Charlaine Harris

Born and raised in Tunica, Mississippi, author Charlaine Harris sets her three current series (featuring Aurora Teagarden, Lily Bard, and Sookie Stackhouse) in the south. Her Stackhouse series recounts the adventures of a mind-reading cocktail waitress living in a small town in rural northeast Louisiana. After meeting Bill, a vampire who has been undead since the Civil War, Sookie finds true love and understanding. But in the midst of unorthodox romantic bliss, Sookie and Bill find themselves entangled in murder, deceit, and treachery. Praised by author Susan Sizemore as a, “wonderfully intriguing blend of vampire and mystery,” this series has captured and held a loyal and growing fan-base. When asked about Mississippi’s influence on her work, Harris reminisced:

I grew up in the Mississippi Delta, where the land is so flat you can't hide from the eyes of God.

There aren't many people, so you can take your time studying each one. Where I was raised, the traditions of church and cotton, music and blood, and the long tradition of the bitterness of defeat reigned. Though I am a product of that time and place, it's been heartening through my years away to watch Mississippi grow and change.

Every time I go home, the sight of the flat fields flowing out to the horizon makes something in my chest unknot, as I think . . . home.

Charlaine Harris. Living Dead in Dallas. New York: Ace Books, 2002. Annotated Manuscript.

-- Club Dead. New York: Ace Books, 2003. Uncorrected proof.

-- Dead Until Dark. New York; Ace Books, 2003.

Dean James

On the dustjacket copy for Cruel as the Grave, author Dean James, a seventh generation Mississippian, reveals that, “something Southern creeps in” to every story he decides to tell. In his popular Simon Kirby-Jones series, a transplanted Southern vampire charms his way through the English village of Snupperton Mumsley solving murder and intrigue. James is the author of several Mississippi-based mysteries and also co-authored the Agatha award winning reference work By A Woman’s Hand: A Guide to Mystery Fiction by Women.

Dean James. Faked to Death. New York: Kensington Books, 2003. Uncorrected proof.

-- Faked to Death. New York: Kensington Books, 2003.

-- Posted to Death. New York: Kensington Books, 2003.