"I think there's something innate about the love of cars, something some people are born with," Stephenie Meyer says. "I am moved by beautiful automobiles. My friends used to follow cute boys on the highway, while I would follow cars. I'll still drive a few miles out of my way if I pass a pretty Porsche or Ferrari." Not surprisingly, when MTV Films bought the movie rights to Meyer's hugely popular debut novel, Twilight, the thirty-two-year-old Glendale mother of three knew exactly what to do. "I figured any money that comes from MTV has to be spent frivolously as a matter of principle," she says. "So it's nice to drive something besides the minivan on the rare occasion that I go somewhere without my kids."

Stephenie Meyer never intended to be an author, much less a New York Times bestselling author who can afford to drive a brand new Infiniti G35 coupe "with a spoiler and all the extras." But that's the way it's been for Meyer from the very beginning—one continuous, unbroken stream of good fortune, most of it accidental, all of it life changing.

It was only six months from the moment Meyer wrote the first sentence of Twilight—her dreamily atmospheric vampire romance geared to young adults but which adult readers have enthusiastically embraced as their own—to her $750,000 three-book publishing deal with Little, Brown. The bestseller list, the movie deal and the shiny new car all followed within the year. But what really makes the "overnight" part of this overnight success story so relevant is the fact that the idea for Twilight came to Meyer, fully formed and literally overnight, in a dream.

"I had no intention of writing a book, let alone starting a career," she explains. "But this dream—which is contained in chapter thirteen of Twilight (the meadow scene)—caught hold of my imagination. I was so intrigued by these two characters that I wanted to go on thinking about them, and I wanted to find out what would happen next. Most of all, I didn't want to forget them. So I sat down at the computer to record my dream, and once I started typing, I never stopped."

It's a good thing, too. In addition to appearing on the New York Times bestseller list, Twilight was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, an Amazon Best Book of the Decade, and a Teen People "Hot List" pick. Not bad for a self-described "mousy housewife" who two short years ago had no desire to write a book at all.

Meyer dropped by the store recently to sign a few copies of Twilight and talk about its sequel, New Moon, which is scheduled to be released in August. She graciously agreed to answer a few questions via e-mail while on a family vacation in Canada.

BOOKSTORIES: Before Twilight, you hadn't written anything at all, not even a short story or poem. Yet you produced a 498-page bestseller and its equally long sequel in about a year. How does such a prolific writer spring, fully formed, from nowhere?

STEPHENIE MEYER: I really don't know. A lot of it comes from extensive reading, I think. Before I was a voracious writer, I was a voracious reader. Maybe for every thousand books you read, you get to write one. I was always a storyteller, though I only told my stories to myself. If I'd thought other people would find my stories entertaining, I might have started writing them down sooner. I'm not sure why Twilight was the one story I couldn't set aside, the one I had to write down, or why I was brave enough to let other people see it. But I think it was because I loved the characters I'd dreamed about more than any I'd thought up before. I wanted other people to know them, too.

BS: Your vampire lore is fairly unique. Instead of feeding on humans, your vampires hunt for animals; instead of turning to ash in sunlight, they emit an otherworldly iridescent glow. They're basically good, thoughtful individuals who don't want to harm anyone. How important was it for you to distinguish your vampires from, say, those of Anne Rice, who essentially defined the modern vampire?

SM: Basically, I'm a coward. So I'm not at all informed about the horror genre, and I don't think it's influenced my writing. I've never considered Twilight a horror novel, though. To me, it's a romance. Still, I wasn't intending to publish the story, or even to make a finished book of it. I was just writing for my own enjoyment, and it wasn't until I knew that Twilight would be published that I began to think about whether my vampires were too much the same or too much different from the others. Of course, I was far too invested in my characters at that point to be making changes. I wasn't very familiar with the canon, in any case, because I don't read horror novels (ironic, I know). So I didn't cut out fangs and coffins and so forth as a way to distinguish my vampires; that's just how they came to me.

BS: Bella Swan is a wonderful character—she's strong, but she's also extremely vulnerable and confused. Not surprising when you consider she's in love with a vampire.

SM: Bella's character was entirely developed in the initial dream that started it all. I think she has a few things in common with my own teenage self-the same sarcastic internal voice, the same shyness and wobbly self-confidence, and a few physical similarities, but in other ways she's a much better person than I was. I wish I would have known someone like her when I was seventeen. She would have been a good person to be friends with.

BS: The vampire Edward Cullen quickly became a favorite among fans, especially women. He is, for lack of a better word, hot. Has there ever been an Edward in your life?

SM: Not really, no. Edward is too perfect to exist in reality. (I hope my husband never reads this.) I've known pieces of Jacob in various forms—he's much more likely to occur in nature. Much more human, and much more possible. For the record, I've dated a few Mikes and Tylers.

BS: Edward's story is intriguing. Here we have a vampire whose main problem in life—or is it afterlife?—is controlling the bloodlust his girlfriend inspires in him. He loves her, but he is also hard-wired to kill her. Have you considered writing a story from Edward's point of view?

SM: Actually, yes. I got started thanks in large part to fan fiction. I didn't even know what that was until someone told me that people were writing fiction about Twilight and posting it on the Web. Naturally I was curious, so I started reading to see what was out there. It ranged from really good to really silly, but one thing all the stories had in common was that they weren't getting Edward right. People were able to tune into a good approximation of Bella's character, but the Edwards were all flat wrong. No one seemed to have any idea of how difficult it was for him to live the way he does. It upset me a bit—I felt like Edward wasn't getting enough credit. And then I started thinking about what the first chapter of Twilight would have sounded like if Edward had been the one to tell it. When I finally gave in and started writing, I didn't mean to do any more than the first chapter, but (as so often happens with me) once I started, I wanted to keep going. I'm about halfway finished.

BS: New Moon is a great follow-up to Twilight. How long after finishing the first book did you realize that your characters had more to say?

SM: When Twilight was finished, I found myself writing multiple epilogues-hundred-plus-page epilogues. I quickly realized I wasn't ready to stop writing about Bella and Edward, and so I started writing the first sequel almost immediately.

BS: Because of the perfection of the Cullen boys and Jacob, you have ruined the women of Changing Hands as well as women across the country for other men. Do you feel bad at all?

SM: Yes, but mostly I feel bad for my myself. I have these perfect men in my head all the time, but every time I get up from the computer and step out of the writing haze, I have to realize yet again that (despite what my husband says) none of them are real. It breaks my heart over and over again. Yes, definitely I deserve the most pity.

Please note: general seating begins one hour before the event. Booksigning ticket numbers (available with purchase of New Moon or Twilight) will be called to fill seats. Although not guaranteed, arriving early with this ticket is the best way to be assured a seat.