Vampire book series started with vivid dream

When Stephanie Meyer graduated from Brigham Young University with an English major, she had no intention of becoming a novelist for young adults. Yet her first novel, "Twilight" (Little Brown, 500 pages), is a best-seller with more than 105,000 copies in print.

Moreover, who would have predicted that a BYU graduate would write a vampire novel?

Meyer's secret is that "the scars of high school linger forever," she said by phone from her home in Glendale, Ariz., conceding that there is basically no difference in writing an adult novel and a young-adult novel.

"I didn't 'dumb down' my language or anything," Meyer said. "Not even saying the characters are in high school can give you a guide. Orson Scott Card has written several books with children as the main characters, and they are considered adult books."

Meyer's career began when she had her "vampire dream" when she was 29. She is now 32, and married with three children, all boys, ages 9, 6 and 4. "I have no idea where the vampires came from. I don't even watch horror movies. But I had an early-morning dream about a boy and a girl in a meadow with bright sunlight. The boy was sparkly and he was a vampire. It was such a vivid dream that I didn't want to forget it, so I wrote it down. I wondered what would happen next, so I kept writing. It became chapter 13 of 'Twilight,' then I had to write the 12 chapters before chapter 13."

In three months her book was finished. Then it took her one month to write query letters to 15 agents, only 10 of whom wanted to look at the book. When Little Brown offered $300,000 for a three-book contract, her agent turned it down — scaring her to death. He asked for $1 million. Eventually, the publisher counter-offered three-quarters of a million.

Now her second book, "New Moon" has been issued, as her saga of Bella and Edward, the vampire, continues.

Meyer kept her writing a secret from everyone except her husband and her big sister Emily. She ended up writing a thick book because she read thick books in her younger years — "Gone with the Wind," "Anne of Green Gables" and "Pride and Prejudice."

Besides, Meyer is a "fast-and-furious writer," who says she has more trouble stopping than starting. "The writing part is something I really enjoy. It's like reading a really good book — only better, because you're in control."

Meyer may do as many as four books in the series, "but I don't want to write until I kill it!"