Plus, like Harry Potter, Meyer's books have been as popular with adults as with young readers. For example, there's www.twilightmoms.com, a Web site for fans older than 25 started by a woman who "was immediately obsessed" by the books, "but the only other obsessed people I could talk to about it were the teenage girls in my neighborhood." She quickly found she was not alone.

Meyer herself pays tribute to Rowling in an interview with Associated Press writer Hillel Italie: "J.K. Rowling — we owe her so much," Meyer said. "First of all, she got publishers to believe that millions of people will pick up an 800-page book. She also got adults reading (young adult) literature. What a gift: She got kids reading and she got adults reading."

But the Twilight books have done the same. And have received industry-wide acclaim.

"Twilight" was chosen as a New York Times Editor's Choice book; it was named a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year; it was an Amazon "Best Book of the Decade ... So Far;" and was on American Library Association's "Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults" and "Top Ten Books for Reluctant Readers" lists.

Meyer has not been without critics. Some have complained about plots that needed tightening, of an over-abundance of adjectives and adverbs, and an "overly Bryonic" tortured hero.

But others have praised her writing with words like "gripping," "tantalizing," "enticing" and "a near-genius balance of breathtaking romance and action."

All in all, it's been quite a run for the mother of three, who lives with her husband and family in Phoenix and finds most of her writing time after the kids have gone to bed — and who noted in an interview with Amazon.com after "Twilight" came out that the "Book of Mormon is the book with the most significant impact" on her life.

Meyer's books are not considered Mormon literature; the characters are not Mormon; there is no mention of religion. But, she has noted, they are filled with her values — they talk about the importance of choice and the need for sacrifice. And there is no premarital sex.