Dreams Come True
Posted by Lisa
Last year at the SCBWI conference in NYC, I heard the editor of Twilight speak. She was delightful and encouraging. She spoke about the importance of grabbing the reader with the first few pages. Then she shared the story of how she acquired Twilight. She said, and I paraphrase, "I wasn't much interested in reading the novel at the time, so I handed it to my assistant: Get to this when you can. Let me know what you think." The assistant got to it that Friday evening, Sunday she called the editor at home and said, "I think you should read this." They made a pre-empt offer early that week.
I've just finished reading Twilight. Yesterday, I could barely put it down. It is inspiring and educational reading a book that so clearly is wonderful. Below is an interview from Stephenie Meyer's website. She relates her experience writing Twilight.
"Actually, it all started on 2 June 2003, when this stay-at-homemother of three sons woke up from a dream filled with characters that she just couldn't get out of her head. 'Though I had a million things to do, I stayed in bed, thinking about the dream. Unwillingly, I eventually got up and did the immediate necessities, and then put everything that I possibly could on the backburner and sat down at the computer to write - something I hadn't donein so long that I wondered why I was bothering."
Three months later, she had finished her first book, Twilight, which was published in2005. The highly-anticipated sequel, New Moon, was published in 2006, and the third book in the Twilight series, Eclipse, in 2007. The fourth book in the Twilight Series, Breaking Dawn, will be released in 2008. Having promised that there will be more than four books, Meyer hopes to have Midnight Sun - Twilight written from Edward's perspective -published soon after the fourth release. Meyer's adult sci-fi novel, The Host, is also planned for publication in 2008.
By the way, it took six months from the start of Twilight to acceptance for publication. Can you say Prolific?
8 comments:
Oh. my. Prolific not only in quantity but quality and with three boys in the house. That's nothing short of phenomenal! K.
Hi Sustenance Scout - amazing isn't it? frankly it inspires me. Hard to believe it's possible!
Right time, right place, right attitude, right talent, right writing! Very inspirational story!
Just think, for inspiration, all she has to do is sleep!
Wow, what a story. Inspiring, in a jaw-dropping kind of way :)
Carleen - it's true isn't it, being in the right time, right circumstances. Isn't it nice to know it can happen!
Larramie - I never thought of it that way. i love sleep. Dreams, I'm ready for you.
Trish - it is jaw dropping isn't it. The six months time frame from start to book contract is what really gets me; I'm definitely going push myself a little harder.
In another interview I read that her ms was rejected by nine of the ten NY literary agencies she sent it too.
What the hell are they ACCEPTING??
A lot of helpful data for myself!
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