Books I Wish I'd Written

I'm re-reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. Talk about a book I wish I'd written! It captures perfectly the romance I daydreamed of when I was a somewhat-lonely junior in high school. Not that I daydreamed of vampires--but I daydreamed about someone like Edward Cullen, someone strong, mysterious, handsome, and a little bit dangerous. Someone fascinating who was, in turn, fascinated by me.

One thing that strikes me as I re-read it is that Edward and Bella's relationship is somewhat politically incorrect. He's always rescuing her! It's one of those unwritten rules that writers follow: female characters should be strong, independent, and do their fair share of the rescuing. And yet...there's something incredibly alluring about the idea of being rescued by someone strong and kind, even if he is a bit dangerous. (Maybe especially if he's a bit dangerous.) Obviously, Stephanie does it well: the rescue scenes release floods of memories and emotions for me.

How's she pull it off? Well, her main character is physically clumsy and a trouble-magnet, so she needs a bit of rescuing--but she's smart, introspective, and interesting, not at all weak. Maybe the key is that she might need the occasional physical rescue, but she can rescue Edward on a deeper, non-physical level. Bella is so darn likable, the reader doesn't mind that she keeps requiring rescue.

However Stephanie does her magic, she made me remember to explore those depths of childhood and adolescent emotion in my writing. Even if my youthful fantasies weren't all PC, they were true--and Stephanie Meyer's shown that truth sells.

:) Cheryl