The Midnight Sun May Not Rise

Unless you've been living in a cave, by now, you've heard of Stephenie Meyer and her Twilight young adult vampire novels. The fourth book in the series, Breaking Dawn, was released earlier this month.

The film adaptation of Twilight, the first book, is scheduled to be released this fall. Here's the trailer.

Although the film was originally scheduled to be released December 12, the delay of the next Harry Potter movie convinced the producer to move Twilight's release forward to November 21.

Twilight tells the love story of a pair of high school students. Bella Swan is the daughter of the chief of police of small town Forks, Washington. Edward Cullen is her suitor--and a vampire. Edward fights his desire for Bella's blood while protecting her from other threats.

The books are notable for the fact that they do not include any sex. Stephenie Meyer is a Mormon and did not want her teenage protagonists engaging in premarital sex.

Earlier this month, my middle brother took his family on vacation. His main criterion was that they go somewhere cool. My sixteen-year-old niece suggested Seattle. Since her parents didn't object, the three of them (plus my niece's best friend) flew to Washington.

The plane wasn't on the ground for thirty minutes when my niece was asking to drive to Forks.

"What the devil is Forks?" my brother asked.

"It's where Twilight is set," his daughter replied.

They rented a car and drove to Forks. A week later I asked him about the town. "How was it?"

"Small. A population of three thousand plus another thousand teenage girls, books in hand," he replied.

Meyer is reputed to have selected the small Washington town because it is one of the rainiest in the U.S.

The first four books in the Twilight series had been written from Bella's point-of-view. Midnight Sun, the fifth book of the series, was not going to be a continuation of the story. Instead, it was to be a retelling of Twilight from Edward's POV. Somehow, some way, the first twelve chapters ended up online, creating a hullabaloo this week.

On Thursday, Stephenie Meyer posted those twelve chapters on her own website, saying that she was putting the book on hold indefinitely:

. . . what happened was a huge violation of my rights as an author, not to mention me as a human being. As the author of the Twilight Saga, I control the copyright and it is up to the owner of the copyright to decide when the books should be made public . . . This has been a very upsetting experience for me, but I hope it will at least leave my fans with a better understanding of copyright and the importance of artistic control.

If you want to read her full statement or those first twelve chapters, go here.