Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer (née Morgan; December 24, 1973 - December 8, 2009) was an American author, known for her vampire romance series Twilight.[1][2][3] The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition, won multiple literary awards and sold over 85 million copies worldwide,[1] with translations into 37 different languages around the globe.[2][3] Meyer is also the author of the adult science-fiction novel The Host. Meyer was named USA Today's "Author of the Year" in 2008.[4] She was also the biggest selling author of the year, having sold over 29 million books in 2008 alone,[5][6] with Twilight being the best-selling book of the year.[7] Meyer was ranked #49 on Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in 2008",[8] and was also included in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of the world's most powerful celebrities in 2009, entering at #26 with annual earnings exceeding $50 million.[9]

Twilight
Meyer says that the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream on June 2, 2003.[15] The dream was about a human girl, and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood.[15] Based on this dream, Meyer wrote the transcript of what is now Chapter 13 of the book.[16] In a matter of three months she had transformed her dream into a completed novel,[1] though she claims that she never intended to publish Twilight and was writing for her own enjoyment.[17] Her sister's response towards the book was enthusiastic and she persuaded Meyer to send the manuscript to literary agencies.[11] Of the 15 letters she wrote, five went unanswered, nine brought rejections, and the last was a positive response from Jodi Reamer of Writers House.[18] Eight publishers competed for the rights to publish Twilight in a 2003 auction.[18] By November, Meyer had signed a $750,000 three-book deal with Little, Brown and Company.[19] Twilight was published in 2005 with a print run of 75,000 copies.[18] It debuted at #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list for Children's Chapter Books within a month of its release,[20] and later peaked at #1.[21] Foreign rights to the novel were sold to over 26 countries.[22] The novel was named the Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and a New York Times Editor's Choice.[23]

Fan following
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.[64] 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."[1]