To love or to completely despise....

Stephanie Meyer. Yup, say the name and MOST everyone knows she is the author of the ever-popular Twilight series. My title simply stems from the idea that any wanna be writer, novelist or even journalist that aspires one day to be a published author must love/despise Meyer at the same time. WHY? She simply went on and broke just about every rule in the writing industry. I say that because I follow a few writers on their journey to getting published and the work they invest is daunting at times to read about. However, in the end, I know they will get published and I will be one of the first to buy!

Most writers spend years honing a craft. They have gone to college for it, they have invested in short story and essay competitions, they have designed professional writing blogs, attended conferences, struggled with a bazillion rejections and truly are a "starving artist" waiting to reap the benefits of an agent recognizing their talent.

If you take a moment to read through Meyer's journey- it took all of two years for her to go from scratching down a dream she had - to a published story. She wasn't a writer by trade, she was an avid reader. She had never really written even a short story before, her book was "too long" by industry standards and she didn't even follow the would be "traditional myths" of vampires. She faced all of nine rejections before an agent took her under her wing. Her marketing scheme was modest at best and then...boom.

She went from completely unknown to a world-wide phenomenon. It's not like she got published and was excited to see her book in a local bookstore. It's not like she broke out the champagne when her book hit the best-seller list for a week or two...nope....she went world wide, sellings millions of copies and became a best-selling author in rapid fashion. Then....within a year...the movie. sheesh.

So, yes, I love the fact that her creativity and dedication to a story she loved did so well...but I sometimes pictures all those writers yet unpublished sitting, staring at their laptops.... throwing invisible darts at the girl who created Edward and Bella. :)