Stephenie Meyer Explains Why Bree Tanner Deserves Her Own Book

Stephenie Meyer Explains Why Bree Tanner Deserves Her Own Book
'Twilight' author wants fans to read the spin-off novella before seeing 'Eclipse.'



Given the fanfare and publicity typically granted Stephenie Meyer whenever she types or breathes a new word, the famous author has been relatively quiet about this Saturday's release of her "Twilight" novella, "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner." But thanks to a Q&A posted on TheTwilightSaga.com by publisher Little Brown, fans now have a little more insight into why Meyer focused this book on the character Bree, and why she wants fans to read the story before they go see "Eclipse" in a few weeks.

Meyer first explained that because "Eclipse" is so focused on Bella's point of view, she wasn't able to delve into the story of newborn vampires like Bree. "There was always in my mind a general idea of what they were up to," she explained. "To keep it all straight, eventually I made a calendar of the months of May and June — which is all 'Eclipse' deals with — and wrote down on each square what was going on with Bella that day and what was happening in Seattle. ... The story of the newborns was always a big part of the story of 'Eclipse.' And it made me kind of sad that there was no way to express any of that in the book."

Regarding the singling out of Bree, Meyer said she was the only newborn mentioned by name in "Eclipse," and the only one who has contact with the Cullen family and encounters the Volturi in the clearing. "She lives the longest, so she is the narrator who can tell the full story," she said. "She was a natural choice to chronicle the story of the newborns."

Of all her "Twilight" books, Meyer said "Eclipse" had the most elements going on outside Bella's point of view and she wanted readers to be able to experience more of those things before the film opens.

"The [movie] viewer can see things — like the wolves hunting Victoria in 'New Moon' — that the reader only gets hints of," said Meyer, who also appears with "Eclipse" actress Jodelle Ferland in a new featurette about Bree Tanner. "For the movie to work, we have to see and understand some of these things. ... Knowing that elements of Bree's story were being incorporated into the movie, I hoped the story could somehow get out first."

Meyer admitted that her motivation for getting the story out now, is slightly selfish: "Personally, I always want to read a book before seeing the movie," she said. "I like to make my own mental pictures before someone else's picture intrudes. Probably most of my readers don't have the same hang-up, but for those who do, I wanted to give them the chance to create their own mental pictures of Bree and the gang."