'I wasn't even into vampires.'

'Most of the time, I'm just like, "Ah, you're right, I'm horrible: I should just quit now. But for a long time, y'know, I heard nothing but positive. At the very beginning, in fact, it was my sister who pretty much bullied me into sending out letters to agents, and it took me maybe only two months to get one - and then, a month later, to get a book deal. So it wasn't the normal paying-your-dues kind of thing. I got my negative later. And maybe it's better that way around, because I'm easily discouraged. It's hard for me to believe compliments, and very easy for me to believe insults. I don't know if that's just me, or if women are naturally more critical of themselves.

I wasn't even into vampires. It was this weird, fluky thing where the story really possessed me for awhile. It was also actually a huge relief to have something to do with my brain. I had all these little babies, and I didn't really talk to people any more - I was just physically caring for people, all day long.'

Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series in The Times magazine