Stephenie Meyer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Stephenie Morgan Meyer | |
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| Born | December 24, 1973 Hartford, Connecticut, United States |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Genres | Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult |
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Influences
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Stephenie Meyer (born December 24, 1973, in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American author. She is the author of the book Twilight and its sequels New Moon and Eclipse. She has also written the first draft of Breaking Dawn and Midnight Sun, additional sequels in the series. The Host, Meyer's first adult novel, was released on May 6, 2008.[1]
Twilight and its sequels are centered around a teenager named Isabella Swan, nicknamed Bella, her vampire love, Edward Cullen, and her best friend Jacob Black.
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[edit] Personal history
Meyer grew up in Phoenix, Arizona with a large family. She has five siblings: Emily, Heidi, Paul, Seth and Jacob. She "borrowed" her siblings' names for use in her Twilight novels, most notably for the character of Jacob Black, who shares the same name as her brother, but was not named after him. Meyer attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she majored in English. She met her husband Christian, nicknamed "Pancho", when she was growing up in Arizona, and married him in 1994. Together they have three sons, Gabe, Seth, and Eli. Meyer is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormons.
Meyer says that the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream about a girl and a sparkling vampire sitting in a meadow on June 2, 2003, the transcript of which is now Chapter 13 of the book. After writing and editing the novel, she signed a three-book deal with Little, Brown and Company.
The sequel to Twilight, New Moon, had an unintentional staggered release all over North America, beginning in early August 2006. The third book in the series, Eclipse, was released on August 7, 2007. The fourth book, Breaking Dawn, is slated for release on August 2, 2008. Meyer has also revealed that Breaking Dawn will be the last book written from Bella Swan's perspective.[2] Meyer has also stated on her website that there will be more than four books. Meyer has also stated that her other novel, Midnight Sun, will be more of a companion piece to the series than a genuine sequel, as it will describe Twilight from the view of Edward Cullen. A rough first chapter of Midnight Sun has been posted on Meyer's website, though she has stated that it will be edited and otherwise changed before being released as part of the novel.
The band Muse features prominently in the Twilight series. Meyer is a huge fan, and always includes songs by the band in her playlists for the books. She has also told fans that a concert featured in her third book is a Muse concert, and that some of the main characters are fans of Muse.[3]
[edit] Published works
Meyer's first novel, Twilight, was published in October of 2005. By November, Twilight had reached #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list for young adult chapter books.[4]
Meyer soon published the sequel to Twilight, New Moon, in August 2006. In its first week of release, it debuted at the number 5 position on the New York Times Best Seller List for Children's Chapter Books. In its second week it rose to the number 1 position, where it remained for the next eleven weeks. In total, it spent over 50 weeks on the list.[5] On May 5, 2007, the special edition of New Moon was released. It included New Moon temporary tattoos, an Eclipse poster, and the first chapter of Eclipse.
On August 7, 2007, Eclipse, the third book in the Twilight series, was released. In total, the three books have spent a combined 143 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list.[6]
One of Meyer's stories was published in Prom Nights from Hell, a collection of stories about bad prom nights with supernatural effects. Other authors who contributed to this collection are Meg Cabot, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe, and Lauren Myracle. Prom Nights from Hell was released April 10, 2007.
On May 6, 2008, Meyer's adult sci-fi novel, The Host, was released by the adult division of Little, Brown and Company; it follows the story of Melanie Stryder and Wanderer, a young woman and an invading "soul", who are forced to work as one in order to find Jamie and Jared, Melanie's little brother and the love of Melanie's life respectively.
On May 31, 2008, the special edition of Eclipse was released. It contains the cover art and first chapter of Breaking Dawn.[7]
[edit] Critical reception
Twilight quickly gained recognition and won numerous honors, including:
- A New York Times Editor's Choice
- A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
- An Amazon.com "Best Book of the Decade...So Far"
- A Teen People "Hot List" pick
- An American Library Association "Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults" and "Top Ten Books for Reluctant Readers”
- Translation into 20 languages [8]
However, critical reception has been mixed. Booklist wrote, "There are some flaws here--a plot that could have been tightened, an overreliance on adjectives and adverbs to bolster dialogue--but this dark romance seeps into the soul."[9] Kirkus wrote: "[Twilight] is far from perfect: Edward's portrayal as monstrous tragic hero is overly Byronic, and Bella's appeal is based on magic rather than character."[10]
[edit] Fan following
Meyer has gained a following among young adult readers for her Twilight novels, which are set in the small town of Forks on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Forks has thus received an unusual amount of attention, and celebrates "Stephenie Meyer Day" on September 13, the date of character Bella Swan's birthday, in honor of the author.[11]
Fans express themselves in other ways: "[They] dress up like her characters. They write their own stories about them and post their tales on the Internet. When she appears at a bookstore, 3,000 people go to meet her. There are Twilight-themed rock bands."[12]
[edit] Upcoming works
Breaking Dawn, the fourth novel in the Twilight series, will be released on August 2, 2008.[13]
Meyer also hopes to have Midnight Sun— a retelling of the events of Twilight written from Edward Cullen's perspective— published some time after the release of Breaking Dawn. She is also working on a sequel to The Host, although there is no publication date.
[edit] Film adaptation
Summit Entertainment optioned Twilight in April of 2007. The film version is currently categorized as In-Production on Summit Entertainment's website.[14] Catherine Hardwicke has signed on to direct, with a script by Melissa Rosenberg.[15] It will star Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen.[16] The movie is set to be released on December 12, 2008.[17]
[edit] References
- ^ Stephenie's News. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
- ^ StephenieMeyer.com | Twilight Series | Breaking Dawn
- ^ Stephenie Says - Q+A at Fairless Hills
- ^ http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/nytbestsellers02_26_06.pdf
- ^ Children's Books: Best Sellers from The New York Times, August 2007
- ^ Stephenie Meyer: A New J.K. Rowling? | Time magazine
- ^ StephenieMeyer.com | Twilight Series | Breaking Dawn
- ^ Stephenie Meyer .com
- ^ Boolist review cited on amazon.com
- ^ Kirkus Reviews cited on bn.com
- ^ City of Forks, Washington: Stephenie Meyer Day
- ^ Stephenie Meyer: A New J.K. Rowling?
- ^ http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/breakingdawn.html Stepheniemeyer.com | Twilight Series | Breaking Dawn
- ^ Summit Entertainment
- ^ Fleming, Michael Hardwicke to direct Meyer's 'Twilight', Variety (2 October 2007)
- ^ StephenieMeyer.com | Twilight Series | Twilight | Twilight the Movie
- ^ Twilight - ComingSoon.net Film Database
[edit] External links
- Stephenie Meyer's official website
- The Twilight Series's official website
- Exclusive Stephenie Meyer Video & Interview
- The Twilight Lexicon
- Stephenie's IMDB page
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