Cyan Brown

The Age of Twilight has dawned The young adult Twilight series written by new- comer Stephenie Meyer has taken the pop culture scene by storm. Her first book twilight introduced us to Bella a clumsy teen who falls headfirst for a boy in her new school, Edward. The only problem is Edward is a vampire and Bella’s blood just happens to be his own special temptation. The forbidden love of these two teenagers has set the publishing world on fire. The Twilight obsession has grown steadily since 2005 when twilight was released and Stephenie was named most promising author of 2005 by publisher’s weekly and Twilight the ‘Best Book this Decade…So Far’ by amazon.com. You may ask what book could have girls wailing “What do you mean you’re out of stock!” at your nearest bookstore and The New York Times Bestsellers list just not able to shake the series’ titles, well it all comes down to the greatest marketing angle ever, a hero that could ultimately be called the most perfect man (or vampire) alive.… or undead. The clever mastery of underlying sexual tension and romantic intensity between Bella and Edward has even the busiest mom raiding her teenage daughter’s room for the latest copy. You may see more and more ‘adults’ venturing into the ‘young adult’ section since this book has gripped readers of all ages and breached the boundaries of its’ own targeted audience. Twilight was followed up by New Moon then Eclipse each book simply fueling the fire of the Edward and Bella craze with 7.5 million copies in print and the final book Breaking Dawn was one of the most pre- ordered books on amazon.com and sold 1.3 million books in the first 24hrs of release in the USA. It didn’t take Hollywood long to climb on the band wagon. Summit Entertainment quick to see potential started producing the first movie ‘Twilight’ earlier this year and is due to be released in the USA in November starring Robert Pattinson of Harry Potter fame and Kristen Stewart who has been ear- marked as the next Jody Foster and considered a rising star in the industry. The die-hard Twilight fans officially dubbed (and self- proclaimed) Twilighters arrived on set sporting everything from braces to baby carriages. Facebook pages and fan websites abound and the intensity and devotion of the fans can be down-right scary. Stephenie is not of the same ilk as the dark minded eccentric Anne Rice quite the opposite she has three kids, a husband she adores and lives in Arizona where she is a practicing Mormon, I know shocker, but her unquestionable code of ethics gels perfectly with the purity of emotion Twilight conveys. When asked for her inspiration she attributes the story to a dream she had. Stephenie is adamant that her books are character driven and says that they are real people to her which I’m sure is why her readers have become so emotionally invested in the lives of the characters in her books, they seem to have become just as real to them too . Some call Stephenie Meyer the next J. K. Rowling although sales have not yet reached the proportions of Harry Potter the similarities are obvious. If this is the first you’ve heard of Twilight I suggest you run out and grab a copy I can I assure you, you will be dazzled.