It seems like Twilight is just about everywhere these day, but even the Country music folks have gotten the bug. This video, “Chicken and Biscuits” by someone who apparently calls himself “Colt Ford” ( I guess it could be his real name)  is proof. It’s a a pretty silly spoof, of course, with the big conflict being over who gets a plate of fried chicken, but it does demonstrate the pervasiveness of the Saga, particularly with the movie images, which are featured. Since none of the movie soundtrack songs are CMT material, I guess this is their way of getting their cut!

In the run-up to the June release of Eclipse, the movie, a reporter from Entertainment Weekly sat down with the actor and actress who play Edward and Bella to ask a few questions. These celebrity interviews aren’t spontaneous affairs with gotcha questions meant to take the celebrities off-guard, but staged exchanges to communicate studio talking points. I was surprised, then, on reading the second question because it was pretty meaty:

EW: Some people read Breaking Dawn as very pro-life and Mormon because Bella decides to have her baby even though it’s endangering her life. Did any of that bother you when you read the book?

STEWART: No, because it made sense. Not wanting to give up the baby is about her holding onto that last thing that she would have to give up if she was not human anymore. Right after she and Edward sleep with each other for the first time, she says, “Oh, f***, I might want to be human for a little bit longer.” The baby is just an even more intense version of that.
PATTINSON: I think people make up all these Mormon references just so they can publish Twilight articles in respectable publications like the New York Times. Even Stephenie [Meyer, author of the Twilight novels] said it doesn’t mean any of that. It is based on a dream.

After some notable screw-ups, both Ms. Stewart and Mr. Pattinson are clearly reading from Twilight franchise talking point scripts. I find their answers to the Mormon question interesting, then, for at least three reasons:

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The core genre of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight books are YA Romance. This fact, much neglected in the pervasive dismissal of Mrs. Meyer as a writer, explains much of the superficial and politically correct criticisms of the series.

Not knowing that much about YA Romance or any of the Romance genres beyond what long-time All-Pro Linda McCabe has taught me, I searched for a site online that looked at Mrs. Meyer’s work in exactly this light. Check out All About Romance: The Back Fence for Lovers of Romance Novels and their reviews of Twilight, of Eclipse, and of The Host.

Please share your thoughts on these romance-focused reviews — and please share as well any other Romance genre websites and their thoughts on Mrs. Meyer’s work.

Last week, John and I had the pleasure of chatting at great length with James over at Twilight News Site, who has now posted the first part of that conversation. It’s a great discussion, if I say so myself, covering everything from the literary and spiritual underpinnings of Eclipse, to history, to Bree Tanner. We had a great time, and we hope you’ll enjoy hearing it as much as we enjoyed the conversation! The next three parts of the podcast will appear in the coming week, so you’ll have time to make it through each segment at a time. Enjoy!