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 I
was born in Connecticut in 1973, during a brief blip in
my family's otherwise western U.S. existence. We were settled
in Phoenix by the time I was four, and I think of myself
as a native. The unusual spelling of my name was a gift
from my father, Stephen (+ ie = me). Though I have had my
name spelled wrong on pretty much everything my entire life
long, I must admit that it makes it easier to google myself
now.
I filled the "Jan Brady" spot
in my family-the second of three girls. Unlike the Brady's,
none of my three brothers are steps, and all of them are
younger than all the girls. I went to high school in Scottsdale,
Arizona, the kind of place where every fall a few girls
would come back to school with new noses and there were
Porsches in the student lot (for the record, I have my original
nose, and never had a car until after I was in my twenties).
I was awarded a National Merit Scholarship, and I used it
to pay my way to Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah.
I majored in English, but concentrated on literature rather
than creative writing, mostly because I didn't consider
reading books "work" (as long as I was going to
be doing something anyway, I might as well get course credit
for it, right?).
I met my husband, Pancho (his real name
is Christiaan), when I was four, but we were never anywhere
close to being childhood sweethearts. In fact, though we
saw each other at least weekly through church activities,
I can't recall a single instance when we so much as greeted
each other with a friendly wave, let alone exchanged actual
words. This may have been for the best, because when we
did eventually get around to exchanging words, sixteen years
after our first meeting, it only took nine months from the
first "hello" to the wedding. Of course, we were
able to skip over a lot of the getting to know you parts
(many of our conversations would go something like this:
"This one time, when I was ten, I broke my hand at
a party when-" "Yeah, I know what happened. I
was there, remember?") We've been married for ten and
a half years now, and have three beautiful, brilliant, wonderful
boys who often remind me chimpanzees on crack. Gabe is eight,
Seth is five, and Eli is three.
My favorite authors/biggest influences
are (in no particular order) Orson Scott Card, Jane Austen,
William Shakespeare, Maeve Binchy, Charlotte Bronte, Daphne
DuMaurier, L.M. Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, Eva Ibbotson,
William Goldman, Douglas Adams, Janet Evanovich… the
list goes on, but I think I hit the highlights.
I can't write without music, and my biggest
muse is, ironically enough, the band Muse. My other favorite
sources of inspiration are Linkin Park, My Romance, Coldplay,
The All American Rejects, Travis, The Strokes, Brand New,
U2, Kasabian, Jimmy Eat World, and Weezer, to mention a
few.
My favorite places to hang out on line
are:
www.fansofrealitytv.com
(friendliest people on the internet, and also the best place
for The Amazing Race, Survivor, and America's Next Top Model
recaps. Not that I watch those shows…)
www.ericdsnider.com
(my favorite movie reviews) www.muse.mu (home of the incredible
band, Muse. Absolution was easily the best alternative album
of the year, and possibly the decade. Opinionated? Who,
me?)
www.ebay.com (no explanation needed, right?)
www.imdb.com
(where I search for actors to star in Twilight, not than
anyone cares what I think.)
www.twilightnovel.com
(Little, Brown and Co.'s website for the novel) and www.evanovich.com
(Janet Evanovich's website (Janet Evanovich writes the bestselling
Stephanie Plum series). This website has a great question
and answer section for writers, which is where I got the
information that led me to my fantabulous agent, Jodi Reamer.)
I am also a member of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Mormon, as we are commonly
called-for more info on what that means see www.mormon.org
) and that has a huge influence on who I am and my perspective
on the world, and therefore what I write (though I have
been asked more than once, "What's a nice Mormon girl
like you doing writing about vampires?").
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STEPHENIE MEYER ...: BIOGRAPHY