Archives for 2006

Once again I must thank Nimir-Ra over at the Twilight MySpace website for letting me post the Q&A from her site over here at the lexicon.  I am indebted to the forward thinking of the members of that site for how open they are with their questions.  Enjoy!

Q. Why did Bella get that electric shock or whatever from Edward when they were in biology?

A. Physical chemistry. The jolt you get when you brush fingers with the hottest guy you’ve ever seen… sigh…Edward… Ha ha.

Q. Are you planning on writing an Edward version of New Moon and Eclipse?

A. Probably not. (Though there is at least one chapter in New Moon that I WILL write in Edward’s POV, and then post on my site or whatnot.) See, once Edward gets to tell his side, people will "know" him well enough that his POV won’t be necessary for every book. I think it’s interesting that people don’t entirely get Edward. When I read through the fan fics (which I don’t have much time for anymore, sigh) it’s clear that people "get" Bella so much better than they get Edward. I’m always shocked by things that Edward would NEVER do or say, and I realize that people just don’t know him the way I do.

Q. Since vampires’ senses are heightened, do they feel pain more acutely than humans? Likewise, would sex be better for a vampire than a human?

A. Yes. Their senses are greatly heightened. Though it takes a lot more to hurt them, the pain would be more intense. Pleasure, also, would be more intense.

Q. Did Edward find it very hard to be around Tyler when he and Bella were in the hospital after the accident? Was Bella too distracted by how Edward had saved her to be sickened by Tyler’s blood?

A. I imagine Bella was a little woozy thanks to Tyler’s blood, but that overpowering hospital chemical smell really counteracts all other smells, for a human at least. I’ve written this part of the story from Edward’s perspective, and it is at this moment that Edward starts to grasp how Carlisle is able to handle being around blood. Here’s a paragraph from Edward’s version:

"It was amazingly easy to ignore Tyler, lying no more than four feet from me, covered in fresh blood. I’d never understood how Carlisle was able to do that–ignore the blood of his patients in order to treat them. Wouldn’t the constant temptation be so distracting, so dangerous? But, now I could see how, if you were focusing on something else hard enough, the temptation was be nothing at all. Even fresh and exposed, Tyler’s blood had nothing on Bella’s."

Q. Do the Cullens celebrate their birthdays?

A:  Sort of, in a joking way. Birthdays are pretty meaningless when you don’t change.

Q. You’ve said that when someone becomes a vampire, they sort of "freeze" where they are mentally. Is Edward emotionally still 17? He refers to the other teens as "children", but does he feel any affinity with them? Does he think of Bella as a child, and if so, does this have any impact on his attraction to her? Like, does he find her childish or juvenile at all?

A. Edward is emotionally and intellectually more adult than a modern seventeen-year-old, due to the times in which he lived. In his world, he was old enough to be considered a man. People his age were getting married and beginning their lives. He was about to join the military and go fight in the Great War. Developmentally, he was an adult. So he is able to understand and absorb this century he’s lived through, to gain perspective from it.

This perspective is what makes him think of his classmates as children, coupled with the fact that they are so helpless in comparison with himself. The vampires do have a bit of a superiority complex, heh heh. However, Edward still is a teenage boy in many ways. This is his first experience with romantic love, his first kiss, just as it is for Bella. He thinks of Bella as just one of the "children" until he becomes interested in her. Then he begins to learn how mature she is for her age, just like him…

The other girls at school are fairly immature and petty. Their minds are a turn off 🙂

Q. Ok so we know that Alice and Jasper are very close, so I was wondering how close are Emmett and Rosalie, and Carlisle and Esme? Out of the three couples which one has the closest relationship?

A. This is an apples to oranges question, because their relationships are so different. Rosalie and Emmett’s might be seen as the most superficial in a way, because their relationship is so intensely physical. But they are entirely committed to each other, so that’s hardly superficial… Esme and Carlisle have the most spiritual relationship, for lack of a better word. Their relationship is on another plane from Rosalie and Emmett’s. And then Alice and Jasper’s is the most…mystical. They just ARE together, and have been from before they even met. They are not complete without each other–and never were. That’s what makes them different from the other couples, the "never were." They were already not-whole before they met, waiting for each other.

Q. Bella speculates at the beginning of the book that Jessica tried to ask Edward out, or get him interested in her, but that she struck out. Is that what happened? Is the only reason Lauren doesn’t like Bella because she likes Tyler and Tyler likes Bella, or is Lauren jealous of Bella’s relationship with Edward too?

A. Jessica tried to flirt with Edward and was met with icy disinterest (of course). She was never brave enough to ask him out in the face of his obvious dislike.

Lauren is jealous of EVERYTHING about Bella. Before Bella came to Forks, Lauren was the most sought after human girl. She hates all the attention Bella gets, even more so because Bella doesn’t try to get attention (or want it).

Q. When Bella and Edward are sitting in her kitchen before they go to meet his family, Edward wants to know if Bella is going to introduce him to Charlie as her boyfriend. Bella says she was under the impression that he is "more than that." What does Bella mean by that? How do each of them see their relationship?

A. As many people have guessed, the word "boyfriend" seems sort of trite and schoolyard-ish in the light of how Bella feels about Edward. He is her entire world, and she knows that’s not going to change. Soulmate would be her preferred word. And Edward feels that way even more strongly.

Q. What did Esme, Rosalie, and Alice’s wedding dresses look like?

A. I don’t have any pictures of that. Alice’s was an adorable 50s number, and Esme’s was a very traditional ornate-lace-and-orange-blossoms affair. Rosalie has had one for nearly every trend.

Q. On pg.20 when Bella first sees Edward and his family around the table and he starts talking, what is he saying?

A. Here’s another teeny piece from Edward’s version:

"Jessica Stanley is giving the new Swan girl all the dirty laundry on the Cullen clan," I murmured to Emmett.

He chuckled under his breath. I hope she’s making it good, he thought.

"Rather unimaginative, actually. Just the barest hint of scandal. Not an ounce of horror. I’m a little disappointed."

Q. Do all the vampires Carlilse has turned live in the same house, or are there others that he didn’t have live with him and if so why?

A. Carlisle has only changed Edward, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett. There aren’t any others that live elsewhere.

Q. Can Edward read Alice’s mind while she’s having a ‘vision’?

A. Yes–he can see it just like she sees it.

Q. Can vampires get drunk?

A. No.

Q. Do the Cullens and Hales usually attend school dances, or where they just going to the prom on the behalf of Bella?

A. They were mostly going for Bella. Extracurricular school activities are not the norm for the Cullens. Rosalie loves the chance to dress up and show off, though.

Q. This is not meant to be offensive in ANY way, shape or form, but do gay vampires exist? What if someone changed a human, intending them to be their permanent companion or something and it turned out they were… er… well, gay?

A. If someone was to bite a gay person, that person would still be who they were before, so they would still be gay.

Q. And also, will the whole series have an official name, or is it just going to be called The Twilight Series or whatever?

A. Good question. Wish I had a good answer! Right now the powers that be are calling the Twilight Series because they haven’t come up with anything else. I haven’t thought of anything good, either.

Q. When are Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice’s birthdays?

A. Because these haven’t figured into the story yet, I haven’t chosen exact days. It may never come up, or it may show up someday. *shrugs*

Q. What is the deal with Alice? In the beginning everyone is apprehensive about her meeting Bella, but she seems extremely nice and approving of her, so why is Edward so weird about it?

A. Alice is nice to Bella because she’s going with the assumption (from a tentative vision she had) that Bella is going to become one of the family. Edward doesn’t want Bella to become a vampire, so he’s not especially happy with Alice’s motivations.

Q. I was just wondering you need a degree in literature in order to publish your work?

A. You don’t need any degree at all to be published. Christopher Paolini and others were in high school when they got published (ah, I see someone else mentioned the author of Eragon…). Studying literature and the English language definitely does help with the writing. I learned everything I know about writing from all the reading I did in my life.

Q. This may seem a bit random but do Edward or any of the other Cullens/Hales like to ski? For some reason it seems like a sport they’d like because it’s so… fast.

A. I imagine they enjoy skiing a lot. I’ll bet Emmett prefers snowboarding, though…

Q. How old are Renee, Charlie, and Phil?

A. Renee is 37, Charlie is 41, and Phil is 29 (Renee is a cradle robber!!).

Q. Why don’t the vampires in your books rule the world? Don’t get me wrong, I am glad they don’t, but they’re basically indestructible. Let’s face it, in reality it would be totally likely some crazy Adolf Hitler vampire could totally try to take over the world. He could enslave humans or something and if he got enough vampire followers, who could stop him or her? And what vampire wouldn’t want to join in and rule the world?

A. Vampires have their own world within ours. They don’t see the distribution of power quite the same way we do. To most vampires, humans are like a herd of cows. Who wants to be king of the food supply? There is a power hierarchy of sorts within the vampire world, and that will be dealt with in future books.

Q. Would a vampire’s hearing be good enough to be able to hear someone/something in a sound-proof room?

A. That would depend on how close the vampire is, how loud the sound inside the booth is, and what the booth is made out of, etc. But it would be possible.

Q. What came first, the vampire or the bite?

A. If you go with Edward’s version of intelligent creation, then the vampire.

Q. Is the house the Cullens live in real?

A. I made up the house. I have no idea if there are any three story mansions on the outskirts of Forks.

Q. Do you have your own favorite quote from the book? Or what part did you enjoy writing the most?

A. I can’t really pick a favorite quote–there are too many that are special to me. My favorite parts to write were…the meadow, because it was first and started it all…the conversation in Port Angeles and on the way home was so much fun…The Angel chapter after Edward saves her from James made me cry when I was writing it (that was a first)…the baseball game…her visit to the Cullen’s house…her conversation with Jacob Black…okay, I could probably name them all 🙂 Writing Twilight was an incredibly enjoyable experience from start to finish.

Q. I was wondering what Bella got Edward for his birthday.

A. He didn’t tell her it was his birthday. Can you believe that? Men!

Q. Have any of the Cullens ever owned a motorcycle?

A. Not recently.

Q. Alice’s visions-are they animated or like photographs?

A. Both, but more often like still photographs. She gets motionless images most of the time. The moving visions (and the ones with sound) are only of things that are very concrete and sure (usually the ones that are almost about to happen).

Q. How many periods (hours) are there before lunch in Forks High?

A. Four

Edward’s schedule

1) Calculus
2) Government
3) English
4) Gym
Lunch
5) Biology
6) Spanish

Bella’s schedule

1) English
2) Government
3) Trigonometry
4) Spanish
Lunch
5) Biology
6) Gym

Q. What exactly happened the first time that Edward kissed Bella?

A. I get this a lot. To understand, you have to put yourselves in Edward’s shoes. Okay, so you’ve never kissed anyone in a hundred years. Now you really want to kiss this girl, but you’re terrified that if you get too close to her, instinct will take over and you will crush your teeth through her jugular vein, and probably break her neck in the process. So you’re being very, very cautious about every move you make. You expect this girl–who knows that you are a vampire, for crying out loud–to be just as careful. Actually, you’re expecting her to be terrified to be so close to your teeth. You’re expecting her to maybe pull away, or at least to freeze in place. You touch your lips to hers–and hers are all warm, which doesn’t help you as you try to concentrate on anything other than her blood–and suddenly, she locks her fingers in your hair, trying to pull you closer, blood rushes to her face (you can smell and feel that), and her lips encourage yours to open… Of course you panic. Your reflexes are all demanding that you bite. The best you can do is freeze and try to get some space before you kill her.

Are we all clear now?

Q. So my question is, If the blood inside the newborn vampire is used over a year, does that mean the vampire doesn’t have to feed for the first year?

A. No. Newborn vampires are voraciously thirsty and almost unthinkingly wild. It’s a hard transition.

Q. Hey, I was just wondering when the paperback version of Twilight comes out, how many pages is the first chapter of New Moon going to be?

A. I’m not sure of the exact date–I think May or June. The first chapter of New Moon is 27 pages long (29 if they include the preface).

Q. I was wondering if Bella had any other interests besides Edward?

A. Bella is a first and foremost a bookworm. She also likes to cook. She enjoys drawing, but she doesn’t think she does it very well. She takes care of her parents–bookkeeping, housekeeping, shopping, etc. She likes the house run just right, ha ha.

Q. When Bella was in the hospital she slipped and asked Edward why he didn’t just let her turn into a vampire.

A. I don’t want to get into this too much–Edward’s reasons are more clearly dealt with in New Moon. But he does have reasons, and they are serious ones (not the "she won’t be soft and warm and smell tasty" reasons that I see floating around a lot. He’d much rather she didn’t smell tasty, and "soft and warm" = really breakable. Also not a good thing).

Q. Why does Edward always kiss her neck more than her lips?

A. It’s a little be safer (her reactions put her in danger). Also, because he’s just so SEXY!!

Q. If Rosalie still disliked Bella by the end of Twilight (which I’m not sure she did, but they had no interaction at the prom) and then was messing with Bella’s hair by the outtakes, what happened to make Rosalie soften up a bit?

A. Didn’t I put this in the note? That outtake was written before I’d really developed Rosalie’s character (she was still Carol back then). Rosalie didn’t have any problem with Bella in the rough draft–or much of a personality, either. It was only later that her personality came into focus for me. Suddenly I realized that Rosalie didn’t like Bella at all, and then I completely "got" her. It’s funny, because it was as if Rosalie had always had this problem with Bella, but she’d just been hiding it from me. Yes, my characters are WAY to real to me. 🙂

1. Succubi In PC1, Stephenie Meyer mentions the Denali coven: Tanya, Kate, and Irina had an interesting path that led them to "vegetarianism": they are the originals behind the myths of the succubus. Their fondness for human men eventually led them to feel remorse for their victims, and they slowly trained themselves to resist human blood.

This coven hasn’t played a significant role in the story as it has been edited out, although the myth of the succubus is well recorded elsewhere. A succubus is a demonic seductress who preys on human men, drawing energy from the men to sustain her existence. In the case of a female vampire who is a succubus, she would normally draw blood from the man she has seduced. The Denali coven has broken from this tradition and the sisters live on animal blood just like the Cullens.

2. Enemies of the werewolf In the Twilight universe, the main threat to the vampires comes from the werewolf. As Jacob Black explains to Bella, "The cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf." (TW6), and he is also clear that the Quileutes are historically linked to "the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors." (TW6) Some of the younger members of the tribe don’t seem to believe the legend, and dismiss it easily. Jacob says, "So, do you think we’re a bunch of superstitious natives or what?" (TW6), but he also points out that his father believes it. There is a definite lack of trust in this relationship, even though the Cullens feed on animals. "There’s always a risk for humans to be around the cold ones, even if they’re civilized like this clan was. You never know when they might get too hungry to resist." (TW6)

 A treaty has been created to ensure that the Cullens stay away from the Quileutes and their land. "The Cullens don’t come here."(TW6) The Quileutes will never reveal what the Cullens are, as long as they never set foot on the reserve. Edward’s absence at La Push supports this, however Jacob, by telling Bella the story, has inadvertently broken the treaty.

I want to appologize for the unfortunate outage this evening. I have managed to restore the DNS services that have caused the errors to make the site semi-stable again.  For the next few hours you may still notice some issues with the site not responding as quickly as it should but that will go away quickly.  If there is a DNS expert out there that might be able to help me out with some ReverseDNS issues, please send me an e-mail and I will be forever in your debt (okay maybe not forever).  Once again, sorry for the issues.

Darksied9

It’s been a day for lots of updates here at the Lexicon. First up is the summary of Chapter 3: Phenomenon ~ Edward’s rescue of Bella from Tyler’s truck. The Vampire Mythology section has also been updated with a look at deviations from vampire legend in the ‘Twilight’ world.

Stephenie has posted a short extract from ‘New Moon’ on the new pages on her website, which is under a lot of discussion on the message boards. She left us all this note about it:

“The excerpt on my website is the quote that will be used on the back of the New Moon jacket. The description underneath is from the inside flap of the jacket. Some of the copy might be tweaked before the final printing, so don’t be surprised if a few words or phrases change.

Something more to keep in mind–I didn’t write the flap copy or choose the quote on the back. Those are decisions made by the publisher. “

Hope you enjoy all the new stuff.

Imogen 🙂

Vampires have existed in a variety of cultures almost since the dawn of time. Until the 19th century, they were believed to be monsters, rather than the stereotype of a more aristocratic being who could infiltrate the world around us, as popularised by Bram Stoker. Legend has developed since, with pop culture shows such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", which tackles concepts such as a vampire with a soul and possible redemption for a creature previously believed to have had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Bella lists her observations when she is researching on the internet: "Speed, strength, beauty, pale skin, eyes that shift colour; and then Jacob’s criteria: blood drinkers, enemies of the werewolf, cold-skinned and immortal." (TW7) An excellent summary of vampire legend can be found on Wikipedia.

Our Twilight vampires are different yet again, and there are frequent divergences from the vampires of legend, although some features remain the same. As Stephenie Meyer explains, "Almost all of the superstitions about vampire limitations are entirely false in my world. Vampires don’t really have any limits, other than the self-imposed guideline to keep their existence a secret. No unconscious periods, no problem with sunlight, crosses, garlic, holy water, wooden stakes, etc… These are all myths–deliberately placed in earlier centuries to mislead impressionable humans and make them feel safe." (PC8)

1. Vampires are cold to the touch This is definitely true in Twilight. From the very first time Bella encounters Edward’s skin we discover that "his fingers were ice-cold" (TW2) The other Cullens seem to have similarly icy skin: Carlisle has "cool fingers" (TW3), Esme has a "cold stone grasp" (TW15), and so on.

2. As they are dead, vampires do not need oxygen for survival. Again, this is true. Bella notices from her first encounter with Edward that "he continued to sit so still it looked like he wasn’t breathing." (TW1). He explains this in more depth to Bella later in the novel when she asks how long he can go without breathing: "Indefinitely, I suppose. I don’t know. It gets a bit uncomfortable, being without a sense of smell." (TW16).

3. Vampires have pale skin and fangs. All of the Cullens have very pale skin, "Paler than me, the albino" (TW1); skin that is regularly described as "marble" (TW13) in both its colour and perfection. The skin is also remarkable because of the "purplish bruiselike shadows" beneath the eyes indicative of a lack of sleep. However, the Twilight vampires, "Do not have fangs. Their teeth are so sharp and strong that fangs are hardly necessary (they could bite through steel, if so inclined, a human neck is like butter)" (PC1) In many ways, Meyer’s vampires are much more violent than the vampires of legend, as their drinking of blood involves much more savaging of flesh than two tidy fang holes in a neck.

4. Vampires can shift shape and even fly (sometimes in the form of a bat) Bella asks about this when Edward offers to show her how he travels through the forest: "Will you turn into a bat?" I asked warily. He laughed, louder than I had ever heard. "Like I haven’t heard that one before." (TW13) It’s fair to assume from Edward’s response that this stereotypical expectation is so far from true that it is laughable. Instead of flight, Stephenie Meyer’s vampires have the skill of extreme speed and fast reflexes. Their running is the equivalent of flying. The five-mile hike to the meadow is done on the return journey "in a matter of minutes" (TW13), and Edward’s driving is similarly fast, but very safe due to his speedy reflexes: "I’ve never been in an accident." (TW9) Any flight, however, has to be done in an aeroplane, such as Edward "catching the first flight out of Seattle" (TW21) to be with Bella!

5. Vampires don’t have reflections in a mirror In Twilight  vampires do have a reflection. On the flight from James, Bella notes Edward’s hesitation when "I saw his expression in the mirror," (TW18) of the car. In PC4, Stephenie Meyer dismisses this part of vampire lore, saying it will be addressed in New Moon, but her vampires definitely do have reflections.

6. A vampire can only enter a house if he is invited in. "Vampires need no invitation to enter any house." (PC8). We see Edward retrieving Bella’s truck keys from her house without any invitation, and he is is capable of watching her at night without her knowledge.

7. Sunlight may burn or kill vampires. Bella had heard of this myth herself: "Vampires couldn’t come out in the daytime, the sun would burn them to a cinder." (TW7) Although none of the Cullens attend school when it is sunny, this is not because the sun hurts them, because "it doesn’t," but because they "can’t go out in the sunlight" at least, not where anyone can see," (TW9) because of the dazzling diamond-like glittering in the skin. Sunlight marks vampires out for what they are, but does not harm them in any way.

8. Vampires cannot eat human food. Their sustenance comes from blood alone. This feature of vampires is seen right from the very first chapter when Alice throws away her, "unopened soda, unbitten apple" (TW1). Bella gets curious enough to ask Edward what would happen if he actually did eat something, and Edward "deliberately bit off a mouthful [of pizza], chewed quickly and then swallowed." (TW10), thereby proving that it is possible for vampires to physically eat. However, we are also told that due to the physical changes inherent in becoming a vampire, "He’d have to cough it up later to get rid of it. Not the most pleasant thing, which is why the vampires only eat food when they absolutely have to in order to blend in." (PC7)

9. Crosses, garlic, holy water and similar items ward off vampires. Stephenie Meyer sums this up best: "Bunch of garbage."(PC4) The Cullens are so unaffected by this that they even have an old wooden cross hanging in their home, which used to belong to Carlisle’s father. Edward laughs and admits, "It is sort of ironic." (TW15)

10. Vampires can be killed by decapitation, a wooden stake or a consecrated bullet through the heart. Vampires can be killed, although only other vampires are strong enough to do it. Emmett and Jasper "took care" of James (TW24) and it is likely that they followed the known way to end a vampires existence, namely, "to tear him to shreds and then burn the pieces."  (TW19) It is impossible for a human to kill a vampire by any means because they are too strong to be susceptible to humans or human weapons: "You try shoving wood through granite." (PC4)

11. Vampires sleep in coffins. Again, this is something that Bella remembers about vampires when she is first investigating them: "They slept in coffins all day and only came out at night." (TW7). This is obviously highly unlikely as the Cullens are usually at school, or at work during the day, and is something that Bella and Edward joke about later when Bella is visiting the Cullen home. "No coffins?"  (TW15) Apart from anything else, in the Twilight world, vampires don’t sleep. "I can’t sleep" (TW9), so coffins would be entirely redundant anyway!

Chapter Number:  Three

Chapter Name:  Phenomenon

Page Numbers:  53-67 (Hardcover)

Date of Chapter:  January 25, 2005

Summary:  When Bella gets up to go to school she discovers that the temperature has dropped overnight, and now the rain slicked environment has turned into an ice covered one. She’s grateful and touched that Charlie thought to plan ahead. He put chains on her tires so she could drive to school safely. She muses that she’s not used to people taking care of her like that.

No sooner than Bella parks her truck next to a tan car in the school parking lot she notices two things: 1) the all the Cullen and Hale students are standing across the parking lot, in particular Edward is staring at her in dismay, 2) Tyler Crowley has lost control of his van and it is careening toward her faster than she can get away.

The next thing Bella knows, Edward knocks her to the ground, out of the way of the Tyler’s van. She is under the impression that he physically pushed the van off her not once, but twice.

At the hospital Tyler can’t stop apologizing to both Bella and Edward. He seems more beat up than Bella, who only has a bump on her head, and Edward, who doesn’t have a scratch on him.  Dr. Carlisle Cullen treats them all and releases Bella to Charlie’s custody.

Before Bella goes home with Charlie, she confronts Edward about what happened. Despite his insistence that he was standing next to her when the accident happened, Bella knows he was standing across the parking lot and he should not have been able to reach her in time. She also insists that Edward used superhuman strength to keep the van from crushing them. Edward refuses to confirm or deny what Bella claims. He stalks off frustrated and angry when she won’t just let the incident drop.

At home, Charlie is concerned, but gives Bella her space. Bella has to deal with an hysterical phone call from Renee who demands that Bella return to Phoenix. Bella tells Renee she is staying in Forks. When Bella goes to sleep, she dreams about Edward for the first time.

Characters Involved:  Bella Swan, Tyler Crowley, Edward Cullen, Charlie Swan, Carlisle Cullen

Characters Mentioned: Mr. Varner, Coach Clapp, Mike Newton, Eric Yorkie, EMT’s/hospital staff, Rosalie Hale, Jasper Hale, Emmett Cullen, Alice Cullen, Renee Dwyer

Places Visited: The Swan Home, Forks High School, County Hospital

Memorable Quotes:
“No blood, no foul .” 
~ Edward to Tyler telling him not to worry about the accident.

 “Actually most of the school seems to be in the waiting room.”  
~ Carlisle correcting Edward’s assessment on informing people.

“I saved your life–I don’t owe you anything…You think I lifted a van off you?…I hope you enjoy your disappointment.”
~Edward’s various responses to Bella’s demands for an explanation regarding the accident.

“I don’t like to lie–so there better be a good reason why I’m doing it.”
~ Bella explaining to Edward why she can’t, “just drop it.”

“That was the first night I dreamed of Edward Cullen.”  
~ last line of the chapter.

Important Information Learned:
Edward has lightning fast reflexes and superhuman strength.

Edward is completely uninjured in the accident.

Carlisle seems to be aware of Edward’s talents and is uncomfortable that Bella realizes them too.

Edward’s siblings’ reactions to the accident range from “disapproval to fury”.

Renee tends to overreact to things.

GO LOOK NOW!!!!

There is even an excerpt from the book.  AGH!  WONDERFUL!!!  Let the speculation begin!!

Alphie

This is for the various bits of info that Stephenie is kindly sending us for the write ups in the different sections. It will be added to again as we get more info!

Q: If someone’s bitten with loads of venom right by the heart, how quick is the conversion and is it more painful than a regular conversion? Were some of the Cullen’s transformations worse than others?

A: About the conversion process… If there is a lot of venom in the human’s system, the pain is more intense to begin with. Like fire, the venom burns through the body. So, with fire in more places, there is more pain at the outset. When Bella was bitten by James, the fire was only in her hand. Painful enough, but not as bad as if she had several bites. Of course, this is only at the outset. If James’ venom had been allowed to spread through Bella, it would have over time made its way through her whole system, and the pain eventually would have been just as intense as if she’d been deliberately infected with multiple, well-placed bites (jugular, wrists, ankles, etc.). So, all that early pain as the venom wound through her system is extra–an added portion of pain that doesn’t in anyway cut down the time or the intensity of the greater pain. The greatest pain begins when the venom is all the way through the body, through the heart, and it starts meeting itself in the veins again and then burning them dry. It moves slower than blood because it’s thicker. Each beat of the heart can only push it so far. The changing/burning process is slow. The venom has to leak through to every cell before it ends. It took Carlisle a little more than three days because his bites were not deliberate or well-placed. It can be as short as two.

Q: Do your vampires have any restrictions, like traditional vampires can’t enter a house without being invited in?

A: Almost all–well, I think ALL, actually, but I’ll play it safe–of the superstitions about vampire limitations are entirely false in my world. Vampires don’t really have any limits, other than the self-imposed guideline to keep their existance a secret. No unconscious periods, no problem with sunlight, crosses, garlic, holy water, wooden stakes, etc… These are all myths–deliberately placed in earlier centuries to mislead impressionable humans and make them feel safe. Vampires need no invitation to enter any house.

Q: Is there any more information you can give us about the Cullen house?

A: Something to remember, these rooms are ginormous. This is a really BIG house. Also, there’s a lot of unaccounted for space on the third floor euphemistically dubbed the “library.” This is where they do things that are technically illegal–like document forgery and computer hackery and all kinds of other shady stuff. There’s also a basement where they keep illicit things. It’s hard to get to, if you’re not a vampire.

It’s not a large window on the South wall–the South wall IS a window. It’s glass from bottom to top, all three stories.

Jasper and Alice do sort of share a room, but since Alice’s personality is stamped all over that room, and Jasper has his study, everyone thinks of it as Alice’s. Since no one sleeps anywhere, the room thing is a little vague.

In the living room, there is a gigantic flat screen television on the wall between the living room and kitchen/dining area. A grouping of couches/chairs faces the tv, and then there are other clusters of seats for conversation scattered throughout. There are a couple of computers along the wall that curls around the dining room to separate it from the living room.

We’ve uploaded the first batch of official buttons and icons and avatars for everyone to choose from.  They can be found in the links section of the site.  There are two sets, so make sure you use the correct item for whichever purpose you are wanting them for. 

The first set is for actually linking back to the lexicon from your own website or LJ or whatever.  These all use the official lexicon picture of Edward and/or Bella and cannot be used as a personal icon or avatar by anyone but the staff of the lexicon. 

The second set of pics is up for grabs by anyone who should desire to use them for any purpose they see fit.  Use them in siggies or as avatars or however else you want to show off your support for the lexicon.

Many thanks go to rgfawkes for putting them together for us.

Alphie

As the vast majority of you have pointed out, the cover for New Moon has been released and you can view it over at Amazon.com.  I would like to make it clear that the release date listed at Amazon is not an official confirmed date.  I spoke with Stephenie about it and the book is not set to be released until October.  Now, consider that this release isn’t going to be something like you might be used to with the Harry Potter books.  Some bookstores will have them out on shelves before others.  There is no midnight opening and selling of the books.  So it is possible that Amazon might start shipping the books out in September, but don’t hold your breath.  I think the important thing here is that we can all ohh and ahh over the picture and let the discussion begin over how well you like or dislike what you see.

Alphie