"It's our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

~ Albus Dumbledore ~

Friday, August 29, 2008

They should be hung by their pinky toes!!!

I just found out about some pretty disturbning news in the Twilight world... Thanks to some shmucks, Stephenie Meyer's next book, Midnight Sun, is being postponed... indefinitely. :(
Here is her message to her readers concerning these events, quoted from her website:

"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 post). 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.

--Stephenie "

I am flabbergasted. I hope she doesn't just scrap this story, I was really really looking forward to it... Who knows, maybe in a few years after she's published the sequel to The Host, she'll be excited about it again. *sigh, moan, and gnashing of teeth*

2 comments:

The Tenney's said...

I KNOW!!!!! I was so devistated when i read this on her sight. i can't even bring myself to read what she has on the book in hopes that things will change and she'll stll publish it. grrrr! oh and thanks for the plug!

Alex said...

I read it, its FANTASTIC! It makes me doubly, no triply, no QUADRUPILY mad about this whole thing... it was going to be FANTASTIC!!!ARGH!!!!!!!!! Hopefully she'll change her mind after working on some other stuff... I can imagine she's not feeling the Cullen love very much at the moment... *sigh*