Unofficial Bio of Stephenie Meyer

Unofficial Bio

I was born in Connecticut in 1973, during a brief blip in my family's otherwise western U.S. existence. We were settled in Phoenix by the time I was four, so, considering that I have twenty-seven Arizona summers under my belt, I think of myself as a native. The unusual spelling of my name was a gift from my father, Stephen ( + ie = me ). Though I have had my name spelled wrong on pretty much everything my entire life long, I must admit that it makes it easier to google myself now.

I filled the "Jan Brady" spot in my family—the second of three girls. Unlike the Brady's, none of my three brothers are steps, and all of them are younger than all the girls. My big sister was, however, very similar to Marcia (only instead of being self-absorbed and vain, she was sweet and shy, which made her all the more perfect—Emily, Emily, Emily!!), and we did have a dog named after a non-canine animal (Eagle, in this case). We never had a maid, so my mom is clearly superior to Florence Henderson's character, and also has a better singing voice.

I went to high school in Scottsdale, Arizona, the kind of place where every fall a few girls would come back to school with new noses and there were Porsches in the student lot (for the record, I have my original nose, and never had a car until after I was in my twenties). Our football team was renowned statewide—for having the highest average GPA. I was awarded a National Merit Scholarship, and I used it to pay my way to Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah. On the list of the biggest party schools in the country, BYU consistently and proudly finishes dead last. I majored in English, but concentrated on literature rather than creative writing, mostly because I didn't consider reading books as work (as long as I was going to be doing something anyway, I might as well get course credit for it, right?). During my college years, I heard many lame jokes about English majors' future careers in the food services industries, and to all the people who made those jokes, I now say, "Ha, ha" (to be heard in the voice of Nelson Muntz).

I met my husband, Pancho (his real name is Christiaan, but no one calls him that—it's not a long story, but it is a stupid one, so I'll skip it), when I was four, but we were never anywhere close to being childhood sweethearts. In fact, though we saw each other at least weekly through church activities, I can't recall a single instance when we so much as greeted each other with a friendly wave, let alone exchanged actual words. This may have been for the best, because when we did eventually get around to exchanging words, sixteen years after our first meeting, it only took nine months from the first "hello" to the wedding. Of course, we were able to skip over a lot of the getting to know you parts—many of our conversations would go something like this: "This one time, when I was ten, I broke my hand at a party when—" "Yeah, I know what happened. I was there, remember?"

We've been married for ten and a half years now, and have three beautiful, brilliant, wonderful boys who often remind me of chimpanzees on crack. Gabe is eight, Seth is five, and Eli is three. When I started my writing career, they were each two years younger, and, looking back, I don't have any idea how I survived trying to do so many things at once.

Twilight is my very first novel, and it has been a crazy, rollercoaster-sans-seatbelts experience from the very beginning. (If you're interested in more about the writing of Twilight, click the "Twilight Series" tab at the top of this lame, rambling autobiography. (Sorry for being Capt. Obvious.))

My favorite authors/biggest influences are (in no particular order) Orson Scott Card, Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, Maeve Binchy, Charlotte Bronte, Daphne DuMaurier, L.M. Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, Eva Ibbotson, William Goldman, Douglas Adams, Janet Evanovich... the list goes on, but I think I hit the highlights. I can't write without music, and my biggest muse is the band Muse, ironically enough (see link below). My other favorite sources of inspiration are Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Coldplay, The All American Rejects, Travis, The Strokes, Brand New, U2, Kasabian, Jimmy Eat World, and Weezer, to mention a few. My favorite places to hang out on line are:

www.fansofrealitytv.com (friendliest people on the internet, and also the best place for The Amazing Race, Survivor, and America's Next Top Model recaps. Not that I watch those shows...)

www.ericdsnider.com (my favorite movie reviews)

www.muse.mu (home of the incredible band, Muse. Best live show ever, and Absolution was possibly the best alternative album of the decade. Opinionated? Who, me?)

www.ebay.com (no explanation needed, right?)

www.imdb.com (where I search for actors to star in Twilight (more on that under "twilight" and then "Twilight the Movie))

(Little, Brown and Co.'s website for the novel)

Hachette Book Group

and www.evanovich.com (Janet Evanovich's website (Janet Evanovich writes the bestselling Stephanie Plum series). This website has a great question and answer section for writers, which is where I got the information that led me to my fantabulous agent, Jodi Reamer.)

I am also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Mormon, as we are commonly called—for more info on what that means, see www.mormon.org ) and that has a huge influence on who I am and my perspective on the world, and therefore what I write (though I have been asked more than once, "What's a nice Mormon girl like you doing writing about vampires?").

Last but not least, a big round of applause for my baby brother, Seth (Peter, in the Brady line up), who put together this website for me in his brief hiatus between semesters of school. Thank you, Seth! When you are an optometrist, I'm bringing all of my kids to you!