influence. Gunslingers help keep the peace in a no longer united country.

In an interview, Harris told PopHorror what readers can expect from the series: “Well, they can expect a fractured America that divided in the early ’30s, and it’s now later in the decade. A lot has changed gradually in the 10 or 15 years since America split up. There are different economies, there are different levels of law enforcement. Everything is different within the five countries that comprise the United States. So I’m just building on that world that I established with the first Gunnie Rose book.”

Harris explained to the Kill Zone blog how the complexity of the Gunnie Rose series impacts how she writes it. “I have to be aware of a lot of history when I’m changing it to suit my narrative. America is split into parts following the assassination of Roosevelt, the Spanish Flu, and the collapse of Wall Street. Lizbeth Rose, a gunslinger by trade, lives in Texoma, the poorest of the new countries.”

Harris told The Mary Sue that she wanted to set the story in the 1930s using the attempted assassination of Roosevelt as her catalyst. “If he had died,” Harris told them, “I think all of this might have possibly happened because he was such a unifying force for the United States.”

Charlaine Harris is a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing more than 30 years. She has written multiple series, including the Southern Vampire Sookie Stackhouse series and the supernatural Harper Connelly Mysteries. She has also written stand-alone novels, short stories, novellas, and graphic novels. Her bestselling Sookie Stackhouse books have appeared in 25 different languages and served as the basis of the HBO series True Blood.

Scroll down for info about the new book. You can also read Harris’ answers to questions about her fiction and about writing.

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Charlaine Harris Q&A

Q: Charlaine, you create such unique female characters who can show strength but also exhibit immense vulnerability. In your opinion, what other qualities make a great heroine?

“The most important thing for a heroine to have is inner strength. A sense of humor is a big plus. I have written women, like Lily Bard [Lily Bard Mysteries], who did not have a big sense of humor, and it was rough going. It’s always helpful to me if women have a sense of humor.”

—Interview with Charlaine Harris (Goodreads)

Q: What is your creative process when you’re starting a new series or book? I know you write more series than standalone books. Do you plan that ahead of time?

“Not really. I do like to write series because I like to grow the characters as the series progresses. You don’t have to invent the wheel every time. You’ve got people there—you just have to set them to work.”

—Interview With Charlaine Harris, Author Of ‘The Serpent In Heaven’ (PopHorror)

Q: Did you always know you were going to be a writer? Did you ever think you were going to write about vampires and the paranormal stuff?

“I knew I was going to be a writer. There was no option on that, and I knew that was what I was going to do although it took me a long time to get around to it. That was my “secret identity.” Some people are Super Woman, but I was Writer. But it took a long time to have the opportunity to concentrate on that. You know, to me, that is not extraordinary or weird in any way. I grew up reading Anne Rice, ghost stories and anything else I can find—Dracula, Frankenstein.”

—THE POISON APPLE: TRUE INTERVIEW – ONE-ON-ONE WITH CHARLAINE HARRIS (Black Gate)

Q: What’s the best advice you can give a writer wannabe?

“Finish. Over and over, I’ve talked to writers who began a book, bogged down, decided they’d thought of a better plot, started another book . . . repeat. You will not be a writer until you complete your book.”

Q: Why do you think you are so successful?

“I usually say, “If I knew, I would have done it much sooner.” But that’s not exactly true. Since success came to me later in life, after I’d had all kinds of publishing experiences, I had learned a lot about myself and about the writing world. I am fortunate enough to have a good agent. But I picked him initially and stuck with him through thick and thin, and he did the same for me.

“I am fortunate enough to have had few gaps in my career as a published writer. But I did the work necessary to have books to publish.

“It boils down to hard work, good luck, and some key good decisions.”

—FAQ on Charlaine Harris’ author website (CharlaineHarris.com)

Q: You’ve said that Anne Rice is one of your favorite authors. Could you tell us about why you enjoy her writing and what sort of influence she’s had on you?

“Sure. I’m not such a great fan of her witch books, but her vampire books I just loved. Interview With the Vampire, at the time it was published, was one of the most startling, innovative books on the market and it held that private place for many years. I just can’t tell you how impressed I was with the originality of her thinking. I still think that book was just a masterstroke. And I think so many of her ideas are classics. She’s had as much influence on the vampire genre as Dracula did.”

Q: Was there anything in particular she did that you wanted to emulate and anything that you wanted to do differently?

“Well, I can’t write like her. There’s no point in me trying. I’ve got a different agenda than Anne Rice. So I don’t try to emulate her except, I hope, in my goal of producing the best work I can possibly produce. So there are great differences. And the background of Anne’s vampires, since they can’t and are not interested in having sex, there’s a tremendous homoerotic vibration going on in the background of all of the books, and in my books vampires can have sex and are, you know, very enthusiastic about that with whomever they feel like having it. So mine is a more overt and obvious sexuality than that in Anne’s books.”

—Feature Interview: Charlaine Harris by THE GEEK’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (Fantasy Magazine)

Q: What types of music, songs, and performers do you prefer? Do you ever listen to music when you write?

“I’m creepy about music. The fact is, I like bagpipe music, Irish music, and I listen to some zydeco from time to time. There’s a whole block of artists I missed in the past 20 years while I was raising my kids. The things I do like are very eclectic. I like country music, rock, and even the occasional rap song. I listen to classical music while I’m driving, if I have control of the radio.

“Another creepy thing. I listen to movie music while I write. I especially like the scores of Titanic, Braveheart, and The Last of the Mohicans.”

—An Interview with Charlaine Harris (Daily Dragon Online)

Check out the latest book in the Gunnie Rose series…

Below, learn about the latest title in Charlaine Harris’ Gunnie Rose series. Or do you want to know about all the books? We have all that info here: Charlaine Harris: Complete Gunnie Rose series

All the Dead Shall Weep (Gunnie Rose series #5)

#1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author returns with the fifth installment in the bestselling Gunnie Rose series as sisters Lizbeth Rose and Felicia—as well as Eli and Peter—are reunited in Texoma only to break apart before the Wizard’s Ball held in San Diego, which will determine all their fates.

Following the murderous events of the “gripping…thrill-ride” (Karin Slaughter) The Serpent in Heaven, Lizbeth Rose is awaiting the arrival of Felicia and Eli in Texoma. Both needed to leave the seat of the Holy Russian Empire in San Diego after Felicia’s burgeoning wizardly power in death magic became the reason for kidnapping and assassination attempts from her mother’s family of high-powered wizards in Mexico.

Yet bad news has traveled ahead of them, as Eli is called back to San Diego, taking Peter along with him, splitting them apart in more ways than one as their enemies’ plans for revenge come to fruition. In this fifth installment in the beloved and bestselling Gunnie Rose series, #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Charlaine Harris has crafted a family drama of murderous and magical thrills.

Buy All the Dead Shall Weep from Amazon

Reviews:
“A lovable heroine who can shoot like nobody’s business, a harsh, post-apocalyptic world, and plenty of action make this an excellent start to a new urban fantasy series. I’m so happy I decided to take a chance on Charlaine Harris’ latest…” (Books, Bones & Buffy)
“This series always manages to suck me back in with every new release.” (Smexy Books)