Cat Johnson Braves Doll Lil’s Word Association Challenge!

It’s May 3rd which for the past 6 years since I discovered Sookie Stackhouse can only mean one thing. The next book will be out this coming week! Only this year it’s different. It’s the last one. Of course the end does not come in a whisper as many things regarding Charlaine Harris’s creation there has been uproar this past week as leaks have appeared and angry fans have not spared their words of frustration across the internet. You have to admit whether you are happy with the end or not Charlaine Harris does have a way of writing characters that come to life and garner a huge following eliciting a broad range of emotions.

I’m not here to write about what happens in the end to Sookie even though I am sure everyone will have their own broad range of opinions. I want to pause for a moment today and think about what the end of the Sookie Stackhouse series means to me. I have become accustomed to the annual ritual of waiting for the next book in May, eagerly devouring it and rushing to the internet to discuss the latest news with all of my friends that I have made over the years. It is with a bit of sadness and nostalgia for me that this week begins. May will not arrive with quite the anticipation in future years.
With this in mind while everyone else out there is lamenting the leaked ending of the book I am looking back on the past 5 years and realizing just what Sookie Stackhouse and by extension Charlaine Harris has meant to me.

You see, I met the EL’s (Eric Lovers) and a few BL’s (Bill lovers) to be fair but it’s mostly my fellow EL’s that have made all the difference over the past 5 years. Through our love of Sookie we met and ventured off into other areas. For the first time I had an entire group of friends to actually talk about the book I just finished who are usually just as excited as I am! Laugh if you want but these women have changed my life!

So much has changed and I’m not the same person I used to be. It is the EL’s who encourage me when things are not going well. My fellow EL’s have expanded my horizons and taught me things about other parts of the world and other points of view that have forever changed who I am and how I view the world around me. My world view and my religious views have forever been changed for the better because of each of you. You encouraged me when I first met my husband, you participated when we were married. You are there for conversations about my life on a broad range of subjects to support me. You cheered me on when I went back to school and you are always there through my struggles to have a child. You my dear EL’s have made a huge impact on my life and we have had so much fun along the way.

For a while we had so much fun on Charlaine’s threads. The days of the NTC (Northman Treatment Center) for those of you who aren’t familiar with those days were so much fun! I look back fondly on those times. The hours of laughter brightened a very difficult time in my life. Each of you enriches my life and will continue to do so long after the last page has been turned in DEAD EVER AFTER. I hope each of you knows what you mean to me.

It has been a great ride but it is time to say goodbye to Sookie Stackhouse. Thank you Charlaine Harris for writing a character that has brought so many of us together. My life has changed for the better because once upon a time I dared to pick up a book about a telepathic waitress. All my love fellow EL’s!!!

Eowyn

Paperback Dolls is made up of women from different parts of the world, with different backgrounds, different tastes and beliefs that were brought together through a love of reading. We like to think of ourselves as a cyber version of "The View" that focuses on books, authors, and reading. We are proof positive that one common love can unite the most opposite of people and form lasting friendships that introduce other ways of life and perspectives to each other.

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