Okay. Here's the thing. I don't agree with Stephen King at ALL. I love Stephanie Meyer even before she got really big. When I was little my mom used to collect Stephen King books and read them. I love books especially about the supernatural, but Stephen King's books are just not good. I can't read them because they can't draw me in. I just don't like his writing. It's not that it's hard for me understand, it's just not for me.
I love Stephanie Meyer's books BECAUSE they have barely any sexual actions in them. That's all the world is today is sex and it's amazing that someone can still write without getting all hot and heavy about things. Stephen King has no idea what he's talking about. I think that he might feel threatened by Stephanie Meyer because her books are so big and his aren't as they used to be. That's just my opinion.
I loved how Stephanie Meyer wrote the Twilight books because she didn't write alot about sexual encounters and she still kept us readers totally captivated. She and J.K Rowling aren't that different like Mr. King says. J.K. Rowling is just more into magic instead of vampires. Whoever says Stephanie Meyer can't write is crazy. I don't know what I would've done without all these great books that she's written. They given me hope when I was going through really hard times regarding my health and I will be forever greatful to her. Thank you.

Stephen King is entirely right. Stephanie Myer ruined vampires. Since when do vampires sparkle? Honestly, that's not something I'd expect a vampire to do but a certain other type of person if you catch my drift.

I haven't read Ms. Meyers books, but I used to be a big Stephen King fan. He lost his relevance years ago, and I have to believe that he is harvesting some sour grapes.

Stephen King is beyond right about Stephenie Meyer. The woman takes the use of a thesaurus to a whole new level. All she does is take a single word or phrase, and use it over and over until she finds a new one. Stephen King has had a little more experience in the writing field then Stephenie Meyer, so he definitely knows what he's talking about. All Stephenie Meyer does is have dreams and write them down. Anyone can do that. Stephen King has a gift, and if I were a writer, I would be insulted by Stephenie Meyer.

The Twilight saga is terrific. I don't remember reading any Stephen King books and having dreams about them. Stephanie Meyer is brilliant.

Obviously, Meyer is a great writer. I mean, just look at all the people she's drawn in! it's more about who your books appeal to, and not many teenage girls want to read about cars that kill people in stephen king books. Stephenie Meyer captivates you in her writing and i think she is very good with descriptions. it's a sweet and romantic series-not every girl is looking for gruesome violence!

I agree with King, Stephenie Meyer is a horrible writer. King may not be as relevant or as big as he used to be, but that doesn't mean he feels threatened by Meyer or that his comments are sour grapes. He praises JK Rowling as a terrific writer and JKR has sold 10 times as many books as Meyer has.

Forget the sparkling vampires, that's the least of Meyer's problems as a writer. Her plotting and pacing are terrible. Her characters are one-dimensional. She abuses her thesaurus. Her dialogue tags (sighed, groaned, murmured, hissed) are borderline hilarious. Bella/Edward is supposed to be like this great love story, but I couldn't tell you why they are in love other than just "because they are." A good editor could have sliced the books in half just by taking out the repeated (I mean AGAIN AND AGAIN) descriptions of Edward's perfect marble chest and perfect topaz eyes.

I'm not sure where I come down in this discussion. I thought King's early books were great, and still have nightmares picturing Jack Nicholson in The Shining. But I haven't picked up his horror novels in a long time; the last book of his that I read was the Red Sox quickie written with Stewart O'Nan, and I was disappointed. At the same time, I can attest that Meyer has captivated young teenage girls; my 13-year-old niece has read the entire Twilight series. They might not be great art (I can't judge because I haven't read them), but I applaud Meyer or anyone else who can get kids to read these days.

Wow...
Stephenie Meyer wasnt writing facts about vampires when she wrote the books so you cant say " since when does vampires skin sparkle" part of the reason stephenie likes writing is because she can create her own world and thats exactly wat she did she wasnt following wat other people said she just did what she wanted.
and i thing that Stephen king is absoultly crazy and also jelous because her books are doing better than his at the present time. I love all of stephenie's books shes an amazing author no matter what stephen king says.

I'm a writer and I'm not at all insulted by Stephanie Myers. I thought her Twilight series was great. Yeah, I can see why Stephen King doesn't think her writing sparkles (unlike Edward), but she is one HECK Of a storyteller and if I had to choose between writing verbose, overstated prose and everyman language that speaks to the hearts of an entire generation of Teenage girls, I'd definitely dummy down my style and go for the latter. :)

I enjoy the fact that I can go into a bookstore and choose from a wide variety of authors, styles and genres. How BORING would it be if every author wrote exactly the same?

Although the supernatural is a dominant part of the Twilight series, I believe the true core and appeal comes from a powerful story of love and sacrifice. Meyer has developed characters that have great depth and likeability. I also feel comfortable with my 13-year-old daughter reading them without worrying about excessive sexuality; which is unfortunately, rare in this day and age.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I think it is in very poor taste for Mr. King to be taking pot-shots at other authors. Sour grapes is an understatement. Maybe he should concentrate on his next book, rather than lashing out at others.

Stephen King is WRONG!!!!!!!!!
Stephenie Meyer actually writes reaaly good and the book drags me along and it makes me want to read more!!!!!!!!!

stephan ur a gerk!

Wow.
Angry fangirls are angry.
Stephenie Meyer has not only ruined the reputation of vampires, but she crushed it down to dust. Turning it from a goth center of interest into a preppy obsession.
Her books are filled with sex to give hope to 10-20 year old preppy girls that they will have sex with the perfect man if they act like a stupid bitch.
I totally agree with Mr. King, because Meyer has no talent whatsoever to write, and the book only because so popular because it became a new fashion for people to read and "love" it, not because of the actual quality of the book itself.
To Tayler, please re-read your comment ... (or re-read Twilight). "they have barely any sexual actions in them"? The entire story was based on Meyer's sexual fantasies, and she was not afraid to show it while writing the book.
And nobody can disagree that a 10th grader, if not even smaller, can write more imaginatively and with a much better structure and grammar than Meyer, except of course the angry Twilight fans, which consider Edward and Bella (Fictional characters, people. Get over it.) the gods of their new world of fandom.

I do like Stephenie, I've loved her for a while. Stephen King must be a good writer (although I've never read his stuff), because of all his fans. I don't like his taking a shot at Steph, because I do like her books. I'm not being a hater or a crazy fan girl. But, rebecca, come on. Don't be mean. It's a book. yeah, it's from a dream, but I"m writing a story based on a dream, too. (Not copying Steph here.) That was kinda mean of King, although he's allowed to have an opinion, but I think JK, Stephen, and Stephenie are all truly amazing writers. It takes alot to write a book. Let's not be mean, guys. Okay? Thanks.

Ok, what is wrong with this guy???!!!
:-(
I wonder if he has some mental disorder because Stephenie Meyer is an excellent write while, J.K. Rowling isn't, well she is but not as good as Stephenie Meyer!!

I agree with Stephen King about Stephanie Meyer (and I am pretty disgusted with the subtext in her books and the message it gives to young women), but I find it hilarious that King, considered a hack by so many, is dishing it out like that!

King's books went through a long, dark boring patch, but the last things I've read, Duma Key in particular, have been a big improvement. He is a great storyteller, even if his writing is sometimes sub-par.

One of the issues here is that "popular" is not the same as "good". Meyer may have sold millions of books, but that doesn't make her a good writer, and the same is true for Stephen King.

And personally, I think that Clown in "It" could take Edward, any day. :)

Edward Cullen is so not a wimp!
This guy sucks eggs!
How can someone not like Stephenie Meyer?
If Stephenie Meyer weren't a good write would so many people buy her books? Would they have made a movie about it? Have they made a movie about this dude's books? Harry Potter sucks after the second book!!
And yea I love Stephenie Meyer's books because they hardly use any sexual action until Breaking Dawn, but she doesn't use all the details just how Bella felt!! Stephen King probably has a mental disorder and can't see that Stepehenie Meyer is a good author. I bet he's jealous that her books are selling very good and that she has a lot of fame more than he does now!!
Stephenie Meyer hasn't ruined the reputation of vampires, actually until I read her books, I didn't like vampires and no series is like the Twilight series!!
and her Arnaud or however u freaking name is spelled, you need to re-read Twilight, because where do u you see sexualy fantasies? Also. the books weren't based on Meyer's sexual fantasies with a perfect guy, she had a dream and from there on it all went up hill!!!!! Edward Anthony Masen Cullen may be fiction, but who can tell us girls that we can't love a fictional guy? Oh, and as one icon said:
Twilight Haters, Please DIE!!!!!
Call me whatever you like, especially a loser because i know i am one, but you can't make me change my mind so ha!!!!

look at whose talking...stephen ..what ever his name is oh yeah i got ti..stephan slave...thinks he can write..psh..getta lyfe dude..and stop hating on stephenie's skillz...

finally someone famous said this that lady sucks at writing Her books are only famous because of these Disney losers
They screwed up Vampires now every person wants to be a Vampire now I hope some one can bring back Vampire movies and book s from these Dark Times

These posts are interesting--and revealing. I don't generally read Stephen King because his books scare me, but those I have read were extremely well written. By that I mean that he uses grammar and punctuation to give depth and power to his words. Rowling is equally skilled, and her books are a special treat. I have not read the "Twilight" series, but from the comments, it is clear that Meyer tells a story that resonnates positively with her teen audience. That is probably the most important aspect of any book--especially any book directed at our youth. What matters is not how much sex one perceives, or not, or whether a vampire can "sparkle." What matters is how the reader feels about the story. A Rembrandt inspires different emotions than a Van Gogh. They cannot be compared, and who is to say which is better?

It is an unfortunate commentary on the state of modern education that our youth do not appreciate the importance of writing technique. Indeed, most of the posts defending Meyer are written by bloggers who do not themselves seem to have a firm grasp of grammar concepts. One blogger doesn't bother to punctuate at all, whether by ignorance or design. As a result, her post has far less impact and authority than the others. There are good writers, and there are good storytellers. One is skill; the other is art. Stephen King uses both. J.K. Rowling uses both. I suspect King was criticizing Meyer's skill, not her art. My impression is that Stephanie Meyer is a great storyteller who might set a better example for her readers if she worked on her technical writing skills.

Lisa, not to mention Spiderman.

i have to disagree with stephen king, stephenie meyer is a great writer, and i dont understand some of u people its better to write wat u want and not follow in everyone else's shoes, the twilight saga is the best romantic book that has come out in a long time and it sold so much because it draws u, you wouldnt want to put it down because it keeps u wanting more, shephenie meyers to me is one of the best writers ever, she writes to the audience she knows want something different, she is my fav author. One of u said that she writes wat she dreams, well guess wat! sometimes fantasy is way better than realtiy and its good to dream, wat cud be better than a forbidden love story, her books doesnt have to be compared to no one elses because she writes her own style. oooooooo and by the way no one is angry everyone has a right to there own opinion but when u want to be rude wit it...then the people who dont agree wit u and sorry dont see things "your" way will defend wat they see and like and have there own opinion its not being angry and she hasnt ruined the reputation of vampires either, she has created her version, (this last guy-Arnaud needs to get a hold of himself because he has a really big problem and i hate to burst his bubble but the entire book wasnt about sexual fantasies i dont know wat book u were reading. u need to get a grip on urself, u say that stephenie meyers cant write books but i have read some of stephen kings books and they int nothing to jump for joy about, they arent that good, they are boring, hey dont get me wrong his books draws a type of audience and stephenie meyers books draws their own and thats that, int no one tell u read her books if u dont like how she writes).STEPHENIE MEYERS IS A GREAT AUTHOR

I absolutely agree with Stephen King. Stephenie Meyer is not a very good writer. I have personally read all four twilight books and was disappointed. I was hopeful after the first book but they went downhill from there, the last book being terrible and the ending was by far the worst ending to any book or series i have ever read. Meyer majorly over foreshadowed all the "twists" so that they weren't even fun to read anymore because you knew everything that was going to happen chapters ahead. The religious undertones were awful too. The whole no sex before marriage thing is very outdated and was portrayed quite badly throughout the whole book. I thought Meyer also made Bella to be a very weak character. She was promising at first but quickly became a damsel in distress and threw away everything for her love of a man she had known for a few months. It was a terrible version of Romeo and Juliet all over again. The vampires were also just whiny pathetic creatures who ruined the tradition power and sexiness of vampires and made them lame and emo. Overall i think Meyer struck lucky with the timing and cheesy romance but is not a good author.

Here's my two-cents on this story. I think Stephenie Meyer is a horrible author. I started to read her first book and put it down shortly. I've read a lot of books, I'm a avid reader, I've read writings by very good authors and very bad authors. Stepehie Meyer is definately on of those 'bad authors'. Also she is nothing to be compared to JK Rowling.

When she can write a story as inspiring as The Shawshank Redemption then all you teeny boppers can talk because in the mean time he is spot on, it is utter tripe and pure rubbish. There is fantasy that works like Lord of the Rings and then there is rubbish like this.

Good grief. What has happened in this country? Bad things are happening and all you all have to go back and forth about how "mine is better than yours, blah blah blah"??? This is ridiculous. The people who like Twilight need to stop trying to tell everyone else that they have to like it too. Just because you loved it doesn't mean everyone else has to! And all you Twilight Haters, no one twisted your arm and made you read those books. If you didn't like them, that's fine. Whatever. Just get it through your head that doesn't mean you get to tell everyone else that they can't like them either. Just because you didn't like it doesn't mean no one else can! Stop caring about whether anyone else likes it or not. It's not your place to tell people how to think. What should matter to you is, do you like it. Quit yelling at people and freaking out because they liked/didn't like Twilight. There really are better thing to spend your energy on!

I think that it just depends on what your preference is. I think what Stephenie tries to capture is the beauty of fiction...the power to create a story with so much TRUTH and LOVE and then add just enough flair of excitement and adventure into the story. Stephen's books are based on dreams or nightmares.(That's what I hear anyway) And that is how Stephenie came up with this incredible love story. A dream! So in some ways they are quite similar. Everyone has this set idea on how an author should be. How they should write it or capture the moments. But everyone is different. And it was her dream. Both of these authors have come up with amazing and thrilling stories but Stephenie takes my vote. Not because I'm a woman within the 13-25 year range but because her writing has TRUTH to it. It's that simple. I don't think Stephen is jealous, he's just an older guy who writes about horror. Why would her books interest him? She can write, just not to his preference. To each it's own. Right?

YES! It is completely true - Stephenie Myer Can't write.

Who ever said that the story is a repetitive, cliched, thesaurus abusing, plotless, filled with ill dimensioned characters is right. I couldn't agree more!

The idea of a love story between a Vampire and Human was a good one - it had so much potential but was simply murdered by Stephenie Myer's lack of direction and writing.

What was more disappointing is that all the novels droned on and on about Bella's self pity and any climatic action happened in all in just one or a few chapters.

For people who said that Stephenie Myer's writing was not full of sex - think again. All novels contained sexual connotations! It wasn't explicit, but the whole idea was there.

Stephenie Myer's characters seemingly reflect her own ideals and desires - which was probably what killed the series. Bella is a Mary Sue and Edward is a self-righteous pretty boy and nothing short of a maturity of a 90 year old person. They are both dumb - but i suppose the infatuation of fangirls alike are blinded by his "good looks".

This is funny. The comments were the funniest. Thanks for the entertainment, twi-hards and twi-haters.

To "Edward Cullen Lover Loser" ... Pick up a dictionary, and by the way, no one cares.

and to "Edward Cullen is so not a wimp!"
I'm going to quote you on something that I think only a 2 year old would say, nay, I take that back, as even a two year old would have more sense than you do.

"If Stephenie Meyer weren't a good write would so many people buy her books? Would they have made a movie about it? Have they made a movie about this dude's books?"

People buy Cocaine. Does that make Cocaine a good thing? Would we have the crisis and millions of the deaths around the world that we do now? Any by the way, do some reasearch because yes, they have made movies about several of his books and they have gone down in history, and they are the type of movies that would make a shallow child that doesn't know her place like you, suffer from chronical insomnia.

I'm sorry, I thought I would be commenting on people who have a bit if intelligence and maturity left in thier system, but obviously, I was let down.

Your reasons and arguements as to why you think she is a good writer and completely irrelivent.

And another thing,

"Stephenie Meyer hasn't ruined the reputation of vampires, actually until I read her books, I didn't like vampires and no series is like the Twilight series!!"

Yes, there are no other series like the twilight series, because anyone who had thought of something quite the same would have the decency not to corrupt childrens minds with idiotic dreams and terrible writing.

As for the not liking vampires bit:
well, that's your fault is it not? If you like vampires for the sole purpose of the shallow and childish 'love' that is portrayed in S.M's books then... Well, I pity you my dear.

Oh, and if you do reply to this, or anyone else for that matter, know that I will not waste my time replying.

*Sigh*

Stephen King is dead right about Meyer. I don't see how any honest, self-respecting person could say otherwise.

I don't think I agree about Dean Koontz. I have yet to read an "awful" book by him.

Selling gazllions of books doesn't necessarily mean that you write well.

ok, i didnt read any twilight book. But the movie was soo AWFUL! WHAT KIND OF VAMPIRE ONLY EATS ANIMAL BLOOD AND IS SPARKLY? i agree 100% with king.

The 3rd book was just about Bella wanting sex with edward and having a demon child.!
what kind of book for tweens is that?

I think it's pretty arrogant to trash another writer in public like that. I'm sure it's not going to hurt her sales or prevent the next books in her series from becoming big money movies.
The great thing about Meyer's work is, like Harry Potter, is that the wild interest in the books encouraged millions of people to read. Another thing her Twilight books has in common with HP is the interest crossed generations so parents and their teenagers discussed and enjoyed the books and movies together. These are all good things for parents, writers and educators.
I'm not sure why King was critical of Twilight and praised HP. To me they were written on about the same reading level, and had equally acceptable vocabulary and grammer with minimal character development. Perhaps he should wait to judge until both of those authors have longer careers as proof of talent.
I also haven't read a Stephen King in years. His latest works seem too much the same.

I've read every Stephen King novel ever published, and I own them all too. He's my favorite author. I also own the Twilight Saga series and the Harry Potter series.

Twilight may not be on the same level as Stephen King in terms of grammar, sentence structure, etc., but it's not bad either. King writes to an adult audience with an adult level of education, whereas Meyer writes to a pre-teen/teen audience that is still completing their education. Of course Meyer's books will not be as wordy as King's, they are aimed to a younger audience. Also, why do books aimed at pre-teens/teens need to be overtly sexual? Yes, King does not shy away from sex, but he, again, is targeting adults.

I think Stephen King is comparing apples to oranges. I also think he needs to learn to have some tact, because insulting people outright is rude, no matter who they are or what they've done.

I am a writer and I agree whole heartedly with Mr. King. I think that Mrs. Meyer’s writing not only falls short, but that her storytelling skills leave much to be desired as well. I have never seen a character that fits the description of a “Mary-Sue” better than Bella Swan. She cannot think, act, or make decisions for herself. Well, when she does, they are so stupid that you can’t see how any person, rational or otherwise, would come to the same conclusion. “Let me help fight the vampires in my human body. I’ll be good at it, I promise.” …
Meyer writes this way because she can’t fabricate her plot construction until the story demands it. Her foreshadowing is next to nil. Take the first book for example. Meyer writes a love story about Edward and Bella. As soon as they are officially together, she’s lost much of the conflict that drove the story in the first place, so that’s when she chooses to bring in the outside vampires. During the baseball game, they kind of come out of left field, don’t you think? (Pun intended)
Granted, I did enjoy the first book for what it was. I immensely enjoyed it up until the point where we discover Edward’s secret is that he sparkles. In other words, he’s more perfect and more unobtainable than we originally were led to believe. I remember this being a big let down for me. I was so excited that he might be Nosferatu gross in the sunlight. I probably would have fallen in love with the story if this had been the case. If nothing else, it would have put Bella Swan and Edward Cullen on more equal footing. It also would have provided their relationship some much needed depth and struggle.
I think Stephen King’s opinion most certainly caries weight. He is one of America’s most prolific writers and someone who strives to always improve his art-form and craft. He is a writer whose hard work, I hazard to think, does and will long outlive the passing fancy that is the Twilight saga.
If you don’t believe me, go to the library and pick up a copy King’s memoir On Writing, and you may just change your mind. Even better, get the audio in which he reads himself.
If you are looking for a YA series with depth, conflict and three dimensional characters, try Libba Bray’s A Great and Terrible Beauty. You will never look back.

okay....this opinion is way overrulled by just about EVERYONE who's read the twilight series. Stephiene is a GREAT author and personally i think she's MUCH better than J.K. Rowling....his books just arnt that good.

~I LOVE TWILIGHT~

I do like Meyers books but I can understand King cos the books seems to be written by a 14 year old girl, they are cheesy and no where near masterpieces. Teen books can be great, but these are not original or written by someone great. They are ok, and girls like them cos the vampires are sexy, Bella is cute, and there is action and a love triangle. Of course they go totally weird in the last, very overly sexual.
Rowling is by far the better writer, but it's always good that kids and teens read so great for Meyer (even if she does seem to take much from other things and don't fess up to ever having seen or read those things).
Still I am somewhat of a Twilighter cos the first book was so cute, felt like something i would have written in my diary when I was younger.
As for King, he is no king of books either

I think Stephen King was out of line when he criticized Stephanie Meyer. For me, personally, his public criticism is more of a reflection on him than on her writing.

to twilight lover: j.k rowling is a girl!

To all you people who say vampires are not sparkly and since when do vampires drink only animal blood! Vampires are not real and the only reason everyone thinks this is that for centuries now a "vampire" has been someone who drinks human blood only and has a dark, seductive precense about them. Now Stephanie Meyer has told her version, her view and her put her own twist on a make believe character and that is making people uneasy. People who believe one way and only one way do not like to think out of the box. They have read books and seen movies on Vampires for years and Stephanie's books take a different path from the norm. Vampires are a fictional charactesr and it shouln't matter how someone tells a story about them, all that matters is that there are people out there that love it and hate it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. For me, I have never really liked the norm vampire movies or books. But I really like the movie and the books and I would read them again.

wow, it's hot and heavy over here in the comment section today!

here are my 2 cents: I loved the Twilight books but I don't think Meyer is a good writer. What she IS is an excellent storyteller - and there IS a difference between writing well and telling a story well. Meyer has an intriguing plot (say what you will about sparkling vampires, she definitely got peoples attention) and the events and pacing of the story keep readers flipping pages frantically. At the same time, her writing is just *meh*. She overuses words and phrases and no one can accuse her writing itself of being beautiful or moving.

So King has a point - Meyer is NOT a great writer. But she IS a great storyteller and she is highly successful, and I'm pretty sure she's happy with that.

(Now whether you LIKE her story is another matter altogether....)

I sayhaving been through the adolescence of a daughter who became too cool to "waste time" reading.

Whatever it takes.

You purists can go for it, but reality is what it is. The irony of this is that when my daughter was not reading, I lured her with Stephen King's wife, Tabitha King's book, One on One. (I told her there was too much sex in it for her to read it) I never considered it particularly good literature. (yes, I read it first) I just wanted to keep her reading.

Have they made a movie about this dude's books?

Good Lord, Child, do you honestly believe the world began this morning??This is Carrie. This is Christine. This is The Shining. This is Misery. This is It. This is The Green Mile.

And by the way, if you want to be taken seriously, spell the bloody words!

Twilight is one of the most idiotic pieces of trash I have ever read and I agree wholeheartedly with KIng. He's one of my favourite authors ever. It is about time someone realised what crap Twilight is and refuses to be afraid to voice their opinion. Contrary to what people might believe, we *are* allowed to have dissenting opinions, and we *are* allowed to voice them. Why is Stephen King any different? Because he's a famous author? That's all the *more* reason to let him voice it. There is nothing wrong with him giving his opinion on other authors, even if they aren't favourable. Would any of you guys who are upset even care if he had said that he liked her writing, or would this be filled with comments praising him?
Just because she's popular doesn't mean she's good, it just means that there are a lot of people reading her books. I've read fanfiction on the internet that was better and more well-written than Twilight, which doesn't say much for her skill as a writer, I think.
Oh, and to Edward Cullen Lover Loser:
Ever hear of The Shining? Or the Stand? How about Cujo, or It, or Dreamcatcher? Do the Tommyknockers or Carrie ring a bell?
The Dead Zone? 1408? Firestarter? Christine? The Green Mile? Secret Window? Children of the Corn? Apt Pupil? Thinner, or maybe The Shawshank Redemption? Oh, what about Pet Sematary? Misery? Creepshow?
So, tell, me, whoever you are, *have* they made any movies about this guy's books?

God, I hate people sometimes.

Say what you want about me. I don't actually care what anonymous people I'll never meet think of me, so have at it, 'K? Last time I checked this was still a free country and I'm still allowed independent thought (and despite what some people think, I'm still allowed to think that Twilight is a steaming pile of horse dung).

Eve, how devious. I am shocked! :)

Anyone who starts off their commentary by questioning King's credibility has lost theirs entirely right from the get-go. He makes more money in royalties from his books in one year than Meyer has likely made from all of her book sales and movie deals to date.

King has written horror and fantasy with equal ease. He's changed my perspective on the world with books like The Stand, has drawn me into another world with The Dark Tower series, and has scared the hell out of me with countless other books. His credibility is not up for debate.

He doesn't like Meyer's writing because it's simplistic and as dumbed-down as it can get short of an elementary school primer. King is a fan of the craft of writing (read "On Writing" if you care to know more, a non-fiction book of his that is dedicated to the "how" of writing) and as such, has a bit of experience in the subject. He lectures at his alma mater, U-Maine (at Orono) from time to time. He knows what the hell he's talking about.

I've read and own just about everything he's put down on paper, including most of his Entertainment Weekly columns. I've also read the Twilight series and the Harry Potter books (multiple times). To even mention Meyer in the same sentence as Rowling is an exquisite honor for her, even if he's comparing the two and saying she doesn't stack up.

Honestly, where all the Twilight lovers get off going after King's credentials is beyond me. When you (or your goddess, Ms. Meyer) start collecting over $55 million a year in royalties alone, then by all means, criticize the man. 'Til then, it'd be best to ignore him if you don't agree. You don't have a leg to stand on.

I also find it hilarious that Stephanie Meyer is being defended by people who insisted that she's a "great write" and "she writes reaaly good" and think Stephen King should "getta lyfe dude." (In fact, so many posters made the "great write" error that I'm beginning to think they are all one fangirl.) People! Stop reading bad vampire novels and get to work on your Freshman English homework. You need the spelling practice.

Stephen King is the greatest writer of our time. His creativity and paradoxical genius continue to enthrall readers. While I have not read Ms. Meyer's novels, I am compelled to believe in Mr. King's words.

I am completely in agreement with his statements about J.K. Rowling, who has created an entirely unique world with the familiar idea of witches and wizards. The novels are impeccably written in a way which entertains the young and old alike.

As far as vampire novels are concerned, Bram Stoker and Anne Rice have the preternatural beings covered. I find it hard to believe Ms. Meyer's novels bring any real uniqueness to the realm.

Hmm.........Stephen King against JP... that would be kewl

Steven King has a right to his opinion, just as I have a right to mine, and you have a right to yours; however, his opinion seems to carry more weight than yours or mine. I think he has stepped over the line. Comparing two best-selling authors is ridiculous. JKR and SM have two very different writing styles, are covering different fictional subject matter, and are appealing to different audiences. The fact is, his opinion of Stephenie Meyer does not matter, neither does mine. She had an idea, wrote a few books, and those books happened to appeal to millions of people. That is the bottom line. I agree that Meyer has a simplistic writing style - obviously that was not an issue for her readers or the individuals who decided to turn her Twilight series into major motion pictures. I have read the entire series, including the partial draft of Midnight Sun available on stepheniemeyer.com, and I enjoyed the fact that I could put it down and not give it a second thought until I picked it up again. In the world of published authors, the quantity determines the quality, and in Stephenie Meyer's case, she's Grade A.

I think that Stephen King has reached the point in his life and career where he no longer has anything to prove to anyone, and feels comfortable bluntly stating his opinions. I'm glad that he had the gumption to criticize Meyer's writing. Although I understand that her characters and storyline have clearly connected with a large audience, I don't think the novels are well written or even positive in their messages. Twilight depicts an insecure young girl with no healthy sense of self who subsumes herself completely in a love affair with a man she barely understands. Some have called the series abstinence propaganda, and while that may be overstating it a bit, I do think the books are *highly* sexual while at the same time denying the realities of sexuality for teens. I'm not saying that all teenagers should be engaging in sex-- far from it-- but considering that Meyer is a Mormon, I think her worldview has shaped the way that she depicts sexuality. I don't think a book that drips with sexual tension and imagery while intimating that acting on such feelings is inherently bad is a great thing for young girls to read; neither is a book that suggests strength and security can be found only in the arms of a man. (Wow, this soap box is high, isn't it?) In any case, whatever your views or perceptions, these books are badly written on a purely technical level, with flat characters, stilted pacing, and overblown, self-indulgent prose. It's a testament to the power of the "tall dark handsome man" fantasy, and to the allure of vampires themselves, that the Twilight series is massively popular when its author has little actual writing talent.

Here's my perspective: First, comparing King and Meyer is like comparing apples to oranges. Meyer writes for a tween to young adult audience. King is obviously an adult writer. Both have experience great success in their writing careers and each have had some cross over novels.

Secondly, shouldn't we be praising both? Any writer that can get children and adults (for that matter) to read should be honored. Girls in my class (teacher by trade) have picked up books and put down Cosmo for the first time in years. My hat is off to Meyer for exciting a whole generation of readers.

Third, wouldn't if have been beneficial for King to keep his mouth shut? Girls reading Meyer today, may grow up to read King later. But I think by coming out and publically bashing Meyer, he maybe losing potential readers. And yes, it does look like sour grapes!

Julie, Krystal and others are on target for one important aspect of this debate: King and Meyer write for different audiences, and both have found a sweet spot. As a kid, I listened to bubble gum music and ate a lot of Whoppers, but eventually I moved on. My bet is that kids who are hooked on reading early will be readers forever. And that's to Meyer's credit.

stephenie meyer is awesome. the chemistry between edward and bella is beyond amazing. its basically real. while reading her books you feel like your there

I used to be a real big Steven King fan , but he lost it long ago. As far as Stephanie Meyers, I absolutely love her writing. The Twilight Saga was the first ever love story I've ever liked enough to re-read a second and a third time and God knows I'll more than likely read them again!!! They're just awesome!!! Steven King's just jealous that he didn't come up with it for himself.

King is stating the truth, Stephanie Meyers writing is more like fanfiction. Her character is such a mary-sue, but she covers it up with flaws.

There is nothing constructive about the protagonists relationship, rather, it's abusive and teaches girls to commit suicide if their boyfriend leaves them. Not only that, but the whole conversation between the two is 'I'm not good enough' or 'your too perfect' it get boring after a while.

As King say's, the only reason these book are famous is because it is sexually appealing without actually having the sex part in it. you've got an 'adonis' like male protagonist and you've got an average girl who apparently is so average yet all the guy love her...

Seriously... the only reason her books are 600+ pages long is because she adds an adjective or an adverb every other sentence.

Stephanie Meyer is a respectable person, but not a respectable writer... and I can't respect her writing as literary masterpieces... those are reserved to works written by and not limited to Aldous Huxley and Oscar Wilde.

It simply amuses me that most people supporting Twilight in this argument can barely spell and do not have any argument other than saying how "bad" Stephen King is, while barely any of them have ever read any books of his, nor have a simple glimpse of what true literature is. And if you say that you do know about literature because you have read Twilight, think again.

Wow, there have been several hot topics on Read Street lately! If not the Inaugural poem, it's Stephen King vs. Stephanie Meyer. This is like having a ringside seat at "battle of the booklovers" :) Thanks for umping all the debates, Dave.

I haven't read Stephenie Meyers, but I did sit through the movie with my 12-yr-old. She was spellbound; I giggled.

I think if it hooks kids into reading, it can't be all bad. Stephen King's writing, I can say, scares the pants off me!

First off, Stephenie meyer CAN write. I am a writer myself, and she is one of the best, most descriptive writers I have seen in a while. She and Rowling are almost matched, and, though their styles are different, they both produced great novels.

As for dear Mr. King, I admire him. His creativity is outstanding, but his writing style is choppy. I know hes been at it longet then Meyer has, but just because he doesnt like it doesnt make her a bad writer.

And, though I have read from all three of the authors mentioned here, I think that Rowling and Meyer are neck-and neck. Mr. King has put forth great ideas, but again, his writing style is no where near as descriptive, nor does it have the flow, of Stephenie's world-wide bestselling works.

I think when Stephen King makes comments regarding other writers, he needs to remember his earlier career when he was told by a certain Colorado newspaper that he had no talent as a writer. (it was earlier in his career)

Why the assumption that only 15 year old girls read the Twilight novels? I am 26 years old and, Arnaud, am a doctor, so please don't begin assuming I can't spell. I have read most of Stephen King's novels (some are great, some weak) and am a fairly recent convert to Twilight. I found Stephenie Meyer's novels utterly captivating, because, unlike pretty much every other fantasy/sci-fi book in existence, they are subtle and enjoyable, with a nice dose of romance. They don't over-sexualise, they don't preach. They are great stories about interesting characters. Isn't that enough??

As a former librarian, seeing this much enthusiasm for reading a book, in this age group, I view to be a successful endeavor. Yes, I think Rowlings books are an outstanding read, and better written, but, I felt the same way that I do for Meyer's books. YEAH! a person is reading! And, if this person becomes an enthusiastic reader they will find their way to new reading material, which is what we are all in favor of, right? By the way, I just finished reading Meyer's book "The Host" and it is written at an adult reading level. I enjoyed the read and look forward to reading her work in the future.

I think Rowlings is definately better than Meyer but for King to criticise her as if he's comparing her writing to his is apples and oranges. Oh, I think Rowlings writes better than king...personally. :)

That's funny...considering Stephen himself has called critics "pimples on his a**" . I've read his stories and Stephenie's...they are very different writers. Stephenie is an excellent storyteller, as is he. There was no need to criticize her...opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one and they all stink!

I'm not really much of a fan of either Meyer OR King, though I did enjoy "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," so I'm just looking at this from an outsider's perspective. While I don't think it's the most tactful move to publicly humiliate another writer as opposed to offering a more constructive critique, part of me wonders if the above quotes have been misinterpreted or taken out of context.

The line about "safe joining of love and sex" - could King be referring to the possibility of young women forming unrealistic expectations about the relationship between love and sex based on their literary intake? As adults, we're all too aware that there are more occasions than not where the divide between the two widens, or where one is exploited for the other. Young adult readers typically don't have the life experience to discriminate between the escapist elements of literature and those intended to reflect reality. Obviously, a suspension of disbelief is necessary to be reading a novel about vampires to begin with, but do you think there is a possibility that a young woman could subconsciously begin to form ideals and expectations of love and sex based on Bella and Edward's relationship because such emotions are intended to "humanize" the otherworldly? Maybe that is what King was getting at - it's "safe" and "not particularly threatening" and because of that it may inspire a generation of impressionable young women to carry around these unrealistic perspectives on how love and sex interact that lead them towards bitter disappointment or exploitation. I know it's a criticism that frequently gets levied on Disney movies and media targeted towards women such as "chick flicks" and "chick lit," and I wonder if King was applying that to Meyer's writing.

Again, though, I haven't read the Twilight books, or much of King in general. So my opinion ought to be taken with a grain of salt.

As a sometimes reader of Stephen King (The Stand and The Dark Tower series are up there in my top 50 favorite books of all time) who has never read Stephenie Meyer - although my wife has read the books and enjoyed them, so I have given money to both authors - I actually find the situation kind of funny. A celebrity author feud seems almost absurd in this nation where the publishing industry is really hurting and there are less and less readers every day. A while back there where some comments made by Terry Pratchett about J.K. Rowling after an interview she gave which seemed to disrespect the fantasy genre (anyone else remember that?)... there were lots of blog posts around condemning and supporting both sides. I guess this is kind of the Americanized version - as a bonus, it does provide book bloggers material for posts :)

I really love Stephen King's books and I have read quite a few of them. I also read all four of the SM Twilight Saga books. I really enjoyed those as well. Stephenie Meyer has a way of really drawing you in. Anyone who can sell 31+million copies of a book can definitly write. I have to say I was suprised the Stephen King said that. He has a different style than SM and he attracts a different audience than she does but I wouldn't go as far as to say that she can't write worth a damn. I am a 30yr old woman and I couldn't put Stephenie's books down. I wished that she would write more because I would love to read more about this story. Just about every woman young or old loves a good love story since real love is far from the fiction we read! I am sure that her writing technique will improve but I am also sure that she will continue to be on the best sellers lists, whatever she writes. I just hope that artists remain artists and not critiques leave that to the people that purchase your stories. These are the only opinions that truely matter. I hope both Stephenie and Stephen continue to put out great stories for "their" audiences.

I've read Stephen King books for years. While reading one of his latest books... and getting pretty bored. I started reading Twilight. Was totally drawn in. Put down the Stephen King and only picked it back up when I'd finished the whole Twilight Series. Needless to say I'm still slowly reading it... Certainly his books have never been able to draw me in like Stephenie Meyers. She's an incredible writer. I think Mr King is just jealous. As for what he said about her books attracting a generation of girls. I'm married with child. Definately not a little girl anymore. Get over it Stephen. A little healthy competition never hurt anyone. Maybe step up your game a bit!!

Stephen King is spot on. Stephanie Meyer is a terrible author. Her books are so "cliche" and it's your typical Mary Sue happily ever after series and there is nothing exciting about them what so ever. As for the angry Twilight fantards, calm down. King has been around for YEARS, I think he clearly knows what he's talking about when it comes to literature. His books are by far written in more depth. Meyer's books are an insult to vampire novels world wide, go pick up a novel written by Anne Rice, at least her vampires don't "sparkle" and doesn't revolve around a young teenage girl with no ambitions, low self esteem and little confidence, as well as being controlled by a emotionally abusive sparkly vampire in life and has only goal ,that being "OMG TURN ME INTO A VAMPIRE SO I CAN BE WITH YOU EDWARD FOREVER!" .

Seriously.

You Twilight fans make me laugh..

Stephanie Meyer-her imagination is quite weak, and typical of most teen lovey dovey novels, just with a sparkly vampire thrown in. Nothing new there.

JK Rowling-Has a brilliant imagination, using twists and tons of magic here and there to make the world of Harry Potter seem almost alive. Read all 7 books including the side books she wrote for charity. Loved them greatly.

Stephen King-God knows how many novels he has written, I've lost track. Many of them are deep and very well written, some are confusing, too confusing infact.

To wrap this up, I think King is right about Stephanie Meyer. In my opinion, she is incredibly boring, and yes I've read the Twilight series to see what the insane hype was about, one word:

Awful.

Okay, all you defensive fangirls chill. This dude has his own personal opinion. The fact that I agree with him on this matter isn't the point. The point is, he has a right to say what he wants. People are making a huge deal over this because of her popularity.
I read the original article and don't agree with everything he said. (I'm a James Patterson fan. XD) But honestly Stephen is only voicing his opinion. I admire him for that because most famous people hush up because they don't have the balls to criticize someone else famous because they know that people will make a huge deal out of it even if it's just a tiny comment on them.
I think this is being way over blown but... HIGH FIVE STEPHEN! Man you have some serious balls.

lol at the people who waste time arguing in the internet.
no need to get angryy people. its only a book.

Haha! These comments are Hilarious! I'm feeling the need to read Twilight now (CANT BELIEVE I JUST SAID THAT!) so i can find a better part in this conspiracy. For now, I'm not slamming Stephanie Meyer, but I also trust Stephen King as far as writing goes. I mean, geez, look at everything he's written. I'm sure King has captured A HECK of a lot more hearts than those who have been cheep-scaped into the books of cheesy themes and cliches plots. (Like I have never heard of a forbidden love story before). But I guess a lot more of my opinion will have to wait till I can actually read the book. (It will have to wait because I will be too busy reading Stephen King's: The Dark Tower series)
I would like to add that a lot of the comments from many of these people don't even seem valid. It's very obvious they do not have much literary comprehension. So who are YOU to say that Stephen King is Wrong? (That's a rhetorical question, so I'm not asking for a response).

Firstly, I did end up getting 'sucked' into the Twilight overkill. I did enjoy the first book but by the second was sorely disappointed. I can't even tell you how pathetic it all felt by the concluding book. What really got to me was not only the outdated moralising by Meyer but the fact that even when the two protagonists had married, they ended up paying a huge price for having sex. I think Mrs Meyer may need some therapy for all her repressed sexual issues. I think things have become greatly confused by the movie as well. In the first book I felt really connected to the character of Bella but I just could not help but feel utterly preached at by the end of the last novel. Things just happened to be tied up just too prettily. Look in terms of being a writer I think Meyer has a good imagination. It would be interesting to me to see her write another genre or something completely different and then debate the technicalities of being an author. But for me personally, the moralising religious undertones and shallowness of character motivation, undid what could have been a really fantastic literary adventure

Dark Tower,

I think that pretty much sums up the argument.

Being both a Stephen King AND a Stephenie Meyer fan, I have to say that his comments aren't all that surprising OR untrue.

The thing is that you can't compare authors. They each have their own voice and their readers love BOTH the story and the voice that's telling it.

While technically Stephen King and J.K. Rowling are probably better writers, the bald facts are that Stephenie Meyer has her place. The books would not have sold if they didn't provide what the reader was looking for. Obviously the readers are NOT looking for a literary masterpiece.

I don't think that Stephen King should be jealous because he doesn't know how to write to 12 year old girls. (Well, normal 12 year old girls...lol)

I think it's wrong when a fellow writer feels he has to make negative remarks against another writer. If Stephenie Meyer's books were not good they wouldn't be selling so successfully, and they wouldn't be making them into movies. If I had achieved the success that Mr. King has achieved, I would be doing my best to encourage Ms. Meyer, not tear her down. Sounds like Mr. King is jealous of Ms. Meyer's success. Sure shows a lack of class on your part Mr. King.

I wholeheartedly agree with King. I don't think she's a very good writer - and by that I mean her technique and skills, okay? I find her story predictable and her pacing is really bad. Bella and Edward say they are in love, not in lust, but I don't see any evidence of that... just a lot of physical attraction - how Bella smells so good and how Edward is the hottest guy around. I know classmates who can write way better than her. I think what made her book so popular is the PLOT/CONCEPT she created - I mean, it's somewhat of a fantasy for most girls to get the attention of the most handsome guy in school; and the fact that he's "dangerous" is a bonus.

And I want to re-emphasize a point: I've read through dozens of these comments, and I think what most people don't understand [especially you Twilight fan girls who can't construct a grammatically correct sentence if your life depended on it] is that Stephen King is criticizing her TECHNICAL WRITING SKILLS - not the damn concept/plot. Some people have pointed this out, but I don't think anyone's getting the message:

"There are good writers, and there are good storytellers. One is skill; the other is art. Stephen King uses both. J.K. Rowling uses both. I suspect King was criticizing Meyer's skill, not her art. My impression is that Stephanie Meyer is a great storyteller who might set a better example for her readers if she worked on her technical writing skills." - Blake

"I loved the Twilight books but I don't think Meyer is a good writer. What she IS is an excellent storyteller - and there IS a difference between writing well and telling a story well. Meyer has an intriguing plot (say what you will about sparkling vampires, she definitely got peoples attention)... At the same time, her writing is just *meh*. She overuses words and phrases and no one can accuse her writing itself of being beautiful or moving... So King has a point - Meyer is NOT a great writer. But she IS a great storyteller and she is highly successful, and I'm pretty sure she's happy with that." - Julie

Stephen King is right. Stephenie Meyer is a poor writer. Trust me, as a PhD student in English, I've read a lot, and compared to the English Literature as a whole, the Twilight series area complete and utter joke. That doesn't mean that they don't appeal to many, many people. King acknowledges the fan base. The truth is, millions of people love the Twilight books, and millions of people are also immature, unsophisticated, and uneducated.

I don't think he is jealous. He has no need to be. Bad writers are often best-sellers because they know a good yarn. Best example is Dan Brown. His plot was interesting and he had material that a lot of the masses had never heard of. Why everyone is acting like vampires in love is new, I haven't been able to wrap my brain around.

Vegetarian vampires are old school too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Duckula

Since when can you ruin the reputation of the fictitious vampire? Regardless, it is highly unprofessional to degrade another writer just because you don't think they can write. One would definitely question your motives. Anyway, to the person called I wish I could marry edward cullen.... if you are going to bash Stephenie Meyer, you might want to re-think your post name. He is a fictional character! DUH.

My two cents on the matter:

Meyers has a nice writing style. Kind of purple and verbose at times, but it's not bad. Her plotline, however, is atrocious. And I must say Rowling doesn't go far behind. Rowling had a good idea, a solid story, but somewhere along the way, she lost it. I can't speak about King because his genre isn't my cup of tea, but both Rowling and Meyer gave me a "something's missing" feeling after reading their books.

Vampires sparkling isn't the biggest set of utter ball Meyer's written by a long shot. Since when can a vampire have children? Really now? And here I thought their bodies are supposed to be dead...

Her books are Harlequin romance novels with a brand of vampires tailored for it and no descriptive sex scenes, of course young girls are going to 'ooh ahh' over it.

Let's face it, Meyer's stories are fanfiction in a - somewhat - original setting and semi-original characters. Millions of people read fanfiction on the internet every day. Some of it is good, some of it is bad, and Meyer doesn't rank very high even among the fanfic authors I've read, let alone published authors.

People who are happy her books are read just because it gets tweens and teens to read at least something should reconsider. Presumably we want kids to read because is because it develops one form of intelligence. This doesn't happen with Meyer's books, instead they teach repetitive and unimaginative English, too easy and transparent plot solutions and flawless characters. Meets all the classic signs of fanfiction-like writing.

I've never read any of his books either, but I'm not that old so, yeah. It's true that Stephenie Meyer isn't the best writer ever, but it's not like she's absolutely horrific. If that was the case, I'm not sure if the books would be so successful...
I think it's a matter of him being a bit confused that something that isn't perfect has become so huge. Lots of people wonder about that.
BUT, I do think he could have said it in a different way. "Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn" is kind of just rude, and it makes him seem jealous.
I think maybe he is a BIT jealous, well not really jealous but it seems like he used to be this big thing, but not so much anymore, like he doesn't have as big of a following anymore. Maybe he's just thinking like, "Wow, I had all these fans and my books were really well written, how can these ones be so successful when they're not that great?" I don't know, maybe he misses his fans and being such a phenomenon.
But I've never read any Stephen King books so...I can't really say. But thats just what I think. :)

I like the Twilight series, because it was (i mean Literally) the first book I read that I was NOT forced to read. So to me it's a good book ( if you like vampires & romance). Stephen King does not have to make rude comments about other authors. If he doesn't like the series OK. The whole world doesn't love your books either buddy. As for JK rowling I TRIED reading her books before I even knew about twilight. I fell ASLEEP once I got to page 6. I read Twilight in two nights (major headache for the lack of sleep lol) so in general seriously if you don't like Stephenies' writing say you don't, but don't say she can't write because your not a professional critic and expert on "who knows how to write perfectly and correctly".
anyways stephenie is awesome!!
& I was going to read Stephens book but now forget it I don't like arrogant writers who like to criticize other writers and make them look bad.

Are you people nuts this is Stephen freakin King the most read author on the planet. Lost his relevance are you kidding me he has published countless stories and has numerous academy award winning movies based on his books under his belt twilight is fine for some but lets not begin to compare them to Green mile, Shawshank redemption, the shining, the mist, stand by me! so forth

Like Twilight or dislike it, at the end of the day you must admit that the books are short on plot and versatile writing, and the characters are wooden. Stephen King is right on the nose. It's juvenile literature that has gotten bizarrely out of hand. I'm glad people are connecting with a book but lots of people also like McDonald's. Doesn't make it good for you.

I completely agree with Stephen King. Stephenie Meyer's writing is completely lacking in anything good. It's written on maybe a fourth grade level, her characters have absolutely NO personality, and the whole plotline is a Mary-Sue!

I'm not saying that they weren't entertaining, because they were. The spin she put on vampires was interesting, albeit drastic. Granted, she blew all of that out of the water with her final book,but still, interesting up until then nonetheless.

I am saying though that this woman has absolutely no true talent. Flat out. Stephen King knows what he's talking about.

Comparing Stephen King and Stephanie Meyer is like comparing comic books to Rembrandt paintings. They're different and they appeal to different audiences. Stephen King gave his nod to Stephanie. He knows why they have the appeal that they have. She has clearly captured and inspired a huge audience. But demoting King in defense of Meyer is just ridiculous. I mean, he's Stephen King for goodness' sake. You haven't had dreams of serial killing clown's in your closet, or your house having a twisted life of its own? I have, and I'm pretty sure the multiple generations have who were all exposed to The Shining, IT, Rose Red, Children of the Corn, Carrie, Dreamcatcher, The Green Mile, Thinner, The Stand, Pet Cemetery, Misery, Christine, and the list goes on. You can't argue with Stephen King's rank in the literary world; saying that he's lost his relevance only gives more evidence to the point that he made in the first place. He wasn't insulting anyone, so call off the dogs.

He USE to be a good writer himself, but since his accident, Mr.King's work has been disturbingly BORING- Plus, he's taking a cheap shot at an author who writes for a Completly Different Age Group/Demographic- 12-year-olds should not be reading his work, but rather the affirming 'all people have good in them' and 'true, lasting love is possible' themes in Meyer's books- I love what she did with the Vegetarian Vampire twist AND the fact that they sparkle in the sun- It's the coolest thing to happen to Vampires since...I don't even know when. The Cullens have chosen not to give in to the evil side of their natures and this is a negative theme to present to the younger generation??? And the fact that they can blend so well into human society is one of the most alluring things about them.

I am 35 and have read most everything by King(since I was 14, and NOT with my parents' permission), so I have alot of previous experience with his successes and failures(The Stand, The Talisman, Insomnia and much of his work as Richard Bachman were all great, as well as many others, but Duma Key, Lisey's Story, and Just After Sunset(currently reading) are missing the spark his early work had-yawn). What I'm getting from many of the posters who agree with King is that Meyer's characters don't seem dangerous or sexually-focused enough to be enjoyed, but why can't some of us have just a nice story that captures the innocence of youthful imagination we all use to have before we became the jaded haters who beat anything sweet or simple into submission with just for the sake of beating it?

If you're still reading King's work just because HE wrote it and giving him a pass on quality, you're a blind follower and probably no longer have the capacity to enjoy simple pleasures-Plus you truely miss out on some wonderful books(Not everything has to be a Pulitzer Prize winning work-half of what wins now anyway is crap in itself)

With this unsolicited opinion, King is looking for the attention his work no longer brings to him. Meyer should be mildly flattered that the increasingly irrelevant and unimpressive King gave her some free press this week.

Oh dear. Firstly, i'm FOR twilight.
Secondly, these people who say there's a load of sexual stuff in twilight...erm have you actually READ the books?!! there's really only anything sexual in the fourth and final book and it doesnt actually say anything about it, only how she feels in the run up to it. get a life. if you don't like the books or her writing style, then why the hell did you bloody read them?!! and if you're disgusted with the content then don't read them. if you don't like how the vampires are, don't read it. if you don't like her style, dont read it. if you don't like the words she uses, DON'T-READ-IT.
it really isn't that hard.
i havn't read Stephen King's books, i may well do in future but tbh he sounds a bit up himself.
Every author is different. Twilight is mainly aimed at teenagers, so is she REALLY going to write with words you've probably never even heard of? NO.
and as for the comment about "Since when do vampires sparkle?" i think i want to slap you for that. Books are about using your own individual ideas, if she had used to classic boring old vampire story then you'd critiicse her for not having her own ideas. just get over yourself, if you don't like an idea or the way she writes then just don't read the books its as simple as that.

I like JK Rowling too, but it's impossible to compare Twilight to Harry Potter, they are just too different in writing styles and content, same as Stephen King's books are to Twilight.

and the moral of the story is, if you don't like a book, then put the book down, and read something else= no problem! don't slag it off just because YOU don't like it.

end of discussion.

I am a late 30 something fan of Meyer's books, and while I agree with some that her stories are brilliant, I agree with others that her writing isn't so hot. What she needs to go to the next level is an awesome editor to push her to cut 100-200 pages from most of the books & clean up the style...yes, a thesaurus would be helpful, too. King needs to do what I always tell my kids and "worry about [him]self." Last I heard Glenn Beck's Christmas Sweater beat his most recent release on the NY Times Best Sellers List. Another writer with a good story, but in need of a better editor.

I think it's quite telling that most of the Meyer fans on here cannot spell or use punctuation correctly. Getting a generation into reading is no good if they won't be reading something that both informs and inspires them. Having dreams about marrying the flat-as-a-board Edward Cullen doesn't count as being inspired. Trying your hand at original fiction or moving up to 'adult' books does.

Well, first of all, I would like to say that I have read stuff by all three of these authors, Meyer, King and Rowling. To me, Rowling is my all time favorite writer, Harry Potter has played a very big part in my reading life. As for the Twilight series, I enjoyed the first three. I picked up Twilight for some light reading, and it captured me, and so I proceeded to read the following novels. While not the best writer I've ever read, she has a flare for describing emotions, and it was an easy to follow prose. The second book depressed me, until the ending perked up a bit, and I liked the love triangle in Eclipse. However, and though I wouldn't usually say this about someone else's work, Breaking Dawn was an utter piece of trash. She broke all her rules, and the ending was completely pointless. She claimed that she ended it in such a way because she couldn't see any other way around it except for them all to die. Obviously what she really meant was that she didn't have enough imagination and/or intelligence to give the series an ending it deserved. I mean, come on, can you imagine the Harry Potter series being finished off with a simple conversation, and Voldemort suddenly just became merciful and walked off? There would have been a riot. Meyer needs to learn to sacrifice characters. Ruthlessness is necessary to make a good author. Trying to please girls who shouldn't even be reading the stuff is not.

Moving on, I am very disappointed in the way young teenagers are now perceiving literature. Meyer specifically stated on her site that her books were directed at teens of around 17, so 13 year olds really shouldn't be reading that sort of stuff. I was extremely appalled to hear a girl of about that age in a shop comparing Stephenie Meyer to popular German writer Cornelia Funke and her Inkheart trilogy. So she may not be as popular as Meyer at the moment, mostly because she is neither British nor American (and I don't mean that in any discriminatory way by the way, in case anyone sees fit to pick out meanings that are not there), but to hear the child say that Twilight is better disgusted me. I have read both series, and I can assure you that Meyer could never come up with something as good and well written as Funke can.

Another despicable argument of many of these Twilight fans is that they find the likes of Rowling and King too hard to read. I've been reading Harry Potter over and over since I was 9, and at 12 I read Misery by Stephen King. And, if that is not enough reason for many of these pro-Twilighters to be ashamed, my brother, at 6 or 7, learned to read thanks to Harry Potter, and after that he proceeded to read the likes of Raymond E. Feist and Christopher Paolini (Google search these if you don't know who they are). In fact, at about 11, he read the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy from start to finish, and apart from the likes of Shakespeare, that is one of the most difficult books to read and understand. He is now 13, the same as many of the Twilight fans, so I see no reason for any of these young girls who enjoy Meyer to claim that Rowling and King are "too hard". If a seven year old can read Potter and they can't, they should be embarrassed. I know I would be.

I do not appreciate comments from people arguing that Meyer is better and that King does not know what he is talking about, because it is quite obvious that those who say this are in fact the ones who don't know what they're saying. King has written more than ten times the amount of books Meyer has, and has a much wider audience, from teens of around 14-15 to adults of all ages and backgrounds. He writes fantastic books which have often gone on to become some of the best and most famous movies in the world (plus, they're not all horror like people assume), he aids aspiring writers by giving them tips and criticizing their work, and has inspired people of all ages for decades. And yes, his stuff is still widely read now, to all those foolish people who claim he's an old timer who is past his sell-by date and simply crying out for attention. So people who say he doesn't know anything about literature are simply ignorant and uneducated. I mean, why would the British and American schools be campaigning to get his stuff on the English curriculum alongside the likes of Shakespeare and Dickens if he supposedly knows nothing about literature? And besides, if Steph really is your hero, you should be taking a leaf out of her book and reading stuff like Jane Austen, Emily Brontë and Shakespeare if you really wanna know what literature is. Now that is something you can moan about being too hard for your age. And before you go slagging off J.K. Rowling (who is in fact a woman, to the idiot who didn't even know that about her), you might wanna read this, end of paragraph 6, straight out of Meyer's mouth: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/04/10/twilight-author-stephenie-meyer-sees-jk-rowling-as-kindred-spirit/

Judging by the badly structured grammar and lack of logic arguments in many of these pro-Twilight comments (I mean, come on guys, claiming that King is just jealous of Edward Cullen's good looks - a fictional character, as in, he doesn't exist and never will no matter how much you might wish it - is not a valid argument) and the fact that almost none of these have ever read authors of his standards and neither have they got the facts right before talking about it just goes to show that this battle is already won - by us. Meyer's books are only read by teenagers, and perhaps a scattered handful of people of other ages, but just because she has sold a lot of books in such a short space of time does not mean that she will ever live up to people like King and Rowling, and if you do some research, you will find that she hasn't earned half the amount they have and never will, and that already says a lot. I'll give her that, she's got a lot of kids to start reading in much the same way that Rowling did, but I can only hope that this will lead to teaching young teens to broaden their horizons when choosing books. Maybe you think King was trying to insult her, but if Steph realises that he was in fact simply expressing an expert opinion, and I'm sure she has enough intelligence to do so, she will listen to him and improve her writing skills, and might even thank him later.

My final argument is that Stephenie Meyer will not be remembered all that well in ten years time unless she gets her act together and brings out something good and worthwhile. Stephen King and Joanne Rowling, however, will be eternal. You mark my words.

I agree with Stephan King to an extent. Stephanie Meyer's writing is pretty bland and boring, but she has a a good vision. The Twilight series is a wonderful story, it just wasn't written as well as Harry Potter was written.

As for the sexual stuff, it's a good thing Stephanie Meyers doesn't glorify sex like the current society in America does today.

i agree and don't agree Stephenie Myers books are good but she really did bring vampires down to a lower horror scale i mean "vampires sparkle"? and who ever heard of a vampires eyes changing color? But...... she did bring out a new world and some thoughts. For all we no she could be right. Stephenie brings out a new perspective on vampires.

As for Stephen King though his books are great and ten times better than hers he may just be jelous that right now hes lacking skill and shes doing better than him but in all i enjoyed his book "IT" that took place in Derry, Maine. He was a great writer once he still is and in a few months or so im sure he'll get back to his original standard.

Over all i think Stephen King outdoes Stephenie Myers by ten times.

Stephen King used to be the king of the supernatural, but I haven't read anything of his since The Stand that has begun to blow my skirt up. The Twilight Series is a page turner that brings the characters to life. I don't care about the technicality of how well it is written. Stephenie Meyer introduced her friends to us, and now they are our friends. Charlie, Bella, Edward, and the Cullens feel like real people (family even) to me, and that it something! I have never been so affected by fiction. BTW, I am 58 -- hardly a 'romantic teenager'.

Okay, I've heard similar things about Twilight, so that's not new...but what's wrong with James Patterson??

I read all four books, and I agree with King. The writing was not that great, but the STORY was compelling, that's what kept me reading. At some points I found myself skipping past pages of pointless bantering especially in Eclipse. I just kept thinking "I wonder what a more talented writer could have done with this story." Give Ms Meyer a break though, Twilight was her first novel. It's not going to be perfect, writing is a craft and with practice and experience she will get better. I'm sure she is happy with all the money she is raking in! I agree that JKR is the better writer. Remember that Sorcerer's Stone was her first novel too! Stephen King is a MASTER storyteller & one of my literary idols. If he ever said that I couldn't write worth a darn, I think I would just crawl under a rock and die!

I agree with Stephen King in the sense that Stephenie Meyer only does not know how to use the English language in the correct way, to convey meaning to the audience successfully. it was frustrating for me at times reading "Twilight", as some paragraphs were written in a confusing manner, and some scenes dragged on too much.

first of all this is only a personal opinion.
I must say that i admire Stephenie Meyer for captivating such a large audience and yes i did enjoy her books to an extent, BUT the way in which she writes as absolutely crap.
the plot only begins to make an appearance toward the last quarter of the book (the first one).

in my view The Host was much much much much better than the whole twilight series. kudos to meyer on that one.

but for me early King books beat SMeyer hands down.

dude, king is right meyer ruined vampires for everyone. hell,im 13 and i write better than meyer. and kings books were better meyer ruined the vamps by making them sparkle and also making them hard as dimonds.Darren shan writes better about vampires. for more information please contact BrennanG productions site is still not up and no current phone lines Thank you!

As I tell my kids, everyone has a right to their oppinion, it does make them right and it doesn't make them wrong. My husband and my mom both loved Stephen King up until he reached his dark point, as for me I loved a lot of his movies but had no use for reading his books. I find it sad that people are bashing Stephenie Meyers for her writings when she is actually bringing a whole new generation back to reading instead of sitting in front of the TV or game stations. My oldest two, which by the way are boys, have read all of the Twilight series and loved it. If she can get them to read then I am all for her!

I think most of you are forgetting the most important thing here. Writing, like most arts, is objective. What one person loves, another will hate.
Stephanie Meyer has got a whole generation reading, just like J.K Rowling did a few years ago. It's not a bad thing. I'd much rather see teenagers with their noses in a book than eyes glued to the TV.
I have read the Twilight saga, and in my opinion its brilliant. I am also a Stephen King fan. I'm really disappointed with King after reading about this, Twilight is targeted at teenagers - so they will come across articles like this and see that even if you are successful you will be put down by people who, really should be supporting young, upcoming artists.
As for Harry Potter vs. Twilight? I prefer Twilight a thousand times over. For me, Harry Potter was sloppy - especially towards the end of the series. The last book was completely lost on me. This is just my opinion, I don't expect everyone to agree or disagree.
King should know better. When publishing creative works you should be ready for slating from some angles, of course, but someone with as much respect as King should know better than to bad mouth an up-and-coming talent.
King's talents are obvious, but he is very hit and miss. This is the same for any talent but King is no way perfect, and before he is, this kind of slating is unnecessary.

What I find completely interesting is the different in responses. Those agreeing with King's statement sound educated, professional and gramatically correct. Those responses against King's statement are uneducated, silly sounding and very grammatically incorrect. Interesting, isn't it?

King needs to remember who Meyer's target audience is. And apparently they love what she writes, and that's all that really matters. BTW, I'm a huge King fan and think Rowling is just simply amazing. I have not read any of Meyer's books.

I love Stephen King. His books got me into reading at a very early age, and I am sure many people would have objected to my choices, but at least I was reading. I have not read any of the Twilight books so I don't think I should voice my opinion on Stephanie Myer's work. I picked Twilight up at a book store ages ago when the series first started, and it simply didn't appeal to me. Either way, someone likes it, and really that is all that matters. People are enjoying it and their imaginations and minds are being engaged. That is enough for me. One of these days I may borrow a copy from the library.

I think that Meyer really knows how to connect well with her audience. The young crowd is hard toplease with books, but she did an outstanding job at that. She really knows how to relate to them and grab their attention, including with this intense love story. King is great at pulling his audience in and not exactly connecting with them, but sparking their interest with a twisted and intriguing story lines. Both are great writers, but they appeal to extremely different audiences with many different tastes.

I've read many of King's books and I read the entire Twilight series. Between the two of them, King is the better writer.

The Twilight series was a fast read for me. I read somewhere (probably on Meyer's blog) that she was beginning to write New Moon while editing Twilight and this allowed her to intertwine some things that she hadn't planned on doing. From reading the series (I'm an adult, not a teenage girl) I'd say her strong suit is in backstory and trying to fit things together so the pieces fit. Emotionally though, there wasn't anything there for me. I do have a copy of The Host but haven't read it yet. When I think back on what stays with me it's all the world building that went into the series more so than the characters.

I've been an off and on reader of King's work. Some books have appealed to me while others have not. King's work has the emotional connection that Meyer's work has been missing for me so far. He can pull together plot and characters to hit home runs.

The best thing I've ever read by Stephen King is his how-to/memoir "On Writing." The man knows his craft. Having read both Rowling and Meyer, Rowling's storytelling and writing appealed to me more. Both authors share the ability to draw readers and I'm not sure why it's important or necessary to compare them.

At first I began to read the post out of idle curiosity, by the end, I felt compelled to write a response to the outrageous statements & insults running rampant here. Every post written here is more a reflection of the person writing it than anything they say about Meyer's stories or talent. Anyone that disses her stories is no surprise because someone who is hostile to authenticity, honor, and goodwill to their fellow man will not appreciate these stories. These books are not for you. These books are for people that live their lives seeking a higher road and the sunshine that shimmers all around those that love & stay on this road. For those who crave self-gratification and ego trips that lead to a perpetual dark void in their lives you will not find anything compelling about the light Stephenie SHINES in her stories. Stephenie Meyer is not going to fill the void you feel in your life. Only you can do that. Just as the light is not compatible with the dark you are not going to enjoy Stephenie's light because you are in opposition to that light. Light and darkness can't share the same space. Of course, you revel in a world of darkness that is Kings stock & trade. Like attracts like. King glorifies destruction. Meyer writes of hope, faith, and happy endings. These are foreign concepts to those that live in Dark Shadows. The lack you find in her stories is a mirror of the lack that is really in you. All the criticism that you have attempted to place on Meyer is a direct reflection of you as a person. That is the role of great fiction to hold up a mirror of truth. Meyer has done just that. How do you like your reflection?

My blessing for all that read this,

I hope that you become compatible with the beauty that you seek to find in the world. Whether that be in Meyer's world, people you meet, or experiences you encounter. Remember, the beauty we find in the world must be in us first or we can look everywhere and will never find it. That is the truth of Meyer's books. We can seek gratitude, happiness, or truth but if we don't carry these with us it will elude us like a butterfly we chase. I wish for you all to find what you seek first within and then without. In this way the beauty within you will naturally reflect back at you in all that you see including in literature.

Best wishes,

Kristen Natasha

I would take a Stephenie Meyer book over a Stephen King book any day. Since when is Stephen King the ultimate authority on who is a good writer and who isn't, anyway?

In any case, I agree with Kristin Natasha's comment above. Stephenie Meyer's stories aren't about wallowing in misery and darkness and evil. If you're too dark and twisty inside to enjoy them, that's not a sign that Meyer is a bad writer. It's just your personal problem.

I think the Host is a good example of how poor her writing can be. There is NO WAY that book would have ever been published if not for the success of Twilight. On the other hand, I did find Twilight very engaging, and I would recommend it to anyone. But not so much the other 3 and definitely not the Host.

to the very first comment.....that was Stephen Kings point - its safe because theres alot about sex but the way its written its not over the top. I read twilight and think Stephenie Meyer can write just fine, her stories are interesting but not amazing. And yes i think when it comes down to raw story telling and how the story is told Stephen King wins - not to say Twilight isnt better than some Stephen King storys, just over all Stephen King takes it..... now as for Stephen Kings comments on JK Rowling, hes wrong. JK Rowling is just as good if not better than Stephen King

Whoa there...
I like both Stephen King and Stephenie Meyer for different reasons because they have very different writing styles, but for King to insult another author is just plain rude. So he's a great writer and Meyer is mediocre... the point? She told a story and people enjoyed it. That's all there is to it. PERIOD.
People who have to analyze everything bug the crap out of me. Take advice from the Beatles man and Let It BE!

its funny 'cause it so true.Way to go King!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i am so proud of stephen because he has finally spoken for people like us who actualyl are insulted by the fact that meyer has made it big. she is an embarassment to american literature and i cant applaude stephen king more. thank you, way to go for speaking out for us little people because someone has finally understood us REAL writers.

Right, I tried to stay silent as I feel my girlfriend made the valid point with her comments (see the entry by Naomi), but, after Kristen and Emily's nasty little judgement, i feel the need to speak.

Ok, so, I'm twisted because I read Stephen King, my brother, who is married and has five very successful children, one of whom serves for her country in the army, I assume he is twisted because he reads King as well?.

I would just like to inform you that I am also a father myself and my daughter does perfectly fine thank you, I am a perfectly normal human being who leads a healthy life, I do not cut myself, or harbor dark feelings about people, so, please stop with your judgements about King readers.

Yes, I understand, a lot of people have made judgements about readers of Twilight, but, most of that is based on truth!, most readers of Twilight are young teens, we have however not said things about their minds that can hurt feelings.

I do not appreciate my personality being bought into this, i am not a psychopath who wants to reenact what he reads in books, unlike some of the sad little people on here who want to marry Edward Cullen, nor do I come on here spouting off about different people's beliefs in the light inside and all that rubbish, I agree that everyone should be happy, but, how dare you even try to insinuate that to read Stephen King and enjoy his work, you have to be a psychopath

Kristen, Stephen King glamorises destruction?, have you read any of his stuff?, like The Stand?, where the whole plotline revolves around BUILDING LIFE ANEW after a massive cataclysm.

From what I have heard, and yes, I haven't read Twilight, due to the fact I got bored with the Point Horror way of writing about 20 pages in, is that Stephenie Meyer is filling these young girl's heads with dreams of true love and the perfect man, jeez, try some realism people, I am a guy, and even I'll tell ya they don't exist, because I'm definitely not perfect, hell, according to Kristen and Emily, I am a twisted man who lives in a world of darkness (please be intelligent enough to notice the sarcasm there)

My message is simple, you are all trying to judge each other on what you all like, and I agree with the King fans, but, to start dragging not only Steve's personality, and ours, is blatantly out of order and you should be ashamed of yourself for insinuating that, jeez, it wouldn't surprise me if Kristen subscribes to the same religious beliefs as Stephenie, see, how does it feel to have something outside of reading taste dragged into this?

And yes, before the bigots start, I am a Christian, so it was not a pleasurable experience dragging religion into this.

Basically, I am a King fan, as if you couldn't tell, however, I do not want to kill you all for having an opinion against my favourite author, I do, however, think that Kristen and Emily should shut their bloody pieholes and stop trying to sound like intellignet Twilight fans, because while there obviously are some, you two most definitely, are not!

Since this is getting repetitive, I'll keep it simple. I've been reading Stephen King since I was a preteen and I own his entire library and though I don't love, or even like everything he writes, there's so much that's great about some of his work, (The Stand, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon). My husband shares this love of SK and the author was even mentioned in our wedding vows. We also share a love of gothic vampire stories (Anne Rice, anyone?). I'm also happen to be a 37 year old mother to an 11 year old daughter and my husband and I had to fight her for the Twilight books. I don't think one of us thinks Meyer's is an amazing writer by any stretch and we would never even consider comparing her to Rowling or King, let alone numerous other authors. But we still loved the stories. For my husband and I, I think it was the romance, being reminded of those intense, passionate feelings of first love, and like my husband puts it, reading the Twilight saga was just "sharpening the saw." For my daughter (and now 9 year old son), Twilight is an adventure and introduces them to those intense feelings regarding romantic love that they are only beginning to consider and doing it in a gentle and safe way. Both my children are voracious readers and have read literature well beyond their years. For my independent daughter, I think Bella represents a strong, analytical, and progressive thinker, something my daughter respects. For my husband and I, it's been magical watching her transform, becoming aware and exploring her first crush, her first feelings regarding romantic love. I can't see the harm in this.

I think you can like both. My family certainly does. I don't think it has to be either or.

I really believe in everything Stephen King has said about Stephenie Meyer!!!

NQ,
If your not going to waste your time replying then why did you even comment. I can not believe you would compare Twilight to cocaine.

Stephanie Meyer is not the greatest writer in the world but she draws the reader in. I read Twilight in one day so what does that tell you.

She did not ruin vampires, what she did was create her own legends about them. She was doing her own thing.

-Ellie

(Oh and one more thing, GET A LIFE. Instead of trashing people's hard work get a girlfriend or something.

stephanie meyer is a terrible writer. However, I did find the Twilight series entertaining and fun to read until the last book which was the most ridiculous and disgusting thing I have ever read in my life. It was horrifyingly awful and didn't make any sense with the previous series. I made myself suffer through the first 300 pages or so to find out what happened at the end and then it got so bad that I couldn't make myself finish it and I didn't even care anymore. And anyone who compares her to JK Rowling shouldn't be allowed to read.

Though I do not read the Twighlight books, I have read many excerpts and I have to agree with Stephan, Meyer cannoy write. Though, Meyer is writing to thousands of tweens who couldn't care less about grammer, so guess it really doesn't matter.

Stephen King, what was he thinking? he not only says he own harsh opinions, but states them as though they are fact! Comparing two modern authors in a vicious manor, perhaps he's shocked with the new era of fantasy sci-fi books. but really?

Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae. - Kurt Vonnegut

I've read books by all three authors (the entire Twilight and HP Series, and a number of Stephen King books), and all three are incredibly different styles, with different audiences and themes.

A lot of people have mentioned that Stephen King needs to keep in mind who Meyer's target audience is...and that its not the same audience as his...well...I think he did keep that in mind. He compared her writing to JK Rowlings, not to his own work specifically. JK Rowling wrote for kids and the teens. Meyer's wrote specifically for teens.

I think King's comments on Meyer are very random and unexpected, but has he really said anything we all haven't said about Meyer's book to our friends, on our blogs? Why is he being lambasted when most people agree with his views that Meyers writing isn't as "quality" as JK Rowling? The means to the end are vastly different between the two series, but the end result is still the same. Both series end with millions of new readers, reading 400+ pages of fiction, and wanting to read more afterwards. For that I am grateful. But looking at the writing differences between the books, you notice where Rowling is on a different playing field. She alludes to Greek mythology, ancient History, creates an entirely new world, in at first a comical, and lastly a more realistic way. I think Rowling is applauded for taking her series into a darker realm, where death is real, pain, frustration and isolation are very real, and very dangerous emotions. Meyer's work stayed PG throughout the entire existence, and that's a frustration because its too neat and clean for a supernatural vampire series.

public forum, we can't expect all authors, or all people for that matter, to keep their opinions to themselves. As a reader of all 3 authors I can safely say that none are with out fault, including King himself. Stephenaie Meyer might not be winning the Pulitzer prize for her portrayal of immortal love in a young adult geared genre, and I am not sure she was ever going around trying to pretend that she would be. She is simply a writer who told a story from her heart, that happened to catch the attention of millions (particularly teenage girls). The point of literature is to broaden the mind and stir up a new emotion; to make you feel that in some way your words have had a significant impact on another. I can safely say that all 3 authors fall into that category. As far as ranking, this is only Meyer's first forte into the literary limelight so it will be interesting to see how much of a grasp she can hold on it in the future. Even though King has had his share of literary accomplishments, finishing potentially excellent books with 'a giant mutant spider' posing as a clown, still shows room for improvement.

Personally, I think that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I love Stephen King, but not some of his most recent novels. But to me, Stephenie Meyer has a fresh writing style and I thought her books were fabulous, including Breaking Dawn (and I heard a lot of negative stuff about that one !). But I like them both. And right now I'd have to say that I put Stephenie Meyer above Stephen King.

im switzerland. if you read Twilight you would understand. it means you can't pick just one side. Stephen King had been my favorite writer for as long as i can remember. but when Stephenie Meyer's books came out me and my two girlfriends had to have them. that's all we do is say lines from the book or movie, when we are just talking. i think Stephen and Stephenie are both brilliant writers and they should keep at it. don't tear down a writer if you don't even know there material. if you don't read Stephenie Meyer books and you do read Stephen King books then don't tear her down you don't know her material!!! and vice versa for Stephen King. this whole thing has brought on a war... Stephen King and Stephenie Meyer write different things..she has a vampire/werewolf thing going for her and Stephen King has the whole creepy darkness thing that is totally unpredictable and you don't know what he will write next. but the reason we love Stephenie Meyer so much is because her characters are so realistic that we want more of what can't have or what can't happen. peace and love.

I've already expressed my opinion on this matter one another site (all the way for Stephen King) and Naomi? You are one of the shining beacons in this sea of comments.

I have been reading Stephen King since FIRESTARTER..off and on, mind you..his work is seriously off/on..tried to read the first TWILIGHT of Ms Meyer, did not succeed.... i take my Vampire Lit straight up....Stoker and LeFanu for Classic....Anne Rice for Contemporary...this recent flap is more than likely a Publishing Ploy..to generate discussions and/or controversies..like this one
i give Stephen King props for longevity..and for writing ON WRITING..if nothing else

Okay, so I'm seeing a lot of the same things in these posts so I'm going to address them all. First I have read Twilight and its sequels along with many Stephen King novels and all the Harry Potters.

Quote 1: "They're writing for different age groups." This is true. Stephen King aims his novels for a more adult audience while Twilight is for teens. That being said, who has had more success? Stephen King, who has published tons of novels, many WORLDWIDE bestsellers for those who argue he has none, and who has one numerous awards, or Meyer, who has sold millions of copies yet hasn't won a single award or received even a generally positive review for one of her books? Stephen King wins that battle.

Quote 2: "Stephen King was just rude to say that." No, he was actually very thoughtful in saying what he said. I agree with King on his statement. The characters in general were very underdeveloped, Bella most of all. Her main personality is dependence on other people. Especially men. New Moon clearly shows Bella's inability to be anything more than a supporting character. Her love for Edward is pretty much throwing a blindfolded girl in a room full of men, asking her to spin around, her stopping and removing the blindfold and saying she loves the man she's pointing at. There's no basis for the attraction. Edward is very one dimensional. His main personality trait is despair. It's like he can't do anything but mope. "I won't turn you into a vampire." "Oh I won't do anything to hurt you again." "Oh I'm not going to risk having sex with you." It gets very old. Even with some of his witty dialogue in the first book, he becomes very bland.

Quote 3: "Stephenie is a good story teller." Yes, she did have a good story, no she didn't execute it well. After the first book, what's left to cover. The only thing left is Bella's transformation and their marriage. That's all. And yet she feels it necessary to expand this plot over three books. And how does she do this? By putting in distraction after distraction, disaster after disaster. I'm surprised Bella and Edward didn't drop out of high school and marry after the first book. But no, and what happens. Conflict. Edward has to leave because Bella is clumsy. And then Bella has to stop Edward from killing himself in ITALY. And all the while Victoria is STILL after Bella. Then in the third book, Victoria returns yet again with another plot to kill Bella. And then she totally screwed the ending up. Stephenie was too focused on appealing to the brighter side of nature to include even a hint of realism. Who died in that story besides bad guys? Nobody. That's why Harry Potter is better. Because it becomes more dimensional as you read it. Things take on a darker aspect. That's what captivates me is the transition from some normal boy to a strife ridden teen in the middle of things way over his head. Sounds a lot like everyday life on a grander scale.

Quote 4: "Whatever it takes." and "She draws the reader in." No and yes respectfully. Its not whatever it takes. Reading Twilight is almost like playing a video game because its so one dimensional. I do the same things I do playing Resident Evil 4 as I do reading Twilight. Why not make your kid go for a walk or something? The reason the books draw people in is because of their simplicity. That's why you won't be seeing Twilight on an English syllabus anytime soon. Because it's too simple. You'll see Shakespeare because he's one of the hardest authors to understand. That's why he's there and that's why King and Rowling will be there someday because they aren't simple. King novels don't pull people in because it requires too much thought for them. It requires people to pay attention.

Quote 5: "Twilight and its sequels are not sexual representations." You're right. They're more like flirtations. They don't overly drive on sex but they overly drive on the love and the almost sexual sense of vampirism. Maybe not during the hunting scenes, but definitely during the normal "Change me" scenes. And then with the introduction of sex it takes it to a new level. Now, not only is vampirism associated with beauty and romanticism, its associated with sexual feelings.

Quote 6: "Stephen King is just jealous." That's just down right retarded. I'm guessing that each of King's books gets a good amount of advance money. If you don't know what that is, you definitely shouldn't be talking about success in the business. I'm also assuming that his books sell more than enough to make up that advance money in royalties. He is one of the most successful authors of all time. Meyer is more like a one hit wonder, being kind. The Twilight books became popular because of their simplicity , the cult grew, and people really bought the books because of the movie. I'm sure many were disappointed. I know I was. I'm sure people would have rather saved money and gone to Paul Blart or My Bloody Valentine. I know I defintely would have. A good ol' horror movie is infinitely more entertaining than a narrow movie based on a narrow book. The next movie won't be as well received and she'll die out.

Quote 7: "Stephenie didn't ruin vampire myth because she's writing fiction." True, and that's why people don't like it. Many of Twilight's fans are people who have never read an early vampire novel. People who have read one, like Dracula, don't like the way she portraying them. I've read Dracula and I know I didn't like the way she portrayed the vampires as supernaturally sexy beings. I even had some problems with Salem's Lot. It's a King book by the way. Vampire's aren't supposed to be supernaturally mystifying. They're supposed to be terrible creatures that send chills down your spine. Now I'll give that there are scenes in Dracula that have some sexual theme but not to the extent that Twilight does. The good vampires lure victims in, then become savage creatures.

Quote 8: "Stephen King is a bad writer." No, he's an intelligent one, one that most people don't like nowadays because his plot is too complicated for an average mind because of books like Twilight. Lets face it, Twilight brings out the first love feelings. Books like IT and Pet Semetary bring out fear, sorrow, love, and many other emotions, going back to the one dimensional thing I talked about earlier.

Quote 9: See Kristin's ramble some posts above about light and dark. Now, I'm not a religious man, but why are we bringing religion into book discussion. That's like bringing a sex discussion into church. And why are we stereotyping people. I wholeheartedly agree with "I love stephen with a burning passion" in that its bullshit. You can't categorize people by what they read.

Quote 10: "Twilight fans aren't using great literary in this forum." I'm actually not going to disagree. Most of the posts I see supporting Twilight are spelled exactly how my little brother spells stuff on myspace. Nice and choppy. People must think that sounding hip, cool, and gangsta will put their point across. It's idiotic. Luckily, most supporters have read these posts and have somehow managed to start putting out decently written posts. I'm proud.

Quote 11: "Stephen King and J.K. Rowling are too boring." I read Harry Potter when I was 6 years old. I read Salem's Lot in 6th grade. They obviously are only boring to the people who are small minded.

Quote 12: "Stephenie has more fans." And you know what they do? They dress up as book characters and go to Forks to see Bella's house. And some even visit her. You don't see people dressing up as a chick covered in pig's blood any other day than Halloween. Twilight fans are on drugs. I know its not true but they act like it. Who is so devoted to a book that they dress up like the characters and go to the actual town the book is based in? Apparently you guys.

On the all, Stephenie needs to learn how to write. I started writing in 6th grade because of R.L. Stine. I personally would rather read his works such as Goosebumps than Twilight because he pulls more emotions out of me than Stephenie. I could write Twilight. Maybe not better, but I could write it as good as it is now. I'm a junior in high school with no other training than what I've developed over the years of rewriting things. Maybe that's what Stephenie should have done. Twilight will never be anywhere near Stephen King's level and she'll never match J.K. Rowling. Especially with the halt in her latest Twilight novel. What was it she said? "I'm so sad that this happened I'm not going to write the book." And her reasoning was that she would make Edward and Bella die. She's writing a companion novel. The only thing that's original is what Edward does when he's not in the actual book. It can't be too hard to read what you've already written and copy it down from Edward's point of view. She's just not a good writer guys, no matter how many of you support her. I'm sure I'll see a bunch of replies to my own post, trying to, and most likely failing to, pick apart my quote analysis. It's not gonna' happen when I've got to analyze quotes from Macbeth for english. More Shakespeare, yay.

Chardonnay or Merlot? They are both drinks, both wines but one is quite different from the other. Everyone has different tastes and opinions and are completely entitled to express them. Stephen King has expressed his, though granted, with a little less savoir faire than one would expect from him. I'm sure I remember reading a quote from him somewhere saying that he always abided by his mother's advice of "if you can't saying something nice, don't say anything", but as I said, he has his opinion and has given it when asked.
Personally, I have been a constant reader of King's for almost twenty years. I don't love all of his writings, but I've enjoyed enough that I keep buying the books. As for Stephie and her vamps, she is free to remake the vampire legend as she wishes - many writers do. I've read the Twilight books and thoroughly enjoyed them and hope she writes more. Stephen King's writings - as noted in many of the above comments, has in the past been regarded with much the same disdain as shown to Meyer's current sensations. And Stephen King has been the first to admit that even his own writing has inproved with time; the more you do something, the better you get....It'll be interesting to see how Steph is doing in twenty years time - critical acclaim or no; for me it's all about the books.

Samantha says: "Obviously, Meyer is a great writer. I mean, just look at all the people she's drawn in!"

Jerry Springer has also drawn in millions of people to "discuss" their opinions. Does that make him a great thinker?

Listen, I get that Meyer has gotten a lot of non-reading kids to read. But Donald Gallinger's recent novel, THE MASTER PLANETS, is doing the same -- all kinds of kids who say that reading "hurts their heads" are reading it clear through. And it's actually well-written and profound!

Writing something that titillates young people may be an achievement, but it's not a very difficult one. If Meyer's books inspire her readers to go on to better stuff, then I'll be her biggest fan. But how many of Jerry Springer's fans ever graduate to real, ADULT discourse?

A couple of thoughts come to mind.
1. I see quite a bit of what you can call Stephen King bashing in many of the posts here. Being a fan of King's work myself I am biased toward him, that doesn't mean I would claim another writer is talentless, etc without first exploring his / her works.
2. If you feel the need to write a post insulting either side of the topic learn to spell! And think of at least one supporting argument other than it sucks, or he's jealous.
3. I personally am not a fan of Meyer's . Not because of her plot lines or twists on commonly accepted lore, her Twilight series has great potential, instead because of her lack and over abundance of description. She seems to have a way of painting a vivid picture while keeping her audience disconnected at the same time. 4.Twilight seems to be a series about star-crossed lovers with underdeveloped one-dimensional characters who really lead you nowhere, except in circles. Meyer's makes it hard to believe the supposed anguish and angst in the character relationships. Where as King's characters, sometimes overdeveloped, become almost real and relate to each other and the plot line in realistic ways.
5. Meyer's and King's writing styles are different, so put some perspective into what your reading. Meyer's tells a tale of love and romance and King's purpose is to shock and horrify you.
6. For those of you who have never read anything by Stephen King I suggest trying Needful Things, or another of his early works, they're more about the dark side of humanity than simply horror stories.

Stepehenie Meyer can write. I don't care what King says. If you don't like the books? Guess what!! You don't have to read them. King is just picking on the new guy. Meyer's only has out 5 books. Each one getting a little more involved. And as for the vampire stereotype. Screw it! The stereotype used to be Dracula changing into a bat for the love of ... So what if she wants them to sparkle. There practically made of stone. Therefore they sparkle like diamond. Get it. Not hard to make a connection. Also if you take time to study the relationship and not bash it, Edward and Bella do have reasons to love each other. Bella is mature and cares about things other than the perfect shade of lip stick. Bella likes Edwards old fashion ways. And who cares if there not all hot and heavy. If you want that, pick up just about any other urban fantasy. Try Laurell k. Hamilton book 9 and up. That will keep you satisfied. It comes down to this. King needs to calm down and play nice with all the other writers out there. And all his minions need to find a new series and leave Meyers alone.

haven't read too many King books, nor have I read any recently...however... I have read the Twilight series about 4 times each. With that being said, let me clarify that I am a huge Twilight fan....I am 29....a mother....and hold a MA in English. So I shall say this with loving feelings towards both Stephenie's writing....and King's writing styles. I agree with King. Her writing is not in any way touchable by King's or Rowling's. Her books are in fact juvenial in style and theme. Her plots, characters, and ideas could be way more developed than they are. However, since I am not a teenager reading these books but rather an educated adult, I would have to assume that teenagers themselves are not up to par with their writing abilites....hence why they almost dont even realize that Meyer's writing isn't fantastic. Thinking back to when I was a teen....my writing needed lots of work....and it wasn't easy to spot an author that needed to take a writing class.

King talks highly of Jodi Picoult's writing ability in that same interview....but look where she was educated....Princeton and Harvard. So if her writing ability WASN'T superior.....then we'd have some problems.

To come to Meyer's defense..she has stated numerous times that she never wrote the Twilight saga to get published. She simply wrote it because it was such a strong pull for her to get it out on paper. Am I glad she did get published? Certainly. I am a fan of the love that Edward and Bella share.....its intense....its powerful....its forever....and it's old fashioned. Thats why it's so magnetic.....everyone wishes to find the same.

If nothing else.....Meyer created a world in which readers can get lost in the "forever"....and she should be acknowledged for her place in the genre.

He's just jealous because like Rowling she reached a vast audience unlike him! Horror is just one genre. What Rowling and Meyer did was really create a completely different genre. I wouldn't even know how to classify them. They both have fantasy, paranormal, romance, mystery; whereas King is stuck smack dab in HORROR. Like I said he's just jealous that these two WOMEN have managed to reach a huge audience with their books. At least that's my opinion.

All I have to say is I have never read a Stephen King book in my life, and I don't plan to. Not because of what he said, just because I am not interested in horror novels. Personally, I do think Rowling is a better writer, but Meyer is just starting out. I think there will be growth as she writes more. I enjoy both Harry Potter and Twilight, and I don't care a lick if one is better written than the other. What matters to me is enjoyment. I love both series, and any author who can get so many people to read, especially non-readers, is a success.

I think the last King story I read was Biting the Bullet, which came out in 2001. I appreciate a couple of King's works: Carrie and Misery. The others are alright, but I always wondered why he never explained the origins of his creatures. I enjoyed The Green Mile as a movie, so if I had read the book, I probably would've enjoyed it, too, though I recognize that John Coffee is, yet again, another unexplained phenomenon.

I think I've been enthralled by both writers in the same way, at different times. As a general rule, I pick women writers over male writers, just because I've found that the writing of women speak more to me. I enjoy male writers' books--some of them exceedingly so, but women writers (and this is going to sound corny) touch my heart, the way male writers never have. David Sedaris, who is a male writer I LOVE DEARLY, touched my funnybone--not my heart.

My point is, I couldn't rank King and Meyers by fair comparison, I think, but I'd pick up a Meyer book sooner than I would a King one--especially these days, when I don't seem to think much of King's work as much as I used to.

(Begging pardon to all King fans--I mean no disrespect to you or King.)

To be clear, Stephen King has written more than just horror. Actually... I find it to be his best writing by far. The Shawshank Redemption, and The Body are quite possibly the two best short stories that I have ever read. If you were to not read anything else, those would definitely be worth it.

Hey Andrea, stop calling Steve a sexist, he actually rates JK Rowling's work, get a life and stop being ignorant.

Try reading the top heading again, I believe it quotes

Stephen King took a shot at Stephenie Meyer, whose Twilight series has been a huge hit. In his words, "[J.K.] Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good."

See the word TERRIFIC in there, not TERRIBLE?

Jeez, next time your husband/boyfriend/whatever says that was a TERRIFIC meal, you may want to be worried if you can't tell the difference between the two words.

No offense to Andrea, but I don't think she read the article right. Stephen King praises J.K. Rowling. Hence him saying, "Rowling is a terrific writer..." I don't think it can be any more blunt than that. Obviously that disproves any jealousy he supposedly has. He speaks what he believes. And what he believes is that Stephenie sucks. And another disproving fact is that Stephen King has sold a total of 350 millions books in total. The Twilight Series has only reached 25 million. What does that say about Meyer's "vast" audience. I mean, I know she's only released 5 books but that doesn't excuse the fact that she isn't good. Hell, the last Harry Potter book sold more alone than the entire series has. And the first Harry Potter novel, which is about half the size of Twilight has sold around eight times as many books as the series. And as for creating a new genre, neither did. And if they did, J.K. Rowling did all of the work and Stephenie tried to bask in her glory. Simple as that. To all who has said that she's young, you're right. And I sincerely hope that her writing skill increases as she writes more and more. But as for now, she's not too great. And for the statement being said that she never intended it to be published, well, I think that's obvious while reading the book. If she HAD wanted it published, she would have tried harder. Again, I'm also seeing the "Whatever it takes" quote being said. Reading is supposed to develop the mind but Twilight can't do that because all of its audience already knew exactly how to write a novel like Twilight. Stop with the desperate society bid already. It's getting old. People will do what they want to and if they don't want to read books, that's their choice.

Oh, and to "kyle", I think everyone made the connection, just some of them didn't know why they were that way. I surely don't understand her choice to call them vampires. If she writes fiction, or fantasy, I guess, she could have called them something else. Something she wouldn't receive too much criticism for ruining. I mean, look at how many creatures J.K. Rowling made. And if she didn't make them, she stuck to popular belief. Like the giants and centaurs. But Stephenie Meyer took an icon and completely twisted it and turned it until it was barely recognizable.

okay, I need to say something to KC. Oh my God! J.K. Rowling is a woman. you obviously have no idea what you are talking about and if you don't know good literature when it dances right infront of your nose why bother reading at all. i'll beet you haven't even read one of Stephen King's books, and havn't even finished the Harry Potter series

It seems like sometimes people can't see the difference between a "good story" and "good writing." They aren't always necessarily the same thing, though they usually tend to go hand-in-hand.

Stephanie Meyer is a great storyteller. She is the modern-day equivalent of the travelling bard. She may not be a literary genius, but God does she tell a freakin' good story. With that said, she is not a good writer -- it's not even really a matter of opinion, she just does. It's not a matter of "hatin' on Stephanie," (which seems to be the main argument here), it's just a simple fact.

Stephen King and J.K. Rowling are what is considered "good authors," and while King's subject matter may not be appealing to everyone (or Rowling's for that matter), it is hard to deny that they are good writers. The pace, the flow, the depth, the vocabulary, the general construction, of their novels are what put them ahead of Stephanie Meyer.

For instance, think of it this way: How many of you actually enjoyed that hideous behemoth of a book by Stephanie Meyer called The Host? If you think about it, the subject wasn't that different from her previous book, so why is it so few people enjoyed The Host in comparison to Twilight? In contrast, how many people that have enjoyed one of Stephen Kings novels have enjoyed other novels written by him (which is not to say "have enjoyed all novels by him")?

King is not "hatin' on the Meyer," he's simply stating what everyone who's read a book other than Twilight knows -- Meyer is a horrible writer.

To Josh, a few questions. One how many of Meyers books did you read? Also do you think she is a bad writer or a bad story teller, or both? I agree her writing leaves some to be desired. However I like her characters and I like her story and ideas. I don't care if her "I's" aren't dotted and her "T's" aren't crossed. So I should have worded my previous entry differently.

Now on to the vampire bit. Think about the two main requirements in the vampire genre. One they are seducers and two the drink blood. Meyers' vampires are described as angels from heaven that smell sweet and call to you with their beauty. And even though it is animal blood its still blood. Angel, Buffy the slayer's "not so steady" for the first three seasons drank pig's blood. Eww but true. Meyer didn't really twist vampires, she made them the physically strongest vampires potrayed so far.

You also suggested she call them something else. If she did that there would be a debate somewhere else on the internet about how her diamond leech creatures are just juiced up vampires. Book worms will argue about anything.

Now since I refuse to respond to any thing else. I will clarify something. I have nothing against King. I saw "It" and "The Green Mile" and they were great movies. Especially the latter. I would love to have one of his books in my hands. However they are large and daunting, and I can only find time for shorter books that I can remember the start of when I get to the end. So I return to what I said before. Although King is a great writer and story teller. He should stay back, bask in his earned glory, and be nice to all the lesser authors out there.

Stephen King is right. Though Twilight may have considerable success you cant help the fact that the story was so predictable.

The twilight series is a compilation of Stephanie Meyers juvenile fantasies. Yes, it's interesting to read but it can't even be considered real literature. If I wanted to read about the ridiculously over-romantic and dramatized love fantasies and desires of teenagers, I'd read my diary from 9th grade. And mine didn't include glittering boys, or (in case you've read breaking dawn) feathers...or teenagers crushing on murderous vampire babies.

To kyle:

I've read all of the Twilight Series. I own them all. If I need an easy to analyze read for an english report I have four selections already. I haven't even bothered picking up The Host. I was too fascinated reading the Resident Evil series to care. And even though those books are based off a video game series, they're still better than Twilight and its successors. I also was reading the new Goosebumps series which is also better.

To kyle Pt. 2:

To respond to the second part of your previous post, sorry, I could only address the first part because I was in a hurry, yes, the "vampires" do fit those two requirements. But then, that could mean that I could write a story about a plain hot guy or girl and call them a vampire. We all drink blood, unless you're a vegetarian or overcook your meat. I'd have a vampire story right there. No, at least she could have stuck to some basics. At least let sunlight hurt them in the long run. And then there's the fact that they have no fangs. Yes, she may have made them the strongest they've ever been but that's boring because it makes the story too impossible to really want to read. If in every Stephen King novel, the supernatural creature were so powerful that they couldn't be defeated by any means HUMANLY possible, people wouldn't read as many of his books. This is because most readers like the struggles and the emotions that occur during the final triumph. But in Twilight, there is no way the human characters can possibly make a difference.

Now, to the part where you mentioned that calling them something else would bring up a debate. That's probably true, but I don't think as many people would hate Twilight just because it put a different perspective on vampires. I've read so many comments on this forum stating that Stephenie ruined vampires. Often, those quotes are attached to Twilight haters. If they weren't specifically called vampires, people would have to focus more on the actual text and story to hate it.

Since, you have apparently decided not to respond to anything else, I'm just going to say that I can understand why reading a Stephen King novel could be hard. I'm not even out of high school so it's a lot easier for me. But for an adult who has to go to work every morning so that they can keep a roof over their head, its different. It took me a week to read IT, and that was during summer vacation. And as to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, yes I realize that other people did it too, but they stuck to vampire lore better.

I think the solution here after reading all of these posts for both sides is :

Stephanie Meyer should sell her story idea to a writer with developed and practiced technical skills.

Like J.K. Rowling =)

Let her think up stories and let the real writers, write them.

Ii am disappointed in Stephen King, by his comments on Twillight. I imagine he is a bit sour, o jelous because here comes a drama writer, a woman, younger than him.....he should be proud of up coming young writers. He should be generous, and applaud Stephanie for her enormous contribution to literature....today, 1 out of 10 students, starting from 7th grade, read the first 3 books. Some of them are considering becoming writers......Stephen, either be a good sport, or move over.

Okay, Blanca. How many Stephen King books have you read? Next, what contribution to literature would you be talking about? She entered a category most consider to be defined by J.K. Rowling. And if you think about it, it is. J.K. Rowling has sold hundreds of millions of books with just her seven alone, and her first four made up quite the majority of that number. Stephenie, and please, do spell her name right, hasn't even sold as many books with her whole series as Rowling has done with one book. I believe the lowest number for Rowling was 44 million. The entire Twilight series has only sold about 25 million. Tells you something there, doesn't it. Also, why would King need to be a good sport? She isn't encroaching on his territory, he's still one of the most successful and well known horror authors ever. And good for those students who are thinking about becoming authors. I know that that was the time I decided to try and become an author. Lets hope that they grow out of Stephenie Meyer so that we see some good writing on the shelf in the future. Because, I can tell you, I was inspired to write by Goosebumps in the 6th grade and then Harry Potter later on. I also was determined to write one vampire novel because of Stephen King's Salem's Lot. But I would never be inspired to write something like Stephenie did. Why? Well, as Stephen said, "She’s not very good."

As a fan of Stephen King, I have to throw my full support behind him. I have read some of Stephenie Meyer's books, and while I don't love them, they weren't terrible.

WHY 'TWILIGHT' SUCKS!!!!

Stephen King BASHES Stephanie Meyer!

http://sugarspundreams.blogspot.com/2009/02/stephen-king-vs-stephenie-meyer.html

Reply to first post: "Whoever says Stephanie Meyer can't write is crazy. I don't know what I would've done without all these great books that she's written. They given me hope when I was going through really hard times regarding my health and I will be forever greatful to her. Thank you."

HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. This made my day. Thanks for the laugh.

To Penny:

Thank you for posting that link. It was very comical. All of the videos were just absolutely great. I also like the re-write of Twilight. Much better. I would read that over the original any day. In fact, I may print it out and paste it into my copy of Twilight. It was great. I also enjoyed the lone comment. It fits right in with the typical Twilight lover. Bad grammar and all. I have one problem though, with the last video. She decided to upload her video to support neither Meyer nor King. Interesting. I love how she thinks that all Twilight haters or people supporting Stephen King think that he is the "demigod" we believe him to be. I also don't like how she points out obvious things like how Stephen is successful in his genre. Of course he's successful in his genre. And he's successful because he writes about taboo things. Of course he writes about taboo things. That all anyone wants to read. Hell, Twilight is pretty much a story about a taboo thing. Love with a vampire, that's not taboo at all. Nobody wants to read a book about some kid who goes through school day after day with nothing new happening, nothing interesting going on. And to the first video, when he can write something half as good as anything Stephen King has done, he can call him jealous. Same goes for video three. No offense to her but she looks like she's reading Twilight too much and not going outside to play. I think I may retire from posting unless something good gets posted. I'm tired of all the repetitiveness on this post. I need a good argument.

I think that he is entitled to his own opinions and that he is right. Stephenie wrote a book that people loved because the story is one that everyone can immerse themselves in and fall in love with. That does not mean, however, that she is now a good writer. I admit that I do love the stories and i have read all of the books but I am not a fan of Stephenie Meyer because, quite frankly, if you look at it from the perspective of an English teacher lets say, then it is crap. Her sentence structure is horrible and she is way too repetitive. I heard someone say that she writes well for the genre she is writing for and all I have to say is what the hell is that supposed to mean? She doesn't write well for any genre because no matter what genre you are writing for, the requirements are pretty much the same when it comes to writing the story. Also, Stephen King is a brilliant author and although i haven't read many of his books, he really is talented and is excellent at creating suspense. I don't know why people got so offended by him commenting on Stephenie's writing because he is right...

I can't stand Meyer, she writes like a 16 year old and that's probably why kids like her so much.

I mean I tried really hard to read Twilight, and I had throw the stupid thing against the wall because it was like the crap girl I know wrote in highschool. There's nothing challenging about her books. They are as boring as watching piant dry.

She ruined a genre I really feel in love with thanks to Anne Rice.

I really feel Meyer needs to challenge her readers, she letting them get by by making to story too easy. I guessed half the stuff that happened. It's dull, immature and out right boring. I mean she took the base of an odinary love story and threw in vampires, someone could do the same thing with werewolves. It's just sad.

I agree somewhat with King. He is my favourite author after all. But, who am I to say anything? I read the first paragraph of the first book and I immediately put it down.

I think Meyer has done nothing but write down what every 13 year-old girl's fantasy, and uses to gain popularity. The first paragraph proved it. A typical teenage girl thinking of death! Well, isn't that what every adult thinks what teenagers always have in their minds? Death? It made me laugh.

Personally, I have never really 'hated' Twilight. But I am wearing thin after hordes of teenage girls demanding me to read it and the crowds of girls who wear jerseys that says 'Cullen' on it. About sick and tired of it!

So to the main point is that; people have their own opinions, but King should really say anything about it.

But to all the scary fan girls out there, you really do have to admit, Meyer isn't much of a great writer!

One thing that really bothers me about people who have never read Twilight is that they assume that it is for pre-teen girls. I am 19 years old and am in love with the Twilight Saga. King's comments are ridiculous. Stephenie is a fantastic writer. Her stories attract us because they are relevant. Who doesn't want someone who will love you unconditionally? It's not that Edward's a vampire. It's that they have a love that is so unlike anything that most people ever get to experience. Bella is living a dream. She has taken a desire that most humans have, and has transformed it into four amazing books. King is so wrong about Stephenie. He can have his own opinion, that's fine. But what was his purpose in saying it in an interview? I haven't heard anything from King in years. Let Stephenie enjoy her success. The attack on her writing was completely uncalled for, expecially since it was very untrue.

Oh, yeah...

Now I remember why I love Stephen King so much.

:)

To VampChick:

I count myself among those "scary fan girls," and I don't think that you will ever catch us admiting that Stephenie can't write. Okay? And as to your comment about the "Cullen Shirts," grow up. People wear shirts related to their favorite things all the time. How is this any different than wearing a shirt for a particular band or sports team? If we are into Twilight, then what's the problem with wearing a shirt? None. I proudly wear my Team Edward sweatshirt.

I was actually really dumbfounded at a lot of the comments that were posted. I am an avid reader and I have read from all three of those authors, and I enjoyed all the books. Each one of those writers have a different style and a different story to tell. Stephanie Meyer openly admits she never intended these books to be published in the beginning, they were a dream she didn't want to forget. It just so happens that many people enjoyed them and there is nothing wrong with that. Just because Stephen King didn't enjoy them, doesn't mean they were not good. I was really drawn to the story because of the love Edward and Bella felt for each other. Here she was a plain, ordinary girl who felt she didn't belong anywhere and to find love from someone who she thought was perfect in everyway (and obviously wanted by many) is a dream for many people. Is that so bad? I really liked the fact that she could portray the strong love and sexual desire between them without making it X-rated. Our children nowadays need this. Stephanie Meyer has never said she was an excellent writer but I think she did an amazing job. I am disappointed with Stephen King because he is a legendary writer and I would have expected more professionalism from him. Maybe some of these people are right...maybe he knows his time is almost over!

Okay... So not many of you think Steph can write. That's fine. Each to their own. I'm proud to say I'm not a crazy "twilighter" but I really do enjoy the series. People keep mentioning that all twilight is is a reflection of a teenage girls dreams.. yet you can't see the appeal?? Just because Steph doesn't write about cars that are evil or men having midlife crises amidst really scary fog.... doesn't mean she can't write. SO SHE MADE THE VAMPIRES SPARKLE.. big whoop, She can write whatever she wants about vampires seeing as there not actually real and no one actually owns the right to make the myth of vampires a certain way. So she didn't make them scary- she made them different. She has a mind of her own. Good for her! King wrote for a different generation, his time is up and he should deal with it.

We've been mocking your grammar and subject matter for these previous four and twenty minutes and just need proclaim your skulls are as hard as diamonds. Please, refrain from showcasing your ignorance to the entire world through the medium of the interweb. Grow up you silly twits.

We all know Stephen King could kick Stephanie's Fanny like Chuck Norris could a parapeligic daisy. Wake up and smell the coffee.

Ye shall be smited by the Gods of Literature. SMITE!

I wholeheartedly agree. Sure, the plot works for a quick fiction fix, but her inability to write anything with depth leaves the reader wanting more. In a bad way.

She needs to go back to school and learn the basics of writing.

Not sure if this was even brought up because I don't think my blood pressure could handle reading any more comments attempting to raise Meyer over King... but if anyone in the world wants to be considered a "good" writer by fellow authors, at least check your grammar. There are so many mistakes in the first Twilight book I had to put it down and take a breather. The sexism is absolutely rampant as well. Maybe Meyer should have thought about the female generation she's influencing when she wrote it so sexistly - even if it isn't explicit.

Sure, the book sells. So does fetish porn. What's popular is popular, but that doesn't have anything to do with artistic merit.

THAT WAS SOOOOO UNCALLED FOR! KEEP YOUR OPINIONS TO YOURSELF, IF YOU DONT LIKE HER WORK THEN WOOPDY DOO FOR YOU, YOU DONT HAVE TO HATE ON ALL THE PEOPLE THAT DO. CAUSE I PERSONALLY LOVE THE SERIES AND BOUGHT ALL FOUR!
AND NOW A COMMENT FROM MY FRIEND:
I HAVE ONLY READ A FEW BOOKS FROM THE SERIES AND PERSONALLY I DO NOT CARE FOR THEM, BUT STILL WHAT HE SAID WAS WRONG AND NO ONE SHOULD LISTEN TO HIM, AFTER ALL HE WRTIES SOME VERY WIERD AND DEMONIC BOOKS.

This blog is as funny as a barrel of sparkling monkeys. Reading these comments is more amusing than reading The Twilight Saga (That's right, even more amusing than Emmett's stupid little sexual innuendos in the final book.)

The only thing Stephan King was wrong about was the part about it not being overtly sexual. It wasn't in terms of details, (because Meyer can't write well or "a darn" for that matter) and books 1-3 didn't have that much but the fourth was really inappropriate.

Major spoilers but Edward somehow got Bella pregnant when she was still human even though vampires, being the supernatural undead beings they are, shouldn’t be able to reproduce!

Basically throughout the final book Emmett spews out random innuendos about what Edward and Bella do at night, aka fooling around while their child is asleep.

What makes the book even more ridiculous is Edward and Bella’s freedom from responsibility. Especially Bella! She can run away from her biological family and marry a guy she barely knew just because they are “in love” and by doing so she can live forever and have intercourse all night for the rest of eternity because vampires don’t get tired and live forever. On the matter of eternity the problem with sparkly vampires is that sunlight is supposed to kill them, without it they have little weakness and you can exactly drive a stake through a perfect marble chest. Basically soon all the Cullen’s family members are going to reproduce and take over the Earth by overpopulating it since they can’t die.

Those that are trying to belittle Stephan King or claim that Stephanie Meyer is better can't even use proper grammar. Some even use superfluous exclamation marks in an attempt to garner attention and even typing in caps even for goodness sake. That doesn't help make weak points more valid.

It's not like Stephan King absolutely hates it either, he even praise it a bit in a twisted sort of way. Quote from the article is as follows: "It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it's not particularly threatening." “Exciting” and “thrilling”? Everyone should be pleased Stephen King even has such semi pleasant thing to say about Meyer’s saga. Besides, him “bashing” her writing has gathered some press and media attention to her (and himself too). It even inspired (or rathered angered) some misguided and rather juvenile fans to come to arms in an attempt to defend her, no matter how pathetic and empty some of the attempts may be.

And to quote yoruyume: "BUT STILL WHAT HE SAID WAS WRONG AND NO ONE SHOULD LISTEN TO HIM, AFTER ALL HE WRTIES SOME VERY WIERD AND DEMONIC BOOKS."
I wonder if the people bashing King and supporting Meyer even read what they type or they pour words out of their consciousness like goo from a zombie's behind.

1) What Stephan King says if not "WRONG," he is actually right although he is a bit blunt about it. Meyer just needs to go back to school and improve.

2) He writes some very weird and demonic books? Newsflash, Stephanie Meyer writes weird and demonic books too! Does that mean no one should listen to her? After all if a half vampire half human hybrid baby that ages to look about sixteen in seven years and drinks human blood isn’t than what is? Of course… a balloon wielding clown that can morph into any child’s worse fear!

As for Carrie vs. vampire Bella? Sadly Carrie will lose because she is after all, yes, human. That and Bella has impenetrable marble skin and she can’t get tired because she is a vampire unlike poor Carrie who dies because of overuse of her own powers. Carrie is more a three dimensional character with complicated emotions and fears that Bella will never have because Bella is a blank Mary sue who fittingly has a male equivalent for a lover… a Gary Stu! I can sense the fan girls just waiting to pounce and kill me now.

CAPITAL LETTERS ARE COOL. Oh, sorry, I forgot to turn off caps lock. My bad. I hope that's what happened to yoruyume. To your friend, so what if King writes demonic or weird books. Just because you're narrow minded doesn't make them bad. There are underlying themes in all of his books, and most aren't that demonic. Read one and you'll understand. And even if you don't at least he writes them better than Stephenie Meyer wrote the Twilight series. Yes people should listen to him, he's one of the best selling authors ever. This must means he knows what he's talking about. And he can obviously voice his opinion, just as your friend has yoruyume. That's being hypocritical because you've clearly voiced your opinion as well.

To everyone else supporting Twilight:

Yes, the story is easy to love, because, as I've stated, it's simple. You don't have to think to understand the plot. And you can jump around all you want. The same phrase makes the entire series and that phrase is repeated every page. Stephen knows its the end of his time. He's getting old. But that, in no way affects his judgment. I don't care if Stephenie didn't intend for them to get published, when she realized they were, she should have made them better. I mean, at least make the sequels better. It's not like she wrote all four in one chain smoking marathon. She could have improved her writing. And, though vampires may be fictitious, most of the criticism is coming from people who think she ruined the genre, which she pretty much did. She's pretty much convinced every average girl that somebody perfect for them will walk into their life. this is obviously not true. And to anybody stating she doesn't over exemplify the sexual aspect, think again. Bella practically breathes sexuality. Every sentence that has to do with Edward has the sexuality in it. It may not be blunt, but it's there. And the love is completely based on nothing. Read my earlier post to learn more. It's not like I'll walk into school one morning and some chick will jump into my arms, some random chick I've never seen before. Relationships like the one Bella and Edward share are built, not just created in a second. Please accept the fact that Stephenie, though she had a good story, did a poor job writing it. I bet even Stephen King could do a better job writing it, in the same genre too. No horror at all, the same genre, same audience. Yeah, the demented guy. And I don't think it would be half as successful because he wouldn't write it like you were reading the secret diary of girl with her first crush.

Please, by all means, challenge me if you want. Point your arguments at me if you want to. You can even point me out in your posts. USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS AND LOTS OF EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm ready to debate.

i dont understand y people keep saying that twilight is full of sexual stuff when the only one that i can recall that mentions sex is Breaking dawn and it wasnt even described... i have read books from my old high school library that would go into full detail about sex...

About stephanie, j.k., and stephan the thing is that i have never been interested in readin any of stephans novels, i like da movies but dont think i could live through any of his novels... i have never and honestly dont plan on reading any of the harry potter books... yea dat is of no interest to me either. BUT i have read the whole twilight collection, well im half way through Breaking dawn and i loved them all except Eclipse (she messed up Bella and Jacob in that one) ...

and yes King has more experience but every author is different and im glad for that cause i wouldnt want them all to be like stephan king cause i dont like his work at all....
my opinion was stated...
P.S. I Think its cool that stephanie's vampires sparkle in the sun instead of burn

I am 16 years old and also what you can call a Twilight fan. Although, I have to agree, Stephen King does have a point.

The Twilight Saga was successful due to it's large fan base made up of mostly the female population. The story/plot line is romantic and easy for girls to relate to. Edward Cullen, the key character, is the perfect imaginary person all girls have. Bella Swan acts as a window in which reader may see themselves in her place. It's a classic love story, the complexity of their love, the circumstances which prevents them from truly being together is what draws the suspense from audience. The story is definitely a hit!

Although, have anyone notice the actual literature? When I first read the book, I notice the simple terms, sentence structures... etc. Meyers can also be very repetitive: her descriptions of Edward, Bella's daily routine... etc.

(: Anyways, I still respect both of these authors!

To The ZPrincess:

The vampires don't have to burn in sunlight. Bram Stoker's vampires don't burn in sunlight. but they don't sparkle. In fact, nothing happens to them. The only thing that happens is that they're stuck in whatever form they were in when the sun rose. What I mean is that Stoker's vampires could change their form and during the day, they were stuck in whatever form they were when the sun came. If they were a bat, they were stuck that. Same if they were in their human form.

Next, sexual stuff isn't bluntly stated statements. It's embedded into the tone of the novels. Even if Bella doesn't state she wants to have sex with Edward, the tone of the novel when she's talking about him and when thinking about him has a very strong sexual tone, or at least lustful.

Might I ask why you aren't interested in reading either sets of books? I mean, I need a good answer please. If you want, just my curiosity getting the better of me.

JUST BECAUSE STEPHANIE MEYER HAS A DIFFERENT TAKE ON VAMPIRES DOESNT MEAN THAT SHE IS WRONG!!! HOW DID SHE RUIN VAMPIRES?!?!? THEY AREN'T EVEN REAL!!!! THE TWILIGHT SERIES AND HER BOOK "THE HOST" ARE GREAT NOVELS AND ARE BETTER THAN ANY STEPHEN KING BOOK I HAVE EVER READ....AND TO THINK THAT I LIKED HIS BOOKS....

To Alexander:

I don't think something needs to be real to ruin it. Is a genre of literature real, like actually, physically real? No. And yet one book can ruin an entire genre. Vampires have a cult following, have iconic features. And when something changes it for the worst, it can ruin it. The Twilight books can't even compare with Stephen King's books. Not because they're for different genres because they suck writing wise. When I read a book, I look for an intricate plot and sub-plots. Twilight and its sequels contain neither. Each book's plot never twists, never throws people for a loop. After two, maybe three chapters, the plot has been said and nothing changes it. Here are the plots.

Twilight: Bella falls in love with a very lonely and depressed vampire who hates himself for being with her because his life's dangerous.

New Moon: Edward leaves Bella who then gets depressed and does dangerous stuff including going to Italy to stop her grief stricken and misinformed lover.

Eclipse: Bella and Edward are back together when new born vampires rampage through Washington until the Cullens and werewolves stop them.

Breaking Dawn: Bella gets pregnant with a baby that Jacob suddenly falls in love with and gets turned into a vampire to face the Volturri from New Moon.

The Entire Series: Two people fall in love with each other for no reason and want to be together forever and are so inexplicably dependent on the other that they try to die several times.

It's a fairly basic series with no expansion. You'd think that after four books, the characters would be evolved from what they were. But they aren't. Bella is still blind, Edward is still miserable. Alice is still Alice. Everyone stays the same.

The books are great stories yet they are written horribly. And to think I liked these books... oh wait, I didn't. I'm not saying that I won't ever pick up Twilight again or that I'm going to burn my copies and send death threats to Stephenie. She's young and still can progress. But as of now, she's a bad writer.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO SUPPORT TWILIGHT. IT NEVER GETS OLD RESPONDING TO YOU GUYS. AND NEXT TIME, DON'T LEAVE CAPS LOCK ON. I DON'T LIKE TO READ BIG LETTERS ALL THE TIME. THEY PROVE NO POINT WHATSOEVER EXCEPT THAT YOU LIKE HOLDING THE SHIFT BUTTON DOWN.

Honestly, reading all of these posts and arguments is more amusing and thought-provoking than the Twilight books themselves.

Mr. King, you are completely, 100%, spot on. Here's what I've posted on another site quite like this:

"I would like to start off by saying that I have read all of the Twilight ’saga’ and the entire Harry Potter series. Next, the fact that I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. King.

Mostly I consider myself to be a fairly seasoned reader. I’ve read classics, non-fictions, fantasies, mostly a multitude of genres. Of course I don’t pretend that I’ve read nearly as much as many others. I tend to lean towards science-fiction and fantasy. So in my opinion, anyone who has any sense at all and knows how to spell ‘what’ correctly is justified in criticizing Meyer’s writing.

In addition to her dull ‘plots’ and twisted messages, Stephanie Meyer has no personal style. I remember back to elementary school days when I used to read Roald Dahl, and still now I admire his skill. You can give me a passage from one of his books, even that I haven’t read, and due to his unique style, I’ll still probably be able to identify him. It is what marks talented authors and gives them spark- the ability to put their voice in their works. What does Meyer sound like? A completely objective, apathetic, 3rd-grade Science text book.

As for literary devices, I am not at all impressed. In the case of irony, the fact that Bella is clumsy and her last name is ‘Swan’ is the extent of Meyer’s creativity. Has she ever heard of an ‘inciting incident’, or even a ‘climax’? Characterization? Apparently not. My peers in 8th grade dished out more compelling informative essays than what Stephanie Meyer has supplied.

Her lunatic idea of what vampires are insults many as well. Vampires were originally evil, undead creatures that fed on human blood. They had fangs, they were demons. Brought up from religious backgrounds [if you get what I mean.] They do not sparkle, they do not have souls, etc. I don’t mean to say that authors cannot have ‘artistic license’ or whatnot, but honestly, Meyer’s creatures don’t even deserve to be called vampires."

I'd like to point out the vampire blasphemy most importantly, since it's one of my soft spots. Meyer ruined the vampiric image that I'd held in such high regard.

Ya know,

Its horrible when the best horror writer of allt ime tells you you suck horribly.
To those people who honestly think that stephanie meyers is a good writer, you REALLY need to learn about character development.

and remember guys...

Vampires SPARKLE!

Stephan King, or what ever his name is, should not talk. His books only connect with adults, if even that. Stephanie Meyer twho she connects with all ages! He is just jelous cuz he isn't the popular one right now, which is so middle school!!!! His books are only considered good when they turn into movies thats where he makes his money. So Stephanie is the one that will come out on top. I don't see her talking bad about any other writer :)

To Courtney:

Stephenie Meyer doesn't talk about other authors because she can't. She's not good enough to talk legitimately about other authors. And considering Stephen King has sold hundreds of millions of books, I'd say that's where he gets his money. MAybe it's just me but I seem to remember books selling for money. Of course King's books only connect with adults, because only adults, or mature teenagers, can actually read good literature. Everybody can read Twilight because it's simple. There's nothing to think about. I'm not goingto go into further detail about that because I've already ranted about it. Stephenie will not come out on top. If she wants to come out on top, she needs to start writing stuff that gets favorable reviews from critics and is advanced. And please, don't say Stephen King is jealous and that he's immature. I mean, look at the one who can't spell jealous or because. When you can type a serious and formal argument, and when you've become as successful as Stephen King, probably not for a good couple of decades if you pursue that career, then you can talk about jealousy and success. And when you can read the article, or portion of article correctly. I mean, his name is at the top of this page. Scroll up if you have to. And so is hers. No A's at all. StephEn and StephEnie. See, no A's.

To Kay:

Thank you. You have written an excellent post. I comend you on you're ability to think clearly and write correctly. I also commend you on not being a Twitard.

To all:

I feel the need to apologize for some mistakes I made in my last post. I mean grammatical errors, not factual errors. So, that being said, I still hold to my position and anyone who disagrees can obviously argue.

The Dark Tower Series blows Twilight out of the water without a doubt. Not to mention King's short stories are amazing. I read the Twilight series and I enjoyed them (save book 4), but I read them as young adult novels while I read King as horror. Neither of them are Austens or Fitzgeralds or Delillos that's for sure.

I hardly think that ANYBODY would agree with Steven King. -.-" Twilight is awesome and you have to have a reason to hate it and say something as mean as that. Twilight gave many girls (And some boys) great pleasure in reading it and I can bet you the WORLD that Steven King hasn't even read the series and is just mad because a lot of younger people would rather read Twilight than his boring books.

I think that we should let the reviews speak. A LOT more people read Stephanie Meyer's books than Stephan King's books. And she only wrote 4 for that series.

On the lighter side, Stephen King may be a better writer but Stephanie Meyer is a _whole_ lot prettier. :)

I believe everyone is entitled to their opinion. I believe they write to different types of people. If SM wants to write to give girls their dream guy let her. It SK wants to write to scare people let him. Everyone writes there own style. To be able to imagine like a writer is just fantastic in the first place.

Meyer has obviously less technique and experience than Stephen King. I could say that her books are more business-based, opening up a fantasy world to horny girl teenagers. King's writing, on the other hand, is art, balancing different sorts of creative ideas on end and trying out whatever is present, with a selection of books breaking yet another set of limits and those not so successful. However, Meyer sells her books through her seuxual fantasies. (Though it is reasonable.) King shouldn't embarress her in public though. A writer is entitled to his or her own rights, and so is a reader. But of personal opinion, I am getting a little sick of those fans of the Twilight series who can only see the 'good' of Meyer.

Dude, Stephen King is so write. Stephanie Meyer writes her books toward the brain dead teenage girl that would be stupid enough to love these books. Its the simple fact that Stephen King is probably the best writer alive to this date. His words are the law of the land, and if he says Stephanie Meyer sucks at writing, well then damn, I'd be dumb not to believe him. Also, the idea of a vampire ( I guess I can call them that, but last time I checked vampires didn't sparkel,a nd they weren't able to stop moving cars, and they can only fly in non-human form, oh, and they love blood way more than people) falling in love with a human is a good idea. Yet, it is so unbelievable, which is why Meyer made up some shit about vamps. I advise she watch the Blade movies, Salems Lot, or even Van Helsing, so she can see what REAL vampires are like.

I wouold just like to point out that apparently the parts where Belle tried to rip his clothes off are non existant. D: She didn't so desperately want to take him. Not, not at all. He's just there to sparkle flamboyantly and be PMSing like a pregnant woman.

And Stephen King is completely right.

I doubt that Mr. King is threatend by Meyer. He complemented Rowling saying she was a terrific writer, and her Harry Potter serious is way more succesful that the twilight series. Rowlings books appeal to both male and female, young and old. Meyers twilight serious appeals to little girls who rule their lives by dream rules that dont exist or work in real life. That's why teenage girls are pshychatic, cuz they read these books and watch the O.C. or Laguna Beach, and it fills their heads with fairy tale dust. I haven't read the twilight series, so I wont say Meyer is a bad writer, but from what I am told about her books, it seems she has destroyed the vampire as our world knows him.

To Michelle:

I can bet you that he has. Or maybe not. I don't know. I keep debating whether he would. You might be right. He might not have read them. I wonder why? Maybe its because they suck. On a more serious note, he probably has. You can't be critic and not read what you're bashing. I bet you he's read all the Harry Potter's too. And I don't think King cares that Stephenie has a whole bunch of young people reading her books. He's sold at least 300 million copies of his own books. Now lets say that all of his books go for 10 dollars each and he gets no advance. Let's say he gets 10% of all the money his books make. Well, that would be 300 million dollars. Because the 10 and the .1 cancel each other. Am I getting too complicated for you. Stephenie has only sold 25 million copies I believe. Let's say that they're all 10 dollars each. And lets say she gets 10 % with no advance. And 10% is generous. I doubt she even got 6%. Anyways, that's still only 25 million dollars. See the difference. And please, I'm tired of names spelled wrong. The names are at the top of the page. Read 'em again if you have to. And read the entire comment field before posting. Girls had a good time reading it because IT WAS SIMPLE. There was no thought process. Sorry to everyone who has to read this rant again. It was easy to read and dissect. That's probably why you think Stephen's books are boring. Because you can't comprehend good literature. And I would say exactly what King said and I HAVE read the books.

To Hi:

When are you talking about? In 2008? Are you saying that more people read Stephenie more that Stephen in 2008? Because then you'd be right. But, if you're talking in general, see the above rant on how many copies each have sold. And compare Twilight to Harry Potter. Rowling has sold 300 million or more copies and she only wrote seven books. That's only three books more than Meyer. So, unless Meyer halls to make her next books sell, well, she's caught in dead last in this triangle of authors. So please, do research before posting. I'm not saying she won't improve and again, that I won't read her series again. But, when I can choose from books such as Pet Semetary, Salem's Lot, Harry Potter's 1-7, all of the Resident Evil books, minus the movie adaptations, it'll be hard to find time considering I think all of those books are better than the Twilight Series. And the Resident Evil Series is based off a series of VIDEO GAMES. Hell, I have to add those in too. So, between me reading Salem's Lot and playing Resident Evil 5, I'll try to squeeze one of them in. The Twilight phase will soon be over. Twilight won't be on the news, there will be no more huge announcements, and the legacy Twilight will leave behind will be millions of dumb teens. Take my advice, stop being dumb and read real literature. Try freaking Shakespeare maybe. He would have you crying you're eyes out because of how hard it is to understand. And you know why that is? It's because you're used to reading Twilight.

I find it rather funny that people can judge Stephen King, when I bet they havn't read more than just one book, if that. And to the person that said Stephen King has never come out with a movie, you may want to re think that. S. King has ten times more movies and books the S. Meyer. The Twilight saga has been taken too far. I enjoyed the books when they were just beginning and know, I can even walk outside without having to see or hear about Edward Cullen. People make out these charaters like they are actual people, which they are far from...

And about the whole "vampires sparkle" thing. Im kind of mixed feelings about. I like how S. Meyer kind of changed the whole vampires scene, but she made vampires almost girly in some ways. I still would choose good old Dracula any day.

I've read both authors. I know Stephen King at one time struggled to get published, versus Stephanie Meyers instant claim to fame; sounds to me a little bitter adversity is in the mix. I personally wouldn't put either of these authors next to one another in comparison. They both have very different styles.

Stephen King is more overall good versus evil (almost all of his books bring up this element in one form or another). Stephanie Meyers kind of brings in a more magical anything is possible generalization. I think there are quite a few of us who can relate to the high school drama that plays out in the Twilight series. As for Kings books, they make you more introspective on a different level.

To trash another author seems rather childish. Each of them have their own style. Stephen King is well known and basically has had his day in the limelight, so why take offense to sharing the fame at this point in his life. I respect them both as authors. It will be interesting to see how Meyers holds up after the success of Twilight.

To Indigo:

It's called constructive criticism. King doesn't care about sharing limelight. If he did he would have bashed Rowling too. No, he's just giving Meyer some criticism. Without it, nobody gets better. If no one tells you that a paper for school isn't good enough for college or that something you've done isn't good enough, then you don't improve and progress. King isn't trashing another author. Please, think of it from all sides and not a narrow minded standpoint. And i don't care if there styles are different, King is good at his and Stephenie is not. And please, I don't care how used to typing it with an "a", spell Stephenie's name right. And for the high school drama, get over it. Twilight isn't the answer to your problems. Just like drugs aren't. I personally can't relate to one single sentence in the books. But that's just me and I'm unique apparently because I don't admire Twilight.

King should not have critized Meyer. Twilight is a great series but most of it's appeal is the hype. Everyone is so excited about it that it is encouraging others to read the novel and watch the movie. But to bash someone like that...rude and uncalled for.

Meyer is unjustly being written off as success through popularity, while King is milking his ethos for all it's worth. Don't get me wrong both are terrific writers, King can scare the crap out of you while Mayer can take the same premise and turn into a love story. I have to admit, at first I was on the HATE the Twilight bandwagon, but after reading the first one, one cannot help but identify and then become attached to the characters, a completely different experience from King's. With King one would always seem detached from the characters and situations but it concluded with terror nonetheless, Twilight leaves some things to be desired also, for example some of it's pacing does seem rushed, but how can we expect perfection from either? They are only human... We can just appreciate them for what they are, complete polar opposite genres. To those who say that Meyers ruined vampires, i say ha! Oh please, gothic interest? Bitterness seems the predominant background in those who bash Meyers. The whole, Edward's a wimp thing... what? Does that make Louis (Anne Rice) a wimp too?? They do not butcher people and prefer romanticism! Since when did the bloodthirsty count represent all vampire etiquette? Back to King: who knows what possessed him to lash out at fellow writers but it may have a lot to do with self fulfilling prophecy: he was hated on when he first began, he's unfairly taking it out on Meyers.

To Insert Book Title:

First, it's spelled criticized. you missed a "c" and an "i". Next, I think King should have. Once again, Stephenie won't improve without criticism and even with criticism she has yet to improve. She didn't get good reviews for Twilight. So she writes New Moon pretty much the same and gets no good reviews again. So she writes Eclipse, again, to very average and bad reviews. And she writes Breaking Dawn, in pretty much the same fashion as the other three and to make things worse, she hypes up a great confrontation and then leaves the readers wondering what happened. I can't think of a worse way to end the book. Bella trains for like a third of the book for this battle and then what, they leave? No fighting, no attacks, no nothing. It's like a quick draw without the draw. Two guys hype the match up and walk their ten steps, then turn and laugh, then go into the bar and have a drink. Maybe criticism from a famous author is exactly what Meyer needs because normal criticism seems to fail at penetrating her. Goes in one ear and out the other. And I understand that you can't let critics get you down but you should take some of their advice at lease when your writing the sequels. King had every right and honestly needed to criticize Meyer.

To those thinking that King was rude:

I just don't understand why you think this. Please explain. If I'm a writer and King says that I'm not a good writer, I take it to heart and work to improve my writing. And thank him for giving me his opinion. And uncalled for? No, it would be uncalled for if Twilight was receiving rave reviews from critics and he said it. That would make it uncalled for. Or if he personally insulted Meyer or said something unrelated to her writing, then it would have been uncalled for. But he was asked to give his opinion and he stated it. Simple as that.

I have to agree with Josh. If i were a writer of S. Meyers status (right now) I would kill to have an author like S. King tell me if my work was good or bad. I think he had every right to state is option as to if she was a good writer or a bad. He has enough expirence in the field of writing and that should leave him atleast some say. Besides the fact everyone has their own option. All of the "OMG Edward Cullen is UH-MAY-ZING!" people out there need to look at S. King's option in a different view and dont go all crazy when they bash your favorite fiction writer. She has written a whole 4 books and she has already had parts of one of her books leaked out onto the internet. Is that what a good, expirenced writer would let happen? She is a beginning writer and just happened to have a lucky shot in writing a book, she needs advice from other writers! Dont think that it is rude and uncalled for, it is only helping her in the long run.

I men relly, how can he say stephenie is bad? look at him, he cant rite! where r his books and stuff? he just wishes he did vampires, insted of meyer. yea, take that u loser king. u cant do anything or rite anything because meyer is cooler than u.

i like the vampires, and i think they should sparkle because edward is sexy so tehre.

I'm slipping, I didn't even see Rosalie's post. I've gotta' take some caffeine or something.

To Rosalie Hernandez:

the Count became the standard for vampire etiquette when he became the most known and successful vampire in history. Hell, the vampire genre wouldn't exist in all probability had Dracula not been written. And the romanticism isn't the part people are focused on. First off, sparkle in the sun? At least Louis doesn't sparkle in the sunlight. Second, Edward IS a wimp. His character oozes of just plain wimp. He whines and complains a lot and I would bet that Pennywise from IT wouldbeat him in seconds.
Also, I don't know if it's just me, but I can connect to every Stephen King character I've read.I can relate to them. And that's because they're real. They change and develop. Meyer's characters don't and I can't relate at all to them.
You're right, we can't expect perfection. But we can expect good literature and Twilight falls short of that simple standard. Meyer's fame is somewhat of a fluke, created by hype and simplistic literature.
And I don't think King is lashing out suppressed feelings from when he was an up and coming writer. The critics are already bashing Meyer by not giving her a good review on the average. He's just saying what he believes and what he believes is true. Meyer can't write worth a damn.

Though many people have made the case for Stephenie Meyer, I want to address something else. Of course, the intended audience is taken into account when she was writing, and obviously the intended audience for SM primarily differs from Stephen King's with respect to age. But the consistent criticism of the "flat," "underdeveloped" nature of the characters, particularly of Bella is what really bothers me.

As a 23 year old woman, I have a penchant for reading that goes beyond one particular genre or style. I often choose to read YA fiction over Adult fiction simply because, as a literate person, I really enjoy a good story better than I enjoy lofty prose and excessive description that runs rampant in the world of being a "good" writer. I have read Stephen King. And I couldn't tell you a single detail about any character that stands out in memory, nor any character I could relate to my own experiences.

Bella, on the other hand, reminds me of myself. And I do not consider myself to be "weak," "Mary Sue - like," or a "brain-dead teenage girl," as some posts seem to suggest the typical Twilight fan would be. Of course someone growing up in the world of text messages may choose to write their post without punctuation and capitalization. So did the famous e.e. cummings. It is a matter of expression, just as SM's choice of subject matter and style of writing are her choice.

Stephen King may be criticizing technical skill, but in a world where literacy is in danger of extinction among the young, why can't we have both writing styles? Reading is reading, and when a child wants to read something, you let her, lest she become a "brain dead teenager."

As for the idea that SM's writing resembles "completely objective, apathetic, 3rd-grade Science text book," well, show me a third grade textbook that was the bestseller in young adult fiction in 2008.

Finally! Someone in the literature world who had the guts to stand up and say Stephenie Meyer isn't any good! Because she isn't! God bless you, Stephen King!

From a purely objective standpoint, Stephanie Meyer is a lackluster, unpolished writer. Credit where credit is due, though--she did craft a story that pulls on the fantasies that a lot of preteen girls share. However, her ability to appeal to the suggestible demographic that she does certainly does not a good technical writer make. Her characters are undeveloped, her syntax is old and tired, and her plotlines are predictable and stagnant.

ok... people SERIOUSLY need to get a life about this....you shouldn't go around being a critic about EVERYTHING!! yay for shoving our opinions into people's faces and being RUDE about it! twilight haters, you don't have t actually READ the book if you think it's dumb! i know that people have their right to their opinion, but seriously, when did it become a "my book is better than your book, and if you don't think what i think, you are stupid." war??? please, if you have something rude to say, don't post it in a blog comment. and to "angy fan girls" dude, uncalled for and VERY RUDE and to "day" we don't need to hear your unfair accusitions, you're just making people angry.

i am not a fan of reading much at all. i have tried to read stephen king books but i stop before finishing i dont know why i just get bored. it is nothing against him its just not the books for me. I think he is prob really great writer just not my style. The only books i have been able to read all the way through were Harry Potter and Twilight saga.

To Emily:

Because we live in a world of text messages and Myspace literature is dying. And Stephenie Meyer doesn't help this. She's got a good story, no doubt. But, as a reader, I really don't like reading it because it's badly told. Of course I'm not going to say that I prefer good literature over a good story but a mix of both is nice. And Stephen King gives readers that. It doesn't matter if a character sticks out in your mind, it's that you can connect with the character during the reading. And in my mind, several character's already stand out. Ben Mears from Salem's Lot, the protagonist. Pennywise the clown from IT. Carrie from... well Carrie. I can't forget those people because they stand out and I enjoy the struggles (except in Pennywise's case, I just love his wit) they face in the book. But in Twilight, I can't relate to a single character. Bella? I'm a guy. Edward? I'm not self-loathing. Emmett? I'm not an animal. Rosalie? I'm not a spiteful witch. Alice? I'm not a playful pixie. Jasper? I don't have anger issues. None of the characters my age are really good. And there's no character development. That is the key to a good novel and series.
As for becoming a brain dead teenager. Well, I believe that's why they put Shakespeare in English classes. To counteract the effects made by Twilight. Reading Twilight is nothing more than playing a video game. No one becomes smarter for it.
And don't say that there is character development. Tell me one character who changes in the series. Emotionally, that is. I don't care that Bella got transformed into a "vampire".
Now, I obviously don't think you're a brain dead teenage girl. You seem very capable of making good arguments. I'm just saying that your position is wrong.

To em:
My book is better than your book. It became a war when people who unreasonably adore Twilight came to Meyer's defense against Stephen. We fought back, and we tried not to repeat what every other person said.

To Kelly:
You get bored because Stephen leads into the plot and throws twists. Meyer doesn't. She leads into the plot and then lets you sail forward. Like a rollercoaster ride with no turns, just a loop leading back to the beginning. And you get in and you ride this loop and you've started the plot of the second book, and again and again for the next books.

In general:
The following statement is ultimately for people to debate. The ending sucks. to every books and the series. It sucks. Please, leave a comment defending Meyer and arguing the statement.

Steven King is an excellent writer. He makes great use of the English language. However, King is all about shock and horror. He could not write a book without sexual and violent imagery. Even King's book on writing involves examples that are, for the most part, on the shocking and violent side. There are also great lulls in Steven King novels. The chapters between the action in a King novel put me to sleep. I am an avid reader, and a fan of all three writers involved. King mentioned JK Rowling's work as if she and Stephanie are of a kind, but they are not. JKR has magical books intended for a youthful audience filled with lore and myths from all kinds of cultural backgrounds. There is a heck of a lot hidden between the covers of a JKR book that does not come to a reader's attention until you either study mythology or get one of the many guides for her novels. Her writing style is deeper than anything Steven King could ever accomplish. Stephanie Meyer is yet another type of writing animal. Her originally intended audience was not young adult. I have heard there were loves scenes edited out of the original manuscripts. Stephanie keeps my attention throughout the entire novel, and is inventive. Whoever said that vampires do not sparkle has to realize that vampires do not really exist, and therefore can do whatever Stephanie wants them to do. Authors have been reinventing mythical creatures for ages. This is no different. Stephanie does not rely on shock, sex, or historical mythology to write. Her style is different, and so I have to say that the comparison is moot. I will say that Stephanie holds my attention better than King does these days, and while his imagery is wonderful, I have not needed the explicit language or scenes that King paints since becoming an adult. As an adolescent the books almost seemed like contraband, but after experiencing a little more of life, King novels are like a sensory overload, that is while they are not putting me to sleep.

To Mrs. Cullen:

I men relly, how can he say stephenie is bad?

I believe it is the 1st Ammendment.

look at him, he cant rite! where r his books and stuff?

*Silence*. You have got to be kidding me.

he just wishes he did vampires, insted of meyer.

*Silence*. Again. Ever heard of Salem's Lot?

yea, take that u loser king.

Take what? A bunch of insults that don't make any sense at all?

u cant do anything or rite anything because meyer is cooler than u.

... Obviously he can, because he's written more books than I could count on both hands (And thank you, I am not a cripple).

i like the vampires, and i think they should sparkle because edward is sexy so tehre.

This is a joke obviously.

HAHA! He is so right! This really makes my day.

To Pandaleigh:

On the subject of sparkling vampires. No, they don't exist. But yes, they have a certain picture in the public's mind, one heavily influenced by Dracula. Take this as an example, when we think of baseball, we think of guys swinging a bat at a ball and homeruns and such and such. Well lets say that one day, you go to see a baseball game and what you watch is two jugglers. Are you gonna' be happy about it? I sure wouldn't be. Yes, Stephen King draws heavily from the profane side of humanity, but lets face it, who doesn't swear? And the sex scenes usually relate to the plot. In Salem's Lot, there isn't a sex scene, and the implied on relates to the plot later.

Yes, J.K. Rowling was heavily influenced by mythology but you don't have to study mythology to pick out most of it. It's the classic coming of age story. Watch Star Wars. Different setting, same mythology. And that's the reason Rowling and King are good, because they have a basis for each and every book. Meyer has no basis.

Now, I have no clue if there were any adult scenes taken out of the Twilight series, but I sure as hell know that even with them, the books still suck. The basis she tries to use is forbidden love and she fails. Primarily because this forbidden love, really isn't all that forbidden, especially when she changes vampires into absolute sex icons.

The lull in between action scenes in King's novels has everything to do with the plot. The lulls in between action in the Twilight series are... oh wait, there really is no action. Yes, it can keep someone's attention but there's a difference between entertaining and writing good. Take a pair of movies for example, some movies are so bad, you can't help but watch them, while others are so good but slow at times that you switch to the humorously bad movies. Entertainment is easy, writing good is hard. And King writes good. Stephenie is just entertaining.

And, duh, King writes for shock and horror because that's what he's good at. A basketball player doesn't go and play rugby. That's retarded. And I don't think King could write Twilight because he'd have to climb down the literary ladder to far to reach Meyer from where he is. Especially when it comes to the actual writing. And while Meyer's books aren't putting me in a coma for sexual overload, they're putting me in a coma for melancholy overload. Either Bella is describing Edward and everything they do in a sexual tone or she's moping around. It gets tiring.

To anyone who wants to read something other than Twilight, I recommend the Resident Evil series. Yes, there is a series of books, five based off of the first three games and Resident Evil: Zero and Code: Veronica. They're great, especially if you like undead novels which people should if they're reading Twilight. Or, I guess not since vampires aren't the undead anymore, they're just humans with supernatural strength who sparkle in the sun and drink blood. Think of a animal hunting Superman minus the tights.

I say... i agree with Stephen King.. i read both... & Stephen King is on a WAAAAAAY diff level than Meyer. Meyer has crushed the image of vampires to bits... it saddens me. Stephen King's books are reli good. They might not make u wanna read more, but it's on a different level... Jk & Meyer can b compared... but King is on a different level.. you can't really compared him with the two... & Rachel... yes, this DOES make my day! XD

Fan Girls are angry... but hey, King IS good. It's a fact. He's not a jerk, or has a mental disorder. He's just being realistic & honest. & he's not jealous tht Twilight's taking over him, coz Meyer will NEVER exceed the King. Meyer can write teen books, but it's King who rules the adult world.

I bet if Meyer went & wrote an adult novel, she can't beat Stephen by a mile. Thing is, we all grow up, & we all change our taste in books. First we all loved Fantasy, then Romance then we switched from things to things. & Now we all love vampires. We all will move up to better books in the future, and King's in my future.

The only flaw for me in Twilight is... That Meyer spoilt the concept of Vampires (even if they don't actually exist). She made something mysterious, into something... like highschool romance.

I look up to King because he writes maturedly. Meyer's good, yes, but not as good as the King.

Conclusion:
Meyer is a good teen writer
&
King is an excellent adult novel writer

& Yeah! JOSH! Ur have the BEST comment here...

ur makes sense hands down.

*salute*

I think that all of the peope that hate twilight should stop tormenting the twilight fans and visa versa . I personaly like the twilight books but if anyone disagrees then thats fine, its just my indavidual opinion .

To Anonymous:

Um, I believe that your side started this confrontation. I mean I don't know because I'm trying to be like the people who spell names wrong and won't scroll up the page. But I will anyways. It was Taylor who started things off. And he spelled names wrong and he was the first post. So, your side attacked, we retaliated, not to difficult to understand. We pinned our logic against you logic and we're winning because no one on your side has said anything different. All you guys say is that King's jealous and can't write. Our side went from criticizes the lack of writing to the discreet sexual content, to analyzing statements, and much more. I don't like to call the factions sides but, I have to. There's no other way to explain.

I was addicted to the first three books of Twilight, so I did think she was a good writer... but I read the last book and suddenly I didn't like her.

She ended the series in a horrible way; maybe I would think she was still good if she had chosen an alternate ending.

~~~
JACOB: Guess what? I made out with your mom, and now we're supposed to be together forever!
NESSIE: Why would I want to be with someone who used to imagine having sex with my mom!

While I don't disagree with him (far from it), didn't King once say "If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, I consider you talented?" Now, Meyer's collected some hefty checks in her time, I imagine. So doesn't that, by his own standards, make her super-super talented?

I don't think she's a good writer but she's entertained millions of people. Isn't that what matters at the end of the day? You know, I get just as much pleasure reading entertaining-but-mediocre literature as I do from the great stuff. "Twilight" will never go in my Top 10, but, God, I finished "New Moon" and "Eclipse" in the same *day*- she must have something going for her.

I've been intrigued by the emotion surrounding Meyer's books, so I went to the library today and got Twilight. (There were only a few available; dozens had been checked out around the county -- an indication that her spell on readers is still strong.) In a week or so (I'm not as fast a reader as Steph), I'll know where I come down in the debate about her writing and story-telling skills.

I have to agree with King. Stephenie is a terrible writer, although there were some really sweet parts in her books. Other than that, her characters are both terrible and boring, her descriptions are mind-numbingly awful, and she says the same thing over and over and over again. There is absolutely no depth at all. People only like her books because it's a fad.
*And most of the people who enjoy her books don't read much, and thus don't know what a book that is actually well written is like. Poor things.

Entertaining isn't the same as being good for someone. Television is entertaining but I'm always told that if I watch to much that my brain will turn to mush. I've also heard that playing too much video games can screw my eyes up. That's just what I've heard though. Of course, I can always enjoy a good story but if I do the same thing reading Twilight as I do watching a movie, you better believe I'm putting a DVD into my player. And that's what Twilight and it's successors are. Good stories but not good literature. There aren't any plot twists in any of them. If I'm given a good 48 hours to read something, just something I want to with no other directions. No essay at the end, just a free read time, I'm going to choose Stephen King over Twilight because I like the plot twists. If I chose Twilight I'd have forty-four hours of spare time. Or approximately. Maybe a little less.

Yes, entertaining people is what matters at the end of the day but the point of literature in general, fiction and nonfiction is to teach the reader something. What does Twilight teach us? That the world is a perfect little place? That ain't true. That you're always gonna' find you're true love? That ain't true. That love always triumphs? That ain't true. That even the most unlikely of people can fall in love with each other? Sadly, that ain't generally true. It's nothing a but a fantasy land. It holds that same educational value as a video game.

And yeah, Stephenie is talented, she can come up with good stories. But, she can't write. See, there are different types of talents. A person can come up with a great story but be unable to put it down on paper. Or people have a fluent time in writing but can't come up with good stories. And then some people have both. J.K. Rowling in my opinion is both an excellent story teller and writer. So is King.

Alternative ending:

- Bella changes her name to Stephanie and realizes that she doesn't need a man to survive. Joins the navy, never comes back
- Eddy comes to the reality of what an annoying, whiny, coy person Bella is, and discovers his undenying love for Jacob and makeout passionately
- Goku goes Super Saiyan 4
- World explodes, the end :3

BRING ON THE HATE, FANGIRLS!

"It is difficult to make a single, definitive description of the folkloric vampire, though there are several elements common to many European legends. Vampires were usually reported as bloated in appearance, and ruddy, purplish, or dark in colour; these characteristics were often attributed to the recent drinking of blood. Indeed, blood was often seen seeping from the mouth and nose when one was seen in its shroud or coffin and its left eye was often open.[21] It would be clad in the linen shroud it was buried in, and its teeth, hair, and nails may have grown somewhat, though in general fangs were not a feature.[22]
Other attributes varied greatly from culture to culture; some vampires, such as those found in Transylvanian tales, were gaunt, pale, and had long fingernails, while those from Bulgaria only had one nostril,[23] and Bavarian vampires slept with thumbs crossed and one eye open.[24] Moravian vampires only attacked while naked, and those of Albanian folklore wore high-heeled shoes.[24] As stories of vampires spread throughout the globe to the Americas and elsewhere, so did the varied and sometimes bizarre descriptions of them: Mexican vampires had a bare skull instead of a head,[24] Brazilian vampires had furry feet and vampires from the Rocky Mountains only sucked blood with their noses and from the victim's ears.[24] Common attributes were sometimes described, such as red hair.[24] Some were reported to be able to transform into bats, rats, dogs, wolves, spiders and even moths.[25] From these various legends, works of literature such as Bram Stoker's Dracula, and the influences of historical bloodthirsty figures such as Gilles de Rais, Elizabeth Báthory, and Vlad Ţepeş, the vampire developed into the modern stereotype.[20][24]"

Go wikipedia O_O

This guys butthurt

But twilight still sucks.

I do not know what Stephen King thought he was talking about, but I have read alot of books-and Twilight is by far on the top. She knows how to keep people into the books. I've never once read a Stephen King book that I couldn't put down, well Twilight was like that. I couldn't read fast enough. I don't know what Stephen King is thinking; or feeling for that matter, (maybe jealousy) but Stephanie Myer has him beat hands down.

I think that the amount of comments against Meyer are all worded properly and are, for the most part, grammatically correct.
With the majority of comments for Meyer being the opposite speak for themselves.

U SUCK MEYER RULZ, really isn't the way to prove that the author has incredible writing skills people.
the fan base alone turned me off this series long ago.

Teenage girls like her, no one else does

Haha, for one I completely agree with Stephen King, but as another point it seems that every single female in this thread is flying off the handle. Christ get over it.

sk is bad writer.

sm is bad beyond redemption.

it's sad to see all you young ppl arguing about something that should not be classified as a literature.

ITT: Fan Girls defending Twilight

why are the ppl in twilight called vampires?

they should be renamed cuz they hardly fit the description of vampire... call them fruitbats or something idk

Stupid. None of these people are fantastical writers. None have created something of depth as war and peace or writings of Buddha. But seriously take a look at the range of subject matter Stephen king or jk can write about. Stephen with each book creates an entirely different world where the rules are different and the conflict dissimilar to any of his books before. I don't know what it takes to do that, but it takes something to create so many plot lines that are in essence ORIGINAL from one another, call it original content. JK while she has written a series based on a single protagonist chose to create a lush rain forest of a world with so many plot lines, characters, abilities etc without breaking any of its before established rules of the world that it stands equal to several king books.

Truth be told we have not seen if meyer can create anything parralel. She writes of one subject. At that she contradicts what vampires are conventionally thought to be, which isn't a bad thing as long as you emphasize that fact. Take a look at the series Peeps which takes an alternate view to vampirism, but at the same time emphasizes the fact that its different and tells you about the new rules of the condition. Twilight simply doesn't do this. It just throws you in and expects you to believe this new take on vampires no questions asked, which seems arrogant for an author to do in the face of hundreds of years of media. In conclusion meyer has to come out with...something else that would showcase her ability to continually create original content instead of dragging out a storyline needlessly with rehashed concepts, be it in the form of a new series or incorporating it into her current. Without doing this her works will most likely fall into a category of passing fad, like an unfortunate series of events, or everworld(ugh)

What Stephanie Meyer did was create a series of books that teenage girls could relate to. She used her own idea of what vampires could be, instead of the same ideas everyone else used. No, she isn't the best writer in the world, and a lot of her stuff seems to lack substance. The one thing she has over Steven King is that her books draw people in. When I read Stephen King novels I end up bored and dont read the rest, because there really isn't much to keep me reading it. When I first read Twilight, I couldn't put it down, and ended up buying and reading the other 3 books in the same week. Stephen King may be famous, but he is not the final word on what is good and what is bad.
People are entitled to their own opinions. Thinking Meyer is good, or that King is bad, it's an opinion, and you cant prove either way if something is bad or good. It's completely subjective.
As for JK Rowling, yes she is a terrific writer -now- but her first book honestly was just as bad as people say Twilight is. Sometimes you have to get past the first book, because just like with Harry Potter, the books age as you read them, and get better as you go.

To Anonymous:

Actually you can prove that something is bad or not. Of course those who argue the other side won't see the logic.

No, Stephen King isn't the final word but he sure does have a great say in what is good and bad. He's a hell of a lot more famous than Meyer is and possibly will ever be. And the reason you probably can't get drawn into Stephen King is because you can't read good literature. Once again, people get drawn into Twilight because it's very simple. Your mind processes very little because there's nothing to process.

Sure, Rowling may have been bad with her first book but she improved. By the third book she had improved vastly. But, with Twilight and its successors, there is no improvement. It's the same damn bad writing in all four books. I got past the first book, hell I think it's the best book of the series, writing, story, everything. It think the series ultimately regresses. Breaking Dawn could have redeemed itself had Meyer ended it better. But no. Instead of the climactic battle that Meyer has been hyping for two-thirds of the book, she makes her "dangerous" and "bad ass" vampires cowards. It's stupid. That was its saving grace, the battle, and I found myself on the edge of tears after finishing the book. Tears of shame and despair, because I'd read this stupid book for a battle similar to the one in Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows and was let down completely. The Twilight series just isn't good.

Everyone has their own opinion, you may like Stephen King and you may like Stephanie Meyer, you may even like them both. I've read the "Twilight" saga and I enjoyed them very much and I've read all of Stephen Kings books and I liked them as well, They are just different styles, I believe they are both good writers in their own way.

This comment section is very entertaining to read.

Just to give a little background, I'm an 18 year old girl currently attending a university.
I admit that I have not read any Stephen King novels because, truthfully, horror novels scare me. I have read all of the Twilight saga and the Harry Potter books. I've read classic love novels such as works by Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte and fantasy novels such as works by Anne McCaffrey and Tamora Pierce.

I initially enjoyed reading the Twilight series. I was nearly obsessive about reading them and read most in a single day, however; after reading the final book, I realized how poor quality the writing actually was. Yes, as mentioned already, the same adjectives are used over and over again and the characters are absolutely one-dimensional. The climax is always in the last 100 pages, and if you've ever analyzed a plot using the triangle diagram in high school English class, there needs to be sufficient time allowed for falling action and a resolution.

Never mind the fact that her writing is poor, the messages conveying in her novels aren't very healthy. The constant self-loathing and inadequacy of the main character is unhealthy as is her betrayal to Edward and her mistreatment of her "best friend" Jacob. If she was trying to impress her own personal feelings of abstinence to her readers, then the fact that Bella and Edward physically slept together in the literal sense of the word every night sends mixed messages.

In response to the opinion that these books get teenagers to read, I can only wonder where they were when Harry Potter was published. A cave underground, perhaps? Harry Potter was the series that encouraged young people to read. These books increased in complexity with each new book, easing the reader into a more difficult reading level.

Stephen King's comment was entirely true and I've always found it insulting that Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling are even being compared at all.

Stephenie Meyer is astounding. I love her deep descriptions. She uses interesting words, and I am not talking about the cuss words that Stephen King uses. Stephenie uses sarcasm and joking in her books. Anyway, just because Stephen King wrote more books than Stephenie does not make him a better author!
By Samantha-11 years old.

Twilight is like Crack. There is absolutely NO substance to it except for a certain addictive quality. Stephenie Meyer CANT write. She's a terrible author. And those who say that Stephen King is jealous.. Jealous of what?? That this newcomer, amateur author has some success? Stephen King is a literary LEGEND. He has sold over 300 million books worldwide, has won numerous awards, inspired many hit films.. and SO MUCH MORE.. Why would Stephen be jealous of Stephenie's 28 million books that she's sold worldwide?? She hasn't even won ANY awards!! Please- Stephen voiced his opinion and like it or not.. HE'S RIGHT!!! Stephenie is a TERRIBLE author... And, she's just some mildly succesful author who no one will be praising years from now. I agree also, that J.K.Rowling is terrific. Stephenie WISHES she had J.K.Rowling's talent!!

To Lori or Samantha, whichever is the one talking in the post:

Thank you for confirming every post on this topic stating that only Pre-pubescent girls are attracted to Twilight. I mean, you're what, in sixth grade? So, therefore you can't really comprehend King's novels yet. And you probably don't know what a real deep description is. Meyer's descriptions are about as vague as they come Lori/Sammy/Whoever. And, I agree with Jane, Stephen has sold over 300 million copies of his books to Meyer's 28 million. That's what makes Stephen a better author, how many books he's sold. I mean J.K. Rowling has sold just as many books as he has and she's only written 7 books in the Story-arc. She has a few companion books but they aren't in the main story. That's why Rowling is a better author than Meyer, because Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/ Philosopher's Stone has sold more copies alone than the entire Twilight series.

I think trashing an author is crass. Perhaps Mr. King is fearing he isn't as great as he once was. No longer known as the " HorrorOZ " lol, he sees others sitting in his throne. lol. I have yet to read Twilight, but I will get around to it before the DVD release ; p.
Rowling & Meyer's introduced many reluctant readers to become lovers of the written word. So many people who once thought reading was " uncool " or for " nerds " found it COOL to be reading either series &/or both.
As a book nerd, I am thrilled for this surge in readership.

To The Book Cave:

A) Stephenie Meyer doesn't write horror, as has been stated by the many Twilight supporters. Therefore, how could Stephen see her sitting in his throne?

B) I don't think King really fears he's not as good as he was. I think he actually acknowledges that fact in his non-fiction book On Writing.

To The Book Cave:

P.S.: King already knows that other people will sit in his thrown. Look at Clive Barker's Books of Blood. King named them the future of horror. And personally I think that the Books of Blood are way better than Twilight and the series.

the Twlight series sucked. it was boring and and a waste of time. At least King can kill off characters. While Meyer is too soft and afraid too.
if meyer can acually put more action into her books and not Ruin the Vampire legend. She can be a great writter. but until she Improves, King is the better writter.

I have not read the Twilight books and I am halfway through reading my 3rd Stephen King book, so I'm not going to lie, I'm biased. But, what I've noticed about Twilight is that it is an easy read. Kids around my high school who are the type who have never picked up a fictional book on their own willingly have said that they want to read because of Twililght. Judging by these people's actions, it seems to be a simple read. Stephen King's books are quite the oppposite.

I think King's criticism may stem from that, how King is a more experienced writer and his books are geared to more mature audiences, and Meyer is more young and geared towards younger readers.

I don't have any real opinion towards the book itself, but I am rather biased towards the fanbase. It is rather annoying because Twilight happens to be very popular at my school, and I hear a lot about it, to the point where I am sick of it.

Tl;dr, Stephen King really shouldn't have bashed Meyer, even though it was pretty funny.

I doubt many of you young people are familiar with "Salem's Lot" but it was a vampire story written by Stephen King. I would imagine that Stephenie Meyer read that book as a youngster herself and may have taken inspiration from it. I've been around a long time (I'm 42) and grew up with King's work and I would never expect any writer to measure up to his caliber. However, Josh, Samantha is my daughter and I am thrilled that she is reading (she is only in 5th grade by the way). I am reading the books (Meyer's) along with her, as I also read JK Rowling's books, Erin Hunter's "Warriorcats" series and Kathryn Lasky's "The Guardians of Gahoole" which all have amazing depth for children's fantasy. The point is prepubescent girls are not ready for Stephen King, nor are his books appropriate for young girls or boys. However I am disappointed in the books and especially the character of Bella for I feel she is a poor role model for young girls who should be inspired to achieve their own noble ambitions, rather than obsess over dysfunctional romance. I think most of the characters in "Twilight" are flat and unidimensional. The only character I find interesting in the series is Jacob Black who truly does evolve with the events of the story. Her characters are also inconsistent. It disturbs me that Stephenie seems to have forgotten that her most ethical vampire, Carlisle, went through mental anguish in his decision to turn Edward into a vampire and only at the bequest of the young man's dying mother. Yet he makes no qualms about turning Bella, a healthy girl with a potentially bright future into a creature with no soul. I also fear that Bella's comment at the end of "New Moon" that refers to "heaven being less important than Edward" and that losing her soul was nothing compared to losing him sends a dangerous message to young girls These are issues that I make a point to discuss with my daughter as we read these books. I would never want her to see Bella, a girl with remarkably low self-esteem, as a role model. I caution all parents to do the same. Please encourage your children to read CS Lewis's, "The Chronicles of Narnia" and other classics. I understand what Stephen King was trying to say. I believe he sees the same inconsistencies in Meyer's work as I do. I agree wholeheartedly about JK Rowling as well. Fifty years from now she will be held in the same esteem as Tolkien and Lewis. She is already a legend in her own time. Everyone, young and old, keep reading!!

The thing that just blows me away is how all of the people on here bash Stephanie Meyer and say she is a terrible writer. If you can do better, go ahead and write and make yourself a fortune. Imagine the amazing stories, use the well crafted grammar, do all the hard work it takes to write a book. Oh, none of us on here can? Then shut your mouths about her. Her books are well written and very captivating.

The Twilight series is pathetic in comparison to many, many novels King has written, not to mention hundreds of other authors. I never respected Stephanie Meyer's writing because her character development and plot twists are laughable; it's a soap opera. Bella is a whining, nagging, unappealing girl, Edward has no substance aside from unrealistic, unconditional love and nothing else. The only good point about the series is it enables a younger audience to have interest in reading. I will say that Meyer's work appeals to younger, 12-year-old preteen girls because it's easy to digest and has no substance. I mean, you're entitled to like it as an adult, or appreciate it for what it provides for kids, but you should also know it's substance is lacking. It's stale white bread whereas so many authors provide full-blown, spiced, delicious meals of depth and culture.

To Lori:

Then I applaud you for trying to make sure that your child does not take up after the characters in Twilight. I also agree, that many Stephen King books are not meant for young children. My only point is that it confirmed, as well as your latest post, that most of Twilight's attraction comes from young girls. I didn't mean to say that she's stupid and I won't say that now. I merely was analyzing the facts. And the facts are that your daughter is not old enough to understand real literature. And again, yes she's reading, but that doesn't mean she's learning, which is the point of literature. That's why they have classes on it.

To steve sumner:

You propose to the many working people posting in this article to write something better than Meyer? Okay, give them half a year and I'm sure they could. Yet, they can't. Because in the crappy economic times, nobody can simply base their future in a book. The point is, King HAS written something better than Meyer and that Meyer's books, though addictive as they may be, are poorly written. If I may ask, how old are you and what books have you read?

To Sey:

Great post.

I've been intrigued by the storm of reaction to Stephen King's criticism. I can't think of another book that has triggered that sort of emotional outpouring -- pro and con. So on Saturday, I got Twilight from the library.
I've read about 200 pages and so far, so good. The mystery unspools at a decent pace, there's enough action to keep the plot moving and the characters are interesting.
The writing is pretty basic -- no one is going to confuse Meyer with Marilynne Robinson. And I'm not too fond of the high-school intrigue -- who's dating whom, will I be invited to the dance.
But it's fairly true to what I remember high school being like. And that is her target audience.

More to come in a few days ...

To Dave:

I'm glad you decided to read the book(s) before trying to comment. And I like that you can realize that the writing is basic. I guess that the high school part is true, if you look at a generalization. I mean there was very little of the other groups in school like I don't go through the daily rabble of who has done what but I don't sit with that crowd. So I think that maybe Meyer could have added some elements of other groups like more playful bantering because you see a lot of that. The mystery is honestly the thing that holds the story together so when it's gone... I'm not going to spoil it. But I like the witty comments Edward has during Twilight that are almost lost in the other three books. the action is pretty much mild, meaning not much, but I agree, enough to keep the plot moving and the characters are just interesting enough.

"Critics may exclude works from the classification "literature," for example, on the grounds of a poor standard of grammar and syntax, of an unbelievable or disjointed story-line, or of inconsistent or unconvincing characters."

Well, I guess that we can official exclude Twilight and its sequels as literature on the grounds of unconvincing characters.

...denial is definitely more than just a river in Eygpt.

How many of you Twilight fans can say that you don't self-insert? How many of you say that you read and like it for its literation? Even Stephenie Meyer herself admits that it's a self-insert for her. And from the corner of the internet where I come from, self-insert plus Gary AND Mary Sue = badfic. The only reason it's a hit is because there are soppy lifeless people feeding the monster market. I'm sorry for the anti-J.K.Rowling attitude I had before; in fact she did write well from the aspect of literature, and managed good in drawing readers in. Compared to Twlight...ugh.

Besides, the lack-of-sex card is running dry, because Stephanie burns it in what'shisname, when Edward and Bella do it, and he rips out her placenta with his fangs, and yadda. Wonderful thing to teach the new generation of the world, eh? I'm Chinese, and I'm proud to say that we like our own style of romance better than endless fluff and air showing how perfect Edward is [b]compared to you.[/b]

To Taylor (Post #1):

Wow, you've got some issues man. If you rely on a book while you're depressed or sick, there's something wrong. Not enough love from the family? I mean, when I'm sick, I don't attach myself to a book and say, "Because of this book, everything's going to be alright." No, I stinking rely on myself and say, "I'm sick. Deal with it."

To Edward Cullen Lover (Post #18):

Logic tells you that you can't love a fictional character, at least in the sense you're projecting. It's just not mentally right when someone becomes so obsessed with a fictional character that they want to marry them.

Next, Salem's Lot, The Shining, Riding the Bullet, Carrie, Christine, Firestarter, The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, IT, Pet Semetary are only some of the movies that have been made based off of King's books. Let's see how Meyer compares.
Meyer: 2, King: At least the 10 from above.

Next, read my other posts for the sexual references.

Next, you don't like vampires. You've never liked vampires. Twilight did not inspire you to like vampires. Twilight inspired you to like glittering super-models. Nothing else. They drink animal blood, you say? I do too. I eat steak and other meat. Am I a vampire? Hell no.

Next, people bought the book because it's simple. And the Harry Potter series really never sucks, it just gets more complicated.

To all of the Twilight lovers who have recognized that Twilight isn't really good literature, I applaud thee for your ability to think clearly and not be distracted by the glittering "vampires" in Twilight.

Meyers books are not cheesy they are wonderful books that have helped kids see that reading is fun and it's not something that a 14 year old would write. her books are about different forms of love that can last through the hardest situations.the strength of Edward and Bella's love isn't something you see every day, i know it has sexual activity but what teen book doesn't,that's what makes teen books sell.

To Alexis:

Meyer's books are not wonderful. Her books are about an irrational and impossible love. I've explained this before. And the "hard" situations. No. See, it would be hard if Edward were an actual vampire. You're right, the love between Edward and Bella is something you see every day because you don't see it at all! And yes, a 14 year old can write this stuff. And, reading is not very fun, well not REAL reading. Reading Twilight is not really reading. in my opinion, reading something you like, is fun, reading something you don't is not. And reading something that shouldn't be considered literature is not reading.

Omg stephen king is such a liar. i don't see how anyone can think that the twilight series isn't the best. i have read salem's lot and some of stephen kings other fiction and it honestly so boring i can't even stand it. if anyone hasn't read it, don't. stick with twilight. i just can't believe how much i felt like i was bela. when i read her books it was sooogood i just wouldnt ever marry a guy unless he was like edwrd i love you edward!!!1 soo mucho.

I'm going to say it like it is: if you're over fifteen and you honestly think that Twilight is well-written, you've either never read anything else or you're hopeless. The simple fact of the matter is that while she may be a good storyteller or whatever she is an absolutely terrible writer, for reasons many other posters have gone over. JK Rowling has so far shown that she's a master of storytelling and writing, and while Stephen King has had long rough patches, he has written just as many or more great books as Rowling.

To the tweens that love Twilight, whatever ,,,. Just remember this a few years down the road when you read a real masterpiece for the first time and realize what Stephenie Meyers has written.

I agree with something Mo said. It's comparing apples and oranges. Would a 13 year-old get as much satisfaction out of a King horror novel as they would a Meyer paranormal romance? No. As an author, you have to consider your target audience. In some cases, that might mean writing for a target audience according to your writing skill or style. That's what Meyer has done, I think.

And I think it's really rotten that an author would publicly demean another author's writing. I lost respect for Mr. Stephen King, to be frank.

Stephanie Meyers is a storyteller. While I agree she isn't the "greatest writer" she can draw you into a story and keep you reading. While I love Stephen King I will say that the book I enjoyed the most from him was Carrie and if you look back at Carrie it wasn't as long winded as many of his current books. It seems he has lost perspective of what writing is all about. It isn't about how many different scenes you can set and how long you can make a sentence run on being overly verbose and taking forever to get to the action so, while I agree that Meyers is redundant and one step above fan fiction quality - she tells a story that many want to read and she paints some interesting pictures on the way...

I'd like to quote from the article, for those saying King is comparing apples to oranges:

"People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because they’re not overtly sexual. A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet."

He knows what he's saying. Also, he's comparing Harry Potter to Twilight (not his own writing to Meyer's) which isn't apples to oranges at all.

To Jessica:

As spencer has stated, he's comparing Harry Potter to Twilight. And therefore, it's comparing oranges to oranges. And as for writing style, the style should be aimed for your target audience yet it should help progress there skills, not deter them. and Twilight doesn't progress there skills. If you want to prove it does, then fine. Do a test, a documented legitimate test, not some Youtube video. Take a Fifth grade kid and have them write a story. Then let them read Twilight. If they show significant improvement, I will give up arguing against her skills. Also, King doesn't need the respect of a Twilight lover who can't see logic.

To Kelly:

Stephen King writes long books because it's necessary. Carrie was as long as it was because that's how long it needed to be. IT was as long as it was because that's how long it needed to be. Salem's Lot is as long as it needs to be. Every lull in the action you talk about ties into the plot. Twilight, on the other hand, is a full of fluff series. Talk about overkill. As I've explained, the real thing left to cover after the first book is Bella's transformation and the lovers' union. It should take one book, and the book should be very dramatic and emotion drawing. Yet, she uses three unemotional books to do it. She puts in bad conflict after bad conflict as fluff to keep the series going. Did Edward really need to leave? No. Meyer probably did it to show just how much Bella and Edward need each other, which is completely stupid considering they rely on each other more than one person should another. Did Victoria really need to create a new-born army? No. Did the Volturri really need to visit and create a climactic failure of an ending? No. Fluff is fluff and that's what every book after Twilight is. King may have some unnecessary parts in some of his book but he's never as bad as Meyer.

To Josh:

Want to know why Carrie was so short? It was King's first book. He had no draw to the long winded rants because he didn't think to write about them. He wrote the story in his head (which, if I remember correctly started with a dream he had) and as I said, I am a fan of King, but not everything he writes is necessarily relevant to the story. In Cell, he rambles on and on about the hotel and the mindless zombie creature upstairs until you want to skip pages ahead. Come on now.

Meyers is a fairly new author. Did the action she wrote about "have" to happen - no, but it made the readers crave more like any good saga. Look to all the soap operas out there - I think all my children is on its 3 serial killer plot line in like 2 years, but they have people obsessed. Meyers falls under the guilty pleasure catagory.

Do I think she is an outstanding writer? No. Do I think soap opera are good television? No. But they draw people in with the simplicity and fantasy life they create. It is an escape from reality that doesn't have you reading the same paragraph three times to understand what is being explained. Simple story telling to escape a boring day...

From King himself about Carrie:

."[9] In a talk at the University of Maine at Orono, King said of Carrie, "I'm not saying that Carrie is sh** and I'm not repudiating it. She made me a star, but it was a young book by a young writer. In retrospect it reminds me of a cookie baked by a first grader—tasty enough, but kind of lumpy and burned on the bottom."

From Textbook to Checkbook" Wells, Robert W. Milwaukee Journal Sep 15, 1980

To Kelly:

Carrie was actually inspired when his wife challenged him to write a book centered around a woman. And yes, I agree, Cell did have boring parts, but it was a good story. And maybe Twilight can bring a crowd in and let them escape from reality but so can drugs. I can buy sleeping pills and get high off of them. The thing with Twilight is if you get past the initial presentation, you realize just how bad it is. That's why people who enjoy the story realize that it's bad writing. Because they've gotten past the initial presentation. I know I was initially very intrigued with the story. But I read the series and put it down for a good solid two months and read other things and when I came back to it, I wondered why I had been so interested.

To be honest, King and Rowling have more talent than Meyer. Aside from the fact of how Meyer's perfect, sparkly vampires sickened me, their writing is more polished and thought-out. Their books both have the qualities that make an actual good book; Meyer's books just have a large young teenage girl fanbase. Just comparing Rowling's and Meyer's character development could prove my point.

It would also take a while, but to put it in a nutshell :Bella angsts and mopes, Harry angsts for a better cause and grows from it and fights through it. There, Harry grows up, Bella doesn't-and I don't mean the literal part. The only way that Bella grows up is that she has a kid that she never wanted and then out of nowhere she wants it. That wouldn't be bad, if Meyer had been able to write it better. It was just too confusing and sudden that it laughable. As for Stephenie Meyer's "plot twists", they were also laughable. Especially when compared to one of King's novels.

Now, I'll happily read about vampires over wizards any day, but Meyer's books disappointed me. I don't mind reading depressing books, but hers were just filled with straight-up angst. I've read every book in her series out so far, because a vampire falling in love with a human sounds very promising, but I'm not going to ever say that she is one of the best writers. I can appreciate it for what it is, but it's simply lacking. The only people I know who truly enjoy it are the girls at my high school who honestly, probably have never read anything of a higher level than the Twilight series. Really, the Twilight series sold as being a soap opera with pages filled of romance and sex, or at least constant mentions of having sex.

Personally I like Twilight. I don't think the writing is too sophisticated or brilliant, but you need to remember when it's mainly being marketed to an audience of 13 year old girls it doesn't have to be. I like twilight for the plot, I have to say JK Rowling is a better writer, but I was sucked into Twilight because of the story line not the writing style. Secondly there's been a bit of an overreaction in a few of these comments. Twilight isn't suppose to be a highly sophisticated literary work, or have a complex writing style. It's a nice, care free, easy read. I don't count it as a true vampire because it isn't. Vampire novels are usually divided into supernatural, gothic, horror,or even science fiction catagories. Even when there is a romance in a novel with vampires there'll usually be themes of violent or sex in it. If you're complaining that it's not living up to the gothic vampire, or the romaniticized vampire, you're right, but it's not suppose to live up to the version you'd find in adult novels, it's made for 13 girls. I'm a gothic fiction fan, but I don't count Twilight as a true vampire novel because it isn't really. It strays from original vampire themes to market to a younger audiance. For example if you had vampires burning to death in sunlight all the time, or them following alot of the themes of the horror or sex vampire of graphic violence, or sex, it wouldn't be appealing to it's original market audience. Twilight was arguably never suppose to be a horror, gothic, or adult novel. Alot of things were softened, the violence was sometimes underdescribed, it averted alot of sexual detail. It was nothing I wouldn't have been allowed to watch on TV or see in a movie when I was 13. What probably happened with Twilight was alot older teenage girls just happened to like it too. I see grade 7's reading it, but then again I see grade 12 reading it. It just happened to have a intended and unintended marketing audiance. I don't think Meyer expected it to be as big as a cult classic or a international best seller when she originally wrote it.

To Sgi:

Nobody disagrees that it was meant for a younger age group. But what people are arguing is that it isn't good regardless of the age group. I mean, even for a 13 year old, the book is bad. At least in terms of writing. And because the book really doesn't advance one's personal writing skills it fails. You said it yourself, people in grade 12 are reading it. What can they possibly get out of it writing wise? I say nothing because it is something a 13 year old would write. It can't teach you about character development because there is none. It can't teach you about plot writing because it severely lacks, especially after the first book. I mean, even books for five years olds teach them something. Basic words and sentence structures. But Twilight does none of it.

YOU GO STEPHEN KING!!!!

I burned my friend's copy of Twilight.
=D

King's a great writer. Love his stuff. But I didn't pick up Meyer's book expecting to see King all over again. For someone to say "Well it isn't on par with The Shawshank Redemption" is, well...strange. Why would it be? That's like watching Dumb and Dumber and at the end saying "That sucked 'cause it wasn't Slumdog Millionaire!" Well, duh! It's geared toward different audiences! It is written with different intent in mind. It's something different completely! Why would it be?

Not every work of fiction can be some complex, sophisticated, masterpiece with multi-dimensional characters. The Twilight series is aimed at a younger audience, and Meyer hit the nail on the head. The characters are high schoolers. The setting is high school. Teens want an archetype, not a layered-cake of a person. Teens put themselves and others into categories: check out any teen magazine. That's how they identify. Most of them, anyways. For the ones that do want to read something a bit more sophisticated, well, then, they can grab something else off the shelf.

King is more sophisticated, yes. And, yes, he is a better writer. I'm not saying Meyer is bad, but she's not on level with him-- but does she need to be? She did tell a good story. She had a good plot. I liked the characters (yes, bad me, slap me on the wrist and tell me I'm unrefined but I really didn't need these particular characters to be complex-- it wouldn't have fit with the story. It would have been a DIFFERENT story). It would have to be written differently if it were aimed at adults.

Look, all the woman did was tell you a captivating story about sparkly vampires who admittedly have just a touch more pathos than is digestible. She is not crap. If King had written the same story, you'd lick it up off the bottom of his shoe with gusto.

Not every work of fiction can be just like the work of your favorite author. I don't think other people are stupid, or hate them because they prefer something different than I. My authors aren't the only authors in the world, and I delight that there is genre fiction out there for some good dumb fun.

To Meg:

Personally, I don't think that the characters need to be complex, I just think they need to have one dimension, more than one aspect. And saying that the book is perfect for teens is almost admitting that we're stupid. Because Twilight is sub-par, even for teenagers. I should know because I am one. But then again, as you said, teenagers know a days aren't quite as literary as a while ago. We can blame technology for that. Back a good ten years ago, maybe a bit more, teens weren't constantly talking about the new cell phone they're getting or complaining about how they were grounded from texting. Hell, I've seen people at my school CRY when they're talking about how they've had their phone taken away. And the funny thing is, the only thing they did on their phone was complain about other stuff. So, maybe that's just it, maybe people don't want layered characters because they're very one dimensional themselves. Anyone who can relate or feels like any one of those characters is just very bland. I mean, who can relate to Bella? I wouldn't think anybody could but people apparently do. The book can actually be considered sexist because of Bella. If you read the books, she can't live without relying on a man. Or properly live at least. It's almost portraying women as weak. If you enjoy the books but can understand that they're not good literature, then I don't care that you like them. But if you sit there and spout that Twilight is good literature, I'm gonna' consider you very blind to actual literature. Maybe not stupid, but definitely narrow-minded.

And yes, the story would have been different if the characters were complex and actually grew emotionally and mentally because maybe it would have been more believable. Maybe I could have related to one of the characters. Dumb and Dumber can't relate to Slumdog Millionaire because they're in separate categories so people go in with different expectations. But my expectations for this book were not met, even in its genre. I mean, I expected something like Harry Potter, and yet, I was let down. Especially by Meyer's inability to make this story believable. Maybe, it shouldn't be believable, maybe all it should be is something that lets people escape into it with their sorrows and dreams. I'm not trying to sound harsh but anyone who honestly says that Twilight and it's sequels are the only reason they can cope through life are not right in the head. If they can't cope through life normally, see a psychiatrist. Because you need help, not an escape. And if you have a dream or an inspiration, build on it, don't just read these books and pretend that it'll happen with little effort.

And if King had written this story, I would have bought it probably thought it was good. Because he captures every side of a story. The good, the bad, the evil and he does it well. He also captures the realism, even for a story like this. The standoff at the end of book 4, I was waiting for it. And I was thinking, "This is great. We're finally going to get some action and some death in this series. This is gonna' be great. Edward's gonna kill like ten people and Bella's gonna kill the twins." And instead I get, "Everybody was staring at each other until people showed up then they left." If I'm going to read something unrealistic, I'm gonna' read Harry Potter because it captures the realism of life a puts it in an unrealistic environment. It's good.

I don't expect all writing to be like my favorite authors'. I don't expect William Shakespeare to have the same writing as Stephen King. But I expect my writing to be good. And while Twilight may hold a good story, it's not good.

I totally agree with Stephen King and I'll tell you why: writing style is everything when it comes to telling a story.
Stephen King isn't saying all this out of jealousy. This guy here takes writing seriously. Before I used to think that English majors make better writers. Boy was I wrong. I hear some controversy with Dean Koontz and now Stephanie Meyers.
And great writers don't write alike. Compare Stephen King himself with J.K. Rowling, or Zadie Smith. Sherman Alexie. Robert Jordan. Ursula K. Le Guin, for example. Writing styles shouldn't be alike because it's art. Yet, concrete writing should allow a story to be told otherwise it just might destroy it, if not kill it. Even though I don't care for Harry Potter, I can imagine why J.K. Rowling books are a success AND is call a classic. Has Twilight been called a classic yet?
Well, some may say "classic or no classic, she's a great storyteller, and she draws me in." That's all well and fine, that's your opinion, you read for yourself. Only time will tell, is all I have to say.

Ok, what I have to say is Stephen King is so wrong. The thing about Stephenie Meyer is that she incorporates what a regular would go through with the supernatural world. It is not all horror, it is not all magic, it takes human and supernatural and blends them into one that is captivating and riveting. All I have is personal experience, he also said that J.K.Rowling was an awesome writer, I tried to read one of her books, I couldn't it was so boring there is nothing in hers or Stephen that drags you in and keeps you interested. Both of them are falling in standings and now that they are losing their edge, they stick together. I have nothing else to saw except he's wrong, so so wrong! When Stephenie Meyer writes a book that can hav me thinking about all day and dreaming about it at I think that is better than stupid horror.

To Kristen:

Well, then I consider you to be one of the many unsophisticated teens of this era. What Stephenie Meyer does is tell a very one dimensional story of an impossible love. She doesn't explain what a regular person would go through in the supernatural realm. Because a regular person shouldn't be a Mary Sue or a moping suicide case. Of course there are these types of people but not a regular person. And once again, for the love of God, being able to pull people in and make people dream about you're books doesn't mean you're a good writer. You've only appealed to some sense of nature. And Twilight appeals to simplicity. That's why teens are reading the book, but it's such an easy read. That's the same reason people don't read Shakespeare, because it's not as simple to understand. Same with Rowling and King, teens now a days don't have the will or want to know what the story is about. They want to be presented with it. They don't want to dig for it. And that's probably why Harry Potter bores you. Because you do not try to understand the themes of the book. When you read Twilight, it's almost like a billboard. "I'm a chick in love with a suicidal sparkly vampire." But with Harry Potter, there's no billboard. There's no flashing sign saying what the story is about. And that's the essence of good writing. Making your readers think. Once again, many people who have said Meyer can't write have agreed that the story is fine, the premise is good, but that Meyer just doesn't know how to incorporate it into an actual work of literature.

You are so stereotyping the"teens now a days" we're not all the same, for goodness sake. All I have left is that Ms.Meyer targets teens, it works. Stephen King targets adults, it works. J.K. Rowling targets young people, it worked. So I don't think Mr.King should need to criticize an author that doesn't even target his audience.

To Kristen:

Yeah, I am so stereotyping the teens now a days because really, that's the majority of teens. Yes there are people who are different and not everyone is the same in the stereotype but many fall into it. And as for King criticizing, well critics criticize yet they don't even write books. So should they be criticizing people? And King is also an official critic so he can give his opinion about the book anyways. And yes, they each targeted their audience and it works but maybe not all for the same reason. Once again, Twilight just doesn't hold the same distinction in it's audience that Harry Potter does with it's or King's do with theirs. And Harry Potter isn't aimed at young people only. As the books progress, the series becomes more adult oriented, more realistic, which is why its better than Twilight. It includes realism. And in general, maybe teens aren't stupid, but they do expect things to be given to them, not for them to dig for them.

Or, at least trivial things, such as plot.

Stephan King u r a jerk. Stephanie meyer is the best writter in the history of good writters. She is my favoritte person in the whole world, besides robert pattinson.why dont u like it, oh because you are just an adult and adults just want to read about stupid stuff.

u r such a jek. i love stephanie meyer. She is the greatest writter in the history of god writters. She did not just go along with what all the other people who write about vampires did, she made her own theory.she is my favoritte person in the whole world, besides robert pattinson!

To Emily(s):

This is what I mean, Kristen. Look at these posts. You had an excellently typed post but these two. King is an adult ... adults want to read good stuff. My mom reads books all the time. And she doesn't want to read Twilight. She reads a variety of authors yet she refuses to read Twilight. And as you have seen in posts on this forum, some teens don't even read Twilight. Thanks for giving two more posts for the Twilight haters to use against Twilight little fangirl(s). Seriously, "she is my favoritte person in the whole world, besides robert pattinson!"

Finally. People on the internet who don't go gaga for that awful for-lack-of-a-better-word author Meyer.
I've got to say I totally agree with everything King said and I had to sit at my computer and laugh at all the pathetic fangirls that exist out there. Your must feel that your lives are with living now that you've defended the Holy Twilight from the anti-Edwards.
Being 16 and going to an all-girl school, I too had to suffer through the Twilight saga (that, unfortunately, continues unabated). I've been branded a 'freak' and a 'loser' for sticking by writers who can write literature worth a damn instead of fanfiction littered with repetition and Mary-Sues and it only got worse after I sat down and forced myself to read Twilight.
Being sick and unable to leave my bed, I ventured into the world of Twilight. And, to my greatest shame, I did not emerge unscathed. Before, I loved Dracula by Bram Stoker. After, I couldn't look at it without being reminded of Edward, the wonder-vegetarian-sparkly-man-of-our-dreams vampire and I would have to shudder. What had happened to the *real* vampires? The ones that would happily pierce your neck and drain you of your blood? The ones that would go into a young girl’s room, not to watch her sleep (btw, Edward is such a clingy stalker/paedophile) but to drain her of her blood, to turn her into one of the lifeless, soulless walking dead? Because of Twilight, I had an aversion to all literature that involved vampires.
Then, thanks be to the librarians, I got introduced to Anne Rice and Interview With The Vampire. And, lo and behold, the vampires no longer sparked, they could not have children (btw, how does that even work?), the sunlight was actually bad for them, they happily gorged themselves on the *human* blood they so desperately needed and wanted; the list goes on and on.
All those out there who are obstinately (do you know what that word means Twilight lovers?) sticking by Meyer and her awful published, and I quote your beloved Robert Pattinson, “sexual fantasies” should be ashamed by your arguments, your grammar, txt tlk and by the very thing you are defending. King is right. Meyer is an embarrassment to the literary world. That's my opinion. Take it or leave it.

"Good writer" is subjective. Meyer's command of the English language, made evident in her books, does not seem very strong. Her sentence structures are basic. She employs close to no literary devices aside from tired cliches and overused metaphors. This is probably what King means by saying she is not very good. It's her style of writing. It is, absolutely, without a doubt, extremely sophmoric. She does not write well at all.

But she understands her audience and her books are targetted specifically to such an audience. That audience is teenaged girls who, whether they are avid readers or not, appreciate a very simple style of writing that does not take much thought to understand. They aren't interested in literary devices. They aren't looking for a hidden meaning. They aren't reading to analyze. Meyer's books are extremely easy reads. They contain every single element that a teenaged girl goes nuts over. And everything ends up exactly the way people want it to. It's very happily ever after.

However, I find it ridiculous and ignorant for people to claim their distaste of the novel rests on the claim that a person should not be able to just change what a vampire is. Apparently, Meyer just screwed up the whole vampire canon by making their skin glow and changing them into beings capable of love and emotion. Do your research. The fact of the matter is that almost every single concept of vampires that people are aware of are very, very new ideas. Most people think of a gothic vampire. Most people are only aware of this modern vampire. Vampire mythology has been around for years. Their alleged existence and the various forms of vampires have been around for many, many centuries in many, many cultures. The term "vampire" is used to describe these beings that have been around forever even if, once, they were not technically called vampires. The modern vampire has only been around since the 18th century.

The point is that there is no established vampire canon that is written in stone and people cannot change it. That was done a couple hundred years ago once by John Polidori and Bram Stoker. And, who these vampires were already existed in different forms depending on their origins. There's no reason it can't be changed now.

As promised, I read Twilight, and I agree that Meyer doesn't have Stephen King's polish -- or the sheen of great YA fiction of my era such as A Wrinkle in Time. I cringed at her repetitive descriptions -- "deafening engine" and "earsplitting rumble" in the same paragraph, for example. And how many times do we have to hear how gorgeous Edward Cullen is? Perfectly muscled chest, glorious angel, marble contours are just a few of the phrases.

Even more disappointing was the lack of drama. You'd expect lots of tension in a book where girl meets vampire, but Bella accepts Edward as though he were simply an exchange student from France. More angst is shown over the prom than over Edward's ability to consume her. Only when some roaming vampires appear does Meyer ramp up the tension; that scene was well-crafted. But later she fails to describe the climactic scene -- it occurs entirely "off camera."

That said, Meyer deserves credit for creating an absorbing tale and likeable characters. Her descriptions of high school life ring true: who's taking you to the prom, what are you wearing? And she gives you a feel for the story's primary setting, a small town in Washington. I also cut her some slack for creating non-traditional vampires; she should have artistic license to develop characters, without falling back on the Bram Stoker model. And she sure has tapped into that feeling of electric, impetuous first love, a big factor in attracting young readers.

To Josh

What I was trying to say is that people are sometimes expecting far too much of this book when it comes to complexity. It's a nice light read it's not suppose to be accompanied by alot of mental study, or teach us about writing a plot. A book doesn't necessarily have to be very educational to be enjoyed. It's target audiance is too young for it to live up to some of the expections that a book for an older audiance or critic would have. If this was trying to be marketed to 20 year olds then yes I might not like it as much. I think alot people just happened to like this novel not because the plot had fabulous writing, or because it educated the reader, or held a brilliant writing style, but probably simply because the plot's catchy. Alot of people who are analytical readers or maybe are looking to be educated in the books they read I can see how they may of disliked this book. When you're a thirteen year old girl your not looking to be educated you're looking to be entertained.

To Sgi:

I understand and I'm not saying that the book has to be bluntly educational. But as I said, it should at least advance writing skills and style, even if subliminally. Once again, the pictures books that we all read when we were five taught us basic sentence and paragraph structure. It's not bluntly educational. It doesn't give tips on how to write. But we obtain a lesson from reading it. Just like anybody who reads a Stephen King novel will be influenced in there writing, regardless of whether they know it or not. But Stephenie Meyer, she doesn't have any of this in Twilight. I agree, it's a nice uncomplicated read but for people to argue that it's actually literature is dumb. And yes, when you're a thirteen year old girl, you aren't looking for a complicated book but the books should still progress some part of the writing style of that 13 year old girl. Twilight doesn't do this. Twilight really is the work of a 13 year old coming from an adult's hand. I'll compare Twilight to The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, which is the first book in Stephen King's series. I found myself just as buried in The Gunslinger as I was with Twilight. And The Gunslinger is a complicated book. You have to pay attention to know what's going on, but yet, I was still buried in it. And the writing style is a lot better than Twilight's and Meyer's because:
A) King doesn't repeat the same phrase in as many ways possible.
B) The characters were not one dimensional.
C) The climax of the book lived up to the hype.
D) There were plot twists.
And E) It's half the size of Twilight.
All those reasons make The Gunslinger all the more interesting to me. And as for E, what I mean is that the book was better than Twilight and yet it was only half the size. It had more meaning to me than Twilight and it was only 214 pages.

Stephen King > Stephenie Meyer.

Learn grammar and spelling plz.
Oh and to 79 of you: You should probably spell your ~*~amazing~*~ authors name right lollll.

/thread.

Simply because kids are reading Stephanie Meyer's boks does not mean that they are reaching for anything else. From what i've seen, (I live with 5 woman, all of which have had the pleasure of reading at least one of Mrs. Meyer's books), her stories don't spark ANY interest in other books. It is just a sappy trend that will eventually fade with time and another catchy, dimensionless novel. Hopefully the next trend won't butcher the mythology of vampires anymore than Meyers had the luxury of doing.

Honestly, I agree with Stephen King. Though I think some parts in Twilight can be quite entertaining, Stephenie Meyer's writing is horrid and unprofessional (in my opinion, anyways). Which makes me wonder why someone like her could partically become famous. Seriously, "sparkling vampires?" Please. It's just idiotic. Stephenie Meyer's vampires are not vampires at all. So how could Bella possibly come up with the fact that Edward was a vampire just because he can 'run incredibly fast' or some lame excuse like that? Seems like they're superhero models to me. Why not call her sparkly vampires something more appropiate, considering like I explained before, they're not close to being a vampire.

Besides, you Twi-tards are getting all upset over someone making an opinion? What about when your beloved Stephenie Meyer claimed that Edward could purposely beat up J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter in a few seconds easily? Who is she to say that her character is better than another's character? She doesn't have room to talk.

Face it. She acts childish because she thinks she's better than everybody else.

So, please, grow up. It's just a book.

okay yes its a free country and everyone is entitled to their own opinion but how about you read the book before you trash it stephen king is a great writer even though im not cokmpletely familliar with his work however he has his opinions too i personally love twilight AND harry potter. also they are about two completely different things one involves wizards and the other involves vampiers they have nothing to do with each other so quit judging the books unless you have read them!!

To felicia:

Okay, so I have read the books. Twilight still sucks. And it doesn't matter what they're about, we're not talking about content, we're talking about writing and writing style. I've read both, I prefer Harry Potter and I think Twilight sucks writing wise. And I'm sure Stephen King has read the books. How else would he know how they are? Does he have some sort of mystic, psychic powers? I don't think so. HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT. And also, while they're about different things, Harry Potter and Twilight are aimed at the same age group. And anyone who is not blind to real literature who thinks that Twilight is actually good is just [wrong]. Especially if they say it's better than Harry Potter.

Stephanie Meyer is a terrific writer. Considering I hate reading and I have read her book in less than a month, is saying something. I wouldn't waist my time reading King's novels, because the best he can come up with is a zombie pet coming back and people dying...ohhh so interesting. Even though Meyer hasn't followed the "codes" for the vampires, the books are still great. But honestly you think, is a vampire, the immortal, supposed to die so easily? Getting burned to ash in the sun, steak through a (beating) heart, a cross to keep them away and not to mention garlic. This is so stupid, Stephanie Meyer's way makes so much more since and make them almost indestructible! Rowling is a good writer, but look how long her books have been out, they are old and boring. I just like the movies. King needs to come up with some new material cause eveything he has written I have kinda heard of,so yeah, At least Stephanie Meyer came up with something new, and for people say she has made errors in her book, it's still great and honestly out does King's novels...hahahaha....

To Jamie:

Wake up. Meyer is not a terrific writer. Read all the posts before commenting. She's got a good story, nothing more. And how do her vampires make more sense than normal vampires. I mean, normal vampires are so easy to kill because they're still beings trapped in a human body with needs. That makes much more sense that all off the sudden, the human body turns rock hard and shines. Vampires burn in sunlight because the natural protection humans carry that protect from the minimal UV rays coming to Earth are gone on a dead body. You know why? Because the bodies dead. Why would a human body sparkle. What would make it do that if it can't do that normally? Or make it rock hard? You've pretty much told us how very small minded you are, sorry for being mean. You won't read Stephen King, good author, but you'll read Meyer, bad author. Her writing is elementary my dear Watson. And if you don't get the reference, then you are hopeless. Anybody who doesn't is completely and utterly hopeless and shouldn't be argued with because they're too blind to actual literature.

I really like Stephenie Meyer. I have no problem with her grammer/writing or her storytelling. I respect Stephen King and J.K. Rowling. I think they are great writers as well. As a fan of the Twilight saga, I do not think everyone has to like the series, but I do find problem with people insulting Stephenie and her writing. I think it is disrespectful. I think stephen King has a write to his opinion, as does everyone else, but i think there is just a better way of expressing it then just outright insulting someone. So no one is right or wrong in their opinion, but you can't just go on bashing someone's writing because you don't like them. Stephenie has inspired many teens to read and should be acknowledged for it. You don't have to like her writing, just have a little respect for what she has accomplished and show a little decency for this woman.

Dear Stephenie defenders:

Get a grip! (Or at least a spell checker.) "If u tlk lyke dis" no one is going to take you seriously. Let me tell you what "makes since" because if tween girls can make their feelings known through their use of a million exclaimation points and calling Mr. King a "gerk", then I must have a "write" to my own opinion...

As a former hardcore Twilight fan, there is a cure to your disease: Read REAL literature. Let's face it, Meyer had a whole freight train of success at her fingertips and ruined it by her worsening plot lines throughout her saga and the predictable cardboard cut-out characters.

Just because she has had a novel turned into a motion picture doesn't make her a good author. Big woop. The movie was awful. Plus, if you want to play the books-turned-into-movies game, take a look at all the Stephen King novels that have made their way to the screen...dozens!

El, couldn't have said it any better myself.

To Tiara:

Um, I don't think King hates Meyer. And yes, people are right and wrong in their opinions. In a KKK member's opinion, lynching black people is good. Is that right? I certainly don't think so but who know, you could be a KKK member. Also, we're all adults here. There's no need to sugar coat things anymore. And he didn't insult Meyer, he stated that her writing was bad. Which it is. And just because Meyer got idiotic teens reading doesn't mean she should get respect. The only reason these teens are reading the book is because it's elementary. I mean, you hear about ten year olds reading her books. Says something about how bad she writes if a ten year old can comprehend something meant for high school teens. I don't think anyone here Meyer, they just hate her books. As El said, she had a good story and ruined it with bad plots as she advanced in the series. And do you know why the plots got worse? Because after the first book, she had to pretty much bulls*** everything for three more books. Hardly any information in New Moon or Eclipse is relevant. I mean, the only part from New Moon that was really relevant was the Volturri, and from Eclipse, it would have been the new born vampire stuff but considering Bella doesn't even fall into that standard, it's useless. I think Stephenie should have gotten published with a book or two, maybe her other series or whatever, than just made Twilight a long book. That's what she should have done because making the story span 4 books didn't work.

I have read all of the Twilight books and I have to say that I do enjoy them... however, I think that Stephen King would know more about the writing thatn I would. The story lines are really apealing to young readers and they keep you on the edge of your seat. Stephen King is a LEGEND. That man will go down in history... he MADE history. The Twilight series, like a new pop song, will eventually fizzle out and everybody will find something else to rave about. If nothing else, have respect.

King is all wrong! Meyer is a great writer. I love her books!!! King's books are boring and stupid. Meyers books are love stories, and not really about vampires. STOP obsessing about how her vampires don't match up with the 'normal' vampires. Its her book she can write what she wants!! Get over it!!!

Ok I've already looked at a lot of these posts and I've read both the negative and positive comments concerning Twilight/Stephenie Meyer. I'll throw in my two cents as well: I agree with Stephen King.

I do think it was pretty rude of him to phrase his criticism the way he did, but it doesn't mean that there isn't validity in his statement. Considering I've only read the first Twilight book, I can't fully critique the series so I'll base my opinions off of that particular book. I believe that the storyline was captivating enough to keep me reading until the end but the entire time, all I could concentrate on was her diction and style. As someone previously posted, every Edward/Bella scene repeatedly described Edward's eyes and sparkling skin or the fact that he couldn't hear Bella's thoughts. It grew old very fast. I also felt that there was no depth to their relationship; she only seemed to 'love' him because of his mystique. An occasional fight between the two of them would have lessened the sickening sweetness and made the couple more believable.

That's pretty much my thoughts in a nutshell. As I said before, the storyline of the first book was good but the actual writing style was lacking in uniqueness and creativity.

To Brandi:

King is right! Meyer is a terrible writer. I love, wait, hate her books. King's books are great and intelligent. Meyer's are poorly thought up stories, and not all about realism. STOP obsessing about how she can write what she wants. We understand all of you Twitards support the vampire switch!! Doesn't mean it'll be accepted!!!

See, I parodied your post. Now, in a more intelligent way of saying things, stop repeating yourselves. We know you think King's books are boring. It's on every Twitard's post. We know you guys support her vampires. We know she has a right to write whatever she wants. The question is, can she write. NO! Her books aren't meant to be about just any love, it's supposed to be about forbidden love. And they fail. In this case, a regular, normal vampire makes the story better because of the many legitimate reasons normal vampires have. Such as:

1)Need blood.
2)Can only come out at night.
3)Sun kills them.
4)People hunt them.

The list goes on and on. What's Edward's excuse. "I'm a little b**** who whines about everything and I'm not going to change you because I love you." The love in the story isn't even explained. Why do Edward and Bella fall in love? When someone answers that question legitimately, I'll stop using it as a point. Next, how many dimensions do the characters have? One for each character I believe. Face it, as much as you want to believe in your God that is Twilight and it's sequels, and love you're dream guy Edward, Meyer can't write.

GAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what is everyone talking about?
honestly everyone needs to shut up. both of them are good.
For one thing stupid wanna bes that obsess over 'Twilight' by buying their 'Twilight' things at hot topic-drive me insane.

Stephenie's books are amazing but their not something to make yourself look like an idiot for.
stephen for those who are stupid and got dropped on their heads, he is really good and can write like no other.

AND ding dongs!!!!! if your too overly obsessed by reading meyer's books i'm sure that you havent' noticed that she uses a lot of the same words and write a lot of the same things to describe events and such.

BUT that does not give King any reasone to discriminate her writing. he does write worth crap, BUT he's boring.

AND he's old not to hate on old ppl but they know a way lot more than any of us.

SO give her a break!!!!!! #@!&#$

she's still learning and he's jealous we understand that.

but keep in mind that it's a sin.

and so is LYING!!!!!!

there is no sexual activity in the
books!!!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH! and just for the record.............HER BOOKS ROCK DEM JEANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GAAAHHHHHH!!!!

Leslie, Stephen is not jealous. Why do you Twilight lovers seem to think that he's jealous. If he were jealous, he'd be "hatin" on Rowling too. King is infinitely better than Meyer and if Meyer were learning her books would progress as the series continued. But they didn't, they regressed. Jesus. And there is clearly sexual activity in the fourth book. And a lot of the tone of the books is sexual and the actions are described in a lustful way.

To Josh:

Edward and Bella fall in love a first sight, sorta. Oh yes, Meyer Can't write, that is why she has millions of fans who love her books. If Vampires only can out a night, burnt in the sun, stake through the heart kills them, and garlic kept them away they would not be that indestructible or scary for that fact. In her books you have to tear their marble hard skin into pieces and burn them,.. Her books are great, she can write, and Kings books may be intelligent, but their boring and I wouldn't waste my time on them!!!

To Brandi:

Having fans and being able to write are two separate things, as has been explained to other Twitards saying the same thing. In Meyer's case, she has fans because her books are simple and poorly written, exactly what appeals to teens nowadays. Also, let's pose another example. Dracula can come out in the day. He looks like a normal person, and he can go out in the sun, no burning and no sparkling. That makes them scary because anybody you see that's a little paler than the normal could be a vampire. They can't attack but they can sure lure you in and attack that night. and if we're judging on scariness, a normal vampire is still scarier because Meyer makes her vampires as harmless as possible. and King's books are not only educational but they're interesting as well, which you would understand if you could read real literature. But, sadly, you can't. And you still haven't legitimately answered the question of why Bella and Edward are in love. Love at first sight is just a crush and crushes don't make you try to get yourself killed. So, obviously it's more than love at first sight but it's not explained.

Now, I've never read any of Stephen King's novels, but I do have respect for him and his writing. I have read the Twilight books, and well...they were messed up.

At first, before Bella met Edward, I liked her. I thought "She seems funny, and this character might be interesting." The she met Edward, and any spine that she may have owned dissolved. Suddenly, Bella and Edward love each another for no understandable reason other then he wants to drink her blood, which I believe many people have already covered. Anyway, I did not understand the whole "sparkling" thing. I've read about vampires who burn to ashes in sunlight, are sensitive to it, get weaker in it, or are just plain unaffected by it, but never ones who "sparkle" in it. That just seems a little fruity to me. Maybe they should wear spangles and do jazz hands to complete the outfit......

The writing was definitely not the best. I am a fanfiction author, and I have read some better things on there, and some worse things. But at least most people on there can come up with more than 'sighed', 'grunted', 'murmered', and my personal favorite, 'growled.'

Someone please explain to me how you 'growl' a word. I can understand saying it through gritted teeth, even hissing a word, but 'growling'? Are they closer to animals than we thought, and vampires can now communicate through growling? I would like to know what a growled word sounds like. Could someone, maybe even Ms. Meyer herself, please come and grolw some words for me, so I'll know what that sounds like, because it really ruins the imagery for me.

That is, when the imagery isn't focussing on how perfect Edward is; I do not CARE about his perfect topaz eyes, or his perfect muscles, or his perfect marble chest or his perfect cold skin. Seriously, all I could tell from it was that Bella has a serious inferiority complex and that girl needs some self esteem courses. After a while, I wanted to scream "We GET it!! He's perfect! You don't deserve him! Now PLEASE pick a new topic to whine about!" The worst part was, by far, in the second book when he left her. She went on and on for so long about how she missed him and she was nothing without him. Well, then was she nothing before she met him, because if so, she had no objections to being nothing then, now did she? After a while, I wanted her to either grow back that spine and get over it, or go kill herself already. So I skimmed most the middle of the bok and moved on. And the ending was not much better. There was more whining, more 'damsel in distress', and still nothing to really make me care.

I barely read the third book; all they did was cry about the complications of the previous book.

The fourth one, to put it bluntly, disgusted me. The fact that Bella jumped so much at the idea of sleeping with Edward made me loose any respect I still may have had for the character and the series as a whole. The idea that they had a child, who then proceeded to grow up basically immediately just kind of ticked me off. I think it seems like Ms. Meyer had been watching too much of the 'Buffy' spin-off 'Angel', and when she saw that there was a child of two vampires on that show that was an adult very quickly, albeit from different circumstances, she decided that she needed one, too.

I know all the Twilight lovers are probably screaming right now about how I'm a heartless jerk for saying such things about their new religion, and to some of the more illiterate ones, I would like to say: Instead of spending your time on here defending your new fad (Yes, FAD. In 20 years you probably won't remember what Twilight even IS.), go to school and learn how to write. Or at least buy a dictionary instead of spending all your cash buying these books and all of the stupid propaganda for them.

Yes, I know, vampires are fictional, but I do enjoy most vampire stories. After Twilight, many of my friends read more vampire books I will just say that I will praise the day that all of my friends stop reading vampire books and asking why these vampires aren't like in Twilight, and deciding that any vampire who doesn't "sparkle" is not a real vampire. And again, I KNOW they're fiction. I'm all for getting kids to read more, but please, there are many much better books they could spend their time reading.

I think stephanie meyer writes great. I enjoyed her twilight series. Half the people who say they hate it have probably never read it. I like Stephen King but he shouldn't have said that she can't write. Instead he could have said that she needs to work on her writing and that some of it isn't up to his specific standards on writing. Everyone needs some critizizm to become a better writer and a better person and I am critizicing him for saying that Stephanie Meyer can't write. Don't be so rude Stephen. Not everybody can write like you.

Guys...come on...Meyer can't write. I'm a reviewer so I read everything and I have no favorites so that I can be fair to everyone. The Twilight books were beyond badly written. Not only were they "technically" a huge mess, but the characters were extremely boring and the love? Frankly, after reading the books and watching the actors in the movie, I got the feeling that ALL poor Edward wanted to do was kill her to shut her up! Ms. Meyer simply had a commercial product that hit at the right time. This is all luck, no talent. But, I'm sure the million dollars in checks were worth it.

Consider the fact that Stephen King was chemically altered when he wrote most of his books.
I've been an avid reader my entire life. I don't prefer any style or type of book over any other, I just enjoy a good read. Stephenie Meyer was a good read. I swore to my teenaged daughter that we were not going to read her books, and I finished all four in a week around my work schedule and 3 kids.
Stephen King and Stephenie Meyer appeal to entirely different audiences. I love them both, but would not want my kids reading Stephen King until they were in high school or older because of the content, where I would let them read Stephenie Meyer in 6th grade and up just because the content is less sexual and graphic. They have different approaches to the supernatural, and it is encouraging that Meyer could create something positive out of something that the world has always viewed as negative and to be feared.
Stephen King needs to step back and appreciate the fact that Meyer's books have re-introduced a entire generation to this type of literature because he will reap the financial benefits of that also.

To Reader Mom:

Did you not read Kris' post. Teens are neglecting to read other books because they don't have their precious Edward in them or the vampires don't conform to Meyer's standards. How is it beneficial to King when his books are being ignored because of these teens? And there is clearly sexual activity in the fourth book. In fact, there are multiple instances of it. And the birth scene. You want your sixth graders reading that? Comparing this to another vampire novel, Salem's Lot. I read only one sex scene in that book, and it wasn't even described, just like in Breaking Dawn. But, there's no gory birth scene to follow it up. No blood drinking during pregnancy either as I remember. Now, I'm not saying kids should read IT. I read that and that does have descriptions of sex. But, Twilight? No. And even if there's no actual sex, if you were a avid reader you would be able to pick up on the sexual tone displayed throughout the book. Or maybe not sexual but lustrous. Nobody can appreciate the fact that Meyer has opened up a new generation to reading because she hasn't. Not really. Good read or not, it's still elementary and doesn't inspire people to read anything else.

First I would like to say that I've never read any Stephen King books, so I can't really comment on his books, but I would like to say that Stepenie Meyer is an amazing author and I love her books. Sometimes she uses sayings that I don't understand very well, but she has brought vampires to a whole new level. What I don't like about Stephen King saying that Stepenie Meyer can't write is that he writes horror stories and I think that Stephenie doesn't. When people hear vampires what do they think? Buffy Summers, Coffins, bats, sun equals death, and other stuff. But Stephenie doesn't have any of that in her books, so I don't think that they should be genred as horror. Instead of a count who climbs walls and sleeps in coffins(no offence to Bram Stoker, I'm reading Dracula, and I find it very intriguing) she has a 17 year old who doesn't like being a "monster", who falls in love with the one human who he has to fight against his instincts not to kill her. Stephenie's books should be labled as either romance or fiction. The back of Twilight reads "About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Secong, there was a part of him-and I didn't know how dominant that part might be- that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in LOVE WITH HIM." When I found out that my school genred twilight as horror i was a outraged. Anyways, I think that Stephenie Meyer can work on her writing just like any other writer, but also that Stephen King only knows HORROR stories and Twilight isn't horror.

To twilightgrly,

Stephen King is an certified critic. He knows more than horror. He taught English at a college. He's not an idiot. Second, he's not talking about the story, he's talking about the writing, which isn't good. I don't care what genre you're in, if it's not good writing, it's not good writing. And the whole melancholy theme around Edward is boring, stupid, and redundant. He loves Bella but he wants to kill her because her blood smells good, yet he won't let anyone change her so that he can love her without fighting the urge to kill her? How much sense does that make? And Meyer, however appealing her stories are to you and all the chicks in middle school and high school, is a bad writer. If you had read a King book you'd realize just how unsophisticated she really is. Hell, even read Harry Potter and you'll get a sense.

Just so you know, I never said my friends STOPPED reading vampire books, they actually just read more of them. But then they pick up some of my favorites and start complaining how, like Josh said, they don't conform to Meyer's vampires, if you can even call them that. Meyer's vampires might've well just be de-fanged, because those fangs barely get any use. And being so indestructible actually makes them MORE of a monster, because then the little humans can't even comfort themselves in the fact that they could always stake them if need be. But that need would never arise because they're all too perfectly depressing, and Edward's too busy moping to ever cause any real damage.

stephen king is WRONG. Stephenie Meyer is very good writer. well.. BEST writer that i ever read the book. im know which is best is stephenie

Actually, Kris, they were de-fanged. They just have really sharp, normal teeth if I remember correctly.

The fact that the vampires do not have the trademark fangs just proves my point further: they're not real vampires.

To lizzie,

Learn sentence structure, and we'll start taking you seriously. And while you're at it, learn other writing basics. Please.

Stephen King. I hope this gets to you. Yeah maybe the dream came out to be a book, but your just mad that you can't write a book like her. You're mad that she is the next big thing on the shelves. You're mad that she's taking your spotlight. Well if your so mad that it came from her dreams....your book had to come from thoughts to put it on the page. Everyone can write EVERYONE. Writing is nothing but putting your dreams and thoughts down on a sheet of papar...and listen here...everyone can dream and that's one thing everyone is good at. Now go get a life at your little so called writing and make another book.
:]

To Steven Hill,
If King were mad that new authors were stealing his spotlight, he would bash Rowling too. He doesn't care about spotlight, he's made his mark on the literary world. His criticism is not influenced by any jealousy whatsoever. And yes, everyone can dream, but some people don't have the talent to transform that into words on a paper so, no not everyone can write.

Half of these comments read as if they were written by angry twelve year-olds. 'Freedom of speech' and 'opinion'. King is free to speak his opinion on Meyers. Also this little snippet here isn't all of what he said. Rosenthal took a little piece of something King said in an interview.

I came across the comments the Mr. King made several weeks ago, and haven't been able to get passed them. I am what he would call one of his constant readers, and appreciate what he has done with his work. I was initially hesitant to read Jo Rowling's books, due to the fact that I don't hold in high esteem the opinions some of the people who recommended them to me. Fortunately however, I was quite wrong, and agree with Mr. King's assessment of J.K.'s work. I haven't read any of Stephanie Meyer's books, but I must say I wish them all the worst. I am a lover of horror, and vampires, however, all the new imaginings of vampire mythology is bothering me (this would be you Stephanie Meyer and you too Alan Ball, with your "True Blood.") The last, best vampire story was Joss Whedon's Buffy series. Vampires, they of the soulless creatures of the night, not heroic, loving saviors. The vampire is and always should be the villain, not the love interest...Just ask Buffy what happens when you spend the night w/ one. Don't defy the genre conventions, stick with them and expound on them. The fact that Mr. King says Ms. Myer can't write a lick is just icing on the cake.

"Posted by: Kris | March 19, 2009 3:45 PM: stephen king is WRONG. Stephenie Meyer is very good writer. well.. BEST writer that i ever read the book. im know which is best is stephenie"

Kris can I ask that before you flame people about sentence structure, you at least try to get your right. Lizzie used perfect sentence structure. Now about the book, I'll simply say that while the story was decent, the mechanics were terrible, in fact, if I turned in the first 15 pages of Twilight to my college professor, I would get back a D- because the grammar is just that terrible. And to be frank, that's exactly what King was pointing out. Most high school senior's have better grammar and plot progression skills...and mind you I've read all four books. And do whoever mentioned them making a movie out of one of King's books or him being jealous, your a fool, because The Shawshank Redemption is by King, and he is speaking more of the mechanics than the content. So before we start a flame war, let's take the time and be civil.... Oh and actually use your brain instead of acting like fanboys/fangirls.

To Dustin:

Actually, Lizzie posted the comment you were degrading. For future reference, the poster's name is below the comment. Therefore, Kris has been fine, Lizzie has not.

Sma, I'm careful not to take things out of context, so the original post included a link to King's interview. Here's the longer version of the USAToday story:
King, whose Stephen King Goes to the Movies collection came out last week, doesn’t know how much of an influence he had on Meyer, but he does know that Rowling read his stuff when she was younger. "I think that has some kind of formative influence the same way reading Richard Matheson had an influence on me," King explains. "People always say to me, 'Well, what about H.P. Lovecraft?' And the thing was, you read Lovecraft when you were a kid but I never felt that he was speaking my language. It was chillier than my heart was, and when Matheson started to write about ordinary people and stuff, that was something that I wanted to do. I said, 'This is the way to do it. He’s showing the way.' I think that I serve that purpose for some writers, and that’s a good thing. Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people. ... The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good."

But then King recalls that when his mom was alive, she read all the Erle Stanley Gardner books, the Perry Mason mysteries, obsessively when he was growing up. "He was a terrible writer, too, but he was very successful," King says. "Somebody who’s a terrific writer who’s been very, very successful is Jodi Picoult. You’ve got Dean Koontz, who can write like hell. And then sometimes he’s just awful. It varies. James Patterson is a terrible writer but he’s very very successful. People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because they’re not overtly sexual. A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet."

I just read the book this week for the first time.

It was garbage.

I'd really like those four hours of my life back.

I'd have to agree with Stephan King on this one. Stephanie Meyer's writing in the Twilight series is not very good. Although, what King fails to mention is that he has had MANY years of writing under his belt in comparison to Meyer. I'm sure if Meyer keeps working on developing her writing skills over the years her work will become stronger.

Taylor, Stephen King is an amazing writer. If you prefer Meyers' work over his, than it's obvious that you're a high school illiterate.

Hey! Steven King!

When was the last time you had a book that actually got kids reading and was the biggest thing in literature since Harry Potter and was hitting the charts in both adult and juvenile fiction?

OK, Look people I understand that everyone has opinions... Mine is I see both sides of kings and Meyer's But come on people! This is why there are a variety of books available to us.There are some people who think those "Dungeon and dragon" books are awesome but I think they are retarded and wouldn't keep my interest past the index... That's what book categories are for. What does it matter as long as people are still reading and dreaming.Let people Be diverse if they want.....

ok i have tried to read maybe about 6 different stephen kings book and i could not get in to any one if i truly like the book ill get in about maybe the 2nd page but not his book and he is just mad because there is competition and stephenie meyer is a great writer i dont care what anyone says

1.) Isn't it rather ironic that the majority of posts defending Ms. Meyer's work are fraught with ugly grammer mistakes and rediculously bad spelling? "stephan king is a gerk" Rather revealing of the level of English competency of her average fan...

2.) "She sells a lot of books and has a movie so she has to be a great writer" As if that was the end all of Meyer defence. Paris Hilton is rather popular and well-known. What exactly has she accomplished? By the logic of many of these comments, her popularity must be based on some amazing skill rather than merely the ability to sell herself.

3.) Stephan King is jelous he doesn't have the fan base of a gender/age-range he has never attempted to appeal to? I'm rather doubtful of that... How is it that he is jealous of Meyer and not J.K. Rowling if he is merely bitter about fame?

4.) Stephan King did not randomly come out and abuse Stephanie Meyer. He was asked his opinion of her, and he gave it honestly.

5.) He also was not critizing the story, this has nothing to do with a genre battle. He was just expressing that as a writer, she just wasn't very good. I have to say I agree. It's rather scary that a company actually agreed to publish it considering her terrible vocabulary, grammer and ability to make any sort of believable character.

6.) It's scares me that people consider this a good book for the female tween generation. The main character is both shallow and weak. She overcomes no real battles, deals with no true character flaws and resigns herself to being saved constantly by her "gorgeous" vampire boyfriend. What a terrible role model...

7.) Part of Meyer's popularity? Her books are easy to read. Same reason they have dumbed down newspapers to attract readers. You don't have to put too much thought into understanding plot, characters, or even a vocabulary word. Stephen's King's novels actually require a little effort and thought, not everything is put out on a platter for easy comphrension.
Reading twilight is rather like eating candy. It can taste good, but in the end is just empty calories. .

First of all, its been very entertaining to read all these comments. My friend couldn't figure out why I was laughing so hard. Thanks for making my day! :)

Here's my opinion: I agree with Stephen King... with reservations. Stephenie Meyer is definitely not the best writer in the world. It made it exceptionally hard for me to focas on the story when all I concentrate on were the grammer mistakes and over use of words and phrases that were all over the place. It was not very interseting to be in Bella's head because all of her thoughts were just repeats of things she says or already thought! The third book just cried over what happened in the second, and the fourth was sadly disappointing. But seriously, Who cares? Its a book. Its a fun and easy read, nothing to obsess over. As for the people who think she ruined the vamp's image- I don't think she did. She just created her own version.

i don't know why i'm even writing a comment. all of this is just opinions and who can win in a battle of opinion. we can never feel every thought insdie someone elses head and so how do we know who is right and who is wrong? why does there have to have a write and wrong. im not even going to write my opinion about the article coz who actually really cares?
but even writing this is showing opionin.
wow we are all so over rated :)

I love Stephen King's books
I love Stephenie Meyers' books.

Who cares what other authors think of your work. The target audience are the readers.

They said the same think about Jackie Susann and Valley of the Dolls. She didn't give a flying cray and neither should Stephenie.

Stephen, read the books again...you guys may have more in common than you think. You both have some of the same bias.

Whatever, chick is getting PAID. What difference does his opinion mean to her. She just needs to get back to the business of writing books. I am sick of her music obsession. You sold the movie rights now get your butt back to writing girl!

To the unimaginative "Kevin" I feel very sorry for you to have such strong opinions clearly If you would just look for one "SPARKLING" moment things do not always have to be frightning and vicous. Ive always felt any Vampire like that of "Edward' was a trapped beautiful soul and whats more loved to all than a Diamond.-classic girl

Oh come on. First off: fanbois ad girls: Selling a LOT of a thing does NOT equate to a thing being good in the remotest. Look at Windows.



Or... looking into the realm of literature, look at ALL the Brian Herbert/Kevin J Anderson novels that bastardize the Dune franchise.



Of course, all the Twilight fans probably never picked up any serious literature outside of high school. I read quite a few of Stephen Kings novels. That guy can write. That guy can scare the living daylights out of you... and the many many MANY movies based off his books, such as The Shawshank Redemption, generally accepted as one of the single greatest movies of all time, will make you love his writing.



I did not have the displeasure of reading Stephanie Meyer. But I have it from many people who have excellent taste in books say that the entire Twilight series is mediocre at best.



I have a unique perspective, directed at the horrible... HORRIBLE... first Twilight film.



I RP, a lot. And I have for a long time now. A long time ago, I had the displeasure of basically being trapped RPing with what can only be described as a "fangirl" of movies like this... Think the latest rendition of Phantom of the Opera here. In this case, she would erase the female lead and throw in a terrible Mary-Sue or sometimes an outright Self-Insert, which for you fangirls of Twilight, is defined as "idiot twinkie character you put in your fanfiction to tr to win over the male lead," and force me to play the male lead. Then the plots of ALL story arcs with this person would go as follows:



1. Dark, brooding male, played by me (Lets call this character Edward. And if I still RPed with this girl. I absolutely would play Edward.), meets bubbly idiot girl who has less than three brain cells, (Call her Bella, though if I still RPed with this girl, I guarantee Bella would mysteriously vanish and get replaced by a Mary-Sue.)



2. Bella falls head over heels in love with Edward. I am expect to play Edward as a cold fish, and not give Bella the time of day for maybe about... three poses.



3. Bella's life is threatened, predictably, by another vampire. Now I have to have Edward step up and save Bella from the vampire.



4. Unrealistically, the already one-dimensional character of Edward has to fall in love with the even MORE shallow and less-dimensional Bella.



5. They have sex.



6. They have more sex.



7. They have even more sex.



8. They ONLY have sex for every scene since.



And I look at the Twilight movie, which I JUST saw not too long ago on DVD... and I see the scene. The order of events is different, but it's the same thing:



Step 1. Pretty, yet stupid female protagonist meets sexy, flawless male hero protagonist.



Step 2. Stupid female protagonist learns sexy male protagonist is a vampire. Unrealistically, she doesn't show any surprise or shock, as if meeting vampires is the norm.



Step 3. After only THREE scenes, both the stupid female protagonist and sexy male protagonist fall in love.



Step 4. Implied sex scene.



Step 5 Villains show up and do nothing very interesting. Soon they threaten stupid female protagonist.



Step 6. Predictably: Not only is sexy male protagonist first on the scene to kick the main, predictable antagonist's butt, but also to win, and do some sort of risky sacrifice to save stupid female protagonist's life after the fact. This scene lasts 10 minutes and contributes nothing to the plot



Step 7. Emo scene about how sexy male protagonist couldn't turn stupid female protagonist into a vampire, as that would invalidate all the predictable damsel-in-distress plotlines that are likely to happen in the rest of the series.



Stephanie Meyer writes her stories like that fangirl I used to RP with. That is Very VERY Bad Writing.



And then there's throwing the ENTIRE vampire mythos out the window for fangirl purposes:



1. Real vampires from actual gothic legends and stories are supposed to die in sunlight, not sparkle in a frankly glittery manner just to make them seem touching.



2. Real vampires suck human blood. End of story. None of this "vegetarianism" bullshit just so the good vampires will look good to the empty headed fangirl-inducing novel reader.



3. Vampires have NUMEROUS ways to die beyond just being ripped to pieces and burned: There's the stake, the cross, sunlight, garlic... silver, etc. None of these aside from being ripped up seem to apply in Meyer's horrible writing.



4. Vampires are not very active. They're part of the undead, like zombies except fully intelligent. In most mythos they're servants of the devil. Because they're undead, they are not very active. They almost always are in coffins, cellars, dark places where sunlight will never go. While sleeping (More on that later.) they are exceptionally vulnerable, hence even a higher need for a coffin in a cellar.



5. Vampires DO sleep. That's the whole purpose of the coffin in the day thing. And they're exceptionally vulnerable in this state.



There are a few things they do get right: Such as the whole werewolves versus vampire thing... almost. Butchered by having the lead vampire of the good guys make peace with the lead werewolf. Watch Underworld for a more accurate vampire/werewolf relations. They're supposed to be outright blood enemies, fighting bitterly over, basically, food. Vampires need the blood, werewolves need the flesh.



And there's the enhanced athletics, which varies in extensibility from story to story. But I think Meyer was, again, allowing a little TOO much ability in her vampires.



Don't get me wrong. I like variety in vampires. But going all-out and making them basically invincible beings who don't sleep and have almost no weaknesses ruins it.



Enough of that ranting. Considering the fangirl-style writing and the complete bastardization of the vampire mythos, Stephanie Meyer cannot write worth a damn. And as mentioned before, Stephen King knows vampires. He wrote Salem's Lot, for Pete's sake. He's done vampires. He just chooses to do more original horror stories that aren't really based on a mythos. The Shining? Cujo? It? I likes Secret Window/Hidden Garden or whatever it was called.

Wow, some fangirls are getting their panties in a wad over the truth. The reason that so many of Meyer's books were sold was because it's so freaking simple, anyone with half a brainstem could read them. It is put in first person so that the reader can pretend that their the one's getting this venomous stone person which is in fact not a vampire but a creature of her own imagination. Imagination is good but don’t put a tag on something that it’s not.
The reason that King said that she sucked is, well, because she sucks. Her characters are as flat as a pre-teen's chest. Bella is not a character that would be empowering to women. The plot is flat. Their 'love' comes out of thin air which is something that doesn't happen in the real world. Real love comes from friendship, hard work and determination. The descriptions of Eddie are the same. Beautiful this, gorgeous that. Have you ever heard of thesaurus rape? If you’ve read Twilight, you think it’s bad and put thought into her words, you know what I’m talking about. When Bella moved to Forks people wanted to be her friend instantly and wanted to go to prom with her. Has Meyer ever been to a new school because this rarely happens in real life. The thing that makes this even worse is that Bella complains over it. Most girls, if an attractive male asked them out, they’d be ecstatic. Now on to the biggie, Meyer based Bella after herself which is called a Mary Sue. Mary Sues are perfect characters who look perfect, have no to few flaws, many guys are attracted to her, her name has a special meaning (Bella means beautiful so her name means beautiful swan), and the only thing that can be excused is that Bella really has no special abilities except for cooking. A Mary Sue is commonly bases after the author only, the character is better.
The most distinctive difference is, Bella is skinny. So, here is some hard evidence that Twilight does not