Stephenie has announced that the t-shirts pictured a few weeks ago at her website are now for sale.  Make sure you read all the information about the shirts before you order them.  They run small so order a size larger than normal.  You can read more about it here.

On a personal note, I will be off the boards and pretty much out of site for an extended weekend jaunt to NYC to visit Pelirroja.  One of the many things we have planned is to head down to DC to have lunch with Stephenie herself while she is at the book convention.  I promise you that a full report will be posted here for your entertainment as both Pel and I will most certainly act like fools.  Alas, Imogen could not escape the marking of her students’ papers to join us in NYC or she would have most certainly been with us. 

Alphie

The chapter discussion on Chapter Five – Blood Type has been posted on the site. Please join in our discussions of ‘Twilight’ on the message boards.

Chapter Number: Five

Chapter Name: Blood Type

Page Numbers: 85-109 (Hardcover)

Date of Chapter: March 3, 2005

Summary: During lunch Edward sits apart from the other members of his family and motions for Bella to join him. During their conversation Edward insists that he is not good for Bella, but he’s given up trying to stay away from her. He also lets her know that, in general, he’s very good at reading people, but he can’t read her. When lunch ends, Edward tells her that he’s ditching Biology class.

When Bella gets to Biology class, she discovers that the lesson involves blood typing. This is a problem because Bella tends to pass out from the sight and smell of blood. Mike is assigned to take Bella to the nurse. Unfortunately, Bella is weaker than she thought and practically passes out on the sidewalk in between buildings. Fortunately, Edward appears out of nowhere and carries her, much to Mike’s ire, to the nurse.

Edward talks the nurse into letting him be excused so he can drive Bella home. On the car ride Bella discovers that they both like to listen to Debussy. The conversation then turns to Bella’s relationship with her mother, and Edward remarks that Bella seems "old" for her age. Edward then tells Bella a little bit about his family.

Bella invites Edward to come to the beach with the rest of the kids the next day, but Edward declines because he says he doesn’t think Mike will like it and he is going camping with Emmett in the Goat Rock Wilderness.

Characters Involved: Bella Swan, Mr. Mason, Mike Newton, Jessica Stanley, Edward Cullen, Mr. Banner, school nurse, Ms. Cope

Characters Mentioned: Eric Yorkie, Angela Weber, Lauren Mallory, Mrs. Goff, Lee Stephens, Alice Cullen, Charlie Swan, Renee Dwyer, Phil Dwyer, Carlisle Cullen, Esme Cullen, Jasper Hale, Rosalie Hale

Places Visited: Forks High School

Memorable Quotes (there are so many classic quotes this chapter):
"I’m trying to figure out what you are."
~ Bella telling Edward why she’s staring at him.

"I’ve decided that as long as I was going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly."
~Edward explaining to Bella why he invited her to sit with him at lunch.

"Um, well, bitten by a radio active spider?"
~Bella sharing one of her theories with Edward.

"Kryptonite doesn’t bother me either."
~ Edward debunking Bella’s superhero theories.

"You scared me for I minute there. I thought Newton was dragging your dead body off to bury it in the woods."
~ Edward explaining to Bella why he showed up to help.

"I usually am—but about what in particular this time?"
~ Edward’s response to Bella when she tells him he’s right.

"I think you could be if you wanted to."
~ Bella’s response to Edward when he asks if she thinks he’s scary.

"So… try not to fall into the ocean or get run over or anything, all right?"
~Edward telling Bella to take care of herself during the beach trip.

Important Information Learned:
Bella is sickened at the sight of blood, and because it smells "like rust and salt."

Edward, although he continually warns Bella that it would be better if they weren’t friends, has decided not to stay away from Bella and "let the chips fall where they may."

Edward carries Bella as if she weighs nothing.

Bella thinks Renee would support a choice she makes even if Renee disagreed with it because Renee would want Bella to be happy.

Edward is very curious as to if Bella is afraid of him.

Edward’s eyes are now a deep gold color.

Edward seemed to consider the trip with the kids until he realized it was to the beach.

You’ve got to go and read this now! Midnight Sun has the first chapter posted on Stephenie’s site. Now you can read the beginning of ‘Twilight’ from Edward’s point of view. Why are you still reading? Get over there now! Imogen 🙂

Thank you to everyone who has left a message about the New Moon review.  We appreciate the support to keep the lexicon spoiler free.  I know that sounds off given the amount of information we host here that isn’t in the books, but we really do want to keep the plot a secret. 

We have a few new bits of information for you to catch up on.  First off, the Chapter Four summary is posted and I will work on discussion questions for the message boards.

Next we have the information up on the Cullen House.  Some really cool bits are in there,  Take a look!

And we have added information to PC8 as we have been asking Stephenie several questions along the way. 

Alphie

Chapter Number: Four

Chapter Name: Invitations

Page Numbers: 68-84 (Hardcover)

Date of Chapter: January 25 – March 3 2005

Summary: The chapter starts with Bella dreaming of Edward for the first time. She dreams of his skin glowing slightly in the dark as he walks away from her. No matter how loud Bella calls to him in her dream, he never turns round. She has the same dream every night.

Back at school, much to Bella’s horror, she has become the center of attention because of the accident. Tyler Crowley now appears to be far too interested in her, making it three boys in her year who are now in pursuit of her affections.

Despite Bella’s best attempts, no-one else seems interested in Edward’s role as hero of the accident, they hadn’t even realised he had been involved until they saw him once the van had been removed. Bella realizes that she is more aware of Edward and what he is doing than anyone else.

Although at the hospital Bella and Edward had been angry with each other, Bella now feels more gratitude than anything else. The day after the accident she tries to make conversation in biology, however, Edward merely nods to her before turning away from her again.

Edward now ignores Bella. She comes to the conclusion that he must regret having saved her life, however, there are times when she wonders whether he is as oblivious to her as he makes out as there are occasions when his fists tense up again when she sits next to him, suggesting he his aware of her.

This silence makes Bella miserable. She continues to watch Edward from a distance, noticing his eyes growing darker again, however, in lessons when they are in closer contact she behaves as though he does not exist.

Bella is unable to disguise how miserable she is feeling, prompting her mother to call concerned about the tone of Bella’s emails.

As the silence between Bella and Edward continues, Mike becomes more confident, pleased that there does not seem to be any friendship between them. He starts sitting on Bella’s desk before biology and talking to her more again.

On the first Tuesday in March, Jessica calls Bella to ask her permission to invite Mike to the girls’ choice dance. Jessica seems to think that Bella would be intending to ask Mike herself, however, Bella has no intentions of doing this as she is not interested in Mike in this way and is not a dancer – due to her clumsy nature.

The reluctant way Jessica tries to persuade Bella to go to the dance leads Bella to suspect that Jessica prefers Bella’s popularity rather than her actual company. Bella sees this popularity as ‘inexplicable’; she has no idea why she is so popular in this school.

Jessica asks Mike to the dance but he tells her he has to think about it. He discusses this with Bella, hoping she was going to ask him but she tells him to say yes to Jessica. Mike thinks Bella has asked Edward as he looks in Edward’s direction when he asks Bella if she has asked anyone else. Bella comes up with an excuse to get her out of attending the dance and explains that she will be in Seattle.

While Mike and Bella are discussing the dance, Bella notices that Edward appears to be listening as his head tilts in their direction when Mike asked her if she had asked anyone else. After Mike leaves her table, Bella finds Edward staring at her so intensely she fails to hear the teacher asking a question. The moment is only broken when Edward, somewhat reluctantly, turns away to answer Mr. Banner’s question.

At the end of the lesson, Edward speaks to Bella for the first time in a long time. While he apologises for not speaking to her, Edward also confuses Bella with his rather cryptic comments about how it would be best if they were not friends. Bella gets annoyed, accusing Edward of regretting having saved her life. This in turn angers Edward and the conversation ends with Bella trying to storm out of the room, unfortunately she stumbles and drops her books; Edward is quickly there, picking up the books and handing them to her.

Bella’s next lesson was Gym, which Bella dreaded as they were playing basketball. She played worse than usual, distracted by thoughts of Edward, Bella falls over repeatedly, sometimes taking others with her.

On escaping Gym, Bella heads for her truck. Eric was waiting for her there and he asks her to the dance, surprising Bella. Bella turns him down, using the Seattle excuse again. Eric suggests that they could go to another dance together and Bella thoughtlessly agrees with him before regretting giving him any encouragement.

As Eric leaves her, Bella is irritated to hear Edward chuckle as he walks past her to his car. As she pulls out in her truck Edward cuts her off with his car, stopping to wait for his family and preventing Bella from going anywhere.

While waiting for Edward to move, a queue forms behind Bella. Tyler uses the delay to get out of his car to talk to her. Like Eric and Mike before him, he wants Bella to go to the dance with him. Having heard that she had turned down Eric and Mike, Tyler feels confident of success, not believing Bella’s Seattle excuse. She lets him down as firmly as possible, irritated by his confidence and presumptions of her motives. He too presumes there is still the prom for them to go to together.

As Tyler returns to his car, Bella notices Edward watching her in his mirror. He is laughing as if he had just heard her conversation.

Back home, Jessica rings to tell Bella that Mike has agreed to go to the dance with her. Demonstrating concern for the happiness of others, Bella suggests partners for both Eric and Tyler.

Bella is still preoccupied by Edward and his strange behaviour. Coming to the conclusion that he is aware she feels more strongly about him than he can about her, Bella decides to leave him alone, believing herself strong enough to carry her decision through.

Before going to bed that night, Bella tells Charlie of her plans to go to Seattle the night of the Dance. He worries that she will get lost in the big city and suggests that he goes with her to prevent her being alone, however, Bella puts him off by saying she will be in dressing rooms all day.

The following day at school, Bella parks as far away from Edward as she can to try to stick to her resolve. She is prevented from carrying out her decision by the sudden appearance of Edward when she drops her keys. He explains that he had caused the traffic jam the previous day deliberately so that Tyler could ask Bella to the dance. This winds Bella up, almost irrationally, as she feels he is deliberately irritating her.

Edward continues to shock Bella by asking her to go to Seattle with him on the day of the dance. Bella is confused, being under the impression he did not want to be her friend. Edward explains that he does want to be her friend he just does not think it is a good idea.

Looking at Edward, Bella finds it difficult to concentrate and has to answer him with a nod. Before heading to lessons, Edward warns Bella to stay away from him.

Characters involved: Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, Tyler Crowley, Mike Newton, Jessica Stanley, Eric Yorkie, Charlie Swan, Mr. Banner

Characters Mentioned: Angela Weber, Lauren Mallory, Carlisle Cullen, Alice Cullen, Esme Cullen, Emmett Cullen, Jasper Hale, Rosalie Hale

Places visited: Forks High School, The Swan residence

Memorable quotes:
His golden eyes grew perceptibly darker day by day.
~ Bella observing Edward.

It was easier to talk to him coherently that way. 
~  Bella explaining why she felt the need to keep her eyes closed when speaking to Edward.

"Appear out of thin air." 
~ Bella describing how quickly Edward seems to appear by her side.

"It would be more…prudent for you not to be my friend."
~ Edward advising Bella on their relationship.

Important Information Learned:
Edward reacts to a conversation he couldn’t possibly have heard as if he had heard it.

When looking into Edward’s eyes, Bella gets completely tongue-tied.

Edward thinks that it is dangerous for Bella to be friends with him.

This section is a little different to most of the others I’ve written up, simply because I’ve got an “unofficial”  source. Stephenie Meyer drew me plans of the inside of the Cullen house, which aren’t for posting. You’ll have to take my word for the contents of some of this, although some of her answer is archived in PC8.

The location of the Cullen house is out beyond Forks itself, over “the bridge at the Calawah River,” from which point the road winds northwards. There is an “unpaved road. It was unmarked, barely visible amongst the ferns,” (TW15) that Edward takes to get to the house, and he drives through thick forest for “a few miles” (TW15) before the house becomes visible.

From the outside, there is a lawn or meadow, with “six primordial cedars that shaded an entire acre with their vast sweep of branches” (TW15) that ensure that shade stretches right up to the house.

The house itself is “painted a soft, faded white, three stories tall, rectangular and well proportioned” and it has a “deep porch that wrapped around the first story.” (TW15) Bella estimates it at around a hundred years old and describes it as “timeless, graceful.” (TW15) We are also told in the same chapter that the river can be heard close by.

The front door of the house opens onto a huge space which “must have originally been several rooms,” before walls were removed to make it all one large room. The south-facing wall is “entirely replaced with glass” (TW15), from which you can see down to the river. This also accounts for the bright airiness of the room, as does the colour of the decoration: “The walls, the high beamed ceiling, the wooden floors and the thick carpets were all varying shades of white.” (TW15) However, as a security measure, there is an “inconspicuous keypad on the wall” that activates “huge metal shutters” (TW19) to seal up the glass wall.

Just to the left of the door is “a raised portion of the floor” with “a spectacular grand piano” (TW15) on it. Behind the platform with the piano on it is the door into the kitchen, which in turn opens onto the dining room. The dining room actually isn’t a separate room: it is separated from the living room by a long wall that curves around it, a little like a screen. On this wall are a large flat-screen television and a couple of computers nearby. A seating area is grouped near the television (as you walk in through the door, you can see this diagonally to your left rather than the piano which is immediately to your left). Other groups of chairs fill the rest of the enormous space in the living room.

Also on this floor are the C.E.E. Inc. Offices, and a bathroom. These are both to the right of the front door, and behind the sweep of the staircase.

On the west of the room, there is a “massive curving staircase” which is also described elsewhere as “wide.” (TW15) The banister is a “satin smooth rail” (TW15). From the living area below, it is possible to see people at the top of this staircase, as Alice and Jasper appear there shortly after Bella has arrived at the Cullens’ house for the first time.

Upstairs, there is a “long hall” paneled with a honey-colored wood, the same as the floorboards (TW15) with a cross at the very far end. Edward explains that on this floor are Rosalie and Emmett’s room, Alice’s room and Carlisle’s office.

It’s actually a little more complicated than that! Carlisle has two rooms on this floor: his office (which is immediately above the dining room on the west side of the house), and his library, which adjoins to his office, on the north-west corner of the house. Esme has a small study as well, which is accessed through Carlisle’s office. His study is described as a: “high-ceilinged room with tall, west-facing windows. The walls were paneled again, in a darker wood…where they were visible. Most of the wall space was taken up by towering bookshelves that reached high above my head and held more books than I’d ever seen outside a library.” (TW16) and there is also a “huge mahogany desk” a leather chair”. The wall by the door into the hallway is covered with pictures, some of which tell the tale of Carlisle’s younger days.

Rosalie and Emmett share a large “white” (SMW) “L” shaped room, with a bathroom at one end, and a similarly enormous closet at the other. They are above the living room, and share the glass wall, which runs up the entire south side of the house.

Alice’s room is shared with Jasper, but Stephenie Meyer explains that: “since Alice’s personality is stamped all over that room, and Jasper has his study, everyone thinks of it as Alice’s” (PC8) “ especially as they don’t physically sleep anyway. Jasper has an adjoining office of his own, but the two of them share the connected space. His office also backs on to Rosalie and Emmet’s closet, but there is no connecting door. Their room is above the front door and the piano part of the living room, with their bathroom and closet space being above the kitchen. In the Extended Prom Remix, Alice’s bathroom is described as “bedroom-sized.” (SMW)

On the very top floor, there is another “paneled hallway,” (TW16) just like the floor below. The bulk of the space on this floor is taken up with what they refer to as “the library”. Stephenie Meyer explains this as: “This is where they do things that are technically illegal–like document forgery and computer hackery and all kinds of other shady stuff.” (PC8)

Edward’s room is the “last door in the hall” (TW16) and is facing south, directly above Rosalie and Emmett’s room, but his space is rectangular. Again, he has “a wall-sized window like the great room below,” with a fantastic view: “down on the winding Sol Duc River, across the untouched forest to the Olympic Mountain range.” (TW16) His closet and bathroom are at the furthest end of his room to the door. The west wall of his bedroom is “completely covered with shelf after shelf of cds,” with a “sophisticated-looking sound system” in the corner. (TW16) Unlike the rest of the house, Edward’s room isn’t decorated in shades of white. There is no bed but a “black leather sofa” (TW16), a “thick golden carpet, and the walls were hung with heavy fabric in a slightly darker shade.” (TW16)

Nearer to the stairs is Carlisle’s and Esme’s bedroom. This is partially above Rosalie and Emmett’s closet, and also over Jasper’s office. This room also has a closet and a bathroom at the furthest end from the door.

In addition, “there’s also a basement where they keep illicit things. It’s hard to get to, if you’re not a vampire.” (PC8)

For the movies, the Hoke House served as the Cullen house. The home is beautiful, but does not resemble the house described in the book at all. Below are images of the Hoke House.

With all the hype surrounding the release of New Moon, many of the fans here at the lexicon have learned about the existence of galley copies.  I’ve also seen a few questions about how a person actually gets their hands on one of these copies.  Well, there are several ways.  If your are a book buyer or you work for a book company or a library or something along these lines, you may be fortunate to receive a copy for you to examine and determine if you would like to order the book for your store or library.  The other way to get a copy is to know someone from the publishing company, or the author, and be in good enough standing with them that they will want to give you copy as a gift. 

When we created the lexicon, we did it out of pure necessity to keep the facts straight.  We did it because we love this book and we wanted to create a place for fans to gather to have easy access to information.  We did it because we wanted to, not because someone asked us to, and we had no intention of getting a “reward” for our efforts.  However, Stephenie Meyer thought other wise, and as a gift for organizing her notes, so to speak, she was kind enough to give both Imogen and I gallies of New Moon.

Yes, you read that correctly, we have read New Moon.

We’ve had the book for about a week now, which gave us plenty of time to read it and think about it and even talk to Stephenie about it.  I’ve actually read the book twice, as there was SO much new information I simply didn’t get it all in the first read through. 

I don’t want to spoil the book for any of the fans here, but I will tell you that the book is just amazing.  First of all, it’s HUGE!  That’s always a plus, in my opinion.  Second of all, it’s very similar to Twilight in the way that it has a great deal of character development and exploration and growth at the beginning and through the middle, followed by a knock out, drag them through the mud action/adventure sequence at the end that is bound to send chills down your spine.  It’s got enough of the romance to satisfy those cravings most of us have, while at the same time it will most likely cause you to feel every emotion possible: from love to hate to friendship to loss to confusion to bewilderment to disbelief to terror and all over again.  New Moon is a wild ride that sets up the possibilities and hopes of the third book just beautifully. 

Let me assure you, fans will not be disappointed.  I can’t say that this is the book everyone thought it would be.  However, I personally think it’s better than the speculations.  There is SO much we learn about Bella and the other characters surrounding her in life that she really comes alive for me as the heroine of the story.  More than just the girl who falls in love with the vampire, but as a young woman taking some control over her destiny.  Bella learns and grows so much in the book that I found myself becoming even more attached to her. 

So whatever your doubts and fears are for the book, don’t jump to conclusions until you have read it.  And on a more personal note, please don’t swamp my e-mails with question about the plot above and beyond what I have posted here.  I simply will not give anything away.  I was thrilled to have the chance to read it early, and I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth by spilling the beans here in the lexicon and ruin the good, friendly relationship I have with Stephenie. 

Lastly, I need to comment on the status of my fan fiction The Lion and the Lamb.  Having read New Moon, there are one or two bits of information I have learned that could potentially change the way I would have written a few up coming scenes.  However, I promised Stephenie that I could continue writing my fic without incorporating the “spoilers” so long as my readers understood that point as well.  What this means is that I will continue to write my story so long as everyone understands I am keeping to my original course and NOTHING I write will be a spoiler.  NOTHING.  I will not be including any new information that any fan should consider true to fact.  The Lion and the Lamb has been and will continue to be MY personal take on the events of Twilight separate and apart from anything I have learned while reading New Moon.  If I start getting reviews that make me think otherwise, or if too many people have a problem with that, then I will be forced to abandon the fic.  I don’t want to have to give it up, but I will if there is too great an interest in spoilers.  I hope everyone can understand where I am coming from, both as a fan who doesn’t want to spoil the fun and as an author who wants to finish her plot. 

Again, allow me to reiterate that I loved New Moon.  Imogen loved New Moon.  I have no doubt that all the fans who visit the lexicon will love New Moon.  And because of this, I am on the edge of my seat for Eclipse!   

No one can say the staff here at the lexicon is lazy!  We have so much for you today I’m not even sure where to start.

First of all, the section of vampire mythology has been finshed off…for now.  The final section is titled Additional Information.  We will probably add to the sections once we have New Moon. 

Now that we have one section finished, we have started in on the Places section of the lexicon, beginning with Charlie’s House. 

The gang over at MySpace has been VERY inquisitive and have asked dozens of interesting questions of Stephenie.  I have compliled another bunch of them and have placed them in PC9 for all to see.  Many, many thanks to the group over there for granting me permission to share this information with all of you.

We’ve added several bios to the bio section.  In no particular order, they are:

Billy Black

Angela Webber

Lauren Mallory

Caius

Aro

Marcus

And last, but certainly not least, Stephenie has been so wonderful to send the lexicon an exclusive out take from one of the many cut scenes of Twilight.  I’ve placed it in the personal correspondence section, but will provide a link to it here for easy access.

Alphie

Full Name: Angela Weber (PC4)

Status: Human

Date of Birth: 1988

Originally from: Forks

Hair color: Light brown (PC4)

Eye color: Light brown (PC4)

Height: 6’0″ (PC4)

Physical description:

Occupation: Student

Family members: Mother, Father = a Lutheran minister, two younger brothers, 9-year-old twins named Isaac and Joshua. (PC4)

Nick Names:

Hobbies: anything not involving the outdoors

Personal history:

Bella’s first impression of Angela Weber was that she was considerate and shy. She was in Bella’s biology class in their junior year at Forks High School (TW1). Angela attended the La Push beach party (TW6) and asked Eric to the girls-choice spring dance. Angela, Jessica and Bella went shopping for dresses for the dance in Port Angeles. (TW8)  During the shopping trip, Bella grew to like Angela as a friend even more and the contrast between Jessica and Angela became more pronounced. Angela was a quiet and truly nice girl. (SMW)  At the end of that school year, Ben Cheney asked Angela to Prom and Bella saw them together happily at the dance. (TWEp)

Angela and Ben’s relationship was one of the few that lasted through the summer of 2005. (NM6)  Ben adored Angela and even picked her up for school every morning despite the fact that she lived close enough to walk. (PC11). Angela and Ben’s encounter with the “monster in the woods” was the first conversation that Bella directly participated in of her own accord after her “zombie era”. Angela was happy to see Bella recovered from her semi-catatonic state and thanked her for defending her during the conversation when Jessica and Lauren mocked the truth of her story (NM6). She continued to be Bella’s friend (NM7, EC1) and grew to enjoy Alice and Edward’s company as well.

Angela’s calm demeanor was severely tested with the onset of graduation; her mother wanted her to hand-address graduation invitations to all of her large extended family (EC2). Bella volunteered to help and Angela was grateful for the assistance and for the excuse not to watch a kung-fu movie Ben was eager to see (EC6). Angela was perceptive and noticed that Bella had things on her mind and Bella confided in her as much as she could without divulging vampire and werewolf secrets. Angela planned on attending the University of Washington with Ben in the fall and hoped to continue corresponding with Bella. Bella gave Angela concert tickets to keep her out of Forks on the day of the big newborn vampire battle (EC18, EC20).

Angela’s father was the presiding minister at Bella and Edward’s 3:00 p.m. wedding (BD3) and Angela was the one to catch Bella’s tossed bouquet at the reception (BD3).

Portrayed in the films by: Christian Serratos

Prepared by: Lady Di