Twilight Mom or Wannabe Teen?

So. I’m going to finally come out about it. I’ve been quiet for a long time figuring it was no matter, quite sure I’d lose some street cred for saying so anyway. But since I can never keep my trap shut for long… here it goes…

I’m into “Twilight”.

I’ve read the books. I own the movie. I play the soundtrack in the school car-line. And I’m going to “New Moon” as soon as it’s released and I can find a group of Twilight Moms to go with me.

Oh wait. Am I a Twilight Mom now?

And now I see Twilight Mom’s bristle everywhere. Is there anything WRONG with being a Twilight Mom? What am I really trying to say, huh? …What, am I like BETTER than Twilight Moms because I’ve been all closeted and snobby, claiming I’m not INTO teenage vampire books?

Yeah, no. Well. I just. I never thought I’d get into it. Before I even considered dipping my toe into the Twilight series, I joked it off sneering that “Twilight” simply HAD to suck without starring the two Coreys. (Yes, this was my sorry attempt at a humorous reference to the movie “The Lost Boys” which – ironically – I adored as a 14 year old angsty kid).

But then I picked up “Twilight” at an airport to read on the plane. I was indifferent about finally jumping in. *Shrug* it was something to do for three hours. Not expecting to really like it. But of course, I did. A lot. And I surprised myself. And now I just don’t know where that leaves me exactly.

I mean what IS IT about these books anyway?

The series follows the lives of kids half my age while re-introducing a familiar vampire premise (“vampire wants woman he can’t have”) that is as old as Edward himself (maybe older). And further, they are wrestling with moody, predictable teenage stuff that really should be soooo “1987″ for someone like me. AND. I have to say. The writing is only fine, not great, not unpublishable, but nothing to blow your socks off either. Just…eh… fine.

So what is it? Why was I so hooked on “New Moon” that I literally could not put it down for the entire 24 hour period it took to read? I actually found myself cooking, cleaning, *insert daily chore here* and reading at the same time. I would mumble that I’d be right back to my husband and steal away to read another chapter in my bathroom a secluded section of the house.

How could I be THAT drawn in?

Well, let me ask you another question which may answer the first question.

Do you know what really attracts me to this series? Yes, sure, the fantasy but I’ll get back to that point in a minute. And no, not Edward particularly either (cough, yeah RIGHT, cough) or Jacob (I’m old enough to be his mother, for the love of Pete…). Its the author, Stephanie Meyers, who has drawn me in.

Watch this interview of her. I honestly couldn’t believe my ears. Pay attention to the first portion of the interview which discusses how she began writing this book series. You should understand right away why I can relate.

She had never written a book before. She was just a stay at home mom. With three boys. Simply trying to get out the door everyday to swim lessons. And she took a kernel of an idea from a dream she had and turned it into all of this. She wrote 10 pages a day from her computer in her kitchen, while her children climbed over her lap and Blue Clues blasted on the television. A mother with no real experience, a mother who didn’t follow any of the rules, a mother who just loved to write made this entire Twilight thing happen practically over night.

Wow.

Do you understand how deeply that inspires me? That element alone has pulled me right in. How couldn’t I leap? While I also type away on my laptop within a swirling windstorm of boy activity and the theme of Wonder Pets as my Morningside Mom soundtrack, she has shown me the potential of what I could do as a writer. That maybe somehow its out there, within reach, if I do as she did and write, write, write. I’m awed and inspired, I tell you.

But also, let me get back to the fantasy part of what also pulls me (and so many other readers) in. Stephanie wrote this tale from her little corner of everyday life. Stephanie, like many women my age, has already met her life partner and is now living in the practical reality of “happily ever after”. I’m there too. Generally, we know how our lives will play out for the most part. Fairy tales are replaced by reading bank statements and report cards. Fantasy is saving up for a family trip to Myrtle Beach. The dreams and hopes and “what ifs” of every teen-aged girl are long past. And that’s ok. It’s called being a grown up.

But sometimes we miss the wonder and possibility of it all. It was kind of fun to be lost in some of that girly, dreamy crap. As a teen, such fantasies came as naturally to me as breathing. As a thirty six year old, maybe I need a book or four to prod me along a bit.

So Stephanie has dreamed up an escape that relates to teens but pulls Twilight Moms back to a time when the thrill of romance or possibility of adventure was more likely than your kids eating their vegetables. Its just an innocent, indulgent escape really. And for some of us, Twilight leaves us breathless, giggling, teenaged and transported. Caught in a place where the perfect writing technique doesn’t matter but a good heady story does. Escape. Possibility. Magic. Fralalala, Edward, and I don’t care.

And thus I have justified my attraction to a 17 year old vampire.

But let me also point out my feminist tendencies shift in their chairs a bit over this whole series. So excuse this sidebar while I say my piece. The whole “tracking a woman” (done by either wolf or vampire), coming after her, wanting her to such an obsessive degree, being unable to help themselves and too strong for their own good, sometimes hurting her even though they “love” her…. ugh. And she choosing to fall for a man who could hurt and kill her, putting her life second to “love”… well. Eh. The hunter versus the prey thing bugs me here. It just does. And I will leave it at that.

So.

Anyone else want to see “New Moon” with me next weekend?