Bestselling writer Charlaine Harris was born in Tunica, Mississippi on November 25, 1951. She attended Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Harris wrote poetry and plays before beginning to publish mysteries set in the American South. The first book in her Aurora Teagarden series, "Real Murders," was nominated in 1990 for an Agatha Award for Best Novel. Harris's Southern Vampire series features as its main character Sookie Stackhouse, a psychic Louisiana barmaid who has romantic relationships with supernatural beings. In 2001, the first book in the series, "Dead until Dark," won an Anthony Award for Best Paperback Mystery. Harris also writes the Lily Bard series, set in Shakespeare, Arkansas, and the Harper Connelly series, which describes the adventures of a woman who after being struck by lightning can locate dead bodies. Harris is a board member of Mystery Writers of America, a member of the American Crime Writers League, and a past president of the Arkansas Mystery Writers Alliance. She lives in southern Arkansas with her husband, three children, three dogs, and a duck.