Presenting Author - Stephenie Meyer

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Prof. Tarma Amelia Black
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Joined: Sun Dec 14, 2003 6:31 am

Presenting Author - Stephenie Meyer

Post by Prof. Tarma Amelia Black »

Name of the author: Stephenie Meyer
Main genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal
Main audience: Young adult on
Presenting writing still: Yes, is still writing
Main books: mostly known for the Twilight series (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn) and outtakes and/or expansions of those stories
Short summary of the author: Stephenie Meyer had a dream and she wondered what led up to the event in the dream and what followed after the event in the dream. So she wrote the story. (See below for a more comprehensive write-up about the author. What I have is the crux of what I remember about her! Having a dream and following where it led. :) )
Good points / bad points: She has a particular style of writing which some people love and some hate. She wrote the Twilight books mostly in first person, so if you don't care for the person who is narrating the story, that's sort of tough. (I've not read any non-Twilight books so don't know about them to write of for good points or bad points.) She has quite the imagination for creating a plausible expansion of an extant mythos and ... has an incredible fan base!

Goodreads has this for Stephenie Meyer
I was born in Connecticut in 1973, during a brief blip in my family's otherwise western U.S. existence. We were settled in Phoenix by the time I was four, and I think of myself as a native. The unusual spelling of my name was a gift from my father, Stephen (+ ie = me). Though I have had my name spelled wrong on pretty much everything my entire life long, I must admit that it makes it easier to Google myself now.

I filled the "Jan Brady" spot in my family--the second of three girls; however, unlike the Bradys, none of my three brothers are steps, and all of them are younger than all the girls. I went to high school in Scottsdale, Arizona, the kind of place where every fall a few girls would come back to school with new noses and there were Porsches in the student lot. (For the record, I have my original nose and never had a car until I was in my twenties.) I was awarded a National Merit Scholarship, and I used it to pay my way to Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah. I majored in English but concentrated on literature rather than creative writing, mostly because I didn't consider reading books "work." (As long as I was going to be doing something anyway, I might as well get course credit for it, right?)

I met my husband, Pancho (his real name is Christiaan), when I was four, but we were never anywhere close to being childhood sweethearts; in fact, though we saw each other at least weekly through church activities, I can't recall a single instance when we so much as greeted each other with a friendly wave, let alone exchanged actual words. This may have been for the best, because when we did eventually get around to exchanging words, sixteen years after our first meeting, it only took nine months from the first "hello" to the wedding; of course, we were able to skip over a lot of the getting-to-know you parts. (Many of our conversations would go something like this: "This one time, when I was ten, I broke my hand at a party when--" "Yeah. I know what happened. I was there, remember?") We've been married for ten-and-a-half years now and have three beautiful, brilliant, wonderful boys who often remind me of chimpanzees on crack. I can't write without music, and my biggest muse is, ironically enough, the band Muse. My other favorite sources of inspiration are Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Coldplay, The All American Rejects, Travis, The Strokes, Brand New, U2, Kasabian, Jimmy Eat World, and Weezer, to mention a few.
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"You have the inborn natural right to remain silent. Don't think about it, don't talk about it, shuush ....... STILL." ~ Xaris
Prof. Tarma Amelia Black
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Re: Presenting Author - Stephenie Meyer

Post by Prof. Tarma Amelia Black »

Title of the book: Twilight
Author: Stephanie Meyer
Series: Yes. This is the first book of the Twilight series (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn).
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Vampire
Short summary of the story: Written in first person, this story follows the advent of Isabella Swan into the cloud- shrouded and sleepy town of Forks, Washington (in the USA) to live with her father, Charlie. She misses Arizona; the warmth, the dryness, the sun and basically sort of hates Forks, but has come there because she wants to 'free' her mother to follow her new husband in his vocation (which involves a lot of moving around). So far, so good and that's all on the first couple of pages.Klutzy, inept in sports, not feeling herself to be of any particular attractiveness, she somehow catches the eye of one of the most attractive boys (Edward Cullen) she's ever seen. Smitten and obsessed, the rest of the book is about their developing relationship and how it interacts with those around them.
Good points / bad points: The actual world of the book and the tenets of it, are very plausible.I find it very funny that I now live relatively close (many, many hours away by car) to Forks, WA. I think I'd love to drive there and visit the tide pools which are mentioned in the story.The book is wildly popular and has been translated into over 37 languages. At the same time, it is regarded to be a very controversial book, with challenges ranging from saying it is too violent to it is not in accordance with the feminist viewpoints of the people writing the reviews.
There is a huge up-swelling of protest about the character of Bella Swan. One of the more severe of the protests (written by Reni Eddo-Lodge) says this:
A series written for teens,the books almost parody teenage angst in order to illustrate an argument, ‘It wasn’t just physically that I’d never fit in. And if I couldn’t find a niche in a school with three thousand people, what were my chances here? I didn’t relate well to people my age. Maybe the truth was that I didn’t relate well to people, period’ (Twilight 9). It is a recognisable theme in teenage literature- an outcast, unpopular protagonist, at odds with the world around her. But in Bella Swan, Stephenie Meyer has created a character that openly wallows in self-pity and self-loathing, mourning her own irreversible flaws. From the very first book, the Twilight saga has the potential to illustrate Bella’s bildungsroman style overcoming of her shortcomings, but instead, thanks to a restrictive romantic narrative that envelops the entire character, Bella simply isn’t allowed to develop. She remains a passive, stagnant, character who, every so often, momentarily jerks into life- but only when it is required of her by her male counterparts. Bella flounders helplessly, absorbing blame that isn’t hers to claim, until a male character makes a decision that she dutifully follows. Meyer’s unabashed patriarchal ideals openly betray themselves in the text.
So there are people who love the book, and what it portrays, and there are those who despise it. I found, in this re-reading, that I was able to separate myself from the first person narrative (not take it personal) and actually read the story (for all the rest of the events and people, even if only as seen through Bella's eyes) and thought it pretty nifty. Also, I am definitely Team Alice. (I really like Carlisle, too.)

Goodreads has this in their write-up for Twilight
About three things I was absolutely positive.

First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him—and I didn't know how dominant that part might be—that thirsted for my blood.

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

In the first book of the Twilight Saga, internationally bestselling author Stephenie Meyer introduces Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, a pair of star-crossed lovers whose forbidden relationship ripens against the backdrop of small-town suspicion and a mysterious coven of vampires. This is a love story with bite.
Image
*Avatar & Siggy by Cheeky XVIx!Cosmo* ... Siggy image by Susan Seddon Boulet *** Avatar from Leverage
"You have the inborn natural right to remain silent. Don't think about it, don't talk about it, shuush ....... STILL." ~ Xaris
Louis Walles
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Re: Presenting Author - Stephenie Meyer

Post by Louis Walles »

Prof. Tarma Amelia Black wrote: Sun Jul 15, 2018 6:12 pm Title of the book: Twilight
Author: Stephanie Meyer
Series: Yes. This is the first book of the Twilight series (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn).
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Vampire
Short summary of the story: Written in first person, this story follows the advent of Isabella Swan into the cloud- shrouded and sleepy town of Forks, Washington (in the USA) to live with her father, Charlie. She misses Arizona; the warmth, the dryness, the sun and basically sort of hates Forks, but has come there because she wants to 'free' her mother to follow her new husband in his vocation (which involves a lot of moving around). So far, so good and that's all on the first couple of pages.Klutzy, inept in sports, not feeling herself to be of any particular attractiveness, she somehow catches the eye of one of the most attractive boys (Edward Cullen) she's ever seen. Smitten and obsessed, the rest of the book is about their developing relationship and how it interacts with those around them.
Good points / bad points: The actual world of the book and the tenets of it, are very plausible.I find it very funny that I now live relatively close (many, many hours away by car) to Forks, WA. I think I'd love to drive there and visit the tide pools which are mentioned in the story.The book is wildly popular and has been translated into over 37 languages. At the same time, it is regarded to be a very controversial book, with challenges ranging from saying it is too violent to it is not in accordance with the feminist viewpoints of the people writing the reviews.
There is a huge up-swelling of protest about the character of Bella Swan. One of the more severe of the protests (written by Reni Eddo-Lodge) says this:
A series written for teens,the books almost parody teenage angst in order to illustrate an argument, ‘It wasn’t just physically that I’d never fit in. And if I couldn’t find a niche in a school with three thousand people, what were my chances here? I didn’t relate well to people my age. Maybe the truth was that I didn’t relate well to people, period’ (Twilight 9). It is a recognisable theme in teenage literature- an outcast, unpopular protagonist, at odds with the world around her. But in Bella Swan, Stephenie Meyer has created a character that openly wallows in self-pity and self-loathing, mourning her own irreversible flaws. From the very first book, the Twilight saga has the potential to illustrate Bella’s bildungsroman style overcoming of her shortcomings, but instead, thanks to a restrictive romantic narrative that envelops the entire character, Bella simply isn’t allowed to develop. She remains a passive, stagnant, character who, every so often, momentarily jerks into life- but only when it is required of her by her male counterparts. Bella flounders helplessly, absorbing blame that isn’t hers to claim, until a male character makes a decision that she dutifully follows. Meyer’s unabashed patriarchal ideals openly betray themselves in the text.
So there are people who love the book, and what it portrays, and there are those who despise it. I found, in this re-reading, that I was able to separate myself from the first person narrative (not take it personal) and actually read the story (for all the rest of the events and people, even if only as seen through Bella's eyes) and thought it pretty nifty. Also, I am definitely Team Alice. (I really like Carlisle, too.)

Goodreads has this in their write-up for Twilight
About three things I was absolutely positive.

First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him—and I didn't know how dominant that part might be—that thirsted for my blood.

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

In the first book of the Twilight Saga, internationally bestselling author Stephenie Meyer introduces Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, a pair of star-crossed lovers whose forbidden relationship ripens against the backdrop of small-town suspicion and a mysterious coven of vampires. This is a love story with bite.
After the event 'From the Highlands to Forks' (which was happening in the sett - Hufflepuff common room) I decided to do something a bit crazy. I have never been a huge Twilight fan so after the event, I kinda forced myself to watch the movies again and then I decided to also buy the book (however, I didn't have to buy it because one of my sisters had every Twilight book). I have to admit - my opinion about Twilight didn't change. I still found it extremely cringy and a bit over the top. However, I managed to finish the book in 3 hours which I think is a pretty good score.
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"He who fights too long against the dragons becomes a dragon himself; and if you gaze too long into the abyss, the abyss will gaze into you" ~ Nietzsche
Dibyarup James Potter
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Re: Presenting Author - Stephenie Meyer

Post by Dibyarup James Potter »

Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight was a book that kept me hooked from the first page to the last. Now for some context, I have been a fan of vampires and werewolves ever since I got into fantasy at 6 years of age, so Twilight and its sequels were perfect to feed my interest in vampires.

The book is full of suspense, drama, and romance, which sometimes feel a little over the top for sure, but considering it is a fantasy novel for teenagers, I think it does a pretty good job of capturing the essence of vampires in the modern world.

After "Dracula" by Bram Stoker, I think Twilight and its sequels have had a very major impact in this genre due to its popularity from the movies. However, despite Twilight being a series that I like very much, I think other books including "Interview with the Vampire" by Anne Rice, "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova and "Carmilla" by Sheridan Le Fanu are underappreciated and deserve more popularity, since in my opinion, the story-telling in those books is better than the Twilight series in several areas.
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