Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Twilite by Stephen Jenner - A Review



In case you haven't had a chance to see some of my holiday picks (more to come), head over to the button on the top right of my side bar.

The very first item I listed as a holiday pick was a book called Twilite by Stephen Jenner. As my long time readers know, and especially if you read Chotskies, you know that I am a Twilightholic, Twilight Addict, Member of the Twilight Saga,  aTwilight Mom, and back in March, I tried to start a Twilight Support Group.

Twilite by Stephen Jenner was a must read from the moment I saw the book on Amazon. It is everything that Twilight isn't. Stephen took a story that is familiar with characters were love and are comfortable with and created the funniest satire spin on a book I have yet to read.

Word to the Wise: This book is only worthy of the open minded Twilight fan.  Now, I am not talking about the fan that will be all pissy because Edweird isn't always a gentleman and makes Stella Crow go dutch at dinner. It also isn't for the fan who will get upset because Yakob performs an interpretive dance to tell Stella that the Sullen's are vampires. If you are a Carlile fan, you might be upset that Carpile or Dr. Sullen is in need of some change because he is constantly being sued for malpractice or that Harley is excited because there is a Full House Marathon on TV.


I could go on and on. This book made me laugh out loud. Stephen is a remarkable author whose writing is so good, that it would be a sin if he didn't make a Shiny Luna, or a Cracked Morning (sorry Stephen, I know your titles wouldn't be so lame but work with me here).

The past two week, I have read my favorite parts over the phone to my nieces, girlfriends and father who laughed so much I had to stop reading so they could catch up. The Brady Bunch references had me cracking up and I couldn't contain myself whenever Stephen wrote about Edweird's appearance. Just like Stephanie Meyer did in Twilight, Stephen has Stella describing Edweird's appearance to us over and over and I just couldn't get enough. "His eyes. It was as if a thousand of the bluest oceans had condensed at the end of his ocular nerve. If I were a sailor or a bar maid named Brandy who served sailors whiskey and wine, I would have drowned in their blueness."

Steve was kind enough to let me interview him about Twilite, so without further ado, I bring you the interview of a true comedic genius (trust me, I don't say that lightly, just ask my sister).



As a Twilight FAN addict I wondered: What’s up Steve, not a Twilight fan? Is there a funny story behind it?

"In the summer of 2008, my wife suggested that I read TWILIGHT (“The next HARRY POTTER”).  I had never heard of it before, but she was already a fan. (For the record I’m a 40-something guy).  It did not take me very long to discover that males – certainly those my age - may not find the books as engaging as the younger, female audience.  I also found a few things quite peculiar:  Why did Bella have to describe how perfect Edward was every time she saw him?  Once, twice, three times was fine – but it lasted for four books (and yes, I did read them all!).  I also found it strange that the Chief of Police was pretty darn oblivious to the fact that vampires and werewolves were residing not only in his town, but in his own house!  I told my wife that this book was just begging to be parodied -- that it would pretty much write itself.  She suggested I go for it, and I just started typing away during the evenings, and a few months later it was done".

Did you research the actors of Twilight to write Twilite?

"I started to write TWILITE before I was aware that a TWILIGHT movie was being made.  I had already seen a couple of movies which Kristen Stewart had a part in; and, being a HARRY POTTER fan, I already knew about Robert Pattinson (and I did make a reference in TWILITE to Edward/Edweird looking a lot like Cedric Diggory, except with spiky hair.)  Other than that, it was not important to me who the movie actors were".


Do you feel Stephenie Meyer is a good writer? Personally, I feel that anyone who gets people to read is a good writer but I am literally an amateur book reviewer. How do you feel?

"I agree.  I think you have to look at the big picture:  Stephenie Meyer has written several books that millions and millions of people adore, and that is an amazing accomplishment.  There have been some who have criticized her writing; but if there’s one lesson I learned from TWILITE it’s this: You can’t please everyone.  Yet she’s created a phenomenon that has lasted for years, and is showing no sign of slowing down".
 

Team Edward or Team Jacob?

"If I can provide a third option - a write-in candidate, if you will - I’d choose Team Charley.  If you want to talk underdog, the poor guy just doesn’t have a clue: Vampires sleeping in his house, werewolves running loose around town without a leash, his own daughter nearly getting killed many times over.  And poor Charley is always kept in the dark.  He could really use a big hug from each and every one of us".

 Any plans for more books?

"I’ve gone back and forth on this.  At one time I was 90% sure I would write a sequel, then I completely flip-flopped. Right now I’m undecided.  I do think that a sequel would be much more difficult for me.  For TWILITE, things just jumped right out at me, and I couldn’t type fast enough.  In the subsequent books in the TWILIGHT SAGA, we already know most of the major characters, and there seems to be less action and more drama.  I think that I would need to pull from at least two, if not all three, of the remaining books to get enough material for me to write another book".

In A Nutshell: I highly recommend this book! Pure comedic genius and really well written. I cannot say anything negative about this book. If you need to hear if from my mouth personally, feel free to contact me. Oh and you seriously need to order this book, but please remember to order it through Amazon and through my site so that I can get the 3 cent commission. K, awesome. Ta



3 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:39 PM

    This was an interesting interview. What I loved about it is that this book was written from a mans perspective. Stephen sounds like a funny and sociable person.

    Great interview

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  2. Sandra1:11 AM

    Hahahaha... this sounds so funny. A parody of Twilight--makes me think of what 'SoutH Park' will do.
    I'll put the book in my TBR pile!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You do a really go interview! I enjoyed reading about the book, I suppose I would like reading Twilite if I knew anything about the "Twilight" series, but you know how I feel about that... :-)
    Thanks for a terrific review!!

    ReplyDelete

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