From BookPage:
Literary legend has it that Mary Shelley's tortured Frankenstein monster came to her in a dream that inspired the classic horror tale. Twilight, a young adult novel by debut author Stephenie Meyer, has similar origins, but the otherworldly characters in her story are not lumbering monsters. Instead, they're beautiful vampires who make excellent use of their unusual abilities—while trying to fit in with the other students at a small high school.
"I never really thought about being a writer, but when I had the dream, the characters were ones I didn't want to forget," Meyer says from her home in Arizona, where she and her husband are raising three sons, all under the age of 10. Writing Twilight was "an unusual experience because I felt obsessive about the process. It wasn't like me to be so focused—it's hard to be, with all the kids around."
A neophyte in the publishing world, Meyer is truly an overnight success. Just two weeks after she sent her manuscript to a Manhattan agency, she was signed on. Soon after, Twilight landed in the hands of editor Megan Tingley, head of Little, Brown's MT Books imprint. And not long after that, movie rights were sold to MTV Films.
"It's been a real whirlwind—more like a lightning strike," Meyer says. "Sometimes I feel guilty. People go through so much [to get published], and I skipped over the bad parts. It feels like cheating, somehow." Despite the occasional pangs of guilt, Meyer kept up a furious writing pace. "I just kept going after the first one, and wrote four books in one year." Now, she's in the midst of editing her second book, a process she likens to labor: "It's equal in pain, and can drag on and on."
Despite all that editing, Twilight is 499 pages long, quite a tome for teen readers. "If it weren't for J.K. Rowling, I think publishers wouldn't be willing to put out lengthy books," Meyer points out. "It just proves that if a book is good enough, young people will read it. People say teens have short attention spans, but they are quite capable of reading [longer books]. There are tons of kids aged 16 or 17 who dig Shakespeare and Austen."
Meyer has no idea why she dreamed of vampires that fateful night, but she's always been fascinated by superheroes, and she reads science fiction and fantasy titles as eagerly as classics. In her house, J.K. Rowling and Orson Scott Card books share shelves with ones by Shakespeare, Binchy and Brontë.
And, Meyer argues, as monsters go, vampires are pretty appealing: "Vampires, while dark and icky, are attractive, sophisticated and intelligent. They're forever youthful, powerful—things people crave or envy. No one looks at a zombie and wants to be like that."
The vampires in Twilight are certainly worthy of envy. The lithe and beautiful Edward Cullen looks at protagonist Bella with loving eyes (even as he fights his urge to, well, suck her blood). His gorgeous siblings are athletic, drive great cars and are far less awkward than their classmates. Of course, they don't lead a typical teen lifestyle: instead of McDonald's, they subsist on blood. Since they want to live among humans, they force themselves to feed on animals rather than people.
Meyer also has a knack for developing her human characters, especially Bella, a troubled 17-year-old who comes to realize her own intelligence and strength. "Hopefully," says Meyer, "most girls who read it will find something in Bella they can respond to."
Through Bella and the vampiric Cullen family, Meyer conveys the importance of making one's own decisions, a value drawn from her Mormon background. "Mormon themes do come through in Twilight. Free agency—I see that in the Cullens. The vampires made this choice to be something more—that's my belief, the importance of free will to being human."
Twilight builds to a dramatic and suspenseful second half, not to mention a nail-biting conclusion. Fortunately for impatient readers, Meyer's next book is due out within a year. In the meantime, the author will embark on a book tour this month to cities such as Seattle, San Francisco, Milwaukee and Chicago, where there will be—appropriately enough—a blood drive. -- Linda M. Castellito
From YA Books Central:
How did the idea for TWILIGHT come to you?
The idea for TWILIGHT came from a very realistic dream that I had. When I woke up, I didn’t want to forget it, so I wrote out the scene (which is now Chapter 13 of TWILIGHT). It filled up about ten pages, and took most of the day. But when I was finished recording my dream, I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to see what would happen to this beautiful, sparkly vampire and the girl he both loved and wanted to kill. I wrote from what became Chapter 13 through to the end, just letting the story go where it wanted to go, and then went back and wrote from the beginning up to the dream scene. It was actually quite a long time before I even realized I was writing a book.
Do you have any advice for young writers?
Be brave and believe in your stories. I didn’t start writing until I was almost thirty because I didn’t think I had what it took to write a book. I avoided creative writing classes while I got my degree in English because of that same fear. I had stories to tell, stories that I was already telling myself, but I didn’t think anyone else would like them. I should have realized that if I was interested in these stories—being a voracious reader and not a bad judge of a book—then maybe others would be too. Also, read, read, read, and then read some more. See how other people are telling their stories. Get a feel for the pacing and development of a good novel.
Can you give us a few hints on what the next two novels might hold?
The next two books will continue to be narrated by Bella, and they will revolve around her relationship with Edward and the question of her mortality.
How about your adult sci-fi novel?
My sci-fi (working title: The Host) is the story of the end of humanity, as told by one of the alien invaders. Living inside a human host, Wanderer experiences all the bewildering senses and emotional instability of the human body. Complicating her particular situation is that fact that her human host, Melanie, refuses to give up her body without a fight. Torn by her loyalty to her own perfect community (the souls, as they refer to themselves) and the disturbing fact that she seems to be falling for her host’s true love (who is a human fugitive), Wanderer is forced to decide whether she must turn her back on the most compelling planet she’s ever lived on in order to save herself from becoming too human.
What was your favorite fiction book growing up?
That’s a hard question to answer. I read Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Rebecca, and the Anne of Green Gables series all over and over again throughout my formative years.
What are you reading now?
I can’t read and write at the same time! It’s the biggest sacrifice of my writing career. As soon as I have a chance to read again, I plan to start with the last Harry Potter book, and then catch up with all the new stuff by Orson Scott Card.
What is your favorite word?
I love most of them equally.
What kind of research did you do for TWILIGHT?
Not much! Because Twilight started with a dream, obviously I didn’t do any initial preparation. My main (only) research resource is Google. I used Google to find the rainiest place in the U.S., and then to get some maps and images of the Olympic Rainforest and Forks, Washington. I read as much about the Quileute tribe as I could find on-line, and did a little searching of English and American history to shape some of my vampires’ back stories. I used census reports to give my older characters age appropriate names. And once, briefly, I looked to see what the word “vampire” would pull up so I would know what my narrator would find when she did her own research.
If you could meet and talk with any author, from any time, who would it be and why?
Another hard question—not because there aren’t a lot of intriguing authors out there, but because what would be the point? I’d be much to shy to ask any interesting questions! But I’d love to listen in on a panel discussion featuring Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, and Orson Scott Card. Each of them does incredible things, in very different ways. I’d like to hear how they develop their characters and stories. It would be interesting to know which of their books are their favorites, and who their favorite authors are…
take it back?
