Bill’s mission was not to seduce Sookie; it was to investigate Sookie and verify her power. Seduction was just one option in his investigation. Bill was the obvious guy for the job since he already had a home in Bon Temps. Though Bill came to Bon Temps on this assignment for the queen, Eric did not know what Bill’s specific mission was until he arrived in New Orleans in Definitely Dead. For several different reasons, Eric forced Bill to tell Sookie that he’d had a hidden agenda.

This has been bugging me lately. Did Bill set the Rattrays up? It seems that a vampire would know better than to go with strangers, and he should have been able to overpower them or at least put up a struggle. Also, did he offer Sookie the blood that the Rats drained from him so that she would have a connection to him, which he got anyway when he healed her later?

—JANEL SMITH

Bill did not set the Rattrays up. He should have known better than to go with them, but he was sure they were offering blood and sex. He misread the situation and was taken by surprise. He offered Sookie the blood because it would have been a big clue to her character if she’d taken it.

Did you originally intend the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries to be more in the mystery vein, like your previous novels, and instead did you find that they snowballed into a much more intricate supernatural creature than you originally planned?

—STACY WHITMORE

Yes. Before the Sookie novels, my experience had been exclusively in mystery. I did intend each book to contain a separate murder mystery, but as the series grew, that became impractical.

I am interested in the editing process Ms. Harris goes through with her Sookie books. Does she overwrite and then pare down, or sketch and fill in? Does she go back after writing and say, no, Sookie would not do that/ say it that way? Would her editor ever question why Sookie is doing or saying things, or is that the author’s determination?

—DOROTHY BAKER

Editing is a critical part of the writing process; in fact, it may be the most important part. I wish I overwrote and had to pare down. My problem is the opposite. I tend to write very close to the bone as far as my word count goes. Certainly, I backtrack, delete sections, and steer Sookie in different directions, but after being with her for so many books, it’s second nature to me to step into Sookie’s skin. My editor certainly does ask questions about the various characters’ motivations, and if I can’t answer them, I’ve taken a misstep that I have to correct.