Here is what Stephenie had to say:

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.

(Keeping it confidential: Here is Jodelle next to the bucket of waterlogged ashes that were once the pages of her copy of the Bree manuscript.)

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 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

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What I’m really hoping for – there’s a stitching scene that I did with Kristen and it was paired down a little bit and some of the dialogue was taken out and some of the dialogue I really liked. And it was some of my favorite dialogue that was in the book. There’s a line that Carlisle says. Kristen asks him ‘It must have been really hard for you when you got bit’ and he says ‘Like everything else in life I had to decide what to do with what I was given’ which is such a strong line for me and it’s so symbolic for life in general.

Twilight Saga chat begins at 1:45.

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New Moon – B&N Exclusive Edition
a.k.a. The Twilight Saga: New Moon Director: Chris Weitz Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene

DVD – 2 Disc Set – B&N Exclusive / 2-Disc Special Edition / Widescreen Learn more

What do you think of her Sobe Drink Pictures???

• Why doesn’t the film have a director yet?
  Stephenie Meyer still hasn’t decided whether she wants one or two films. Word is that she’s just not sure which would be best for the film “creatively.” Some of you have your own opinions about the script, so what’s your advice for Meyer?

For the other gossip (warning: big spoiler if you haven’t read Breaking Dawn!), read more.

• When will filming begin?
  They hope to shoot the fourth book as early as this Fall in Vancouver, according to a recent interview with the film’s producer, Wyck Godfrey.
• How are they going to pull off Renesmee, the half vampire, half human child of Bella and Edward?
  Godfrey shed some light on this, as well: “I keep having visions of Benjamin Button in my head. It’s certainly going to be visual effects in some capacity along with an actor. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being a full CG creation, but it also may be a human shot on a soundstage that then is used to shrink down.”

Shrinking down a human a la Honey I Shrunk the Kids? Oy. I bet the members of my Twilight the Saga group have a thing or two to say about this. Hopefully the final Renesmee won’t look as ridiculous as she sounds.

What do you think about these latest Breaking Dawn tidbits?

Here’s a little taste of what you’ll find in the issue.

Call it battle of the abs. Or the teen screams heard round the world. Either way, Summit Entertainment’s The Twilight Saga: New Moon did more business on its opening weekend than any other movie this year. Now that it’s the biggest fall opening ever at $142.8 million and its opening day number of $72.7 million outgrossed The Dark Knight’s first-day figure, Hollywood should finally accept that women drive the box office in a big way. “It’s great that the greenlighters in town have realized that little girls go to the movies,” says MGM’s president of marketing Michael Vollman. “But this genre has worked forever. To Sir With Love was an angsty girl movie.”

So what will this fickle, yet incredibly devoted audience turn to next? Disney thinks it could be…fairies. The studio has scooped up Aprilynne Pike’s best-selling young adult novel Wings and cast Miley Cyrus in an adaptation. New Regency is banking on a new novel from Ann Brashares (author of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) called My Name is Memory, while Lionsgate hopes tweens line up for an adaptation of author Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. “Some will work and some won’t,” Summit’s co-chairman and CEO Rob Friedman says of the girl-driven projects. No matter what, “It won’t be The Twilight Saga. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Either way, try and catch these the next time you see New Moon for the umpteenth time

The more popular a movie is, the more it will be examined and put under a microscope as people look for errors. The people over at Movie Mistakes have already found some mistakes with New Moon – not that it matters, because, well… it’s a great movie. But for entertainment, read on:

Continuity: After Bella awakes from the first nightmare, we see her Romeo and Juliet book on thepillow beside her. When Charlie brings in her presents the book is gone, but then reappears on the pillow between shots.

Continuity: Bella goes to Italy to save Edward. Alice drops Bella off – when Bella gets out of the car to ask where Edward will be, first you see Bella in front of the car door, then she is suddenly behind the car door.

Visible crew/equipment: In the montage scenes where we see Bella’s depression, when the camera is circling her, the camera man is shown in the mirror (twice) behind her.

Continuity: When Edward takes Bella to the forest to tell her he is leaving, Bella’s hair hangs down her back. But in a following shot most of it is tucked up in the hood of her coat.

Continuity: When Alice jumps over the staircase in school to wish Bella happy birthday, between shots during the scene the positioning of the decorated scarf around her neck varies.

Continuity: When Bella pulls up at the Black’s, she spots Jacob, gets out of her truck and her door doesn’t fully close . Later you can see in the background that the door is firmly shut.

Revealing: The rims of the vampires contacts can be spotted occasionally during the film, especially the Volturi’s during the ending scenes, e.g. Jane’s in the elevator.

Continuity: When Alice is driving Bella to the Volturi, she is wearing a headscarf and sunglasses. During the scene the way the headscarf is tied changes; the size and shape of the knot (and the colours on the knot) are different.

Continuity: When Mike and Jacob are standing outside the cinema waiting for Bella, between shots the Burger King takeaway bag sitting on the trashcan next to them changes position.

Factual error: When Bella is flying to Italy they show a Virgin America airplane. Virgin America only flies within certain cities in the US. Virgin Atlantic flies from the US to Europe.

Continuity: When Jacob first shows off his tattoo, it is up at the top of his shoulder. Then when he is in the forest at the end with Bella and Edward, his tattoo is about 2 inches further down his arm.

Factual error: In the main title when the giant new moon appears on the screen the shadow fades over the moon from right to left when it should actually fade from left to right. The moon travels around the earth clockwise. The waning moon should turn to a new moon, not the waxing which is shown.

Visible crew/equipment: In the very last scene, right before the ultimatum, if you look into the tail lights on Edward’s car you can see various members of the crew reflected.

Continuity: When Bella is at the cafeteria table with Mike and he is asking her to the movies her hair keeps moving from behind her ear to hanging, and back again.

Continuity: When Edward and Bella turn around to leave the Volturi Chamber, Edward’s robe is tied. When they show them leaving from the back it is undone.

“They haven’t told the rest of us actors yet,” he confided exclusively to The Dish Rag at the Hollywood Foreign Press Young Hollywood party last night at Nobu.

“I have read that they are talking to Rob, Taylor and Kristen to negotiate to make ‘Dawn’ into two movies. I’d love for it to be two films,” he added.

How about that “Twilight” TV series rumor? “I just heard that too. I don’t know how. You already have the books and the story’s been told so beautifully. And there’s already ‘True Blood’ and ‘Vampire Diaries,’ and they’re both great. I don’t know how it would work. Twenty two episodes?

And are you listening, Matt Damon? Because Kellan Lutz seriously wants to bro up with you in your “Bourne” action film franchise.

“I’m making this checklist as an actor,” he confided. “Right now I just really want to be part of the Bourne franchise and the more I say that, maybe Matt Damon will read it and it and maybe I can play his brother.”

We could totally see that. They even look a bit alike.

And on the heels of his co-star Taylor Lautner’s move into the teen superhero flick, “Max Steel,” Kellan wouldn’t mind some super powers himself very soon. “I’d love to be ‘Captain America’ someday.”

He’s not sure exactly what his next project will be yet. And its too early to talk specifics. But it’s definitely going to in the action or romantic comedy genre. And what else did we learn during our chat with Kellan:

Broad strokes about his upcoming projects
“They’re are going to studios to get the funding, and there’s one I will produce. Most are action films and a couple of romantic comedies and I’m just thrilled with all the scripts.”

On “Twilight” being his Golden Ticket
“People work 20 years to get what we have,” Kellan admits. “We really are so lucky. Its like you get a headstart and its all because of the fans. And it’s not just about money or getting offers, it’s that we can mold our careers.”

On attributing “Twilight” franchise success to Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart
“The rest of us, we could suck probably,” Kellan says. “It’s Rob and Kristen who have the amazing chemistry. Without those two keystones, “Twilight” could have flopped. It really could have.”

What do you think?