As the fan base grew for the series and then it became more of a phenomenon, did that change in any way how you approached the later book? And also what was your response to the fan response of the fourth book?
Stephenie Meyer: "Well as far as changing things, it couldn't because I actually had the first three books and a rough draft of the fourth one written before Twilight ever came out, so the story was there.

And it’s funny, I had this conversation with a friend of mine who wrote nonfiction, like obscure historical stories, and she was saying how it must be so hard for you because when my editors come in they can't change anything. This is what happened. And it kind of clicked in for me because that's exactly how I feel, like it’s historic, like this is what happened. It’s not like I can just change things. This is how it went down. And that's a kind of awkward position to be in when your editor does want you to change things."

"So the fan expectations…I already knew the story. It did add a little bit of pressure and it was particularly difficult when, you know, when I’m writing I tune that out and I don’t think about it at all. But when I’m editing, I get online and I see one blog that says if A and B don’t happen I’m burning this book, and then on another page if A and B do happen, this is going to be the worse book ever. So you know going in and there is no way I can please everybody. I can't even please half the people because everybody wants things that are so different, and they’ve written this story in their heads to a way that they are happy with."

"I read an interview that George Lucas did about Indiana Jones and how all the fans have already written their sequel and if they don’t see that sequel, they're going to be upset. And I really found myself in that same position. So I was braced going in. I knew that this was going to be bad, and it was also good. That was the thing about the fourth book, is it was so much more in every aspect. It was bigger than I ever would have dared to imagine. It was better in a lot of ways and it was worse in a ton of ways. And it was a lot of overwhelming stuff that I couldn't really take in. I found that it’s easier for me, when I’m at home and I don’t have to talk into a microphone in front of a bunch of people, I just forget that this is all going on and I just live my life. And the writing’s a part of it, but I don’t think about this part because it’s too hard."

What did you think when you went to the set? How often did you go?

Stephenie Meyer: "I think I went about four times."

You were on the set in Arizona?

Stephenie Meyer: "It was actually California and Portland. I was in Portland about four times, in and out, and probably a total of about two weeks altogether."

And what did you think of the filmmaking process?

Stephenie Meyer: "That was one of the coolest things that agreeing to do a movie gave me. You know, because I’m right in the middle with this, I had two book tours this year and all kinds of crazy stuff going on. The movie was just fun. I found it fascinating. One time I had my brother with me for a couple of days and I know he was bored stupid. That poor kid, he was just like, 'Huh, how can they say the same line again for the 16th time?' And for me every time, that was with the humans that week, and every time Anna Kendrick said it she added a new little twist or her eyebrow raised just a little bit differently, and the nuances were fascinating to me, and that's because it was mine. I don’t know if I’d be that way on another film, but I was riveted on the edge of my seat looking at the monitor and, 'Oh I love that,' and just thrilled."

Did the cast embody your vision?

Stephenie Meyer: "Yes. I mean if someone had pulled me in there and said, 'Okay, we've got a roomful of your characters. Let’s see if you can pin the names on them.' Oh it would have been cake. It would have been so easy. They were so clearly who they were. And, really, I think the acting in this movie is something special. It’s amazing. Here's all these people, really people you haven't heard of yet, I mean some of them to an extent, but a lot of these kids are new and they're so good. I mean they're just so believable and you feel like yes, you're just sitting there with a bunch of kids from high school because this is how they sound. It didn’t sound like people acting. It sounded like people being people."

So what is the status of Midnight Sun?

Stephenie Meyer: "Oh Midnight Sun is not on my schedule right now. It’s part of my writing process that for me to really write a story, and like I was saying before, I can't think about what other people want and what other people are thinking, and what the editing is going to be and what the expectations are when I’m writing. Because it’s paralyzing to do that - you really can't put a word on the page. I have to be very alone with a story. It has to be just me and what's happening, and I just can't feel that way about it right now. And it’s a weird thing and I’m not sure what it’s all about but I think that, you know, this is going to die down. This is like what, two months old? People are going to forget about it. It’s going to go away and that’ll be, you know, the time when I sneak back in and give it a try again. But it’s going to have to be after everything is, it’s not writing in a fishbowl because I can't work that way."

It's a given that the rest of the books are going to get made into films. Which one do you expect to be the most challenging to adapt?

Stephenie Meyer: "That's a given, huh?"

Yes.

Stephenie Meyer: "We’ll see. If it were a given that every one of these will be made, book four without a doubt is the hardest thing to do and there's a really simple reason for that. You have a character in that and you almost have to do a CGI. And while CGI can do dragons and it can do almost anything in the whole world, the one thing that I've never seen is a completely realistic CGI human. So that's something that either groundbreaking technology will have to develop in the next couple of years or it will be impossible. One or the other."

Page 5:On Her Cameo, the Book Series, and Writing