Stephenie Meyer is an American novelist, born in Hartford, Connecticut, on 24 December 1973, best known for the Twilight vampire romance series. The books have sold over 160 million copies and were adapted into five films. She has also written two novels for adults, “The Host” and “The Chemist”.
The second of six children, Meyer was raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and took a degree in English literature at Brigham Young University in 1997. She married Christian Meyer in 1994 and they have three sons. Before she began writing, her only professional work had been as a receptionist at a property company. She is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has acknowledged that her faith has influenced her work.
According to Meyer, the idea for “Twilight” came to her in a dream on 2 June 2003, about a human girl and a vampire who loved her but thirsted for her blood. She completed the novel in three months. Of the 15 letters she sent to literary agencies, one brought a positive response, from Jodi Reamer of Writers House, and by November 2003 she had signed a three-book deal worth $750,000 with Little, Brown and Company. “Twilight” was published in 2005.
The series follows Bella Swan, a teenager who moves to Forks, Washington, and falls in love with the vampire Edward Cullen. “New Moon” (2006), “Eclipse” (2007) and “Breaking Dawn” (2008) completed the main story; the last had an initial print run of 3.7 million copies and won the British Book Award for Children’s Book of the Year. Meyer has since added a novella, “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner” (2010), and “Life and Death” (2015), which retells the first book with the genders of the main characters switched. “Midnight Sun” (2020) tells the story of “Twilight” from Edward’s point of view. It had been put on hold for years after a draft of its opening chapters leaked online, and sold over a million copies after its release.
The films, released between 2008 and 2012 with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, earned more than $3.3 billion worldwide. Meyer co-founded the production company Fickle Fish Films in 2011 and produced both parts of “Breaking Dawn”. “The Host” (2008), a science fiction novel about a young woman and the alien “soul” occupying her body, was filmed in 2013 with Saoirse Ronan. “The Chemist” (2016) is a thriller about a former agent on the run from her employers.
Publication Order of Twilight Saga Books
| Twilight | 2005 |
| New Moon | 2006 |
| Eclipse | 2007 |
| Breaking Dawn | 2008 |
| The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner | 2010 |
| Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined | 2015 |
| Midnight Sun | 2020 |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| The Host | 2008 |
| The Chemist | 2016 |
Publication Order of Graphic Novels
| Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 (With: Young Kim) | 2010 |
| Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 2 (With: Young Kim) | 2011 |
| New Moon: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 (With: Young Kim) | 2013 |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide | 2011 |
Photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).