TWILIGHT: The Internet Crucial to its Success

Stephanie Meyer grew her books’ readership with a constant, open, grateful and helpful online presence

By Susan Carpenter

November 29, 2008

Mania is almost too sedate a term to describe the ongoing frenzy surrounding “Twilight,” Stephenie Meyer’s mega-hit young adult series about a devastatingly handsome vampire and the plain-Jane human he wants to sink his teeth into.

Since 2005, when the first of the four books was published, more than 25 million copies of the “Twilight ” saga have been sold worldwide. At least 350 fan sites have cropped up online. And the movie, which opened Nov. 21, has been the season’s breakout hit; it’s grossed close to $100 million in fewer than 10 days, the kind of numbers that guarantee sequels.

Yet only five years ago, no one had even heard of Meyer. In 2003, she was a 29-year-old stay-at-home mother who spent her days doing what any other Phoenix mom was doing: chasing her kids around and trying to keep her sanity. Going from maternal obscurity to cultural phenomenon in a scant five years is no easy feat. Like so many success stories, hers was a combination of hard work, dumb luck and being in the right place — and doing the right things — at the right time, including a brilliant and strategic use of the Web.

Read the rest of the article here.

Read our other posts on TWILIGHT here, here, here and here.

Ghost in Mexican Museum

From surveillance cameras in  the Science Museum at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, in Mexico City.  A University mentioned in Ghost Radio.

DOCTOR WHO Writer/Producer Collects OBE

Russell T Davies, the writer who resurrected Doctor Who, has received his OBE from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace.

Davies, who was appointed OBE for services to drama, wore a black suit and chatted with the Prince for nearly a minute after being given his honour.

The dramatist relaunched Doctor Who in 2005 with actor Christopher Eccleston in the lead role.

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Breaking: New Species Caught on Tape!

Shell Oil Company accidentally films a sea monster at a depth of 2.5km

National Geographic news 24/11/08, reported the discovery of a previously unseen species of squid.

The odd, “elbowed” squid was filmed 11/11/07, at a depth of 2.5 kilometres by the Shell Oil Company who were using an ROV (Remotely operated vehicle) in the Gulf of Mexico.

Read the rest of the story here.

New Profession for Robots: Acting!

Actor Robots Take Japanese Stage

First there were dancing robots, then house-sitting robots and now a new breed of acting robots is making its big debut on the Japanese stage.

The play, which had its premiere at Osaka University, is one of Japan’s first robot-human theatre productions.

The machines were specially programmed to speak lines with human actors and move around the stage with them.

Playwright Oriza Hirata says the work raises questions about the relationship between humanity and technology.

The play, called Hataraku Watashi (I, Worker), is set in the near future.

It focuses on a young couple who own two housekeeping robots, one of which loses its motivation to work.

Read the rest of the article here.

Doctor Who Holds Tchiakowsky’s Skull!

Bequeathed Skull Stars in Hamlet

The skull held aloft by actor David Tennant in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet was a real one, it has been revealed.

Pianist Andre Tchaikowsky left his skull to the RSC when he died in 1982 in the hope it would be used on stage.

(Wasn’t the Tchaikowsky you were expecting?  Our bad for writing catchy headlines. — Ed.)

But since his death at the age of 46, it had only been used in rehearsals.

Tennant held it on stage during the famous “Alas, poor Yorick” scene in 22 performances at the Courtyard Theatre, in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Read the rest of the article here.

Helicopter in Near Collision with UFO!

Police helicopter nearly collides with “sinister” UFO in Birmingham

A POLICE helicopter had a close encounter of the alien kind in the skies over Birmingham, it has been revealed.

The near miss between the West Midlands police chopper and the UFO happened at 1,500ft above West Bromwich in May. The police aircraft was carrying out surveillance over the area when the attention suddenly switched from ground to sky.

Beside it was a small aircraft beaming out continuous blue-green lights. It came within 300ft, forcing the pilot to swerve out of its path, and appeared to circle the helicopter before flying off.

Read the rest of the article here.

Triffids Remake Annouced!

From Julie Gardner and BBC Wales (the makers of the new Doctor who) comes a remake of John Wyndam’s classic Science Fiction novel Day of the Triffids!

BBC Press Release:

A new television adaptation of classic sci-fi story The Day of The Triffids is being made by the BBC.

The drama, about menacing plants taking over the world, will be shown in two feature-length episodes next year.

Casting for the show, which will be adapted by ER screenwriter Patrick Harbinson, has yet to be decided.

The BBC has made three TV versions of John Wyndham’s classic, the most recent being in 1981. Four radio dramas have also been produced.

The most recent was in 2001, when two hour-long episodes were broadcast on the BBC World Service.

End of humankind

The new incarnation of the Triffids with their fatal sting will be shown in High Definition for the first time.

It is billed as a “fast-paced, futuristic and electrifying take” on Wyndham’s work.

Julie Gardner, head of drama at BBC Wales said: “We’re hoping to attract a legion of new fans as well as give nightmares to a new generation of viewers.”

Set in 2011, millions of people are blinded when they observe a solar storm, leading to a breakdown in civilisation.

The Triffids, a fuel-producing plant crop, escape captivity and begin to breed rapidly and attack people.

It is up to Dr Bill Masen to fight against them to prevent the end of humankind.

The new adaptation is due to start filming in London and the south-east later this year.

Haunted Pigfarm!

Real Origins of Thanksgiving!

From Whitley Strieber’s Unknown Country:

The current version of Thanksgiving was created by a journalistic crusader, and would have been unrecognizable to the Pilgrims it supposedly honors. The holiday came about through fifty years of relentless promotion by Sarah Hale, editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book and Magazine (one of the first women’s publications). She promoted it in columns and stories in her magazine until President Abraham Lincoln finally made it a national holiday. In 1863 Lincoln declared that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.

Religion expert Anne Blue Wills says, “Puritans emphasized that you should never presume on the will of God, so they never would have scheduled Thanksgivings.”

For the rest of the story click here.