The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
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    This is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.
     
    PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reactions to the recipes contained in this book.
     
    The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
     
Copyright © 2011 by Charlaine Harris, Inc.
    HBO ® and True Blood ® are service marks of Home Box Office, Inc.
    Map created by Claudia Carlson, based on an original sketch by Charlaine Harris, Paula Woldan, Danna Woldan, and Lauren Dodson.
    “Sookie’s Family Tree” created by Tiffany Estreicher, based on a rough draft submitted by Tekno Books.

     
    All rights reserved.
    No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors’ rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
    ACE and the “A” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
     
     
    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
     
    ISBN : 978-1-101-47560-7
    1. Stackhouse, Sookie (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Vampires—Fiction.
    3. Shapeshifting—Fiction. 4. Occult fiction, American. I. Harris, Charlaine.
    PS3558.A6427S66 2010
    813’.54—dc22
    2011019681
     

     

    http://us.penguingroup.com

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    Paula Woldan, Danna Woldan, Lauren Dodson, Victoria Koski, Debi Murray, Beverly Battillo, Denise Little, and Rachel Klika volunteered their skills and talents in assembling various parts of this book. My gratitude to them for their vision and hard work. I also appreciate the enthusiasm of the many readers who submitted questions for me and Alan Ball, and recipes for the cooking section. I wish we could have included every single one.

PREFACE
    The World of Sookie Stackhouse
    S ookie and I go back a long way. We’re practically sisters. Many years ago, when my mystery career was languishing, I thought it might be a good idea to shake up my writing style by trying something new. It might be fun to write a book that contained all the elements I loved: mystery, the supernatural, bloody adventure, and a dash of romance. And since people had told me for years that I had a great sense of humor, I thought it would be interesting to try to include that in the book, too.
    Without a contract, without a soul being at all interested, I began to establish the character of my protagonist. My grandmother’s best friend’s name was Sookie, and since it was a fine old Southern nickname, I thought it would do well for my heroine. And “Stackhouse” just flowed right after it. I wanted to write from the point of view of a human, not a vampire or other “supe,” and since I have to live with Sookie, I wanted to make her as interesting as I possibly could. I decided she would date a vampire, as the entrée into a completely different world, and I had to establish a reason for sensible Sookie to do such a crazy thing. After a long thinking session, I came up with telepathy, which I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
    Up until then, most vampires in fiction had exotic, sexy names. My vampire, I decided, would be named Bill. Instead of setting my books in the picturesque, touristy part of Louisiana, I’d make do