Speaking Volumes

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SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

Twilight or Dusk?

Every now and then a cover grabs my attention and no matter what I have to read the book. This was the case with Stephanie Meyer's first book, Twilight. The book is a young adult title that tells of the reluctant romance between a clumsy, teen age girl and a vampire immortalized at the age of 17.

I loved the book. At the first opportunity, I read the second book, New Moon. I was still hooked. But by the third, Eclipse, I was disappointed. I had found the characters consistent and believable, but the trouble was, the more I got to know them… the less I liked them. Any of them. But the series did generate thought and discussion. Out to dinner with 6 other librarians, we had a heated discussion: Edward or Jake?

By the fourth book, Breaking Dawn, released in August. I wasn’t committed, but I needed to know what happened. I then heard Twilight has made it to film. The current release date is November 21, 2008. I was disappointed.

What I remained liking about Edward and Bella and the first novel was the way it brought you into thoughts and perceptions. I’m not sure a film can do that justice and I couldn’t help but feel that Ms. Meyer ‘sold out’. I know having a film made of your book is a flattering and I’m sure lucrative thing, but…

A day or so ago, I heard another interesting bit of information about the series and Ms. Meyer. Apparently there was to be yet another book, this one starting at the beginning but through Edward’s perception. However, someone close to the author illegally released the first and unedited chapter online.

On her website, Ms. Meyer wrote:

I did not want my readers to experience Midnight Sun before it was completed, edited and published. I think it is important for everybody to understand that what happened was a huge violation of my rights as an author, not to mention me as a human being. As the author of the Twilight Saga, I control the copyright and it is up to the owner of the copyright to decide when the books should be made public; this is the same for musicians and filmmakers. Just because someone buys a book or movie or song, or gets a download off the Internet, doesn't mean that they own the right to reproduce and distribute it. Unfortunately, with the Internet, it is easy for people to obtain and share items that do not legally belong to them. No matter how this is done, it is still dishonest. This has been a very upsetting experience for me, but I hope it will at least leave my fans with a better understanding of copyright and the importance of artistic control.

So where does this leave Midnight Sun? My first feeling was that there was no way to continue. Writing isn't like math; in math, two plus two always equals four no matter what your mood is like. With writing, the way you feel changes everything. If I tried to write Midnight Sun now, in my current frame of mind, James would probably win and all the Cullens would die, which wouldn't dovetail too well with the original story. In any case, I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on Midnight Sun, and so it is on hold indefinitely.

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