As
promised,
Twilight saga author
Stephenie Meyer came onto the Oprah Winfrey Show today to talk about the
Twilight series books,
The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and her cast members Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.
In the interview, Meyer retraced her earliest beginnings as a writer - recounting her infamous dream gone right about the precious vampire/human interaction that inspired her not to forget.
She remembered a moment when she didn't know the
Twilight story was going to make it to book form - since she'd never been a published author or formal writer before, even with her education and appreciation of literature - but that she felt compelled to be "spending time in this fantasy world." She also talked about having to hide her writing from her husband and how he seemed a bit jealous of her monopolization of their single family computer system. She recounted not having much interaction with him during the writing process due to all of the stories she had swirling around in her head.
Stephenie Meyer talked about the fact that her sister, Emily, was her biggest cheerleader in the writing process, and she also noted the number of rejection letters and "no answers" she got from various publishers, noting that she got a single positive response - and that, of course, turned out to be a good decision on that publisher's part.
Meyer also talked with Oprah Winfrey about how she felt about bringing the
Twilight films to life, noting the vividness of her imagination in penning the first book. She stated that she was excited to have
Kristen Stewart - an actress which she stated has an incredible and phenomenal caliber of talent - and that she found
Robert Pattinson to have an extremely unique and significantly featured face. She noted his ability to turn heads at the outset, and she also said that Pattinson, when he came into make-up as
Edward Cullen, really brought to life some of the images she'd had in her own head of the character. She noted that Pattinson is a funny person and that he really transforms from the "Rob" of everyday to the character in a significant way.
When she spoke about
The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Meyer stated that she was most excited about the first scene she saw with the wolves. She said that the way that the film brought out the size and power of the wolves had her literally wanting to scream out loud with joy at the capture
Chris Weitz had done with the picture.
She also revealed, exclusively to Oprah, the origins of the
New Moon Volturi. She said that the
New Moon story originally had a very tame and mild ending, but that her mother was the one to suggest a more action-oriented sequence near the end. This is, according to Stephenie Meyer's revelation on Oprah, how the Volturi came to be.
Finally, Meyer was introduced - by video feed - to a number of school administrators and teachers who explained the impact that the
Twilight series had upon the literacy of their school children - at least to the effect that they became completely consumed in the series and began to enjoy reading again. They discussed the waiting line that the books caused for the library shelves. This, of course, proved to be a great segue into Oprah's typical show give-away where she partnered with Stephenie Meyer in giving away boxed sets of the
Twilight series books to both the school and the audience.
All in all, a great show. Stephenie Meyer looked well, rested, and completely beaming with excitement for the turn that her series has taken in the world of popular culture. She emanated pride, and she was very honest in her discussion with Oprah on the show.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon debuts in theaters this November 20th, and the U.S. premiere for the film takes place this Monday, November 16th, in California.
UPDATE: During the live show, there was a teaser about the fact that Oprah Winfrey was planning to ask Stephenie Meyer whether there would be a fifth book in the
Twilight series. After the show, Oprah's website was updated with a clip which discusses that very thing. In the clip (which is available
here), Meyer talks about the fact that she knows the future of Edward and Bella, that she envisioned
The Host as a three-part series, how she'd love to go back and re-write the
Twilight series as a more accomplished and less "raw" author, and more about
The Twilight Saga: New Moon.