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Midnight Sun Status
In the summer of 2008, Twilight fans were eagerly anticipating the release of Midnight Sun, Twilight told from Edward's point of view. Stephenie said repeatedly that it her primary focus. All that changed in August 2008. Someone posted the first twelve chapters of Midnight Sun on the Internet without Stephenie's permission. Stephenie was devastated and Midnight Sun was tabled. Here is what she said:
"My first feeling was that there was no way to continue. Writing isn't like math; in math, two plus two always equals four no matter what your mood is like. With writing, the way you feel changes everything. If I tried to write Midnight Sun now, in my current frame of mind, James would probably win and all the Cullens would die, which wouldn't dovetail too well with the original story. In any case, I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on Midnight Sun, and so it is on hold indefinitely." (Source)
Four years have passed...what does Stephenie say about Midnight Sun now?
The most recent statement I could find was part of the Fansite Junket from June 2010. In that interview, Stephenie echoed what I've basically heard her say in numerous interivews...
It's not what she's working on right now. "What's true is that I'm really burned out on vampires and I don't want to write it badly so I want to wait until I'm excited about material again...Right now it feels like homework. So it's still not a 'no, it's not going to happen', it's just I want to do it when I can do it right." (Source: Twilight Series Theories podcast)
Is that good news or not? I'm not sure. I still hold out hope that we will see Midnight Sun someday, but maybe it will be five years from now. Who knows?
In the meantime, you can go to Stephenie's website to read the Partial Draft of Midnight Sun.
What are you most looking forward to in Midnight Sun?
The brief portion of Midnight Sun that we can read on the website is probably my favorite of all the Twilight books. Edward's personality and weird reactions in Twilight make total sense when you can see his thought processes behind them. Best of all, I love the little moments between the Cullens. The private insights we get into their personalities and home lives.
The scene I'm most looking forward to in the rest of Midnight Sun is probably the ballet studio scene. I really want to see how the Cullens got to the studio in broad daylight, the cars they stole, and just what happened to James. I'd like to read Edward's reaction to Bella's blood. Most of all, I want to see more of the Cullens.
I have to agree on many fronts. Midnight Sun (from the bit that I read on the website) is the best written, and I really enjoy Edward's POV. I love the little bits about the Cullens that we could never see from Bella's view. I felt like I knew them better, finally.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought much about the Ballet Studio scene, but now that you mention it? I would LOVE to see how that happened!!
I really love the version from Edward's POV better than the original too. There are a lot of scenes I'd like to see... especially the meadow scene. I enjoy reading about Edward's conflicting emotions, learning these new things, falling in love. I hope it doesn't take her that much longer to finish it.
ReplyDeleteI loved Midnight sun and seeing more of the interaction with Alice, Emment.
ReplyDeleteI would want to her to also finish the Host series too.
Yeah I get that she is burned out too from Vamps
What I want to know is what is she working on now? It's been 4 years since she's published anything significant...
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling that we're never going to see Midnight Sun.
ReplyDeleteLast I heard she was working on a mermaid book.
Loved Midnight Sun. Can't believe I didn't read till this summer.
ReplyDeleteAmy @ www.bookgoonie.com
I remember that statement she made, and I'm still from the camp that doesn't get why SM decided not to continue MS. Yes, having her work posted without her permission was a terrible blow, but it's not like she still wouldn't have made millions from the final published copy. Also, the same exact thing has happened to a lot of writers, and it sucks, but hey, they push through it and finished what they started.
ReplyDeleteI heard about that mermaid books too, but that was ages ago. That can't really be all she has coming up?
To be brutally honest, I think she was burnt out after Eclipse came out. The hype and the expectations were just too high. If you compare the voices of BD with her other TW books, they're completely different. Her two main character, Edward and Bella, are muted and discarded. I wish she should've stuck to her guns and waited for the right moment for BD and MS to be released. I think the Washington Post got it right when they said Meyer killed her own creation for BD.
ReplyDeleteI read an interview where she said that her statement on the website was written in the heat of the moment and she really wasn't that devastated by it that she would completely give it up.
ReplyDeleteI think she's probably too busy with the movies. And bored with vampires.
It's a hard balance - a writer has deadlines and should force themselves to write. But then again, if forcing yourself to write is going to produce sucky material, I don't want to read that either.
I hope she gets to it some day - hopefully sooner rather than later - and that she'll put some effort into it.
I have to find a book a friend gave me & email it to you because it is a book (started as fan fiction but grew in to hundreds of pages) she wrote about Carlisle's human life, how he became a vampire, his volturi years, etc. & it quite frankly kicked serious @$$. I was skeptical BUT I LOVE Carlisle so I read a few chapters & was BLOWN away! She said I was free to share. It's called WANING MOON you may find it on SCRIBD actually.
ReplyDeleteTHEN last night a pal sent me an email of chapters 12-24 of Midnight Sun, now IDK how legit they are (could be fan fiction)but they seemed legit.
I cant WAIT till FRIDAY! I am beyond excited :)
I really loved Midnight Sun. Just like you, actually! I enjoyed reading it most out of all the published Twilight material!
ReplyDeleteUH, Alison? I'm starting to have Twilight flavored dreams. I swear it's from OD'ing off your feature week. Do you have some kind of 12-step program I can use to come down? :D
@Sarah: Come down? You mean thinking about Twilight 24 hours a day is a bad thing? I think you're one step closer to reaching Nirvana. :-)
ReplyDeleteI wrote up this gigantic response, and then it didn't post because my internet was screwed up.
ReplyDeleteSo, I will try again.
Contrary to what Missie said, I applaud Stephenie Meyer for NOT publishing Midnight Sun just because it'll make a great deal of money. I appreciate it that she takes the craft of writing more seriously than she takes the money that it brings her, as evidenced by her current refusal to publish something that will make millions.
Alison, I agree that I don't want writers to force themselves to write a book to meet deadlines if it means the final product is sucky. But, writers do need to force themselves to write and meet deadlines, because that's what editing and revising is for. I don't ever expect my first drafts to be good enough to not require any kind of revising and editing, but that doesn't mean I won't push myself to write less-than-good material. The most important thing is having the words on paper, because then you can work with them. Along those lines, I also applaud SM for not forcing herself to finish and publish MS just to get it out there, no matter what the quality of it is (although, I admit that I don't think SM is a very good writer to begin with, in terms of the actual words she puts down, but she is, clearly, a good writer in the sense that she was able to tell a completed story that captured millions of people's attention). I applaud her for that, too.
What I never understood is why she didn't just publish a different draft of MS than the one that was leaked, but after reading her additional comments about the matter, I understand it more. I'm sure she is burnt out on vampires, just as she says; I would be. And I'm sure she has been putting a lot of her time and energy into the movies.
Reading all of this has actually given me greater respect for her. I'm more likely now to give her YA fiction another shot when she does publish again. Not The Host, though, which I tried to read and thought was dreadful.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5691399/1/Waning_Moon_Carlisles_Story
ReplyDeleteI loved Midnight Sun so much!! The scene in the house when Edward said that he should leave, and Alice said: "I don't see you go anywhere" :D was fabulous!! and then also when he said that that was a tragedy and Emmet replayed "I'll say" - Trust Emmet to find a joke in the destruction of my life. Ahahahha omg this was so so funny!! I've actually found Midnight Sun really funny and I've laughed so hard while reading it :)
ReplyDeleteI've really wanted to see the kiss scene in Midnight Sun, but I kind of got my hopes down, because I have a feeling Stephenie won't write about Midnight Sun ever again. She would have had, if she had wanted to. :/ Too bad.
Lovely post Alice! :)
I LOVE Midnight Sun. Is it just me or does anyone else find it hilarious when Edward's mind is racing in Biology trying to figure out how he can savor Bella's freshly killed blood and kill off the whole class? Seeing everything through his eyes was so refreshing. He wasn't as cold and aloof as he always seemed. I'm just so disappointed that she hasn't written it. I'm much less of a fan than I was.
ReplyDeleteHeather
@BURIED IN BOOKS: I thought that was absolutely hilarious!
ReplyDeleteIt gives you so much more insight into Twilight... the thing is, I now get the two mixed up, and keep talking about stuff to my BFF (who hasn't read MS), and she's like, 'huh?'
I think i'd feel the exact same way if I were her.
ReplyDeleteThe scene I'm most looking forward to when she finishes it is the ballet studio scene too. I also want to read his perspective of the meadow and once James comes into the picture. I loved all the insights into Edward and the Cullens from Midnight Sun. It's by far my favorite of the series. Every time I read it, I want more, lol. I really do hope she finishes it someday. But, I understand if she doesn't.
ReplyDeleteI love Midnight Sun and I liked it much better than Twilight. I don't know if Stephenie will ever finished it.
ReplyDeleteWhile I disliked the Twilight series as a whole, the first book was my favourite by far. I think it would be interesting to see how Edward thought of things :)
ReplyDeleteIt's a real shame that someone betrayed her trust like that, and made so many fans upset who were dying to read it. Some people are so thoughtless.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I saw Snowbird in your About Me. WHAT A CUTIE!!!! LOOOVE!
With Midnight Sun it cut off right at the meadow scene so I would LOVE to see that from Edward's POV especially the first time that Bella touches him & he freaks out. Also the fight between Edward and James. Honestly I would read all 4 books coming from Edward's POV. Another good one would be when he left in New Moon to see what he was feeling & thinking. Welp if you didn't know by now you can tell that I'm Team Edward =)
ReplyDeleteGreat post!! I would have loved to have seen everything from Edward's POV
ReplyDeleteStill holding out hope that SM will publish this. It would be so fascinating to read from Edward's perspective because of his mind reading ability. I thought at first I would try reading the sample on her site... but I decided I don't want to read just a small portion. I'd rather read the entire, polished and finished version!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. I want it to come out so badly!!!
ReplyDeleteThe part I want to see most is the meadow scene. It's so sweet in the book and I just want to see it from his perspective!!
Awe, I really wish Ms. Meyer would finish the book. I would definitely buy it.
ReplyDeleteHm, maybe I should read this book. Edward never did it for me, but I'm curious to see if my feelings for him change after seeing things from his POV.
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