Twilight series author Stephenie Meyer hasn’t done a televised interview yet to promote New Moon, but that’s about to change. The multi-millionaire mom of three will talk to Oprah on Friday. It’s unclear from this report whether her interview with be taped on Friday or if it will air that day. Oprah has “Fridays Live,” but there’s nothing on her website about Meyer yet.
Some say Meyer can’t write “worth a damn,” and others cite how derivative and unoriginal her books are in the crowded young adult vampire genre. No matter what you say about her, you can’t argue that she’s been incredibly successful. Oprah is probably thrilled to have her and most authors clamor to get on that show.
Oprah Winfrey will indulge in all things vampire and werewolf on Friday, when Twilight author Stephanie [sic] Meyer is to sit down for a rare interview.
“Since I’m only doing one interview, better make it really, really big,” Meyer wrote on her blog.
But since the Oprah interview will be geared toward a mainstream audience, diehard fans shouldn’t expect too many secrets to be spilled. To that end, Meyer is answering questions about the series online at the official Twilight Saga Web site until noon Tuesday (Eastern time).
Just don’t expect any answers about Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart or Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift.
[From People]
I’ve read all the Twilight books along with all the books that True Blood is based on, the Sookie Sackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris. I’ve also read the first four books in the Vampire Diaries series by L.J. Smith, but put down the fifth one because it was really awful. Many of the themes in Twilight were done earlier and in a more convincing and sophisticated way in Harris’ books, and arguably in Smith’s books. The Sookie Sackhouse novels aren’t for a young audience, and while The Vampire Diaries are decent they came out in the early 90s and teens were looking for new vamps to lust over when Twilight came along.
While it took me some time to tolerate Stephenie Meyer’s super cheesy style of writing, I ultimately enjoyed her books and wanted to find out what would happen next. Yes, the characters are one-dimensional but I would read another Twilight book if it came out. (I guess she was working on one and then scrapped it when it got released on the Internet before it was ready. Meyer has made it available as a PDF, but it may be a while before I bother.)
Anyway I’m interested in seeing Meyer on Oprah and hearing what she has to say. She could have started smaller with an interview on her local news or something. I know I would be peeing myself if I had to go on Oprah without any kind of warm up. Maybe she’s done other tv interviews, but I don’t recall ever seeing her and she could easily be promoting the hell out of these films.
I recommend reading Midnight Sun. It’s hilarious. I too have read all the books and I only liked the first one.
I have never heard this woman speak and don’t intend to.
Midnight Sun is definitely worth the read; in fact I much prefer its Edward POV to Twilight’s Bella POV.
Oh for fuck sakes, what a degenerative state literature is in. Now I know Oprah has read some outlandishly asinine books in the past and recogmended them, but really this is just beyond ridiculous. This woman is a hack and I personally have friends who had a book burning ceremony using nothing but this womans garbage. The irony was, people we never knew or met joined in and some had their siblings participate. now granted it’s outlandish to burn any kind of book but I read just the quotes on a website of each book and honestly – it boiled my blood. Then I read what Stephen King said about her crap – and my respect for the man only grew.
This woman is a symbol of how warped we have become. We went from authors like Shelly to King and all the greatest greats in between to JK rowling and this hack. Sad is what we have become. So eaily entertained now that even when reading our brains are barely stimulated.
I read the Vampire Diaries in junior high and loved them. I have not and never will read Twilight.
Well said, Viper.
Viper – Jesus Christ calm down. They are tween books marketed to tweens. The fact that younger people are actually interested in reading (which is not cool today) is an extremely positive point no matter how trivial the storyline and her repetative writing is. You burned books without actually reading them? Yeah, you should be the one telling others who we should all be reading when you based the entire concept of a book on little blurbs you read online, because the internet is never wrong.
Yes, the books are dumb and the movie is dumber, but this author and her books are far from how “warped” we are as a society. She wrote a book for a younger audience that a younger audience is reading. Hooray!
Stephanie…Your books are so over -rated.And the movies are AWFUL
i think all books have their place whether you think they’re any good or not, and if twilight gets kids reading then who cares how bad it is? ultimately they’ll move on to something else
The Sookie Stackhouse series is sooooooooo much better than this Twilight nonsense.
Rose- you make a very good point! ITA!
@ Viper, these books were written for kids. Kids. Last time I looked Stephen King wasn’t really written for a young adult crowd. Shelley (which is the correct spelling oh expert on all things literature) either for that matter. If you have such a huge problem with the dumbing down of our society, maybe you should look into school program reform. Do you realize that children aren’t even taught cursive in school anymore, or that because of no child left behind, kids who can’t do the work are graded on a different scale so that they can pass rather than hold them back until they can do the work? Kids are excited about reading because of authors like J.K. Rowling and Meyers. Twilight may not be the next great American novel, but I seriously doubt it was ever intended to be.
If it was only teenagers who were fans than I wouldnt be so snotty,but sooo many people act like this series is the greatest,and it was junk.Sorry but its the truth.and their are plenty of other books for teens that are good.Harry Potter for 1.give credit where its due.
Something about this woman gets under my skin. I don’t know what it is, but the way she talks or carries her self or something just really irritates me.
Yes her writing is crap, that’s no secret-even she admits it. The story was BARELY entertaining and when it was over I was annoyed that I wasted my time on it, but glad that I didn’t waste any money on it.
I can’t wait until this all blows over.
Viper, it’s not irony that you began burning the books and then others joined in. If you want to be a literature snob, look up “irony” and use the word correctly.
I’m just not sure I get how the Twilight series became so popular…
They seem a little explicit for a young adult book but really poorly written for an adult book…
I recently had to travel to Switzerland for a couple of months so my neice gave me a couple of the books to read… She’s REALLY into it… I have to admit, I was suckered in by my curiosity… However, the storyline became really trite and boring after a while… the love scenes and the constant gushing and admissions of love really annoyed me after a while…
maybe I’m a cynic… but don’t you have to be after a certain point in your life? I mean past your teenage years, don’t you HAVE to realize that real love doesn’t work that way… it’s too idealistic and fairytale-like…
I dunno, I’m just a little surprised by how this book even appeals to adults… After a while, I just couldn’t take it… I was curios about the characters but I was skipping every 15-20 pages just to see what was happening while making sure I skipped all the annoying details…
it just seems like a really explicit cinderalla story to me… and I’m a LITTLE concerned that young girls are reading this and becoming so engrossed in it… Although, my neice is very mature and has a really good head on her shoulders so I’m not worried about her (although I think she’s mainly into these books because all her friends are… which doesn’t exactly make her an independent thinker)…
anyway, I guess they’re alright but I just don’t get why an adult would be entertained by this… it’s lacks any depth and basis in reality… I mean it’s fine to read anything… I read all kinds of crap all the time… This website included… But to become a genuine twihard and to get all gushy about it… I think you got to be dealing with some major mental malfunction there :/
Justbitchy, hahaha. For example, it is ironic that someone who would condone book burning would pontificate about what qualifies as literature.
These books are children’s books, not any type of “Great Novel”. Children from my knowledge can run from 0-17, since you have to be an adult to even be considered a young one.
You have to take the books for what they are. They are geared to young readers, so the writing is not amazing. The movies are hollywood versions of the books, so they follow like a distorted shadow.
The stories themselves are okay, but there seem to be too many holes in the characters.
It leaves me to think that future books that may fill in the blanks are to come.
also, this woman needs to grow the eff up and stop throwing a hissy fit just because her book got leaked… sounds like she’s no more mature than the characters in her book or the audience it is geared toward :/
fizXgirl314, I TOTALLY agree. This bitch makes me so mad, she’s completely ruined a whole generation who will now grow up thinking vampires should sparkled in the sun and that stalking and abusive relationships are okay. I’ve never thought about burning books before (that scene in Indiana Jones where the Nazis burn them makes me cry), but that’s the only thing the Twilight books are good for, since the paper would be too rough to use as toilet paper.
Hahaha, people still think Twilight is a series for children? If I had a young daughter, I wouldn’t allow her to read Twilight. Nothing but sick, twisted fantasties of a middle-aged woman who wishes she were teenaged and pretty. Truly disgusting.
I read Twilight (my 13 and 16 year old sisters are NUTS…had to see why) and I loathed it. I loathed it so much that I found myself yelling at the book, the characters, and the author before I finished. It’s like fanfiction, except no other author was foolish enough to write such trash.
And the woman needs a stylist. She looks like a Hot Topic wannabe goth…just like her fans.
I’m not a fan of the Twilight series, so perhaps this may come off biased.
(spoilers ahead)
I don’t entirely agree that Twilight is aimed at tweens.
In Eclipse, Bella begs Edward for sex; clearly, she’s a poor role model. Now, if your series is aimed at tweens- and GIRL tweens may I add- should your protagonist be begging for this sort of thing?
What ever happened to characters who could stand on their own two feet and not go ‘omg, life is over, it has no meaning!’ for 5 or 6 months when their boyfriend leaves them.
In Breaking Dawn, the first third of the book is like soft-core porn. Though I understand that their little honeymoon and consequence of some nights together contributed to the plot (wait, there was a plot?), the outcome of it and what some of the behavior and things that the fangirls have said have really disgusted me.
“I wouldn’t mind Edward giving me some bruises.”
Wait, what, REALLY?
And the thing that made it seem justifiable was the fact that Bella was completely unfazed by it. She wasn’t even worried that she had bruises after she and Edward had sex.
Is this what we should teach tweens? That bruises are okay when you have sex?
So, no, I don’t think its aimed at tweens. If anything, its for young adults who can already think maturely and know to not take Bella’s example.
If you want to give kids a book to read, Harry Potter is obviously a better choice.
More on topic, I would like to see this interview and see what Ms. Meyer has to say.
I’m going to admit I had fun reading the Twilight books. At first it was curiosity to see what the fuss was about but I did get engrossed in finishing all 4 books.
People are over analyzing everything. The reason I liked the books so much was because I really loved the idea of “the one”. While I am a fan of the Twlight franchise, I also enjoy the spoofs coming out and making fun of the whole thing. One of my favorite books is “The Picture of Dorian Gray” where the writing is just beautiful compared to the juvenile writing in Twilight. I like Twilight but I also recognize how cheesy it is.
I think the thing now to bash and make fun of the franchise because it’s over-saturated the public. But I think there are some positive things tweens can glean from the storyline. For instance, waiting until marriage. Would people rather the tween phenomenon to be the Sookie books where the sexual content is a lot higher? The way I see it, if teens see that love is something worth waiting for rather then the casual sex promoted on tv and movies (like the 3 way in Gossip Girl), then good for them. And if the books promote reading, even better.
@maybe, I don’t have a problem with getting bruises from sex, as long as it’s consensual. I would, however, be disturbed if I was hearing young girls say things like that, like you seem to have, when they’re just starting to understand their sexuality. I don’t think that a book like Twilight should be glorifying it, either, because some girls could go away thinking that it’s okay for their lover to bruise them, that it’s something inevitable, when it should in fact be up to both parties.
I think the book makes it clear that bruises from sex is not ok and not normal. They have sex once and when she is bruised, he purposely doesn’t do it again until she’s a vampire. lol That sounds so silly to be writing about this. But it really comes down to people over-analyzing a book based on a fantasy of woman.
And she has every right to be upset that a book she was working on got leaked online. Any author would be upset if put in her position.
There were critics for Harry Potter because of the magic and witchery in the books. You can’t make everyone happy.
@lin324: I agree with your last two points. 😛
And with the bruise thing, I suppose you’re right. Edward did feel, erm, guilty about it after. But I just wish Bella would’ve reacted more to it, rather than just describe how purpley and spotty they were.
But that’s just me. I overanalyze things. >.>
I wonder what Oprah will ask her. “How much are they paying you to buy the rights for these AWFUL movie adaptations?” “And how do you feel about turning every teenage girl across the world into vampire zombies?”
The characters are one dimensional because the story is in first person and all characters are described by one person.
Personally, I have no motivation to watch any of the films. I couldn’t read beyond the first few chapters.
These books are only ‘good’ on the basis of manipulating teenage girls and purely motivated to maintain a really questionable romance market that is based on submissive women, and other idiotic and unrealistic concepts like ‘the one and only soulmate’.
Feminism has taken backward steps because of focus on sex and submission in the mainstream arena via advertising and popular culture. There are sections in the Twilight novels that raise a lot of questions about incest and dominant/submissive sex themes – according to some teens I’ve spoken to.
If people want a better contemporary spin on the vampire concept, they’re better off reading Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend. This romance crap that is Twilight has been done before, and much better!
@ maybe
lol I feel like a dork talking about it but I can see why the bruises bother you. I didn’t even give it a second thought because it was in the midst of passion, he tried to be careful, and it never happened again.
The truth is when I read the books, I was just really enthralled with the whole soulmate thing and I loved how Edward’s family was so strong and close knit. That’s what I focused on.
If parents have raised their children with good morals and values, they shouldn’t be too worried that one fictional book is going to dictate the behavior of their children.
I actually think it was a smart move on Stephanie’s part to just put what she had written so far online. Once things are online, there is just no telling who is going to distort what she had already written. She was obviously upset but at the same time it sent a pretty strong message that she’s not going to tolerate betrayal. (I believe she had given it to a few editors to edit when it leaked?) I’m sure they and their companies lost a lot of money because of it and it won’t likely happen again.
There are always different ways to see the same situation. I admire JK Rowling and Stephanie for succeeding on their own. They didn’t come from money. They worked hard and made it.
It’s a lot more upsetting to me that women like the Hiltons or Kardashians are being seen as role models, have achieved fame and even more money because they made sex tapes.
I have read both the Harry Potter and the Twilight series. While I re-read Harry Potter twice, because I always feel like I’m missing out some details, and the earlier books were quite funny. I can’t say the same for Twilight books. They were so boring, cheesy, and I kept skipping the pages till I found something more interesting to read.
I really enjoyed the Harry Potter series, and I feel a bit hurt that people compare it to the Twilight series lol. I believed J.K Rowling is so much a better author than Meyer.
Read what I said people here Ill cap it I HAD FRIENDS WHO BURNT THE BOOKS, not I. I didnt read them so how would i have the books to burn them? I was curious and went online had read an exerpt of quotes.
Also, dont you guys pull at least kids are reading crap on me. That’s the by far the most absurd and weak excuse – there is no justifying it AT ALL. All it is, is a series designed to cash in. There are so many other novel and books that one could do that to. Say Clan of the Cavebear the earths children series by jeam m auel. Or Mary Shellys series of horror novels. All of Steven King, hell ill even add DAN BROWN into the mix.
The fact of the matter is, we are digital. WE’re the HDMI generation and our attentions spans are as sort as our innternet connections. We’ll spend hours and hours literally reading fanfictions rather than reading novels that have a far superior advanced vocabulary than a highschool biology book! And you guys want to pull the at least their reading??? Who are you kidding, they READ they just dont read literature. There is a reason why literature has degenerated, it was allowed to.
Also I should mention these quotes were actually broken down chpaters like a 6 paragraph preview for each chapter followed by highlighted dialog. So I do feel I got a good grasp for the books to form an opinion of them.
I am also aware of the sorely lacking standards of schools today. But the schools on my side of the world still do hold people back, still teach handwriting and other essential skills required in order to excell. Which is why Twilights success overseas is so shocking to me.
Also, Stephen King writes for kids not just adults. I grew up to his work and Dragons Eye is still one of my favorites. I have fond memories of reading out loud his books at sleep overs lol. Now the last sleep over I had the girls younger sister was surfing the net and you couldnt even get her to watch the movie SHE wanted to see that we had in the DVD player.
“Bella’s existence was tied to a thousand delicately balanced chemical processes, all so easily disrupted. The rhythmic expansion of her lungs, the flow of oxygen, was life or death to her. The fluttering cadence of her fragile heart could be stopped by so many stupid accidents or illnesses or…by me….”
–Midnight Sun
Really? “Fluttering cadence”…..I can’t….
Here’s the thing: anything that gets my three children, my niece, my sister, my best friend, her daughter and pretty much everyone I know reading is a good thing. No matter how badly written or illogical that thing is. I can also tell you that I resisted reading the Twilight books for the longest time but when I finally picked them up, I went through all four in less than a week because they are like crack.
I dunno about young people reading just about anything… they’re very impressionable… how about handing them a playboy then if your theory is legit :/
It is partly due to parents and their inability to stand firm because most these days dont dicipline their kids what-so-ever. Those that do are frowned upon and accused of being abusive even if it isnt physical. So most settle for less and have a very ‘whatever works’ approach to it. Yeah, it does’t work that way. An ordinary childs brain is developing, it requires challenges in order to develop to it’s full potienial, and at times it’s not FUN but it’s to their advantage eventually they will conform to a norm set by the parent or parents. Unless the child has a form of learning disability or behavior disorder. At which point that child should be assessed, but good luck trying to get a parent to see that let alone be willing to admit that their kid might just require a little asistence.
agree
There is no need to perverse what AZ said. She’s clearly talking about BOOKS that may not be as well written as one would hope. Sheesh.
Besides, there is a higher likelihood that anything kids see on television will be a lot more sexually graphic and violent then what they’ll find in books these days. Take a look at just about any show or movie geared at teens.
It’s the responsibility of parents to live out their morals and beliefs in a way that teaches kids what is right and wrong.
Thank you Viper and everyone that agree’s that these books are trash.I have lots of adult friends who were obsessive about this book/movie.I finally read the book,hated it.It was poorly written,then I saw the movie and was so much more disappointed.These are not “kid” books.maybe directed toward teens but they still suck.
AZ,You read all 4 in a week?If you want to read a good “adult” vampire series read the books by J.R> Ward’blackdagger brotherhood series’ they are awsome and blow these dumb books out of the water.Than you can compare writing skills.I am an avid reader,and there are great books out there,but i dont think these qualify
As a well-educated, professional 40-year-old woman, I’m embarrassed to admit that I got sucked into the whole Twilight series. I bought the first book on a whim at the San Francisco airport on my way home from a busines trip. Had to buy the second in the Detroit airport… Yes, the books are cheesy as hell, and Bella’s mushiness can be incredibly annoying, but they have the same effect on me as potato chips – I just can’t stop!
Also, I agree – Midnight Sun is totally worth the read. In fact, I liked it better than the original, and wish she’d finish it. I found Edward’s point of view (he has these strange feelings he can’t understand, he knows he’s being creepy but he just can’t stop himself…) to be fascinating.
I thought the movie was kind of incomprehensible, however, and could’ve used more character development, more backstory; some key scenes were just mushed together. They talk in Biology class, they spar on the field trip, and BOOM! they’re in love???
I agree that in this day and age kid’s interest in reading is waning, especially with the advent of the internet. So in a sense I’m happy that there are books out there, targeted towards youth, that are becoming such world wide sensations.
However I find the messages in the Twilight series to be subtly (and unsubtly) disturbing. The actions of the female protagonist Bella include not only the acceptance of abusive behavior (isolation from family and friends, physical injuries etc.) but also the promotion of unhealthy self-sacrifice, emphasizing the physical attraction/aspects of a relationship and creating an overall unrealistic portrayal of relationships in general.
The majority of the book(s) is(are) dedicated to “He makes me feel ____” and “He is so ____ (beautiful, hot etc.)” type sentences. Not once did I get the sense that the two protagonists were building a meaningful relationship. Everything in the prose was exaggerated to the point of ridiculousness. I mean she actually starts hyperventilating at the thought of him leaving? Or any time he’s anywhere near her for that matter.
I can see where some of the popularity of this series comes from. Ms. Ordinary has Mr. All-That declaring his unswerving devotion to her; what young girl doesn’t dream of that? But I think the possible psychological effects of the narrative are far more corrosive to the adolescent female psyche than, say, Barbie for example. It ranks right up there with the Disney Princess Effect.
Besides, best good-guy vampire novel out there is Sunshine by Robin McKinley. Now there is an example of an excellent realistic female protagonist.
Meyer’s a housewife who started writing sad love stories. Don’t get me wrong i love the books. Just think her writing isn’t very advanced.
Yeah CB! Pimp out the Sookie books! You know I lurves ’em!!
GatsbyGal and Maybe are right, this wasn’t not originally YA. It was mature like any other novel, just because it’s bad writing doesn’t mean it’s should be aimed at tweens, not to mention a friend of mine who is an English major said YA is actually ages __ to 25 yr old.
Anyhow, it’s bad writing or mediocre writing originally aimed at adults…she did tone it down once she knew it would be in the YA section but it was always bad writing for adults.
Ah, all the fame this book has gotten…for what?
I read the book when it first came out and no one knew what it was.
I think I prefer those days, the only reason why its being bashed is because Hollywood gave it a face and destroyed it.
As for Stephenie Meyer being on Oprah, well good for her.
Ok viper, let’s learn how to spell before condemning literature.
Chick looks like she has a clammy face.
I like this TV show and would recommend this TV show to anyone who like Vampire based shows.
So many opinions. But, here’s another one. We are a broken society, most children grow up in broken homes, and don’t often see love as the way it should be lived; with devotion, kindness, permanence. Most women will probably get divorced, or will be unhappy in their marriages at some point. What do we all want? We want to believe in love, or the power of it having the ability to withstand obstructions. I think we are over analyzing Twilight, and missing the point as to why so many women of all age groups are drawn to it. It’s that deep desire to be cherished. There are so many books and movies with all kinds of altered realities and fantasy themes. Why is Twilight any different from all of the other ideas that are offered up as entertainment? In my opinion, I like it. I don’t have to stick to Steinbeck. Or Nora Roberts. We all like different genres or gravitate to different subjects for different reasons.
WOW. I just found this website and I am amazed at how many miserable people commented here. Those of you who have nothing but negative things to say may want to check your backside for a stick. If you don’t like the subject matter of a book, don’t read it. It you don’t like an author, don’t read their books. What a bunch of NAGS. I hope I am never as miserable as you.