a song, a tetralogy, a franchise

There is a recent addition to my immense obsession with the Twilight saga. It is a song from the upcoming New Moon soundtrack. The soundtrack is getting quite a bit of buzz for being an interesting, albeit moody, companion to the film and novel. The song is called "Meet Me On The Equinox" and is by Death Cab for Cutie. I am not particularly fond of the video, but the song is pretty fantastic with emotive lyrics and a haunting refrain: "Everything ends."

Death Cab For Cutie |MTV Music

In case you were curious about the other things I love about the Twilight saga, here is a short list:

1) Kristen Stewart because she is fierce

2) The theological questions the books raise regarding right and wrong, heaven and hell, souls, humanity, monsters, commitment, the erotics of abstinence, and choice

3) Stephanie Meyer's stay-at-home-mom-turned-novelist success story

4) How fricking big and pretty the books are

5) The mania over the novels!

For me, it is very exciting to have so many people, particularly young people, excited about a book. People cannot get enough of these books - they cannot get enough of reading! This sort of fever for books is something I relate to and cherish.

Certainly, most writers do not write novels so that there is someday a lunchbox or a clothing line inspired by their characters. However, there is something terribly exciting about people being so obsessed with a story. People are crazy about a world that someone dreamed up and brought to life.

While a multi-million dollar franchise is not necessarily a part of my ambitions as a writer, I would love to make readers feel as much as Stephanie Meyer does. I cry, I laugh, I blush, I worry, I gasp each time I read one of her books. If I could do that to a reader, I would feel like I accomplished something - like I got through, like I communicated, like I said something.

Don't you worry about the haters, Stephanie! Twilight and all the subsequent novels are wonderful.

With the opening of New Moon just a few weeks away, I am relishing all the Twilight mania while it lasts. After all, pop culture phenomenon or not, this craze will pass. As Death Cab says:

Everything, everything ends.

The above picture is my own. I crushed and preserved rose petals in a copy of Eclipse. It is a custom I learned from my mother.