On the heels of “Fairy Dust” follows “Dracula Night.” I really enjoyed writing this one because we get to see an almost childlike side of the usually pragmatic Eric. Sookie, along with other members of the supernatural community, is invited to celebrate one of the few big dates on a vampire’s calendar—the annual party held in honor of the first modern vampire, Vlad Tepes, popularly known as Dracula. The vampires believe that every year the real Vlad makes an appearance at one of these parties, and Eric hopes it will be at his. Eric gets his wish . . . and he doesn’t. The timing of the party in the original version of “Dracula Night,” published in Many Bloody Returns, was gradually perceived to be improbable, and by the time the story appeared in A Touch of Dead, the invitation date had been changed to a more credible January 13. The book that follows this bit of lore is Dead as a Doornail.

“One Word Answer” is the most serious of the short stories and contains information important for understanding the action in the next book. (It falls between Dead as a Doornail and Definitely Dead.) I apologize to readers who for years wondered if they’d missed a book somehow. I won’t put vital information in a short story again. I’ve returned to treating the short stories as little side trips from the main action of the books.

In “One Word Answer” (which first appeared in Bite), Sookie and her friend Bubba are raking in Sookie’s yard (at night, of course) when a limousine arrives. It contains the lawyer Mr. Cataliades, the vampire Waldo, and a secret passenger. Sookie finds out about the death of her cousin Hadley Delahoussaye, she discovers that Hadley had become a vampire before that second death, and she is told that Hadley had become the lover of the vampire Queen of Louisiana. In the course of their conversation, Sookie realizes that Waldo was so jealous of Hadley he may have had a hand in her death. The secret passenger in the limo is Sophie-Anne, Queen of Louisiana, and she’s come with her own agenda.

“Lucky” was first published in Unusual Suspects, and it’s lighter in tone. Sookie’s insurance agent, Greg Aubert, has been casting spells to ensure that he won’t have to pay out on policies. His clients simply have better luck than other people in Bon Temps, thanks to Greg’s witch training. But Greg is worried because someone is coming into his office at night, and as Sookie and her friend Amelia investigate, they discover that other insurance agents are really suffering because of Greg’s track record. And maybe one of them has decided to do something about that. “Lucky” should be read following All Together Dead.