Rosie Jones

To say I’m reading the Twilight Saga to discover the ‘mystery’ of getting fiction published and widely-read is like a sex addict suggesting he/she is reading a porny mag for the articles.

It’s a nice sentiment.  It’s probably not true.

The Twilight phenomenon fascinates me on so many levels.  I have a ‘love-of-traditional-literature’ friend who adores Twilight but also describe it as ‘a disease’ – almost like the compulsion to read/watch the movies/or admit to liking it is induced by some sort of mania.  I have a thirty-something relative who – when I showed her I was reading it while we were staying in Singapore – pffted in my face.  She didn’t really, but she gave me the distinct impression she would rather run nude along Orchard Road than read it at the time.

Her name is Fleur.

She came back to her hometown recently, her husband and son in tow and is living with her four other siblings in their family home.  A couple of weeks after she returned, we had a chance to chat and the following information was exchanged:

Fleur: Ah, Rosie?  I have a bit of a confession to make.

Me:  (worried) It’s okay.  You can tell me.  Are you alright?  (expecting something immoral, distasteful or ribald.)

Fleur: I went with Zephyr (her younger sister) and Xena (her other sister) to see New Moon three nights ago.  I’ve read the four books since then.  I couldn’t stop.  I’ve read the entire saga.

Me: But that’s okay!  Gawd, I though it was something more serious than that!

Fleur: But I’m obsessed!  When I saw you reading Twilight on holiday, I didn’t think I would like it.  Now I can’t get enough of it!

Me: It’s fine.  You’re just suffering TURDs – The Twilight Urgency Reader Disorder (syndrome)™

™ TURDs an actual condition, noted here at rosiejones.net.  Symptoms include rapid rate (due to imagining Edward Cullen kissing you) delusions of grandeur (thinking you ARE Bella or Alice or Jacob) chest pain (due to hunching over books for prolonged periods) inability to maintain relationships (you no longer speak to other humans because you are always reading), weight loss (why eat when you can drink blood?) eye strain (due to buckets of sparkling prose) and malaise (what the hell is that anyway?)

There’s a lady I know who is (just a little) older than me.  She’s an avid reader, she enjoys writing, she works and mothers and socializes.  I know a secret about her.  She borrowed my holiday copy of ‘Twilight’, emailed me she probably wouldn’t read it, ‘but thanks for sending it anyway, hon!’

Three days later, I received a followup email from her.  Not only had she finished the initial story of Brooding Edward and Lip-Biting, Clumsy Bella, she also asked ‘hey Rosie!  Do you have the next book in the series?’

We laughed for days.  To date, she hasn’t come out of the Twilight closet to admit her interest, but I know she is reassured that her secret is safe with me.  *coughs*

The phenomenon of Twilight has been discussed far and wide.  Indeed, a friend from LiveJournal devised and wrote her thesis about the mass appeal of Stephanie Meyer’s series.  I’ve read reviews that slam her word selection, her repetition, her need to explain each and every time a character ‘chuckles’ or ’sparkles’ or ’sniggers’.  I’ve seen fandom entries and fanfic glorifying the Cullens, embracing the Team Jacob versus Team Edward teenage love competition and *flailing* over the latest pics of the actors in the films.

It’s a colourful, energized, worldwide web of pop culture, coming at a time where technology threatens to take the excitement and anticipation out of many things.  Doesn’t mean I adore the Twilight saga or sit on the edge of my seat waiting for the next movie of the series to be released.  It’s nice to see it happen, though, regardless of what I think of the story.

So what can the Twilight series teach writers craving publication about getting hauled out of the slush pile (a term I will discuss later and hate with the same passion I love Jacob Black’s smile) and ‘getting published’?  That the story is the key, that URST and teenage angst are great ‘themes’ and that supernatural elements never go out of style?

I’m not really sure!  Perhaps I need to read the remaining 2.5 books to find out!