The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide Read Online Free Page A

that must have happened that we miss if we just skip to Bella being a grown-up.” And I said: “Well, you know, I could always make my characters talk more—that’s not a problem. Let’s go back and have this kind of stuff happen earlier.” So I had a chance to develop it.
    By the time I got to
Breaking Dawn
the characters were so fleshed out—and their allegiances were so strong to whatever they hated or loved—that it made the story just a whole lot richer when I came to it the second time, because there was so much more backstory to it.
    SH: I have to go back to the point that Jacob exists because Edward couldn’t say, “I am a vampire.” So Edward is what created the necessity for Jacob. Just as Edward’s existence, and nearness as a vampire, made Jacob into a werewolf. I just think it’s interesting that those two characters, who are sometimes friends and sometimes…
    SM: Not.
I think that, in reality, it’s never one boy—there’s never this moment when you know. There’s a choice there, and sometimes it’s hard.
     
    SH: … enemies, can’t seem to live without each other. They completely are born from each other.
    SM: Jacob was born from Edward… also because of—I guess you have to say it was a flaw—Edward’s inability to be honest about this essential fact of himself. Although it was an understandable flaw—it was something that he was supposed to keep secret. You know, it wasn’t something that you just say in everyday passing conversation: “By the way [laughs], I’m a vampire.” It’s just not a normal thing.
    Jacob’s character also became an answer to the deficiencies in Edward—because Edward’s not perfect. There were things about him that didn’t make him the most perfect boyfriend in the whole world. I mean, some things about him make himan amazing boyfriend, but other things were lacking—and Jacob sort of was the alternative. Here you have Edward, someone who overthinks everything—whose every emotion is overwrought—and just tortures himself. And there’s so much angst, because he has never come to terms with what he is.
    Then here you have Jacob, someone who never gives anything a passing thought and just is happy-go-lucky: If something’s wrong, well, okay—let’s just get over it and move on. Here’s someone who’s able to take things in stride a little bit more, who doesn’t overthink everything. Someone who’s a little rash. He does seem foolish sometimes, just because he doesn’t pause to think before he leaps, you know?
    That was sort of the opposite of Edward’s character in a lot of ways. It gave a balance to the story and a choice for Bella, because I think she needed that. There was an option for her to choose a different life, with someone that she could have loved—or someone who she does love. I always felt like that was really necessary to the story. Because when I write, I try to make the characters react to things the way I think real people would.
    I think that, in reality, it’s never one boy—there’s never this moment when you know. There’s a choice there, and sometimes it’s hard. Romance and relationships are a tangle, and this messy thing—you never know what to expect, and people are so surprising.
I do know what would have happened if Edward hadn’t come back. You know, I know that whole story—how it went down, and what their future was.
     
    SH: So for you, was the storyline inevitable? Or were there points when you were writing where you thought the characters might have made one choice or another?
    SM: It’s a funny thing—because it was inevitable. From the time I started the first sequel, I always knew what was going to happen. With
Twilight
I had no idea what was going to happen—it just sort of happened. But after I knew where it was going, I knew Edward and Bella were going outtogether. As you start to write stories you get twist-offs of things—there are three or four or five different ways it could have