Stephenie Meyer (née Morgan, born December 24, 1973) is the American author of the bestselling, young adult Twilight series, which revolves around the relationship between mortal Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen. The Twilight books have sold more than 25 million copies worldwide, with translations into 37 different languages around the globe. A film adaptation of Twilight was released domestically on November 21, 2008. Meyer is also the author of the adult science-fiction novel, The Host.

Stephenie Meyer was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to Stephen and Candy Morgan. She grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, with five siblings: Seth, Emily, Jacob, Paul, and Heidi. She attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona, and was awarded a National Merit Scholarship, and she used it to pay her way to Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah, where she received a B.A. in English in 1995, but concentrated on literature rather than creative writing.

Meyer, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, met her husband Christian, nicknamed "Pancho", when she was growing up in Arizona, and married him in 1994. Together they have three sons: Gabe, Seth, and Eli.

Meyer says that the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream on June 2, 2003. The dream was about a human girl, and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood. Based on this dream, Meyer wrote the transcript of what is now Chapter 13 of the book. Despite having very little writing experience, in a matter of three months she had transformed that vivid dream into a completed novel. After writing and editing the novel, she signed a three-book deal with Little, Brown and Company for $750,000. The book was released in 2005.

Twilight quickly gained recognition and won numerous honors, including a New York Times Editor's Choice, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, an Amazon.com Best Book of the Decade...So Far, a Teen People "Hot List" pick , an American Library Association "Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults" and "Top Ten Books for Reluctant Readers” .

The novel reached #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list for young adult chapter books, and has been translated into 20 languages. However, critical reception has been mixed.

Following the success of Twilight (2005), Meyer expanded the story into a series with three more books: New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), and Breaking Dawn (2008). In its first week after publication, the first sequel, New Moon, debuted at #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list for Children's Chapter Books, and in its second week rose to the #1 position, where it remained for the next eleven weeks. In total, it spent over 50 weeks on the list. After the release of Eclipse, the first three "Twilight" books spent a combined 143 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list. The fourth installment of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, was released with an initial print run of 3.7 million copies. Over 1.3 million copies were sold on the first day alone, setting a record in first-day sales performance for the Hachette Book Group USA. The series as a whole has sold over 25 million copies worldwide in 37 countries.

Upon the completion of the fourth entry in the series, Meyer indicated that Breaking Dawn would be the final novel to be told from Bella Swan's perspective. Midnight Sun was to be a companion novel to the series. It would be a retelling of the events of the novel Twilight, but from the perspective of Edward Cullen (as opposed to Bella Swan). Meyer had hoped to have Midnight Sun published some time shortly after the release of Breaking Dawn, but after an online leak of a rough draft of its first 12 chapters, Meyer chose to delay the project indefinitely. In addition, Meyer decided to make these rough chapters available on her website.

The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide, which will give further information on the world of the Twilight series, is slated for release in 2009.

Meyer has gained a following among young adult readers for her Twilight novels, which are set in the small town of Forks on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. Forks has thus received an unusual amount of attention, and celebrates "Stephenie Meyer Day" on September 13, the date of character Bella Swan's birthday, in honor of the author.

She is an avid reader and cites many novels as inspiration for the Twilight series, including Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. She also says that her writing is strongly influenced by music, and she posts "playlists" on her website of songs which specifically inspired her books.

Her 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 and Janet Evanovich. She can't write without music, and her biggest muse is the bandMuse, ironically enough. Her other favorite sources of inspiration are Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Coldplay, The All American Rejects, Travis, The Strokes, Brand New, U2, Kasabian, Jimmy Eat World, and Weezer.

One of Meyer's short stories was published in Prom Nights from Hell, a collection of stories about bad prom nights with supernatural effects. Other authors who contributed to this collection are Meg Cabot, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe, and Lauren Myracle. Prom Nights from Hell was released in April 2007.

In May 2008, Meyer's adult sci-fi novel, The Host, was released by the adult division of Little, Brown and Company; it follows the story of Melanie Stryder and Wanderer, a young woman and an invading alien "soul," who are forced to work as one. The Host debuted at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list, and remained on the list for 26 weeks.

Meyer has stated that she is "almost done" writing a possible sequel to The Host, entitled The Soul. If she were to continue the series, the third book would be called The Seeker.

Meyer mentions having several other book ideas on file, including a ghost story titled Summer House and a novel involving time travel, as well as another about mermaids.

On August 28, 2008, it was revealed that Meyer had written the treatment for the new Jack's Mannequin music video, "The Resolution", which she directed the following week.

Works:

Twilight series:

• Twilight, 2005
• New Moon, 2006 Eclipse, 2007
• Breaking Dawn , 2008
• Midnight Sun, 2008

Other books:

• Prom Nights from Hell, 2007
• The Host, 2008
• The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide (supplement to the Twilight series), 2009