Stephenie Meyer is a modern writer, probably known to every teenager today. Her books are popular among young people, and therefore in recent years she has invariably been among the most successful writers of our time.

Vampire sagas, books about aliens - all this is not a complete list of topics that are revealed in the novels of the writer. But what is hidden in the life story of Stephenie Meyer herself? What interesting stories can you find in her own destiny? We will try to reveal the mystery of the life of our today's heroine in this article.

The early years, childhood and family of Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer was born in the town of Hartford (Connecticut) on December 24, 1973. However, as often happens, she practically did not live in this place. Most of her childhood was spent in the larger and more populous Phoenix. It is quite remarkable that it was in this city that the main character of the book "Twilight" subsequently "settled".

The family of our today's heroine was very religious, and also quite large. In addition to herself, the Mayer family had five more children - two sisters of the writer and three brothers. It was in their company that Stephanie spent most of her time. In addition, it should be noted that from childhood one of the girl's favorite activities was reading.

In the early nineties, Stephanie left for Utah, where she entered Brigham Young University. At this place, she studied English philology and soon received her bachelor's degree.

Star Trek writer Stephenie Meyer

As the writer herself admits, the idea of ​​her first novel "Twilight" came to her in a dream. In June 2003, she saw in her dreams two lovers - a girl and a young vampire. They sat in the meadow and looked at each other.

From that moment on, Stephanie became literally obsessed with the idea of ​​writing a book. Just a few weeks later, a twenty-nine-year-old housewife began to slowly carve out time between household chores and write chapters or chapters of her first novel. First, she wrote down ideas and stories. And then I started writing a full-fledged book. As a result, after a few months, the novel "Twilight" was ready.

After that, our today's heroine found on the Internet the phone numbers of several literary agents, to whom she subsequently offered her book, but for a long time no one wanted to publish the novel. After several unsuccessful attempts, Stephenie Meyer still found a suitable publisher that was interested in her creation. As a result, Twilight was published by Little, Brown & Co. The royalties for the first book were $ 750.

Science fiction "Guest" (Stephenie Meyer) Russian Teaser

However, very soon our today's heroine signed a contract with the publishing house for three more books. The novel "Twilight", which went on sale in the fall of 2005, was a resounding success. Readers swept the books off the shelves one by one. Therefore, very soon the first part of the vampire saga became a national bestseller. In the ranking of the most popular books, "Twilight" took fifth place in terms of sales. All other books in the series expected similar successes.

Novels were published on average once a year. New Moon went on sale in 2006. "Eclipse" and "Dawn" - in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Subsequently, in addition to the classic story, there were also some kind of spin-offs of "Twilight".

In one of the books by Stephenie Meyer (Midnight Sun), the famous love story of a human girl and a vampire was told by a guy (Edward Cullen). In addition, in 2010, a small novel "Until Dawn. Bree Tanner's Short Second Life ”, which tells the story of one of the secondary heroines of previously published books.

The culmination of all was the "Official Guide" to the "Twilight" universe, published in 2011. As a result, the total circulation of all books exceeded 85 million copies. The novels have been translated into 37 languages, including Ukrainian and Russian.

In 2008, director Catherine Hardwicke took on the adaptation of the Stephenie Meyer series of novels. The main roles in the films were played by Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. The paintings were released worldwide between 2008 and 2012 and were a huge success. It is very curious that in one of the films, viewers were able to see Stephenie Meyer herself. She played a woman in a cafe and appeared in the frame for only a few moments.

Interview with Stephenie Meyer

As for the other works of the writer, in this context it is necessary to note the novel "Guest", which tells about the relationship between people and aliens. This book was subsequently also filmed. The film was released in 2013. However, it became still not as popular as "Twilight".

Stephenie Meyer today

Concluding the story about the work of Stephenie Meyer, we note that at the moment our today's heroine is not only one of the most popular writers in the world, but also one of the most criticized. Many famous authors, including the notorious Stephen King, openly called her mediocrity.

The deliberately simple manner of presentation of the material, as well as the rather rustic plots of Stephenie Meyer's books, are criticized. In addition, many magazines and popular tabloids have repeatedly noted the fact that stories about the love of a girl and a vampire have already been told many times by other authors. In particular, the books by Lisa Jane Smith from the series "The Vampire Diaries", which were published in 1991, have an almost similar plot basis.

However, Stephenie Meyer herself does not pay attention to criticism. Currently, the writer is working on two new novels - "Soul" and "The Seeker", which will be a continuation of the story told in the book "Guest". In addition, our today's heroine is planning a book about ghosts and mermaids.

Stephenie Meyer's personal life

As a teenager, the writer met a guy named Christian, who later became her husband. The couple currently have three children. The family of the writer is very religious.

Biography

Born December 24, 1973 in Hartford, Connecticut. She spent her childhood in Phoenix (Arizona) with two sisters and three brothers. She met her future husband Christian as a teenager and married him in 1994.

Graduated from Brigham Young University in Utah in 1995 with a BA in English. During the years of study, I read a lot and with enthusiasm.

According to her, on June 2, 2003, she saw in a dream two lovers sitting on a tree stump. The young vampire, despite his sincere feeling, longs to drink the blood of his beloved, mortal girl ... In the morning, the 29-year-old housewife and mother of three sons began writing down her ideas, and three months later she finished a 500-page novel. She offered her essay to literary agents, whose names she found on the Internet. After several unsuccessful attempts to attach the novel, she finally signed a three-book contract with Little, Brown and Cock, according to which she was entitled to a fee of 750 thousand dollars.

The novel, aimed primarily at a teenage audience, was released in the US in the fall of 2005 and was a resounding success (fifth on the national bestseller list). Each next year she released one sequel - "New Moon" (2006), "Eclipse" (2007), "Dawn" (2008). From book to book, young Bella Swan invariably remained the storyteller, but in the fourth volume she provided a voice for her friend, Jake Black. In addition, the writer decided to describe some of the events from the point of view of Bella's lover, the vampire Edward Cullen. The Midnight Sun novel, slated for release in 2009, was already half-written when a draft of the first part was leaked online in August 2008. As a result, the book was postponed indefinitely.

The writer is planning a novel about ghosts ("Summer House"), books about time travel and mermaids.

The writer will act as a producer in the film Austenland (2012).

Bibliography

Year	Russian name	original name	ISBN
2005	dust	Twilight	ISBN 0-316-16017-2
2006	New moon	New moon	ISBN 0-316-16019-9
2007	Eclipse	Eclipse	ISBN 978-0-316-16020-9
2008	dawn	Breaking Dawn	ISBN 0-316-06792-X
2008	Guest	The host	ISBN 0-316-16017-2
2009	Earthly Hell (collection of stories "Devil's Balls")	Prom Nights from Hell	ISBN 978-5-17-063199-5
2010	Until dawn. Bree Tanner's short second life	The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner	ISBN 978-5-17-068736-7
2011	Official guide	Twilight Saga Official Guide
(planned)	Soul	The soul	.
(planned)	Seeker	The seeker

Criticism

The writer's works are in great demand among teenagers all over the world, her books are being bought in millions of copies. However, many authors criticize Mayer's novels, citing her low writing ability and often the lack of any meaning in the text. One of the most respected critics is the American writer Stephen King, who, comparing Meyer's work with the work of the Englishwoman J.K. Rowling, said:

Both Rowling and Meyer speak directly to young people. The real difference between the two is that Rowling is a great writer, while Stephenie Meyer is incapable of writing anything worthwhile. She's not very good at this. Original text(English)

Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people ... The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She's not very good.

Stephen King

Interesting Facts

• Mayer is a mother of three and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).

• From 1991 to 1993, Lisa Jane Smith wrote a series of books "The Vampire Diaries" with a very similar in idea and style of presentation of the plot, which had great success in the early 1990s, however, unlike "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer, not in the world scale. It is believed that Stephenie Meyer wrote her book under the influence of The Vampire Diaries, but the writer herself claims that she has never read books about vampires or watched horror films.

Stephenie Meyer - photo

"Twilight" is the first part in the well-known series of books by Stephenie Meyer.

The story begins with Isabella Swan deciding to move to the gloomy city of Forks. She is not too happy about this undertaking, but she does not yet suspect how it will turn out for her.

At the new school, she immediately notices the strange Cullen family, who have already gained fame as "local lunatics" in Forks. But Bella is most interested in one of them - Edward, who, by the way, also notices the new girl at school. Having met him, Bella soon learns his main secret, because of which their relationship can become deadly ...

New Moon (2005)

New Moon continues the story of Bella and Edward's relationship. In this part, their romance is going through hard times - Edward leaves Bella, realizing the danger he and his family pose to her. Bella cannot come to terms with this parting - she suffers and it seems to her that life will never be the same again.

At the same time, she becomes close to her friend - Jacob, who has long and secretly in love with her. But Bella is not ready to share his feelings, and still hopes for the return of her vampire.

But will Edward return after all the events that happened in the first part? ...

Eclipse (2007)

Bella and Edward were finally able to solve many problems in their relationship and it seems that they have a real idyll. In addition, Bella is already close to fulfilling her dream of becoming a vampire. She has only one thing left - to marry Edward.

But her plans are thwarted by her friend, Jacob, who in every possible way dissuades the main character from tying his fate with the vampire and becoming like him ... Jacob hopes that Bella can fall in love with him and make a choice in his favor ...

However, all these problems already seem insignificant, because newborn vampires began to appear en masse in the city, whose cruelty knows no boundaries. And the past enemies are just waiting for the moment to strike ...

Dawn (2008)

The fourth part of the well-known series of books becomes the last. In this part, Bella's dream is finally fulfilled - she becomes the wife of Edward.

Their incredible honeymoon ends with unexpected news - Bella is pregnant. This turn of events comes as a shock to everyone, since there have never been such cases in history. In addition, if the elders of the vampires find out about this, the Cullen family faces serious consequences.

However, Bella and Edward decide to leave the child, despite the huge risk ... But who will this child be born - a human or a vampire? ...

Bree Tanner's short second life (2010)

This novel tells the story of one of the newborn vampires - Bree Tanner. She was converted by Victoria, a rebel who dreamed of killing everyone in the Cullen family.

But how does Bree Tanner end up in Victoria's ranks? What was the motive for joining the hostile Victoria and her associates? Fans of the Twilight series have been waiting for answers to these questions for a long time, so Stephenie Meyer decided to devote a whole novel to this.

This story will tell in more detail about the fate of some of the heroes, and will make you take a fresh look at a number of events of the famous saga ...

Stephenie Meyer gained particular popularity among the teenage audience, who have a burning interest in the "vampire" theme and stories about aliens. The American writer, who became famous all over the world for a series of novels "", does not leave her fans without surprises. The housewife, who has created bestsellers, published in millions of copies in 37 languages, announced the imminent release of a book about mermaids and ghosts, and cinematographers are already working on a new film based on her works.

Childhood and youth

Mayer was born in December 1973 in Connecticut, in the city of Hartford in a Mormon family. Soon after the birth of the girl, the parents, taking the babies, moved to Arizona, settling in provincial Phoenix, where the 5,000-strong Mormon community supported their parishioners. Later, the main character of "Twilight" Stephenie Meyer "settled" in Phoenix, paying tribute to the town, which has become a family.

The head of a large family, in which three daughters and three sons were growing up, got a job, pledging to give tithes from the earnings of the church. In the evenings, Stephen Morgan gathered family and interpreted the Book of Mormon chapters. Steph and her brothers and sisters did not watch TV (with the exception of Sunday until 8 pm), at the school of the community she wore a long skirt and combed her hair smoothly.

Moving to a secular school, Stephenie Meyer was shocked by the contrast, but her father insisted that immersion in a "pagan environment" is a test of fortitude for believers.

In the house of Stef's parents there were no "worldly" books - spiritual literature took up space on the shelves. But the girl was so addicted to reading that she violated her father's prohibition and voraciously read both and, and.

Childhood and adolescent addiction to literature determined further biography: Stephenie Meyer entered the Faculty of Philology at the Mormon University in Utah. A few years later, the girl graduated with a bachelor's degree in English literature.

Literature

The idea of ​​the first novel came to the 29-year-old writer in a dream. She saw a young couple on a virgin green meadow: a young vampire looked at the girl with loving eyes. In the morning, Stephenie Meyer realized that she dreamed of writing a novel about lovers. Time passed, but the dream did not leave the woman, becoming obsessive.

The idea matured in the head of the housewife and the mother of three boys gradually. Stephanie reflected on the plot twists, its main line, invented and wrote down the details. The time has come when the idea was fully formed, it remained to clothe it in a literary form. Taking hours away from homework, Mayer wrote a novel. After 3 months, the book of half a thousand pages was ready.

Stephenie Meyer went to the publishers with the manuscript. At the addresses found on the Internet, the manuscript of the novice writer was not accepted. The writer did not give up: she knew that her essay would certainly find an audience and admirers. Twilight has been printed by Little, Brown and Coc. He liked the novel so much that the publishers offered Mayer to sign a contract for 3 more works, offering a fee of $ 750 thousand.

Readers immediately appreciated the novel, which appeared on the shelves of bookstores in the fall of 2005. The bestseller was sold out in the blink of an eye, the publishing house urgently ordered additional prints to print. Soon, the first part of the vampire saga was named a national bestseller, ranking 5th in terms of sales.

Stephenie Meyer, inspired by the unexpected success, delighted readers relentlessly: a new book appeared once a year. In 2006, the novel New Moon appeared in bookstores, continuing the story of the ghouls. 2007 and 2008 saw the release of Eclipse and Dawn.

The fourth book about vampires tells about the decision to become the wife of a ghoul and adopt the gift of immortality. After a short happiness, a nightmare ensues: a woman carries a child from a vampire, which is the gravest crime under the laws of "night hunters". Mom and baby-half-vampire are in danger: ghoul elders are going to execute them.

"How to save a loved one and a child," Edward wonders.

The classic plot of the first novel was complemented by spin-offs based on "Twilight". In the book "Midnight Sun", the story of a romantic relationship was first presented by a vampire guy, Edward Cullen, previously narrated by Bella. And in 2010, Stephanie wrote a book about a minor heroine - Bree Tanner.

In 2011, the writer drew a line under the vampire saga as the "official guide" to the "twilight" universe. The circulation of "vampire" stories, published in different years, eventually exceeded 85 million and was translated into dozens of languages.

In 2008, American screenwriter and director Catherine Hardwicke directed a film based on the novel Twilight. The main characters - the same couple in love - were played by and.

The movie saga hit the world distribution in 2008 and ran until 2012. The success was no less deafening than the book version. Worldwide box office gross exceeded $ 393 million. In the cinemas of the CIS countries, the picture was "played" from January to April 2009, collecting $ 3.5 million. In the episode of the movie saga, Stephenie Meyer also flashed, playing a visitor to the cafe.

But the plots of the books of the American are not rich in ghouls alone. In 2008, she gave fans a novel about aliens, which she called "The Guest." The story of the uneasy relationship between aliens and people inhabiting the Earth hit the screens after 5 years, but was not accompanied by the excitement, like in "Twilight".

The fantasy thriller of the same name directed by Andrew Nikkola was released in March 2013. The premiere of "The Guest" took place simultaneously in America and Russia. The main character was played brilliantly.

In 2015, Stephenie Meyer delighted fans of vampire stories with the novel "Life and Death: New Way of Twilight." This is a kind of rethinking and reboot of "Twilight": the reader is given a chance to find out how the history of the saga would have developed if Bella were a boy and Edward was a girl.

The American writer, who has donated her bestsellers, has a multi-million army of fans from all over the world. But there are plenty of critics too. called the young colleague mediocrity, opposing. Stephenie Meyer's uncomplicated style of presentation, the ease of constructing phrases and the banality of plots are mercilessly criticized and ridiculed.

There were also those who drew analogies between the vampire stories of the novelist and her compatriot and senior colleague Lisa Jane Smith, who published The Vampire Diaries with similar plots in the early 1990s. But Stephenie Meyer claims that she did not read Smith's works, and she replies to critics that the assessment of her work is the number of fans that speaks for itself.

In 2016, Mayer presented the second novel "for adults" after "The Guest" - all the previous ones were designed for a teenage audience. The spy detective "Chemist", released in mid-November, found fans. Stephanie's plot was inspired by the adventures of Aaron Cross. The heroine of the book is a woman whose weapon is not a pistol and biceps, but a sharp mind.

The popularity of Stephenie Meyer's vampire novels is so great that 3 thousand fans line up for autographs of the writer on the day of the presentation of the new book. Fans dress like the heroes of the saga, write stories about ghouls, celebrate the birthday of the main character Bella Swan, calling it "Stephanie's Day." A musical group appeared with themed compositions in its repertoire.

Personal life

Steph met her future husband, Christian, as a child. A 4-year-old baby met a boy at a service in a Mormon church, where the children were brought by their parents.

They met again when Stephanie was at university and Christian returned from Chile as a missionary. There was no question of an unexpectedly flared feeling and great love: Christian Mayer was from a strong Mormon family. Father Steph has long approved him as a son-in-law.

Christian proposed to Stephanie 40 times, but the girl refused. The stern father intervened and ordered consent.

The wedding took place when Steph was 21 years old. Three sons were born one after another, named Gabe, Seth and Eli. Christian worked in an accounting firm, his wife plunged into household chores. Literature turned out to be the outlet where the woman realized her creative fantasies and rested her soul.

Stephenie Meyer has no bad habits: she ruled out alcohol and cigarettes. The woman managed to put her figure in order after giving birth in 2 years with the help of diet and sports, having thrown off 51 kg.

In 2010, Forbes ranked the American writer 59th in the list of stars: Mayer earned $ 40 million in a year. Stephenie Meyer has no social media pages. The accounts on Instagram and Facebook are run by fans.

Stephenie Meyer now

The writer's day is scheduled by the hour. She is working on the script for a new series, in the storyline of which the stories of "", "Supernatural" and "The Blind Spot" are intertwined. The working title of the tape is "The Rook". The proposal for cooperation in the creation of the project came from the Starz TV channel. The new film was taken over by Lionsgate, which previously directed Twilight.

In 2017, information appeared that Stephenie Meyer was working on the novels "Soul" and "The Seeker", the plot lines of which develop the story of the Wanderer, whose soul entered the body of a girl named Melanie.

The novelist shared her plans for new ideas - writing books about ghosts, mermaids and teleportation.

Bibliography

• 2005 - Twilight
• 2006 - New Moon
• 2007 - Eclipse
• 2008 - Breaking Dawn
• 2008 - "Guest"
• 2009 - "Earthly Hell"
• 2010 - Bree Tanner's Short Second Life
• 2011 - The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide
• 2015 - "Life and Death: Twilight in a New Way"
• 2016 - "Chemist"