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Stephenie Meyer |
| Stephenie Meyer | |
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 Meyer at the Twilight premiere in Los Angeles |
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| Born | Stephenie Morgan December 24, 1973 Hartford, Connecticut, United States |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | American |
| Genres | Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult |
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Influences
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| Official website | |
Stephenie Meyer (née Morgan, born December 24, 1973) is an American author. She is the author of the bestselling, young adult Twilight series, which revolves around the relationship between mortal Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen. The Twilight books have sold more than 25 million copies worldwide,123456 with translations into 37 different languages around the globe.12 A film adaptation of Twilight was released domestically on November 21, 2008. Meyer is also the author of the adult science-fiction novel, The Host.
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Stephenie Meyer was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to Stephen and Candy Morgan. She grew up in Phoenix, Arizona with five siblings: Seth, Emily, Jacob, Paul, and Heidi. She attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she received a B.A. in English in 1995.7 Meyer, a Mormon, 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 says that the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream on June 2, 2003. The dream was about a human girl, and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood. Based on this dream, Meyer wrote the transcript of what is now Chapter 13 of the book.8 Despite having very little writing experience, in a matter of three months she had transformed that vivid dream into a completed novel.9 After writing and editing the novel, she signed a three-book deal with Little, Brown and Company for $750,000. The book was released in 2005.
Twilight quickly gained recognition and won numerous honors, including:
The novel reached #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list for young adult chapter books,10 and has been translated into 20 languages.11 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."12 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. Nonetheless, the portrayal of dangerous lovers hits the spot; fans of dark romance will find it hard to resist."13
Following the success of Twilight (2005), Meyer expanded the story into a series with three more books: New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), and Breaking Dawn (2008). In its first week after publication, the first sequel, New Moon, debuted at #5 on the New York Times Best Seller List for Children's Chapter Books and in its second week it rose to the #1 position, where it remained for the next eleven weeks. In total, it spent over 50 weeks on the list.14 After the release of Eclipse, the first three "Twilight" books spent a combined 143 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list.15 The fourth installment of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, was released with an initial print run of 3.7 million copies.16 Over 1.3 million copies were sold on the first day alone, setting a record in first-day sales performance for the Hachette Book Group USA.17 The series as a whole has sold over 17 million copies worldwide181920 in 37 countries,21 and over 8.5 million copies in the U.S. alone.22
Upon the completion of the fourth entry in the series, Meyer indicated that "Breaking Dawn" would be the final novel to be told from Bella Swan's perspective.23 Midnight Sun was to be a companion novel to the series. It would be a retelling of the events of the novel Twilight, but from the perspective of Edward Cullen (as opposed to Bella Swan).24 Meyer had hoped to have Midnight Sun published some time shortly after the release of Breaking Dawn, but after an online leak of a rough draft of its first 12 chapters, Meyer chose to delay the project indefinitely.2425 In addition, Meyer decided to make these rough chapters available on her website.24
The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide, which will give further information on the world of the Twilight series, is slated for release in 2009.26
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.27
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."28
Meyer, an avid reader,29 cites many novels as inspiration for the Twilight series, including Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.30 She also says that her writing is strongly influenced by music, and she posts "playlists" on her website of songs which specifically inspired her books. Bands included most often in her playlists are Muse, Blue October, My Chemical Romance, Coldplay, and Linkin Park.31323334
Summit Entertainment optioned Twilight in April 2007. Catherine Hardwicke directed the film, with the script being written by Melissa Rosenberg.35 It stars Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen.36 The movie was released on November 21, 2008.37
One of Meyer's short 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 in April 2007.
In May 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 alien "soul", who are forced to work as one. The Host debuted at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list,38 and remained on the list for 26 weeks.39 Meyer has stated that she is "almost done" writing a possible sequel to The Host, entitled The Soul.40 If she were to continue the series, the third book would be called The Seeker.41
Meyer mentions having several other book ideas on file, including a ghost story titled Summer House and a novel involving time travel,42 as well as another about mermaids.43
On August 28, 2008, it was revealed that Meyer had written the treatment for the new Jack's Mannequin music video, "The Resolution", which she directed the following week.4445
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Stephenie Meyer |
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