Stephenie Meyer’s life changed dramatically on June 2, 2003. The stay-at-home mother of three young sons woke-up from a dream featuring seemingly real characters that she could not get out of her head.
“Though I had a million things to do, I stayed in bed, thinking about the dream. Unwillingly, I eventually got up and did the immediate necessities, and then put everything that I possibly could on the back burner and sat down at the computer to write—something I hadn’t done in so long that I wondered why I was bothering.”
Meyer invented the plot during the day through swim lessons and potty training, then writing 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, Brown where everyone fell immediately in love with the gripping, star-crossed lovers theme.
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. Among its many accolades, Twilight was named an “ALA Top Ten Books for Young Adults,” an Amazon.com “Best Book of the Decade…So Far”, and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year.
The highly-anticipated sequel, New Moon, was released in September 2006 and has spent more than 25 weeks at the #1 position on The New York Times bestseller list.
In 2007, Eclipse landed literally around the world and fans made the Twilight Saga a worldwide phenomenon! With midnight parties, vampire-themed proms and more the enthusiasm for the series continues to grow.
On May 6, 2008, Little, Brown and Company released The Host, Meyer’s highly-anticipated debut for novel adults which debuted at #1 on The New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. The Host still remains a staple on the bestseller lists a year after its debut.
On August 2, 2008, the final book in the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn was released at 12:01 midnight. Stephenie made another appearance on “Good Morning America” and was featured in many national media outlets, including Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek, People Magazine and Variety. Stephenie headlined the Breaking Dawn Concert Series with Justin Furstenfeld of Blue October to celebrate the release in four major markets across the US..
The Twilight movie, directed by Catherine Hardwicke and starting Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, was released on November 21, 2008. Twilight debuted at #1 at the box office with $70 million, making it the highest debut for a female director.
Stephenie lives in Arizona with her husband and three sons.
