Mysteries

FROM MYSTERY TO MAYHEM
— The Works of Charlaine Harris —
BY BEVERLY BATTILLO
Long before a telepathic waitress served the first beverage to a handsome
vampire at Merlotte’s Bar, Charlaine Harris was creating compelling characters and
plots that have excited her fans’ imaginations and fueled their fantasies.
Ever since the fourth grade, when she began composing poems about ghosts,
Charlaine wanted to write. Her formal writing career began, however, after her
marriage in 1978 to her second husband, Hal. As a wedding present, the
understanding groom presented his bride with an electric typewriter and
encouraged her to follow her longtime dream of becoming an author. Charlaine’s
first novel, the mystery Sweet and Deadly, was published in 1981 and marked the
beginning of a distinguished career that has now spanned thirty years.
FIRST STEPS
With the publication of her first novel, Charlaine was