I hope the site will soon become the go-to place for what Mrs. Stephenie Meyer, creator of the Twilight saga, has said in interviews and appearances. Because the series is only beginning to garner widespread attention from the media and a fandom rabid enough to document, there are only a few appearances and her recent book tour to transcribe. However, I expect that this site will grow even more rapidly as Stephenie tours to promote The Host and the fourth installment of Bella and Edward's love story, Breaking Dawn.

To make the site easier to use, I have a couple of guidelines to get you started.

• Interviews and transcripts are organized by the date given or published, not by the date that I add them, which is entirely arbitrary. I add them when I feel like listening to a particular session long enough to type it out, and when I have the time to do so. Check the right sidebar for newest additions.
• You can search through articles by clicking the appropriate tag on the bottom left. For example, if you only want to look at Q+A sessions, click "Transcript." If you only want articles that discuss vampire mythology somewhere in them, click "Vampire." I do not as of yet have an anchoring system in place, so you will need to scan the entire article for the information you need if it's not noted in the "Highlights" before the cut. Sorry about that! You can find a better way to find specific information in my topical index, which is still very much a work in progress.
  

For a quick visual check, I am also going to attempt to remember to code the sources on here as follows:

	. Will denote a published article about Eclipse. This style will probably have both an article about Stephenie or a review, in some combination.
	Means that this is a review only, and it is for the book whose title appears. There is no interview with Stephenie noted here. These will probably not be updated once I get into the swing of things, I was just excited when I began the site and noted any well-written articles I came across.
	News articles that do not specifically relate to Eclipse will have the cover from New Moon.
	This picture is a catch-all "other."  You'll find it on fandom interviews, for one thing, but also wherever else I'm not certain of a label.  If it's a rating or some other brief mention that I, again, found exciting in the middle of the insomnia that spurred this idea, you will see this icon. Really, I just wanted an excuse to use that picture, which I think is pretty fantastic.
	This will only appear when it is a direct message from me, or if I have been in an uploading frenzy and am not finished with the formatting yet.  So, for example, I may have added five articles but not have put them in their proper place chronologically yet.
And now for the ones that I think actually matter...
	Transcripts from news or other interviews have Twilight's cover.  This is an actual Q+A or a great interview, but I didn't do the legwork.  I'm just providing it.	These will be tagged "interview," but may also have "transcript," depending on the format.
	My own transcriptions from signings and the like have another pair of lips. As in, straight from her lips. LOL, yes, I am a big dork.	These will be tagged "transcript," and will not share the tag "interview" unless I was sleepy and accidentally added it.

Why the distinction? Well, there isn't any *real* reason except for my sanity. However, in my mind, the ones marked interview are from a more formal setting. And, this way you'll know which ones should have a full citation.

Please let me know if you ever find a mistake on here, no matter how small. I take pride in accuracy, completion, and giving credit where it is due. In addition, if you have any video that you would like transcribed, please send me a copy or a link - I would be thrilled to be able to add it to the small library I've started. You can always reach me at mel.stepheniesays-AT-gmail, even if it's for something "silly".
Enjoy your look around! <3 Mel

Hello there, all two of you who check this out.  It has been a looong time since I've added anything because who knew graduate school could keep me so busy (but I got great grades, so we're calling it good)!  Very cool news, I am in the process of doing my first thorough check of my SS email since my classes began in September, and I found an email from TeenVogue.  Holy crap, someone reads this!  But, late though it is, I wanted to pass along the link that I was so graciously sent: an interview with Stephenie about the video with Jack's Mannequin.   It has been a while since the video came out now, but it is wonderful, and I hope you enjoy their extensive chat session! :)

But I guess I was wrong.  So I just wanted to let you know that I'm NOT posting spoilers on here that Stephenie hasn't given in public.  That includes in your comments.  I do appreciate that you are commenting, but if it's not DIRECTLY related to the topic I posted or it's something that happens in the book, I'm not unscreening it, just deleting.  Sorry guys, but I have some great friends who have not finished the book yet, and some others who won't even GET the book until tomorrow because they live in the UK.  And not to sound rude, but I kind of am, so I should tell you that  this site is a reference, not a forum.  I WANT you to have those discussions.  However, this isn't the place for it. 
Hope you're enjoying/ have enjoyed your read of Breaking Dawn.  Stephenie was just lovely when I met her for 1.3 seconds at the Nokia.

To take a little bitty break from the transcriptions I've been slowly but surely putting up while your backs were turned, I decided to consult my third-favorite book I own (probably my favorite to read... I'm such a nerd!) about what it says about the BD cover... Stephenie said on the tour for The Host that she not only supports this cover, but DESIGNED it herself. So, I think it must be pretty darn important.
And, because I'm a know-it-all, I'm pretty sure what it means, at least partly. That's not what I'm writing, though. Here's what my beautiful symbol dictionary says about the pertinent subjects. (highlights, because it's 1176 pages long and fairly verbose)

Chess

• It is clearly linked as a symbol of war and applied to warrior - strategy.
• "What takes place is a battle between white pieces and black pieces, light and darkness... and the stakes in the game, as always, were mastery of the world."
  
• The name in some cultures literally means "intelligence of the wood."
• It always has to do with intelligence, but not always with a moral world.

White

• It can stand for either end of the spectrum - all-encompassing, or all-void.
• Therefore, it is sometimes symbolic of a beginning and sometimes of an end of day or a lifetime.
• It is the color of candidacy because prospective politicians in Rome wore white. (This sounds stupid unless you've ever joined a sorority or something like that - pledges often wear white in ceremonies)
• It represents passage.
• Because it is for extremes, that includes east and west... the white of the west, the end of day, "absorbs the individual and inducts him or her into the cold, female lunar world." The white of the east welcomes a new dawn, "rich with the potential manifestation from which microcosm and macrocosm (mlwl: literally, small and large worlds, your own life and the world as a whole) have been recharged as electric batteries." When connected with dawn it is not with the colors, but with that first light, that void between the two "gods" of the sky; sun and moon.
  
• "A nothingness filled with childish happiness."
• "The silence is not something lifeless, but replete with life-potential."
• "Glaring white is the opposite of red... The white is the colour of vampires which thirst for the blood upon which the daytime world depends and which they lack. This white is the colour of shrouds, of apparitions and spectres and the colour of Oberon, the Elf-King."
  
• And purity, of course.

Red

• "The colour of fire and blood."
• "Basic symbol of the life-principal"
• It's "diurnal (day-time-ish), male... casting its glow upon all things, with vast and irresistible strength."
• "a spur to action."
• "It is the image of ardour and beauty, of all that is impulsive and generous, of youth and health and wealth and love, free and victorious"
• In Irish tradition it is the colour of a warrior, in many traditions teenagers paint themselves red as a symbol of their vitality and strength.
  
• "Red is also called the Absolute; 'it is pure because it consists of concentrated rays of sunlight.'"

Curious what I do have to say? Highlight: Bella is the white queen, of course. She has chosen her life with her "king", blah blah sacred marriage, blah blah union, blah blah completion. See also: celestial marriage, which relates to Stephenie's LDS beliefs. Obviously, her human death is quite literally a rebirth into this chosen life.
So who is the red pawn? Jacob. His fur as a wolf is red (of course, some chess board have white and black - this one is red... probably not just because of the color themes...) and we know he is going to have to be an important part of this story because he is important to Bella. While their romantic relationship has been resolved and is a no-go, his friendship and the current hole it is leaving, as well as his romantic status, is absolutely not resolved. I don't think Meyer would punish her characters by making them hate each other for eternity, or at least not speaking. So, it's showing that he'll be important... and that's "playing the same game" as Bella. I don't think it means that they'll fight against each other - just that he's got blood and she doesn't. And looking all this up confirmed it for me, but it's always possible I'm WAY off.

What do you all think? Do those cultural symbols directly relate to Meyer's choice? Or is it a looser meaning?

Meyer, Stephenie.  "Stephenie Meyer Q+A May 16th Host Tour."  Twilight Moms Forums. 22 May 2008. http://twilightmomsforums.freeforums.org/stephenie-meyer-q-a-may-16th-host-tour-t8157.html.

Please read the Q+A above at the Twilight Moms forum as pianist_18 was completely amazing and transcribed it there.  I'll include notes in my index as soon as these updates are done.  :)

Meyer, Stephenie. "Q+A for The Host in Houston." Klein Forrest High School, sponsored by the Barnes and Noble at Champion's Village. 9 May 2008.

( Read more... )

OK, folks. That's the whole thing.... the only problem is that I'm not really POSITIVE it's in the right order. I'm not so sure about the section that offers advice for writers, but I think I've got it in the right place. If you have a video that shows me otherwise, please please please send it or upload it!

I used the following video angels to complete this one:



BellaCullen1994, melodyssong4916, jesskuhlovesedward.

And got some extra help from the Twilight Lexicon, LaTuaCantante24, and NoelPortugal.

Meyer, Stephenie. "Q+A At the Mall of America. Tour for The Host. 6 May 2008.
( Read more... )
This post would have been utterly impossible without the following:

The Twilight Lexicon, where people send all their stuff, Anexiarin, ImAnAlice, rosastania26, simplymortal14, sweetishbubble, and VampiresHaveFangs.

If you were present at this Q+A and have more information or somehow otherwise know what order these things occurred in, please let me know and I'll add you, too! =)

Meyer, Stephenie. Barnes and Noble Studio. May 2008. http://media.barnesandnoble.com/.

Hi, Barnes and Noble customers. This is Stephenie Meyer and I'm excited to tell you about my new novel, The Host.
With The Host my fans can expect a similar experience, I think, to the Twilight Saga. It's still a story that's based on the characters, that's about the love story, that's about what it means to be human, rather than really being a science fiction novel that's about ray guns and
space ships. I'm hoping that people will feel the same draw to the characters and the same concern for their well-being that they do with the Twilight characters.

( Read more... )

"We Killin' Some People Today."  MTV Overdrive.  20 Apr 2008.  http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/.


When i was writing the novel, I saw the whole thing in my head like a movie.  I really wanted to see it brought to life. 

This looks just right.


Well, Bella and Edward's relationship was always defined by the fact that he is a vampire and she is not, and so I knew how breakable she looked to him. 

She is like a soap bubble to him.  He knows that one wrong twitch of his finger and he'd kill her so easily. 

I've always loved super heroes.  I've always thought that was so cool.  And I know that's kind of a guy thing to get into the comic books and the superheroes, and so hopefully they'll enjoy that aspect of the movie. 

As the writer, you hope that people go see the film and want to know more and go out and see how the book matches up with it.  And that they feel the same feelings that people feel reading the book.  I would love it if new audiences would walk out of there caring about Bella and Edward. 
 

Love_Bites over on TwilightMoms has compiled a seriously fantastic list of what will, won't, and might happen in Breaking Dawn. I am ecstatic to include her list of expectations!


So here is my list of things we KNOW will happen in BD...with sources!
NM= New Moon EC= Eclipse PC=Personal Correspondence on Lex

1. A wedding will be involved...whether it goes through or not is another question (EC-Epilogue)
2. We know that Charlie has already knows about and has reacted to the wedding since the invitations went out. (although we don't know what his reaction was) (EC-Epilogue)
3. Alice will get to experience some degree of fun planning/executing the wedding (EC-Epilogue)
4. Bella's story will be finished with "a big bow" (Amazon video)
5. Bella will narrate for the most part.  (San Fran Q2)
   
6. Jake will be in the book (Q&A Chicago Q9)
7. It will be at least loosely based on "A MidSummer Night's Dream" (Q&A Pasadena Q30) and another tale.
   
8. Volturi will be in it to some degree (we will at least hear why their skin is so brittle...unlike the Cullens skin) (PC10)
9. Forks will be a very interesting place (SM Website NM Story-last sentence)

Possibilities for BD that have been alluded to by Stephenie Meyer:

1. We may find out Eleazar's history and power (Denali clan) (Lex PC1)
2. Charlie will have a love interest but may not win out over his rival. (Stephenie said we may find out more about Charlie's family...which makes sense if the wedding does take place). (Q&A MySpace) [Mel's note - I can't find anything on this anywhere, but love_bites included it originally so I'm leaving it for now]
   
3. Sam and Emily get married? Leah is a bridesmaid. (EC5)
4. We will find out Alec's Power (Volturi) (Q&A Chicago Q3) -said we will find out but didn't say when
5. Bella may turn into a vampire (if she doesn't the Volturi will be angry) (NM/EC) and on the craptastic covers on SM's website there is a girl with long brown hair & red eyes on Forever Dawn (SM Website) and SM may have alluded to how her power would be special (Q&A Pasadena Q3)
6. Bella and Edward will end up together (she said "like Alice and Jasper, they would be characters in books 5 and 6) (Q&A Chicago Q4 & Q9)
7. Someone could grow a donkey head for the MSND tie in…ha ha (Stephenie post on Lex)

And I am thinking we should make a list of things that we know SM has alluded to not happening....
So, here are things that will NOT happen in BD:

1. Alice, Jasper, Bella, Edward will die (Q&A Chicago Q4)
2. Bella and Edward will break up (Q&A Chicago Q4 & Q9)
3. Bella will change her mind and decide to be with Jacob instead (Q&A Seattle Video 3)

In Berlin, Stephenie recently noted that two works inspired Breaking Dawn, rather than just A Midsummer's Night's Dream, as we had expected previously.
Do you think that this work is likely another romance? Or is it something fantasy? Do you think that it will give us clues about the wedding and Bella's change, the werewolves, renegotiating the treaty, the Volturi... or something else entirely?
The following are favorite authors, past and present, that Stephenie has mentioned in interviews.  Are any of them or their particular works likely in your mind?
Comment and let me know what you think!

Poll #1150893 Breaking Dawn Possibilities
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Which authors' works do you think are the most likely to have inspired Breaking Dawn?

And yes, I do realize that this is just inspiration, not plot for plot. However, I think it's easy to see Pride & Prejudice's influence on Twilight as well.  :)

WOW! This one is long and fantastic! I thought my arms were going to fall off transcribing it, but it was well worth the pain. This one talks a ton about  Stephenie's favorite books and authors and .... I just love it.  I also think it's a great one to listen to for Stephenie's character; it's obvious that she is much more comfortable talking in this setting than she is talking in front of thousands of fans.  Also has good information about The Host.




http://www.nancypearl.com/.
Listen to this podcast.
Watch the video.
Thank you once again, Ouisa, for the tip and the link!

Hey all - bad news on this one.  There are three videos uploaded by 666sex on YouTube, but that is all that is floating around online.  You can make out some questions, but the audio quality is VERY poor and they jump around quite a bit.  I'm going to keep listening and see how much more I can decipher, but here are two points that I haven't transcribed previously that were audible. 

"If there's ever a time that you kind of wonder which side of the argument I agree with, I usually take the Edward side."

"What does the wedding ring look like?  I did a bit of research on engagement rings; they didn't exist in the same form that we know them now back at the turn of the century.  It's a long oval with lots of little diamonds inside, it's called pave-set diamonds."

Highlights
The future....
How many books will be in the series? Question 5
Will Breaking Dawn be released soon? Question 13

The past...
Bella's delusions in New Moon. Question 3
Why imprint on Clare?  Question 9
Do the newborns feel any guilt? Question 15

And more...
Would you prefer to be a werewolf or a vampire? Question 2
Advice for aspiring writers.  Question 19
Music that inspired the plot.  Question 21
How do you get through writer's block?  Question 22
( Read it all yourself... )


************************
Check out the videos I used by Beck0932, Hutu58, andtoromaga.  

Highlights

( Not sure if the videos I transcribed had it all, but check it here! )

This transcription came from the videos that Jojofoshosho5 posted on YouTube.  You can view the first segment here and the second here.

Please note that this is only the second half or so of the Q+A session.  There is currently no video posted of the first fifteen minutes, and, of course, saying fifteen minutes is only an assumption as most of Stephenie's Q+A sessions have been 30 minutes.
These questions will be re-numbered if the rest of the interview is ever recovered.

Highlights...
How do vampires find mates? Question 7
What is your favorite chapter? Question 16
Are relationships based on fate or on choice for you?  Question 21


View it here.