This morning it was announced that Stephenie Meyer will be releasing a novella called The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner.
Surprise!
I have a new book coming out. It's called The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. Well, it's more of a novella than an actual book—my version of a short story.
Actually, this has been a surprise to me, too. The reason why it's a surprise was that I never intended to publish this story as a stand-alone book. I began this story a long time ago—before Twilight was even released. Back then I was just editing Eclipse, and in the thick of my vampire world. I was thinking a lot about the newborns, imagining their side of the story, and one thing led to another. I started writing from Bree's perspective about those final days, and what it was like to be a newborn.
This story was something that I worked on off and on for a while, just for fun, in between the times I was writing or editing other Twilight novels. Later, when the concept for The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide came up, I thought that might be a good place for Bree. Her story is a nice complement to Eclipse; it explains a lot of the things that Bella never knew. So I dusted it off and finished it up for placement in the Guide.
At the same time, it came in handy for the Eclipse film. Melissa (Rosenberg, the screenwriter) had a ton of questions about what exactly was going on in Seattle, how Victoria managed things, what Riley was like, etc. I let her read what I had then, and later gave the whole thing to the director, David Slade. David asked if Xavier, Bryce, and Jodelle (Riley, Victoria, and Bree) could read it as well, so all the parties involved would end up having a really strong foundation for their characters before the cameras started rolling. I was pleased that this side of the story would make it into the film and was looking forward to including it in the Guide.
Then I got the news: my "short story" was nearly 200 pages long when typeset. It was too long to fit into the Guide—without ending up with a tome as heavy as the Oxford English Dictionary. My publisher approached me with the idea of releasing the Bree story on its own. One of the major benefits of this plan was that it would be out before the movie, so people would get to know Bree before they saw her in the film. That made sense to me, and we decided to go ahead with it.
There was one thing I asked for: since this story had always been an extra for me, and was meant to be released with the Guide, I wanted to be able to offer it to my fans for free. You all have bought a ton of my books, and I wanted to give you this story as a gift. My publisher was awesome and embraced this idea. We still wanted to also produce a physical book with a cool cover (see below) that you can add to your set if you like, but starting at noon on June 7th until July 5th, it will also be available online at http://www.breetanner.com/.
One other aspect of this release is the plan to give a more important gift to people who really need it. One dollar of each book purchased in the US from the first printing will be donated to the American Red Cross for their relief efforts in Haiti and Chile and other parts of the world where people are in great need. We're going to have an option online as well, so you can choose to make a donation if you want when you read the story online. I hope you will. I think that we can really help a lot of people with this.
I really hope you all enjoy this story. I had a blast writing it. I'm glad that after all this time cooling her heels in my files, Bree finally gets her chance to shine.
Thanks for all the support,
Steph
From the official press release from Little, Brown:
The novella (at 192 pages) will be released at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, June 5, 2010 in hardcover for $13.99 with a first printing of 1.5 million copies. One dollar for each book sold in the US from the first printing will be donated to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, which supports disaster relief efforts such as those in Haiti and Chile.
As a special thank you to fans, Meyer is giving them exclusive access to the novel on adedicated website, www.breetanner.com, from June 7 to July 5, 2010 where fans from aroundthe world will be able to read the book online in English. “I’d always considered The ShortSecond Life of Bree Tanner as something for the fans,” said Meyer. “They have been sosupportive of all things Twilight.”
The character Bree not only features prominently in the book Eclipse, but in the upcoming movie from Summit Entertainment. “Stephenie was gracious enough to let me read a draft of the novella while we were prepping the movie The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” said Director David Slade. “I thoroughly enjoyed the story and it gave us great insight and inspired location choices and the tailoring of scenes. I think fans are going to love the fascinating details involved in the loves, fears and actions of an emerging vampire.”
Read the official press release from Little, Brown HERE.
Stephenie herself did not plan this, but under the Eclipse FAQs of her website Stephenie has said this:
"Are you going to post outtakes and extras for Eclipse?
Outtakes, no. Why? Because I don't have anything good. I didn't cut anything major or funny this time.
Extras, not for a while. I do have a couple of fairly large extras I want to do, but I can't work on them until I'm done with book four. Eventually, I'm planning to write the story from Bree's perspective—how she met Riley, how life was amongst the newborns, how she found and lost love in the middle of the chaos, how the Volturi were involved, etc. I'd also like to write the alternate ending that I once considered for Eclipse, back when I was under pressure to end the series at three books. I'm looking forward to writing these both up, but don't hold your breath; it's going to be a while."
UPDATE: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner is now available for pre-order through Borders.com and BarnesandNoble.com
WOW. Just WOW. I am beyond excited about this.
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