Illegal Release of Midnight Sun

Midnight Sun is the fifth book in the Twilight series. It's actually a re-write of Twilight from Edward's perspective. So it's not like its an entirely new novel, but its still unbelievably exciting. Edward is by my fave character in the Twilight series, as I know he is for many others as well. So you can imagine my uncontainable excitement last weekend when I found a leaked copy of the first twelve chapters of the book online.

Without thinking twice about it, I downloaded the manuscript and started reading, along with so many of my online Twilight buddies. And honestly, I really could not contain myself. I was sooooo surprised at how much more I enjoyed reading Twilight from Edward's perspective. So much so that it didn't take much for me to decide that this version of Twilight was far better than original, narrated from Bella's perspective.

In conjunction with reading, I jumped on the forum over at bellaandedward.com and began discussing the manuscript with my friends at great lenght. The general consensus among fans was that, finished or not, this was the best thing we'd ever laid our eyes on. The masses were literally hyperventilating with excitement.

Not for one moment did any of us really stop to consider the ramifications of the document being leaked. Well, after a week, Stephenie Meyer released a statement on her website. And it goes a little something like this:

As some of you may have heard, my partial draft of Midnight Sun was illegally posted on the Internet and has since been virally distributed without my knowledge or permission or the knowledge or permission of my publisher.

I have a good idea of how the leak happened as there were very few copies of Midnight Sun that left my possession and each was unique. Due to little changes I made to the manuscript at different times, I can tell when each left my possession and to whom it was given. The manuscript that was illegally distributed on the Internet was given to trusted individuals for a good purpose. I have no comment beyond that as I believe that there was no malicious intent with the initial distribution.

I did not want my readers to experience Midnight Sun before it was completed, edited and published. I think it is important for everybody to understand that what happened was a huge violation of my rights as an author, not to mention me as a human being. As the author of the Twilight Saga, I control the copyright and it is up to the owner of the copyright to decide when the books should be made public; this is the same for musicians and filmmakers. Just because someone buys a book or movie or song, or gets a download off the Internet, doesn't mean that they own the right to reproduce and distribute it. Unfortunately, with the Internet, it is easy for people to obtain and share items that do not legally belong to them. No matter how this is done, it is still dishonest. This has been a very upsetting experience for me, but I hope it will at least leave my fans with a better understanding of copyright and the importance of artistic control.

So where does this leave Midnight Sun? 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.

I'd rather my fans not read this version of Midnight Sun. It was only an incomplete draft; the writing is messy and flawed and full of mistakes. But how do I comment on this violation without driving more people to look for the illegal posting? It has taken me a while to decide how and if I could respond. But to end the confusion, I've decided to make the draft available here (at the end of this message on the Midnight Sun page). This way, my readers don't have to feel they have to make a sacrifice to stay honest. I hope this fragment gives you further insight into Edward's head and adds a new dimension to the Twilight story. That's what inspired me to write it in the first place.

I do want to take a moment and thank the wonderful fans who have been so supportive of me over the past three years. I cannot begin to tell you how much each of you means to me. I only hope this note will stop all the confusion and online speculation so that the Twilight universe can once again become the happy escape it used to be. After this incredibly busy year, I am now focusing on spending more time with my family and working on some other writing projects.

I am devastated to learn that she does not want to continue writing Midnight Sun. Some are saying that not finishing the project is a bit of an overreaction, but I guess if it were me in her place, I'd be feeling pretty low about the whole thing too. I'm hoping (crossing all my fingers and toes) that she's going to wake up in a few weeks time, when this has all blown over, and decide that her decision was hasty and finish the damn novel. After having a taste of Edward's brain, i'll go absolutely insane if we don't get the rest.

I also feel pretty bad because I was pretty vocal about my thoughts on how it was leaked. I thought it might have been possible that, after the backlash surrounding Breaking Dawn, that someone in the Meyer Camp leaked it on purpose in an effort to win back some of the straying fans. If that was her intention, it completely worked. Every Twilighter I knew that was feeling down about the way the series ended, got straight back on their Twilight horse once they read Midnight Sun. But it would seem, from her statement, that this was never true.

Ugh, I just feel all blah about the whole thing. I feel bad for encouraging people to read it, but I dont feel bad for reading it myself. Before she became a published author, i'm sure if she were put in the same position as myself (Edward dangling in front of her) she'd probably have downloaded it and read it too. But now that she's saying she's not going to finish it .... ugh.

Alec and Jace!

Alec and Magnus break up!!!!! Unless it's some crazy ploy of CC to lead us a stray...

City of Glass excerpt

A June cookie. Jace and Alec, mid-book.

-------

Alec retrieved the box, pulled a chair up opposite Jace's and flung
himself down in it. "Give me your hand."
Jace held his hand out. He had to admit it looked pretty bad. All four
knuckles were split open like red starbursts. Dried blood clung to his
fingers, a flaking red-brown glove.
Alec made a face. "You're an idiot."
"Thanks," Jace said. He watched patiently as Alec bent over his hand
with a pair of tweezers and gently nudged at a bit of glass embedded
in his skin. "So, why not?"
"Why not what?"
"Why not use a healing rune? This isn't a demon injury."
"Because." Alec retrieved the blue bottle of antiseptic. "I think it
would do you good to feel the pain. You can heal like a mundane. Slow
and ugly. Maybe you'll learn something." He splashed the bitter liquid
over Jace's cuts. "Although I doubt it."
"I can always do my own healing rune, you know."
Alec began wrapping a strip of bandages around Jace's hand. "Only if
you want me to tell the Penhallows what really happened to their
window, instead of letting them think it was an accident." He jerked a
knot in the bandages tight, making Jace wince. "You know, if I'd
thought you were going to do this to yourself, I would never have told
you anything."
"Yes, you would have." Jace cocked his head to the side. "You know, I
didn't realize my attack on the picture window would upset you quite
so much."
"It's just --" Done with the bandaging, Alec looked down at Jace's
hand, the hand he was still holding between his. It was a white paw of
bandages, spotted with blood where Alec's fingers had touched it. "Why
do you do these things to yourself? Not just what you did to the
window, but the way you talked to Clary. What are you punishing
yourself for? You can't help how you feel."
Jace's voice was even. "How do I feel?"
"I see how you look at her." Alec's eyes were remote, seeing something
just past Jace, something that wasn't there. "Like she's the only real
thing in the world. And you can't have her. Maybe you just never knew
what it was like to want something you couldn't have before."
Jace looked at him steadily. "What's between you and Magnus Bane?"
Alec's head jerked back. "I don't -- there's nothing --"
"I know better," Jace said, forestalling him. "I'm not stupid. You
went right to Magnus after you talked to Malachi, before you talked to
me or Isabelle or anyone --"
"Because he was the only one who could answer my question, that's why.
There isn't anything between us," Alec said -- and then, catching the
look on Jace's face, added with great reluctance, "any more. There's
nothing between us any more. Okay?"
"I hope that's not because of me," Jace said.
Alec went white, and drew back, as if he were preparing to ward off a
blow. "What do you mean?"
"I'm not stupid," Jace said. "I know how you think you feel about me.
You don't, though. You just like me because I'm safe. There's no risk.
And then you never have to try to have a real relationship, because
you can use me as an excuse." Jace knew he was being cruel, and barely
cared. Hurting people he loved was almost as good as hurting himself
when he was in this kind of mood.
"But I do —"
"You don't," Jace said. "Fine. Go ahead. Kiss me right now."
****

Another Sneak Peak

City of Glass excerpt 2

***

"But you're supposed to be in New York!" Isabelle exclaimed. "Jace said you'd changed your mind about coming. He said you wanted to stay with your mother!"
"Jace lied," Clary said flatly. "He didn't want me here, so he lied to me about when you were leaving, and then lied to you about me changing my mind. Remember when you told me he never lies? That was so not true."
"He normally never does," said Isabelle, who had gone rather pale. "Look, did you come here -- I mean, does this have something to do with Simon?"
"With Simon? No. Simon's safe in New York, thank God. Although he's going to be really pissed that I left without telling him." Isabelle's blank expression was starting to annoy Clary. "Come on, Isabelle. Let me in. I need to see Jace."
"So . . . You just came here on your own? Did you have permission from the Clave? Please tell me you had permission from the Clave." There was a pleading note in Isabelle's voice.
"Not as such --"
"You broke the Law?" Isabelle's voice rose, then dropped. She went on, almost in a whisper, "If Jace finds out, he'll freak. Clary, you've got to go home."
"No. I'm supposed to be here," Clary said, not even sure herself quite where her stubbornness was coming from. "And I need to talk to Jace."
"Now isn't a good time." Isabelle looked around anxiously, as if hoping there was someone she could appeal to to remove Clary from the premises. "Please, just go back to New York. Please?"
"I thought you liked me, Izzy." Clary went for the guilt.
Isabelle's eyes widened further. She was wearing a white dress and had her hair pinned up and looked younger than usual. Behind her Clary could see a high-ceilinged entryway hung with antique-looking oil paintings. "I do like you. It's just that Jace -- oh my God, what are you wearing? Where did you get fighting gear?"
Clary looked down at herself. "It's a long story."
"You can't come in here like that. If Jace sees you --"
"Oh, so what if he sees me? Isabelle, I came here because of my mother -- for my mother. Jace may not want me here, but he can't make me stay home. I'm supposed to be here. My mother would want me to do this for her. You'd do it for your mother, wouldn't you?"
"Of course I would," Isabelle said. "But Clary, Jace has reasons --"
"Then I'd love to hear what they are." Clary ducked under Isabelle's arm and into the house.
"Clary!" Isabelle yelped, and darted after her, but Clary was already halfway down the hall. She saw, with the half of her mind that wasn't concentrating on dodging Isabelle, that the house was build like Amatis' -- tall and narrow -- but considerably larger and more richly decorated. The hallway opened into a room with high windows that looked out over a wide canal. White boats plied the water, their sails drifting by like dandelion clocks tossed on the wind. A dark-haired boy sat on a couch by one of the windows, reading a book.
"Sebastian!" Isabelle called. "Don't let her go upstairs!"
The boy looked up, startled --and a moment later was in front of Clary, blocking her path to the stairs. Clary skidded to a halt — she'd never seen anyone move that fast before, except Jace. The boy wasn't even out of breath; in fact, he was smiling at her.
"So this is the famous Clary." His smile lit up his face, and Clary felt her breath catch.
For years she'd drawn her own ongoing graphic novel, which she'd hardly ever showed to anyone, the tale of a king's son who was under a curse that meant that everyone he loved would die. She'd been awfully proud of the dark, romantic, shadowy prince she'd created — and here he was, standing in front of her: the same pale skin, the same tumbling black hair and deep-set, shadowed eyes. The same high cheekbones and black fringe of lashes. She knew she'd never set eyes on this boy before, and yet —
"I'm Sebastian Verlac." He held out his hand. "Aline's cousin."
"Sebastian!" Isabelle's hair had come out of its pins and hung down over her shoulders, and she was glaring."Don't be nice to her. She's not supposed to be here. Clary, go home."

City of Glass Sneak Peak!

City of Glass August Excerpt

***
At the table sat Jace. He was leaning forward on his elbows, his golden hair tousled, his shirt slightly open at the neck. She could see the thick banding of black Marks tracing his collarbone. He held a cookie in one graceful hand. "Good," he said, "you're back. I was beginning to think you'd fallen into a canal."
Clary just stared at him, wordless. She wondered if he could read the anger in her eyes. He leaned back in the chair, one arm thrown casually over the back of it. If it hadn't been for the rapid pulse at the base of his throat she might almost have believed his air of unconcern.
"You look exhausted," he added. "Where have you been all day?"
"I was out with Sebastian."
"Sebastian?" Clary was momentarily gratified by his look of utter astonishment.
"He walked me home last night," Clary said, and in her mind, the words I'll just be your brother from now on, just your brother, beat like the rhythm of a damaged heart. "And so far, he's the only person in this city who's been remotely nice to me. So yes. I was out with Sebastian."
"I see." Jace set his cookie back down on the plate, his face as blank as an unpainted canvas. "Clary, I came here to apologize. I shouldn't have spoken to you the way I did."
"No," Clary said. "You shouldn't."
"I also came to ask you if you'd reconsider going back to New York."
"God," Clary said. "This again --"
"It's not safe for you here --"
"What are you worried about?" she asked tonelessly. "That they'll throw me in prison like they did with Simon?"
Jace's expression didn't change, but he rocked back in his chair, the front legs lifting off the floor, almost as if she had shoved him. "Simon --?"
"Sebastian told me what happened to him," she went on in the same toneless voice. "What you did. How you brought him here and then let him just get thrown in jail. Are you trying to get me to hate you?"
"And you trust Sebastian?" Jace asked. "You barely know him, Clary."
She stared at him. "Is it not true?"
He met her gaze, but his face had gone still. "It's true."

City of Ashes - Textual Analysis

So I'm currently working on the chapter of my thesis that includes City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare. Before I say anything at all, remind me never to use a novel that I absolutely love for textual analysis for academic purposes ever again!!

I love the creative concept behind this novel, I love the characters, I love Clare's writing style. The Mortal Instruments series would have to be one of the best YA finds that i've come across in a long time, so why oh why did I decide to use it for my thesis?

Alec and Magnus are, what my supervisor refers to, as secondary characters. Alec is a teenage Showdowhunter and Magnus is a very old Warlock. Anyway, it's hinted at, right from the moment that Magnus is introduced into City of Bones that he's gay. And, if you look very closely at the text (which is what textual analysis is all about), the signs that he's also interested in Alec are also there.

I've been talking to my supervisor about their relationship (which I absolutely adore, by the way, and I hope we get more of in the next installment) and she wants me to turn Magnus into a pedophile! God help me, I don't want to! I like Magnus. A lot. I tried explaining to her that Magnus actually looks 19 or so, and it's kind of like the same situation that happened in Buffy between her and Angel. No one thought that was gross or inappropriate. In fact, the entire audience was cheering them on. So what makes it so different with Magnus and Alec. Is it just because they're both guys? Well I say that sucks!

It looks like my thesis is going to highlight that even though YA writers are starting to include gay characters in their hero narratives, the characters are created by a world of homophobia, and said homophobia only hinders their case for liberation. So, what I want to know is... if its ok for a 16 year old, blonde American beauty to have sex with a 300-year-old hot American vampire, then why is it not ok for a 16 year-old American boy to have sex with a 300-year-old, hot American Warlock?

Not that we even really know if they've had sex. They probably haven't. But I say, go Alec, go!

Pedophilia? Pfft. I think not.

Breaking Dawn Broke My Heart

You may notice that it has been a little while since my last post. Well, it's now August 12, which is officially 8 days since I received, and read, Breaking Dawn. I've taken my time writing my response because honestly, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book.

The Twilight series has honestly ruled my life since I first picked it up back in 2007 (I know, I know, I jumped on the bandwagon a little later than most). But, since that first day that I finished Twilight (and then jumped in my car and drove straight to the bookstore looking for New Moon and Eclipse) I've done at least one Twilight-related thing per day. Whether it be posting on internet forum sits, looking at Stephenie Meyer's website for news and updates, watching clips about the upcoming movie on youtube. Sometimes I've spent FAR too much time on the internet doing Twilight-related thing, and then other times it's been brief. Anyone that knows me, knows just how obsessed I've become with this series. So the anticipation surrounding Breaking Dawn was huge for me. I drove my partner crazy in the weeks leading up to its release, talking about possible theories and stuff like that. I even made him read it (well, he listened to it on audiobook at least).

And I just have to say that I feel the whole thing has been a little anticlimatic. I don't really know what I was expecting, but it certainly was not this. If you haven't read Breaking Dawn, please don't read any further, because its going to be spoiler central from here on it.

Gripe #1 Renesemee? OMG! I mean apart from her name being the most ridiculous name for a baby that I've ever heard, her very existence gives me the creeps. I liked Twilight because it was more real than supernatural, but the supernatural aspects of Breaking Dawn got a little out of hand. Bella fell pregnant and gave birth to the kid within a couple of weeks. Apart from the fact that such an event seems really unrealistic (even for Twilight), the birth of Renesmee totally changed the narrative tone of the entire story. All of a sudden, it wasn't a story about Bella and Edward's impossible love anymore. It became a story about a teenage pregnancy! It's impossible for me to imagine Bella and Edward as parents, and honestly, I dont want to because it taints the first three books for me.

Gripe #2 The total LACK of confrontation with the volturi. I mean come on.... How many pages did Meyer spend building up to this. In fact how many books did she spend building up to this. The problems with the volturi started in New Moon, the continued through to Eclipse and then in Breaking Dawn the build up was enormous. I was prepared for the vampire smack down of all vamp smack downs. In mental preparation for receiving Breaking Dawn, I had resigned myself to the fact that someone was going to die during the inevitable conflict with the volturi. When you get that many powerful vamps together, how can everyone possibly live. Instead, all that happens is Irina dies. A character that readers have no emotional attachment to, and probably don't like very much anyways because of the tiny little thing she did. Ok, so she did report the fact that Bella and Edward had a kid to the volturi, and really, that's the reason they came but I think it would have been better if someone the readers were already attached to died. I hate to say this, but I would have preferred Edward to have died than Irina. At least then I would have had an emotional response to that scene, instead of thinking to myself "what was the point of that?"

And I really didn't like how the Volturi turned around and left without any confrontation at all. I mean come on!!! It was all pretty lame.

Gripe #3 I didn't like how Bella became so perfect all of a sudden. I was kinda excited by the fact that she appeared to have no special power. I liked her power, don't get me wrong, but I felt like there was nothing of Bella left at all once she was tranformed into a vamp. Except for the fact that she still loved Edward, there was nothing really the same about her. And even in Eclipse, Edward had said to her "you'll still be Bella". She so was not... And the maternal thing she suddenly developed in this book? Ugh, please *barfs*

Gripe #4 Charlie. What the hell was with that? I don't believe for a second that a parent would react the way that he did when he realised what happened to Bella. Everyone keeps saying to me "but Bella always said, less is more with Charlie" but it just doesn't gel for me. Especially after Jake phased in front of him, I would expect the Police Chief to have more questions. His reaction to everything really didn't sit well with me at all.

But, even though i'm full of gripes, there were some things that I liked about this book.

Postive #1 Jake's POV. Now i'm still very much Team Edward (not in the sense that I want Bella to be with Edward, but more in the sense that i'm attracted to Edward's character more than Jake's) but I absolutely loved reading from his POV. And honestly, I think reading about the pregnancy from Bella's POV would have been horribly dull. I loved the relationship that Jake formed with Leah and I was really gunning for them to get together. It would have been perfect for them both - each of them so broken and finding peace in one another. But I have to say, I loved that Jake imprinted on the stupid baby (i'm not mentioning her pathetic name again here unless I absolutely have to). It was totally gold. I kind of felt like he deserved it, after all Bella had put him through, I kind of felt like she deserved it too. I loved the fact that, as the kid grows, she's probably going to love Jake more than Bella and Edward. She'll belong to him instead of them. After the way Bella treated him, I thought it kind of fitting.

Positive #2 I loved the way Edward's character grew. We saw a lot more of his weaknesses in this novel (sexual, mental and physical) and I just loved that. It made him more real for me and only affirmed my position on Team Edward further.

Positive #3 I do think, that even though the plot was totally whacked out, that Stephenie Meyers writing style has really grown. I loved reading some of her descriptions and her imagery was pretty fantastic in this book. I've found her writing in her previous Twilight books (the first especially) to be quite clumsy. But BD was excellent!

Prediction: she's pissed off a lot of fans with this one so I'm guessing that whatever she does next, it will have to be really, super fantastic for her popularity to remain to high. I am very interested in her next non-twilight related project, whatever it might be. But honestly, I dont think she's totally done with twilight. I can sooooooo see her writing a book from the kid's perspective when she grows up. Can't you?

I've only read the book through in its entirety once so far because I'm so busy writing my thesis. But I have gone back and re-read certain excerpts. Once uni is over with for this semester I plant to sit down and read it again. Will my opinion change with each read through? Who really knows.. with the first three, every time I read them I loved them just a little more. I hope that every time I read BD, I don't learn to dislike it a little more.

Breaking Dawn

Eight days to go. God help me, I feel like i'm going to combust!