I Heart Stephenie Meyer

Well, the beloved author of the Twilight Saga has had a rough few weeks. Most of it was probably ups with the book release, concerts, and adoring fans, but some has been harsh reviews which, as I know from experience, you can easily say that it doesn't bother you, but you still take every word and every mark with a red pen to heart. And then, to top off the busy, draining weeks she's probably had, somehow a draft version of the first twelve chapters of Midnight Sun was leaked onto the internet. While this is a gross invasion of her rights as an author, and upsetting that whoever was trusted with this manuscript somehow allowed it to pass to less-trusting hands, I think the most horrifying thing, as an author, is to know that something unfinished is now associated with your writing.

For me, writing is such a long process. Nothing is completed in one sitting. Even my blog entries go through three or four drafts before I post them, and they're still riddled with typos and grammatical errors. Not to mention they ramble a bit, and my thoughts are never quite as clear as they could, or perhaps should be. My supervisors over the years have thrown me terrified looks when I hand them a first draft, because I bet they resemble the writing of a fifth grader, and not of a PhD student. That's just how my process works. I get my ideas onto paper in the most basic, simple way, and then I hash, rehash, cut apart, and hash some more until it starts to resemble something a little more academic. I continue this process right up until the deadline, and I usually wish I could continue the editing long after it has gone to a publisher or turned in for marking. That's just how I work.

So I can't imagine the frustration, and the sense of helplessness that Meyer may be feeling right now. I shudder to think about being graded or reviewed on a work that I never once even considered close to complete. To have that stand as a part of the body of your work, but never have had the right to decide if it was something that you wanted to share yet or not. Ugh...

You all know how I feel about spoilers, and haters, and anyone whose sole purpose it is to destroy someone else's joy, peace or contentment... this is just one more case where someone as giving to her fans as Meyer has become the victim.

I'll get off my soap box again... I don't mean to keep climbing back up there, but like so many things on this blog, it's how I process some thoughts.

To show my support, here's the banner created by a number of the Twilight fan sites to show their support, and I'm reposting it here with their permission. All the best Stephenie, and I hope you don't let a few joy-squashers dampen the joy that the stories and writing has always given you.