Rob Schumacher"Breaking Dawn," Stephanie Meyer's fourth and final book in her "Twilight" series, came out today.
CAVE CREEK, Ariz. -- Stephenie Meyer is the most famous writer you've never heard of.
But not for long. Meyer's growing popularity is like a flashing billboard on our pop culture landscape.
The 34-year-old creator of the "Twilight" teen vampire series is so sizzling hot, it's not a stretch to suggest she's heir apparent to J.K. Rowling, who gave the world Harry Potter.
The self-assured Meyer doesn't seem rattled by the comparison.
"There will never be another J.K. Rowling. That's a lot of pressure on me, isn't it?" says Meyer, curled up on a leather sofa in her airy adobe-style home in this community north of Phoenix. "I'm just happy being Stephenie Meyer. That's cool enough for me."
"Breaking Dawn," the fourth and final book, is out today, and the movie hits theaters Dec. 12.
The series involves an otherworldly love triangle: human teenager Bella Swan, her hunky vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen and Jacob Black, the irascible werewolf who also loves her. Meyer says her inspiration came from a dream about a vampire she had five years ago.
The stay-at-home Mormon mother of three sons was so moved by the dream she began writing "Twilight "that day. She submitted the manuscript to literary agencies whose addresses she found online. "Twilight" was plucked from one agency's slush pile, submitted to publishers and bought by Little, Brown, which paid $750,000 for three books.
"The nice thing is that 95 percent of the time, I'm just Mom, and we're just doing the normal thing, and I'm here, and it's good."
The biggest change is that Pancho, her husband of 13 years, quit his job as an auditor to care for Gabe, 11, Seth, 8, and Eli, 6, when Meyer is on the road promoting the book.
Her Mormon faith, she says, is of intense interest to the news media, but to her, it's just who she is. "It seems funny that it's still a story," she says, "because you didn't hear people saying, 'Jon Stewart, Jewish writer,' when his book came out. I guess being a Mormon is just odd enough that people think it's still a real story. Obviously, to me, it seems super normal. It's just my religion."
Meyer, who says she finds it hard to keep secrets, was coy in a pre-publication interview about the plot, but she did reveal this startling element: Her editors asked her to tone down the violence in "Breaking Dawn," which she did, and discussed putting an age warning on the book, which she says she supported, although it didn't happen.
"I was for an age limit of 15 or 16 and a warning," says Meyer. "I think the content is just a little harder to handle, a little bit more grown-up for really young kids. I have 9-year-old readers, and I think it's too old for them. Some of it's violence, and some of it's just mature themes."
Not that the first three books -- told from Bella's point of view -- have been particularly bloodthirsty. Forget Dracula or Anne Rice's metrosexual creatures of the night. Meyer's good vampires, like Edward, satisfy their blood lust by hunting wild animals. No human blood for them.
Little, Brown publishes the series under its Books for Young Readers division, but many adults are fans.
"I was instantly hooked," says Lisa Hansen, 35, of Utah County, Utah, a mother of children ages 5 and 9. She created twilightmoms.com, a fan site where thousands of adults discuss the books.
"I feel an emotional connection with the characters," says Hansen. "It's almost like a realistic relationship that you would have with somebody."
For younger readers, the appeal is "the combination of the love story, the action and the danger," says Marie Southard, 17, of Forked River, N.J., who was obsessed with "Harry Potter "before she became hooked on "Twilight".
Meyer says she owes a lot to her fans, but when the hoopla surrounding "Breaking Dawn" and "Twilight" the movie settles down, she's looking forward to doing what she loves best -- writing more books.
"I'm just going to try and stay home and write five books next year," Meyer says. "It may not happen, but that's my goal. And I'm not going to let anyone see them. It's just going to be about sitting home and writing."
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