I first became a fan of Stephenie Meyer when I read her adult book "The Host." Later, at the insistence of a friend, I read Meyer's young adult series "Twilight." Although they weren't the best books, they were easy to read, were relatively rich with action and had some well-developed characters.
However, recent events have made me want to deny that I was ever a fan and supporter of Meyer.
She had given incomplete copies of her next book, "Midnight Sun," a repeat of the first book written from a different character's perspective, to "trusted individuals." Recently, one of these copies was leaked onto the Internet, and within days a large number of people had read the unedited draft of the first 12 chapters.
On Aug. 28, Meyer announced on her Web site that the book was no longer going to be published.
"If I tried to write 'Midnight Sun' now, in my current frame of mind, [the bad guy] would probably win and all the [good guys] would die…I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on 'Midnight Sun,' and so it is on hold indefinitely," the announcement read.
Seriously, Meyer needs to step back and do a reality check. Anyone who writes extremely popular books will have details leaked, but that's simply the price of fame. And in this case, it is not the fan's fault, but the fault of Meyer herself.
It is not as though someone hacked into her computer; she gave copies away. She should have known that there was a chance that it would be posted on the internet, and she shouldn't be punishing her fans for a mistake that she made.
As for her statement on Meyer's Web site, it makes her sound like a child. Of course it is upsetting when someone betrays your trust, but the way she reacted is something that you would expect from a child, not an adult. Saying that the villain would win and everyone would die is taking the situation a little too far.
Many of her fans who knew about "Midnight Sun" were eagerly awaiting its release and anticipating the insight it would give them into the other character. They weren't the one who posted her work online for the whole world to see. They had absolutely nothing to do with the leak, but now Meyer is punishing them after they stood by her for so many years as she made her way to the top of bestseller lists.
And it's not like releasing the finished book would hurt her sales seeing as how she's already so popular. Plus, not everyone is Internet savvy and constantly searching for leaked books.
Meyer should get over the fact that her work was leaked and move on. It is understandable if she needs to take a break, but canceling her book permanently because she can't get over it is simply being rude to her readers and unprofessional toward her publisher(s) is not.
If she wants to be respected she needs to grow up and stop punishing fans for something that wasn't their fault.
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