Stephenie Meyer's life changed dramatically on June 2, 2003. The stay-at-home mom of three young sons woke up from a dream featuring seemingly real characters that she could not get out of her head. Meyer invented the plot during the day through swim lessons and potty training, and wrote it out late at night when the house was quiet. Three months later she finished her first novel, Twilight. With encouragement from her older sister (the only other person who knew she had written a book), Meyer submitted her manuscript to various literary agencies. Twilight was picked out of a slush pile at Writer's House and eventually made its way to Little, and Brown Publishing Company, where everyone fell immediately in love with the gripping, star-crossed lovers. Twilight was one of 2005's most talked about novels and within weeks of its release the book debuted at #5 on The New York Times bestseller list. The highly anticipated sequel, New Moon, was released in September 2006, and spent more than 25 weeks at the #1 position on The New York Times bestseller list. In 2007, Eclipse literally landed around the world and fans made the Twilight Saga a worldwide phenomenon! In 2008, The Host, Meyer's highly anticipated novel for adults which debuted at #1 on The New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. In August 2008, the final book in the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn, was released and sold 1.3 million copies in its first 24 hours.
Doesn't Stephenie Meyer's journey sound somewhat familiar to J.K. Rowling's? Meyer and Rowling both wrote their books for children/young adults, but ended up being popular with children and adults alike. Both series of books are criticized for their content and their effect on the young, but the phenomenon continues!
I have The Twilight Series on my to-read list!
