Image Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty ImagesCharlaine Harris has a new Sookie Stackhouse novel on the way in May (Dead Reckoning is the title; you can read the first chapter here), but fans of the author who inspired HBO’s acclaimed drama True Blood can fill the time until then with another one of her vampires — provided they have a computer. Available today: Dying for Daylight is a downloadable game for the PC produced by iPlay Entertainment starring one of Harris’ other “Sookieverse” creations, the feisty, fashion-forward vamp Dahlia, who has appeared in three short stories. (There’s a “Sookieverse” bibliography available at Harris’ website.) The hidden object light adventure game — about eight months in the making –allows you to play as Dahlia as she searches southern gothic locals like New Orleans and Memphis for a legendary potion that can allow vampires to survive in sunlight. It’s an interesting new form of expression for Harris, a self-professed luddite. “I am so far behind on technology,” says Harris, 59, who does keep a Facebook page. “I don’t even tweet. It’s just another way to use time that I should use writing. I keep thinking I need to know how to do [Twitter]! And then I realized: I already know all these different ways to communicate to fans — how about giving them a book to read!’”

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Why, then, were you interested in exploring the world of games?
CHARLAINE HARRIS: Well, my kids play videogames, and I grew up seeing a lot of videogames, although the few times I tried to play the, I was an abysmal failure. Then I saw some of my friends — fellow writers — venturing into videogames, and I thought: “Well, golly, nobody has ever asked me!” So I was thrilled when my agents told the people over at iPlay were interested in me.  READ FULL STORY »