Question:  Have you had any other dreams that have fueled maybe future projects?  And the second part of that, now you've had a taste of the Hollywood system would you think about doing a screen play rather than writing a book first?

Stephanie Meyer:  Okay, with the screen play, I may have to ask you for the other one because I get going and I forget everything else. Like I said bad memory.  I don’t think I could do that unless Hollywood is ready for a fourteen-hour movie experience.  I tried once to write a short story and it was a horrible thing.  I just, I don’t think in short. I have to explore every tiny, little detail of things.  I really admire people who can come in and streamline it and get all the information across but they do it so simply. That's not my talent so I can't imagine doing that. Although my ideas are often very visual I’d have to have a partner who would know how to do it.  Now give me the first one again? 

Question:  Have you had any other dreams…?

Stephanie Meyer:  Oh dreams.  You don’t get a dream like that twice, you know? I got my chance and I do feel like I was supposed to be writing and this dream way my kick in the pants to get going. And once I started it I didn’t need another one because once I discovered how wonderful writing was for me, I was ready to go with it.

Question:  What sets your vampires apart?

Stephanie Meyer:  Well in general, because I know there's a lot of varying legends, you know, and there's the ones that turn into bats and mist and there's the ones that are more concrete.  In general, my vampires don’t have fangs and they don’t need them. You know,  strong as they are it’s kind of unnecessary.  They're fairly indestructible. Wooden stakes and garlic are not going to get you anywhere.  They don’t sleep at all, they're never unconscious, they have no periods of unconsciousness. And the sunlight doesn't harm them, it just shows them for what they are because they sparkle in the sun. 

Question:  How about reflections?

Stephanie Meyer:  Oh they totally have reflections and you can take pictures of them.  All of that is kind of these myths, in my world these are myths that vampires actually anciently spread around so that people would say, 'Oh this person can't be a vampire because I can see them in the mirror so I’m safe.' 

Question:  As the fan base grew for the series and then it became more of a phenomenon, did that change in any way how you approached the later look? And also what was your response to the fan response of the fourth book? 

Stephanie Meyer:  Well as far as changing things, it couldn't because I actually had the first three books and a rough draft of the fourth one written before Twilight ever came out, so the story was there.  And it’s funny, I had this conversation with a friend of mine who wrote nonfiction, like obscure historical stories, and she was saying how it must be so hard for you because when my editors come in they can't change anything. This is what happened.  And it kind of clicked in for me because that's exactly how I feel, like it’s historic, like this is what happened. It’s not like I can just change things, this is how it went down.  And that's a kind of awkward position to be in when your editor does want you to change things. So the fan expectations, I already knew the story.  It did add a little bit of pressure and it was particularly difficult when, you know, when I’m writing I tune that out and I don’t think about it at all.  But when I’m editing, I get online and I see one blog that says if A and B don’t happen I’m burning this book, and then on another page if A and B do happen, this is going to be the worse book ever.  So you know going in and there is no way I can please everybody. I can't even please half the people because everybody wants things that are so different and they’ve written this story in their heads to a way that they are happy with.  I read an interview that George Lucas did about Indiana Jones and how all the fans have already written their sequel and if they don’t see that sequel, they're going to be upset. And I really found myself in that same position.  And so I was braced going in, I knew that this was going to be bad, and it was also good.  That was the thing about the fourth book, is it was so much more in every aspect. It was bigger than I ever would have dared to imagine.  It was better in a lot of ways and it was worse in a ton of ways. And it was a lot of overwhelming stuff that I couldn't really take in.  I found that it’s easier for me, when I’m at home and I don’t have to talk into a microphone in front of a bunch of people, I just forget that this is all going on and I just live my life.  And the writing’s a part of it, but I don’t think about this part because it’s too hard. 

Question:  What did you think when you went to the set? I mean how often did you go first of all? 

Stephanie Meyer:  I think I went about four times and all…

Question:  You were on the set in Arizona?

Stephanie Meyer:  No, I was never on the set.  It was actually California and Portland.  I was in Portland about four times, in and out, and probably a total of about two weeks altogether. 

Question:  And what did you think of the filmmaking process? 

Stephanie Meyer:  That was one of the coolest things that agreeing to do a movie gave me. You know, because I’m right in the middle with this, I had two book tours this year and all kinds of crazy stuff going on. The movie was just fun. I found it fascinating.  One time I had my brother with me for a couple of days and I know he was bored stupid. That poor kid, he was just like, 'Huh, how can they say the same line again for the sixteenth time?'  And for me every time, that was with the humans that week, and every time Anna Kendrick said it she added a new little twist or her eyebrow raised just a little bit differently, and the nuances were fascinating to me, and that's because it was mine.  I don’t know if I’d be that way on another film but I was riveted on the edge of my seat looking at the monitor and, 'Oh I love that,' and just thrilled.

Question:  Did the cast embody your vision?

Stephanie Meyer:  Yes.  I mean if someone had pulled me in there and said, 'Okay, we've got a roomful of your characters. Let’s see if you can pin the names on them.' Oh it would have been cake. It would have been so easy. They were so clearly who they were.  And, really, I think the acting in this movie is something special.  It’s amazing. Here's all these people, really people you haven't heard of yet, I mean some of them to an extent, but a lot of these kids are new and they're so good. I mean they're just so believable and you feel like yes, you're just sitting there with a bunch of kids from high school because this is how they sound.  It didn’t sound like people acting. It sounded like people being people. 

Question:  So what is the status of Midnight Sun? 

Stephanie Meyer:  Oh Midnight Sun is not on my schedule right now. It’s part of my writing process that for me to really write a story, and like I was saying before, I can't think about what other people want and what other people are thinking, and what the editing is going to be and what the expectations are when I’m writing.  Because it’s paralyzing to do that, you really can't put a word on the page.  I have to be very alone with a story. It has to be just me and what's happening, and I just can't feel that way about it right now. And it’s a weird thing and I’m not sure what it’s all about but I think that, you know, this is going to die down.  This is like what, two months old?  People are going to forget about it. It’s going to go away and that’ll be, you know, the time when I sneak back in and give it a try again. But it’s going to have to be after everything is, it’s not writing in a fishbowl because I can't work that way. 

Question:  It's a given that the rest of the books are going to get made into films, which one do you expect to be the most challenging to adapt?

Stephanie Meyer:  That a given, huh? 

Question:  Yes.

Stephanie Meyer:  We’ll see.  If it were a given that every one of these will be made, book four without a doubt is the hardest thing to do and there's a really simple reason for that. You have a character in that and you almost have to do a CGI.  And while CGI can do dragons and it can do almost anything in the whole world. The one thing that I've never seen is a completely realistic CGI human.  So that's something that either groundbreaking technology will have to develop in the next couple of years or it will be impossible. One or the other.

Question:  Which character is that?

Stephanie Meyer:  Nessie.

Question:  There's a very critical moment in the film when Bella said I’m thinking radioactive plasma and Kryptonite, did you sort of think it would be tough to switch the team pop culture away from the superhero and back towards the supernatural or did it not feel like, did it feel like something kids were going to be into? 

Stephanie Meyer:  You know, I never worried about that for a second.  I was into it and I am much more drawn to superheroes than I am to vampires. And I really think there's a closer connection with my vampires, between superheroes and them than traditional vampires and who they are.  So I really, with my writing, what it comes down to was I getting a kick out of this?  Then, 'Okay, we’ll go with it.'  And if somebody else is not clicking for them, you know, that's why there's forty billion books in the world, because there's something for everybody. 

Question:  Has your writing process changed since you're first dream prompted you into writing?

Stephanie Meyer:  It has. It’s gone through some evolutions as I experiment with different ways to do things.  With Twilight, I didn’t know it was going to happen when I wrote it. It just was writing to find out the answer.  With the others I had to start outlining. I had to be more careful because I knew when I started the sequel, New Moon, where it was going to end, so that takes a lot more work to tie up the threads.  And I've experimented with a couple of other things on the side, so I haven’t really consolidated what I do.  The biggest change is that when I started writing I had three kids under the school age all day. All my kids are in school full-time now so that really has been the biggest change in my writing style.

Question:  How old are your kids now? 

Stephanie Meyer:  My kids are eleven, eight and six.  And if I could freeze them there, I would because they're perfect. 

Question:  How did you find time to write the book? 

Stephanie Meyer:  I lost sleep to write. I mean you had to give something up and I wasn’t giving up my time with my kids and I couldn't give up the things I had to do, so it was sleep. 

Question:  Was there a certain song on the soundtrack that specifically spoke to you in a really personal way?  I know it sounded fantastic but I was wondering what particularly inspired you. 

Stephanie Meyer:  Aside from the Muse song, which was already part of what I listen to all the time, these songs were all new for me. And I have to say the Iron & Wine song was really the one that just made me an instant fan. Probably because the first time I heard it was when I watched the movie and in that scene it’s just so perfectly melted in with the feeling.  And so that was when it got me. 

Question:  Can you talk about shooting your cameo?

Stephanie Meyer:  Yes, but it’s painful.  It was not my idea to do the cameo.  They talked me into it. They thought it would be, you know, cute for the fans because most of them would recognize me.  I was thinking it was going to be more like a Where's Waldo thing. Like I walk by for one second in a crowd and if they can find me, cool.  That's the one scene in the movie I would happily cut, the first five seconds, and the one that I had to watch like, I mean like this, 'Ah, is it over yet?'  It was really hard for me. 

Question:  How many takes?

Stephanie Meyer:  Well I did however many takes they were doing.  It wasn’t about me. It was about the actors and such. 

Question:  Well what's your cameo, for those of us who have no idea?

Stephanie Meyer:  Oh didn’t you recognize me?  Really?  No, it was in the scene when Bella and Charlie are at the diner and the waitress is asking them, you know, what's the news about Waylon’s murderer.  There was a woman sitting at the counter and for some reason the camera focuses on her for like a good five seconds, and you're like, 'Why are we looking at this person?'  And that was me. 

Question:  Is the series over now for the books, are you done? 

Stephanie Meyer:  It’s done for now.  I mean I can't promise that I won't get lonely for the Cullens and come back to them in ten years, but right now I feel really satisfied with where it is so I’m not planning on doing anything with it but, you know, no guarantees.