Stephenie Meyer is a bestselling author known for her unusual vampire romances. She depicts vampires as more human-like, and less like the monsters they have always been seen to be. Her vampires sparkle in the sun instead of burn, and they are capable of love and not just hate. I chose her as my author because I absolutely love her books and really wanted to learn more about her. She is attacked by some critics and praised by others because she completely goes against everything that has been written before. She has billions of fans and haters worldwide.
Born in Connecticut, Stephenie Meyer influenced the reading of teenagers and their imaginations through her works The Twilight Saga and The Host. Stephenie Meyer was born on December 24, 1973, in Hartford, Connecticut. She is the daughter of Stephen Meyer, and Candy Morgan (Milliot 1). The uncommon spelling of her first name was a “ gift from her father,” who simply added an “ ie” to the end of his own name. She moved to Phoenix Arizona when she was four years old and grew up there (Gale 1). In the book Twilight, Bella’s mother lives in Phoenix, and this shows how Meyer incorporates her life into her books.
She grew up in Arizona with 5 other siblings and believes “ coming from a large family has given me insight into different personality types” (Gale Biography). This also shows how her life affects her books because in Twilight, the Cullen family is large, and all have completely different personalities. During her teen years, Meyer attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. She met her husband, Christian, at Chaparral High, but they didn’t get married until after she graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature (Jordan 2).
She worked hard and her outstanding grades won her a National Merit Scholarship, which is a high honor (Gale Biography). Before even starting her writing career, Stephenie Meyer married Christian, who became an accountant, and chose to become a stay at home mom and look after her three sons; Gabe, Seth, and Eli (Jordan 1). This was until her life drastically changed on June 2, 2003 when she had a dream. Waking up from a good night’s sleep, Meyer found herself with an idea. That night she had a dream about a vampire boy that was sparkling. There wasn’t much too it, but this dream became the inspiration for chapter 13 in Twilight (Milliot 2).
After this day, Meyer set off on a writing spree. She wrote every day and in less than three months, she had created a 500-page manuscript. The original title of the novel was “ Forks,” but Jodi Remaer, a literary agent at Writer’s House, convinced her to change it to the current title, Twilight (Maryles 2). Meyer quickly got a $750, 000 advance and three-book deal with Little, Brown and Company (Hartshorn). In 2005, Twilight was finally released and the obsession over the teenage vampires began. The book was honored by several magazines such as the New York Times, Editor’s Choice, and Publisher’s Weekly (Maryles 4).
After people loved her first book, Meyer wrote New Moon, the sequel to Twilight. After, she wrote Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, making the books a saga. Overall, these four books about a vampire-mortal romance have sold more than 250 million copies and have been translated into more than 37 different languages (Gale 4). In 2008 The Host was released. This book isn’t a part of the Twilight saga and didn’t gain as much attention; it still sold thousands of copies. Stephenie Meyer just emerged as an author so it’s hard to determine whether the long-term effects of the books were good or not.
The Twilight Saga did have a positive impact in the short term because it got high school girls into reading. Teenagers are currently so wrapped up in electronic devices that they have suddenly lost interest in reading. The Twilight Saga brought new interest into reading. These books are so addicting that instead of going home and playing games, adolescents will start reading! After finishing Meyer’s books, maybe they will move onto different ones. All teenagers really need is something to spark their interest, and this is exactly what Stephenie did. Reading exercises the mind and is essential for building their understanding of literature.
Meyer’s work isn’t an easy read. It has complicated words and uses symbolism along with other key literary elements like foreshadowing. While reading, kids develop important skills like using the context to figure out what a word means instead of just being told its definition in a classroom. The books are enjoyable so they are easier for people to learn from them because they are more likely to pay attention. Another way The Twilight Saga positively impacted society is they showed young women how a man is supposed to treat a woman while they are in a committed relationship.
The protagonists, Edward and Bella, have a strong relationship based on trust and love. Edward still believes in chivalry and opens the door, gets flowers, and always makes sure Bella is happy. This makes girls believe in strong connections and understand that men don’t have the right to treat them poorly. Their relationship also lacks a lot of physical attention, portraying an idea that sex is essential for a healthy relationship. Stephenie Meyer’s first book ended up at the top of the charts, showing she is a talented writer.
All of her books are interesting and keep you at the edge of your seat yearning for more. They portray strong relationship patterns and show young women that being part of a couple is more about love than anything else. She sparked reading interest in young people, which ultimately leads to a smarter generation and better grades in English! She stays connected to who she is and where she is from throughout her books and incorporates characters like her family and cities that she once lived in. Her unique style puts imagination back into reading and because of it she is seen as an inspiration for young writers.
