The Twilight Effect

By B.L. Hewitt

When something...or someone reaches out in the middle of the night, with a single word spoken in a soft velvet voice and that voice wraps around your mind like a glove and that single word pulls you back from the edge of darkness into a light so bright you can't think. When you look up and find yourself staring into the beautiful face of a young golden eyed vampire, it sets your life on a different path.
No matter where that journey takes you...even into obession, there is no doubt that you will take it."
Much has been written about the author , the actors and the studio involved in this franchise but little has been revealed about it's fans...perhaps the fans were too busy screaming to answer.
This is my story and that of a hundred others who were swept away by the fan frantic madness that surrounds the books and films that are...The Twilight Saga.

• Language: English
• Publisher: B.L. Hewitt
• Release date: Dec 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466028685

B.L. Hewitt

Born on Long Island, NY a long...long time ago, I was raised in a small midwest Ohio town and headed out to see the world as soon as I came of age. I have lived in many different cities and abroad, liking the gypsy life. The last 12 years I worked as a glass artist in Asheville N.C., the mountains there are a constant muse. I now live in Tampa, FL..don't ask me why. I have turned to my life long love of writing and "the twilight effect" is my first published work. My new thriller "Role Play" will be out in the spring. And that is probably more than you ever expected or wanted to know about me!

Book preview

the twilight effect

by

B. L. Hewitt

the twilight effect

B.L.Hewitt

Copyright 2011 by B. L. Hewitt

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Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

To the Gods of Olympus

For Robert Pattinson, who literally saved my life.

For Stephenie Meyer, who saved my sanity?

Truly, Thank You.

Preface

Have you ever glanced across a crowded room and met the eyes of a stranger? A stranger that is looking back at you with a stare so intense that his eyes held yours with some kind of crazy physical gravitational force, so strong you could not look away? Were his eyes so clear in their depth that you could see into his soul and thought that perhaps he could see into yours? Did a little voice in the back of your mind say Girl you are in so much trouble?

Has an idea ever taken root in your mind? This idea being so far fetched, so far from real possibility, so opposite of what you have always believed in and yet you know it to be absolutely true regardless?

Has something ever come at you so fast and hard that you had no warning; you had no time or desire to turn and run? Something that grabbed a hold of you, that blindfolded you, spun you around and dropped you into a moving roller coaster car with no seat belt?

Have you ever been so desperate to know the truth of a thing that nothing else matters to you except finding that answer? Something that makes you willing to chase it down to the very end no matter what happens or where it takes you?

If you could answer yes to single one of those questions, this book will make perfect sense to you. If you could not, in reading this book you may find out how someone else could answer yes…to all of them.

When something….or someone reaches out in the middle of the night, with a single word spoken in a soft velvet voice and that voice wraps around your mind like a glove and that single word pulls you back from the edge of darkness into a light so bright you can’t even think. It sets your life on a different path. No matter where that journey takes you……. even into obsession, there is no doubt that you will take it.

In December of 2009 my husband died. I did not take it well; in fact I fell off the face of the earth and went to planet Zeron. That is how my journey into Twilight began.

I have always been all about myth and magic, so falling into Twilight was not that big a reach for me, except for the very strange and tragic circumstances that enlightened me to its existence.

Once fate stepped in front of me and introduced himself, my path was set; it was a compulsion to find out why.

Chapter 1: Phenomenon or What?

Webster defines phenomenon as, an exceptional, unusual, or abnormal, person, thing, or occurrence.

It isn’t that we all haven’t seen what could be classified as a phenomenon before, a total eclipse for example and not the Twilight kind. We all have had the chance to experience that in our lifetime. The northern lights are another example. The aurora borealis, beautifully named for the goddess Aurora, goddess of the dawn and the Greek, Boreas, god of the north wind, is a stunning light display visible in the night sky between 65 and 75 degrees latitude. We might be lucky enough to view that phenomenon, yes? Or maybe a meteor shower, such as the Geminids with its multi colored display, these celestial light shows happen every few years and almost everyone has seen one. Well known comets, named Hale-Bopp, Halley and Levy 9, they pass closely enough to Earth to be seen in a normal lifespan. No big deal, right?

If we accept this definition in the broadest sense then, even a four leaf clover might be classified as an unusual occurrence; or a person with one blue eye and one brown eye might be thought to have an unusual appearance, therefore that trait might be a phenomenon.

In the scientific world, when these things happen, we may or may not be aware of them. We may or may not care that they are occurring. Maybe these events just don’t get enough press and ok…I can go along with Webster’s definition to a point but… Wow! These examples are not what come to the mind of a fan of Twilight when you say the word phenomenon.

Exceptional thing! Unusual occurrence! Sure, sure, but the word and the definition are extremely inadequate and not nearly enough to explain how the fans feel about Twilight, don’t you think? I mean, Mega-phenomenon or giganta-phenomenon don’t even seem to be enough to define what is happening with this franchise. Maybe humomga-phenom, yeah, lets go with that.

The Twilight Saga has had such an unquestionable effect on so many lives that, oh wait that’s good, maybe I will just call it…The Twilight Effect.

Was Twilight lightning in a bottle, wishful thinking or just a hope and a dream or was this very, very carefully planned spontaneity? When the entertainment world creates a phenomenon it is an entirely different matter than a shooting star or a bio-luminescent algae bloom. The very word phenomenon suggests something random, unexpected, unplanned, but when Hollywood gets involved none of those words apply. It is not some tiny blurb in the science section of the local paper, a meteor shower can be seen tonight in the northern sky at midnight, or thousands of blackbirds fall from the sky across the world on New Year’s Eve. Oh no, not by a long shot. With today’s tech- conscious fans and mega-media access, a Hollywood created phenomenon is not easily ignored. It is in your face…totally.

They start with constant media coverage leaking tiny, little tidbits of information about an upcoming Hollywood created event. Little by little they tempt you with a comment here, a short trailer there or a new piece of merchandise, dangling each new thing in front of our eyes, enticing us further and further into the net until we are totally swept away. They completely capture your interest, it seems like you have to pay attention. Your curiosity is peaked, it’s just human nature; the intensity of your interest grows and grows with each new piece of information or photo or interview. You can hardly wait for the event! Whatever that is!

I was not aware of this slow buildup in 2008 when this phenomenon started brewing. I was totally oblivious, but then it seems I was not the only one, in the very beginning everyone was.

The Twilight Saga is not the first carefully nurtured franchise to develop a cult following.

Although the original Star Trek TV series, created by Gene Roddenberry in 1966 only ran for 3 seasons. This franchise created a cult following of avid fans, referring to themselves as Trekkie’s. For all these years they have always been steadfast and loyal; they waited patiently for the Star Trek rebirth, that they were sure would come somewhere in the far distant future. That rebirth started to happen when a newly rekindled interest in science-fiction movies started to become evident in the late 70’s and early 80’s.

A short lived animated series came along first and was quickly followed by several successful television series spin-offs that were developed using the same Star Trek universe but different, newly created and updated characters. Unique storylines emerged that mingled favorite characters from the past series, to hold the attention of and satisfy older diehard fans, while introducing new compelling figures to hopefully capture the attention of a younger generation of fans and continue the saga into a new age. Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise, were very well received.

Starting in 1979, a plan for several motion pictures, based on the original series was produced starting with Star Trek the Motion Picture and ending with Star Trek Nemesis in 2002. Nine films in all including a total reboot of the original characters in a new movie in 2009, has started the frenzy all over again.

Dozens of computer games, comic books and novels are now included in this franchise. Trekki conventions are still held every year. I probably still have my communicator pin along with my official Dick Tracy decoder ring, somewhere. Beam me up Scotty.

Star Wars created its own phenomenon; I was a little old for a light sword at that point. Yeah, like I am not sporting a Team Edward button pined on my handbag at this very minute. Star Wars was a trilogy that started its own pop culture following, complete with all its own mass merchandising. Sixteen years after the first film was released, an additional three films were produced to answer all the questions the first three films created. George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg are no fools.

James Bond, Indiana Jones, Underworld, Resident Evil, Batman, Spiderman, the list goes on and on. They all have their own cult like followers. Loyal fans that will hold on to their heroes until the very last sequel and through each remake and recast and reboot. Comic Con is the ultimate tribute to all super-heroes and alien fiends. Fans of fantasy fiction dress up and pay homage to their gods at this convention in San Diego each year, including Twilight.

It took Star Trek twenty years to catch on, but it did and it is still around after 40 years. It took Star Wars eighteen years to tell us the whole story. Once Hollywood finds something that works, it never really lets go and once such a thing becomes part of modern culture it never dies. Have you never really held up your hand, fingers spread wide and said Live long and prosper?

It took Twilight only three short years to achieve the kind of status and loyal following some of these other franchises. Who knows how many remakes, recasts and reboots we have to look forward to with Twilight. Wow!

All of these franchises are still going strong with remakes, timely new releases and new merchandise from time to time. There are loyal fan groups in all corners of the world for every single one of them. Some of these Hollywood created phenoms are almost as big as Twilight. Look at Harry Potter. It has taken 10 years to tell that complete story. Twilight’s Bella Swan is to most young girls what Harry Potter’s boy wizard was to most young boys.

The studios hope is that their timing has been right. That they haven’t stretched it out to long, that the first fans that picked up the first book would grow with the franchise and follow it through to the end. Along with that the hope is that new young fans will get caught up in the mayhem and be there for all the endless remakes and new episodes. All of the fans of these franchises are loyal, I will give them that, very loyal, but not nearly as obsessed as we Twi-hard’s seemed to be.

Elvis Presley, and Michael Jackson, even though they are gone they have an amazingly loyal fan base that keeps those legends alive. Edward Cullen and Jacob Black are just as real to their fans as these real life mega-stars.

I was around when The Beatles hit the United States in February of 1964. The fan feeding frenzy there was almost as crazy as when Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart or Taylor Lautner makes a personal appearance… almost. Nothing quite compares to that! Edward Cullen, Bella Swan and Jacob Black will live forever, really. If you are a Twilight fan I think you have to agree, there has never been anything even close to this! There may never be again.

What made that happen? What is it about a specific film or book or series that captures our attention? What made this little movie capture my attention and why can’t I let go? Why did we fall in love with the story and the characters? What holds us there? Have we, the fans, ever even asked ourselves that question? I had to ask myself that question. I really needed to find the answer too. I was swept away by it, so far from my planned destination that I was compelled to find out what the hell I was thinking.

My introduction to Twilight was kind of like being run over with a truck, so I was defiantly asking myself these questions. I was hoping that a little research into what was happening with Twilight would help me with the answers I so desperately needed to make sense of my need to continue with it. And so this book began. I never really planned on a book; just an answer but there was such an outpouring of support from fans that I began to see that their stories were just as important to me as mine.

When Twilight hit the theaters in the United States on November 21, 2008, the author, the producers and most of all the actors had no idea what was about to happen. No one could have imagined the firestorm that Twilight would ignite.

When a film like this, from a popular book or series of books is produced, the writer, the studio and the cast can only you hope for the best.

They hope the screenwriter was able to bring the story to the screen without losing the beloved storyline the book fans adore. They hope that they got the cast right. They hope that the people they choose to play the characters that fans love are the ones already in the minds of the readers. They hope that the fans will embrace the film version as they did the books. That seems a lot to hope for. It is a risky business and an expensive one. There is a lot on the line for everyone involved.

We have all anticipated movies based on one of our favorite books only to find after seeing the film, that they didn’t hit the mark at all. Sometimes we feel that the studio did fairly well at following the storyline and a few times that they really nailed it and we really love it and still watch the film every time we can. That third scenario is what Hollywood is always looking for. Lightening in a bottle!

Shortly after the first book in the series, Twilight was published; Stephenie Meyer sold the rights to produce the movie to Paramount MTV films. The script that they developed was so far removed from the original written story that Stephenie Meyer told Entertainment Weekly, "They could have put that movie out, called it something else and no one would have known it was Twilight." After Paramount’s option expired Meyer was reluctant to move on any further movie deals. When Eric Feig, president of production at Summit Entertainment approached Meyer it took some convincing for her to believe that Summit would honor the integrity of the book. Meyer needed it writing, no fangs. The contracts