Because of the way love manifests itself in her novels, some people are defining Meyer's writing as Mormon erotica, a term she doesn't like. "I really don't think that is the case," she said. "Sexual tension is a part of life and part of having a human body, and some things are very potent. A lot of decisions are not always based on rational things. That's a realistic part of who we are and how we react to each other. But I think that the word erotica implies the tawdry and not exploring the retraction or the outreach of it, which I think is natural and good."

Meyer grew up on science fiction so she is used to wondering about what is beyond the Milky Way. "I've always found it a little bit silly, the 'Star Trek' idea that everyone in the universe is human — they just have a different forehead," she said. "All my inspiration comes from our world and the different kinds of ecosystems we have. If one particular species were more dominant, in which direction would it have gone? How did intelligence develop?

"Anytime there's a creation process of some world or how aliens are going to work or what something should look like, it's sheer fun. It's like furnishing a new house. You sit there and look over catalogs and think: 'Wow, this looks cool. What if we lived in this style?"'

Meyer's first priority is to give fans a good read, and she says that she doesn't write with a moral intent. But that doesn't mean that a message doesn't come through.

"I think there is something more to 'The Host,"' she said. "I'm a woman, and I've been plagued by body issues my whole life — I'm overweight too much, or this is wrong, my nose should be fixed. In writing 'The Host' I had a chance to just really think about how grateful I was for all the things that come with the human body. In a lot of little ways 'The Host' is kind of my love song for my own body."

While Meyer says there's a possibility of making "The Host" into a trilogy, she's not ready to commit. "It depends a lot on my recuperation after the book comes out. I'm going to take some time off and work on writing without editing or publicity or anything like that. I'm not sure if I'm going to want to get back to this theme right away or if there are others that I want to do first."

Despite all her success, Meyer says she has no expectations for her writing or the future. "I'm a pessimist," she said. "Every day I'm waiting for someone to pull the rug out from under me and say, 'Oh, that was just a clerical mistake.'

"If it stopped tomorrow and no one ever read another one of my books and it was just done, I would be fine with that because it's always been more than I expected. And if I never work with a publisher again, I still get to write. I still get to do it for myself, and that's the thing that would hurt to take away, that option of getting to write my stories."

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If you go . . .

What: Stephenie Meyer will read from her new book, The Host, and sign multiple copies of this book and her three previous ones afterward.

Where: Thanksgiving Point Show Barn (Friday, 7 p.m.); Highland High School (Saturday, 1 p.m.)

How much: Both venues sold out, but call The King's English, 484-9100, to get on a wait list for Highland High. No wait list available for Thanksgiving Point, sponsored by Border's Books.

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E-mail: jharrison@desnews.com