Four years ago, I was in the sixth grade, worrying about my grades, dreading school, and, surprisingly, not really enjoying reading that much. Sure, I would read the books that I had to for school, but I wouldn't really read for fun. And then it happened. One day, around twilight, I was watching T.V., with my homework spread out in front of me, and I saw it. It was a movie trailer. In it, a girl moved to this town and fell in love with a vampire. The trailer closed with the words "Twilight based on the best-selling novel by Stephenie Meyer." That's when the seed was planted. During the next few weeks, I started seeing more and more of Twilight everywhere: people at my school carrying hardcover versions of the novel underneath their arms like a bible, the series every where on the book orders my math teacher would give us, everyone was talking about it. It was an obsession. I remember I had some money and so I bought Twilight through my teacher's book orders. The book arrived a few weeks later, and, boom, my life was changed.
I finished the book within two weeks, and hungrily craved for the second one. I read that one, and then the next, and then the last one. My God, the excitement in my heart, the fear, the exhiliration. Those are all the emotions I felt while reading this book! I HAVE NEVER FELT THAT WAY ABOUT A BOOK EVER! It was amazing. Vampires, werewolves, so much excitement. Love triangles, evil vampire royalty, vampires thirsty for revenge, vampire newborns, vampire babies. It made me want to become a vampire, made me want to know the characters and be part of their world. I read Twilight, breathed Twilight, lived Twilight. I saw the first movie and I loved it! After I finished the series, I started reading more, looking for books similar to Twilight or for ones that would at least give me the rush I got while reading Twilight. But no, this is not the most important thing that happened because of those books: because of those books, I started writing.
I always liked creating worlds in my mind, making up characters and playing around with plots in my mind, but when I read Twilight, I realized I could do it too, I could make a novel as wonderful and as fantastic as Twilight, I could make characters as appealing as Bella, as Jacob, as Alice. And I tried. I wrote my first novel, a vampire novel titled Revenge, shortly after reading the books. And my God, I discovered I loved writing! I wrote more, penned more novels, at first they were blatant Twilight rip-offs, but soon they started to become quite unique. To this day, I have written seven novels and I am currently writing my eighth. All because of Twilight, all because of a woman named Stephenie Meyer.
I became enthralled with Stephenie. I stalked her on her website, read and watched every interview about her, and continued to be inspired by her work. She was the person that made me fall in love with reading, with writing. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have this dream, this dedication I have for writing, for having my work published. It's all thanks to Stephenie. If one day one of my novels gets published, if one day my dream comes true, a dream started by Stephenie's Twilight novels, don't be surprised to see a Thank you so much, Stephenie on the acknowledgements.
On November 16, Breaking Dawn Part II will be released in theaters. It's the last Twilight adaptation, the end of Edward and Bella's story on screen. No more Twilight movies to look forward to. Ever since the sixth grade, I've always had a new Twilight movie to look forward too, a new wave of excitement. And now, that is over. Sure, Stephenie's new book is being turned into a movie - The Host!!!! - and I'm so darn excited about that, but, you see, Twilight has a special place in my heart, and I will sincerely miss it. You can expect tears will be shed by me as the words The End come up on the screen, marking the a wonderful story, saying good-bye to Edward and Bella.
Twilight changed my life for the best. All writers have something, anything, that made us start writing: a book, a movie, an encouragement from a parent. I had Twilight. It's what made me discover that what I love is writing, and I will be forever grateful for this.
In all, you changed my life, Stephenie Meyer,and this is for you. I know you will never read this but I needed to express how grateful I am for what you started writing on June 2, 2003, the book that changed my life. You changed my life. You don't know how thankful I am. I wish I could tell you this. I wish I could give you a Porsche 911 Turbo and a big, big hug. :) One day, though, I will formally thank you in person and in the acknowledgement page of my published novel.
I know many people don't like Twilight, but, nooo, they don't say it in a bad way. They bash it rudely and don't care about the feelings of the fans. This goes for every overzealous Twilight hater, especially writers: Guys, Stephenie worked hard on this series. And you just bash her as if she just put no effort in her book? Think of your books, what if someone were to blatantly insult them like you insult Twilight? How would you feel then? Don't you see my perspective? I'm not trying to make you like it, I just want you to respect it. Think of each time someone has insulted your book, has told you it's not worth their time? That's what you're doing, that's what you're saying to Stephenie. Respect, guys. Please.
Well, it is the end, the end of the Phenomenon that started in 2003 with Stephenie's dream. But also, it is the dawn of a new day, dawn is breaking. We will all go on, we will always remember Twilight. I will always remember Twilight. Gosh, I have re-read this books over thirty times and I will continue to read them as they continue to fall apart from reading them so much. There will be new Stephenie Meyer books, all great, all exciting, but there will always be a space in my heart for the book that changed my life, the book that inspired me to start writing. One day, I will be a published author and I will have Stephenie Meyer and Twilight to thank for everything I have accomplished.
Thank you, Stephenie. Thank you.
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