'True Blood' Star Tanya Wright Talks About New Book 'Butterfly Rising'

You might know the multi-talented Tanya Wright from her numerous TV roles, but did you know she can write too? The True Blood star joined PIX Morning News today to dish about her debut novel Butterfly Rising, which she also adapted into a film.

Butterfly Rising tells the story of two women, Lilah and Rose, who escape their small town after Lilah suffers tragedy. Tanya conceived the idea in 2006, shortly after her brother died, and wrote the film's screenplay, which placed in the esteemed Nicholl's Screenwriting Competition. In addition to directing, producing, and starring in the movie, Tanya wrote the accompanying novel.

In her first TV role, Tanya played Theo Huxtable's girlfriend on The Cosby Show. (She and "Theo," Malcolm Jamal Warner, are still good friends.) After briefly working at The New York Times, she moved to Los Angeles to build her acting career. Her credits include 24, NYPD Blue, The Handler, and now True Blood on HBO, where she plays Deputy Kenya Jones, a sarcastic and skeptical policewoman. Tanya says she always knew her passions for acting and writing would intersect, and her many-year project Butterfly Rising proves it.

Want more of Tanya? You can buy Butterfly Rising on Amazon and stay up-to-date on the film version by visiting its website. She'll also be paying a visit to the Brooklyn Book Festival on September 12. And don't forget to catch her on HBO Sundays at 9 p.m. in True Blood.

Written by Sara Grossbarth