In case you haven’t noticed, today is Edward’s 105th birthday!  We have a thread for all your well wishes and comments over at the message boards.

Alphie

Thank you for your patience as I worked through the upgrade and the unexpected repairs to the Lexicon Database.  All of issues have been resolved and as far as I am aware there has been no data loss!  Yippee!  Please feel free to make yourself comfy once again…

Darksied9

UPDATE:  My upgrades last night have forced me to resync the database that the forums run on.  In order to avoid the loss of posts to the forums, I am shutting down the board for part of the morning.  Please bear with me while we work to make things run smoother.

Darksied9

Due to upgrades and resolution of server issues, anything you post on the message board tomorrow evening between the hours of 10-12 pm EST has the possibility of being lost forever.  We are going to try to take the message boards off line for those two hours just to avoid anyone being very upset that their posts are lost, but just in case the boards are still up and running, be aware that whatever you post may not be there in the morning. 

That’s Sunday evening – 10-12 pm EST; 9-11pm CST; 8-10pm MST; 7-9pm PST for those of you who don’t want to do the math.  For you English folks, I believe that will be 4-6am Monday morning. 

Thank you!
Alphie

We are going to be doing some server work that may result in the site being offline this weekend. Don’t panic. We’re not going anywhere, just trying to make things work better.

 

Pelirroja

Read all about Chapter Nine-Theory and then stop by the message boards to discuss your own theories.

 

Pelirroja

Chapter Number: Nine

Chapter Name: Theory

Page Numbers:  179-195 (Hardcover)

Date of Chapter: March 8, 2005

Summary:  Bella and Edward drive home to Forks.  During the ride, Bella continues to ask Edward “hypothetical” questions that continue to probe Edward’s ability to read minds. Edward finally asks Bella if she has any more theories as to why he has special abilities and Bella mention that she has one, but she is afraid to say it for fear that it may make Edward angry. Regardless, Edward encourages Bella to tell him. Bella then relates the discussion that she had with Jacob Black. Edward doesn’t confirm or deny that he is a vampire, but his reactions to this theory range from his facial expression freezing to his knuckles convulsively tightening on the steering wheel.

Edward asks Bella if she has told anyone else of this theory and she answers no.  She then tells Edward that she did a bunch of vampire research online and that she came to the conclusion that it didn’t matter to her if he was a vampire.  Edward can’t believe his ears that it doesn’t matter to Bella that he is a monster. In fact he is perpetually hung up on the words, “it doesn’t matter.” Throughout the ride Bella continues to question Edward on everything from his actual age, to his diet, to all sorts of traditional vampire lore (most of which Edward debunks as pure myth or exaggeration).
 
In between Bella’s questions, Edward continues to stress that he is dangerous to Bella, and that it is a mistake for him to be close to her.  He also continues to refer to Bella as “different” and as “a magnet for trouble” because she doesn’t react to things the way most humans do.
 
When Edward drops Bella home, she gives Edward his jacket back because she doesn’t want to explain to Charlie how she got it.  They say goodbye, and Edward promises to save Bella a seat during lunch.
 
When Bella comes in the door, Charlie remarks how Bella is home much earlier than he expected. Bella realizes that due to Edward’s fast driving she has probably beaten the girls back to Forks. The phone rings and it is Jessica who is also surprised that Bella is home so early; however, since Jessica is more curious about information on Bella and Edward’s relationship she doesn’t pursue this odd timing. Bella lets Jessica know she can’t talk because Charlie is listening in, and asks Jessica to bring her jacket, that she left in the backseat of Jessica’s car, to school tomorrow.

Bella goes upstairs to bed and is positive of three things: 1) Edward is a vampire, 2) there is a part of Edward that thirsted for her blood, and 3) she is in love with Edward.

Characters Involved:  Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, Charlie Swan, Jessica Stanley.

Characters Mentioned:  Jacob Black, Billy Black, Lauren Mallory, Emmett Cullen

Places Visited: The road from Port Angeles to Forks, the Swan home.

Memorable Quotes:
“I hear voices in my mind, and you’re worried that you’re the freak.”
~ Edward to Bella laughing at her for being worried that Edward can read everyone’s mind but hers.

“It’s easier to seem normal when I’m not accidentally answering someone’s thoughts rather than their words.”
~ Edward discussing his mind reading gift

“How old are you?”
“Seventeen,” he answered promptly.
“And how long have you been seventeen?”
His lips twitched as he stared at the road. “A while,”
~ the exchange between Bella and Edward regarding his actual age.

“I’d compare it to living on tofu and soy milk; we call ourselves vegetarians, our little inside joke.”
~ Edward discussing his diet

“You were right—I’m definitely fighting fate trying to keep you alive.”
~ Edward to Bella remarking how her first instinct was to fight off the men in Port Angeles, not to run away or scream.

“About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him—and I didn’t know how potent that part might be—that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.”
~ Bella reflecting on her feelings for Edward before going to sleep.

Important Information Learned:
Edward has to be fairly physically close to someone to read their mind. If he knows them better, he can hear them a few miles off, but that is the limit.

Edward thinks Bella’s mind is doesn’t work the way most humans’ minds do, so he can’t read hers.

Edward can and loves to drive incredibly fast.

Vampires like Edward:
• Aren’t burned by the sun, but don’t go into direct sunlight when humans are around

 • Don’t sleep in coffins, and in fact can’t sleep at all

 • Drink animal blood, but because of what they are they are still dangerous to humans because sometimes they can’t resist

Bella can tell if Edward is thirsty based on his eye color. She also says that he’s crabby when he is thirsty.

It’s easier for Edward to be around Bella if he is not thirsty.

It makes Edward anxious to be away from Bella, and it makes Bella anxious to be away from Edward.

Edward isn’t always the most dangerous thing out in the forest.

Chapter Eight – Port Angeles – has just been added to the chapter discussion area. 

I’ve added a few questions over on the message boards if you want to participate further. 

Alphie

Chapter Number: Eight

Chapter Name: Port Angeles

Page Numbers:  152-178 (Hardcover)

Date of Chapter: March 8, 2005

Summary: Bella, Jessica and Angela drive over to Port Angeles after school so that Jessica and Angela can shop for dresses for the dance. On the way there, Bella is horrified to learn that Tyler seems to think he is taking her to the prom – which in turn, is why Lauren doesn’t like her.

While dress shopping, Bella asks Angela whether it’s normal for the Cullens to be out of school a lot. Angela explains that it is as they go backpacking a lot.

After the dress shopping is complete, Bella goes looking for a bookshop while the other two take their shopping back to the car. While looking for a decent bookshop, she gets lost. Trying to find her way back to the others, she is cornered by a group of men who have herded her into a deserted street. Bella realises that they are after more than just her handbag, which she had considered deliberately dropping.

Rather than trying to run from the men, Bella stands still, bracing herself for their attack and desperately trying to remember what self-defence she knows. Her throat is so dry she has no voice to scream, although she tries swallowing so she can try.

Before either Bella can scream, or the men can attack, a car speeds round the corner, stopping just in front of Bella. It’s Edward.

Once Bella is in the car, Edward drives away from the street and out of Port Angeles, running a series of red lights to do so. He appears to be struggling to contain his anger and tells Bella to say anything to distract him.

Bella tells Edward about Tyler saying he’s going to take her to the prom, and what she thinks she could do to him so he’s unable to carry out the threat. To Bella’s disbelief, Edward says he’d heard about what Tyler had been saying.

Edward explains to Bella that he sometimes has a problem with his temper and that it wouldn’t have been ‘helpful’ for him to ‘hunt down’ the men who had been about to attack Bella.

Bella reminds Edward that Jessica and Angela will be worried about her, and he drives her to the restaurant without being told where she was to meet her friends. Once at the restaurant, Edward informs Bella that he is taking her for dinner.

Jessica and Angela are shocked to see Bella with Edward, but leave her alone with him after he says he will drive her home.

On entering the restaurant, Bella is irritated by the welcome the female host gives Edward. She is further surprised when Edward refuses the table they are offered, appearing to tip the host so they can have a more private table.

Once seated, Bella comments on how Edward ‘dazzles’ people. This seems to confuse him although he does ask Bella whether he dazzles her or not – she admits that he does.

The waitress, who comes to serve them, is equally dazzled by Edward, aiming all her questions at him rather than Bella. Edward, however, ignores the waitress, encouraging Bella to order some food, although he orders nothing himself.

Edward is concerned that Bella should be going into shock, however, she says she is fine. Despite this, she starts to shiver after drinking the coke the Waitress brought. Realising that she has no jacket, as she left it in Jessica’s car, Edward gives Bella his own. Bella notices that the jacket is cold and smells amazing.

Bella continues to maintain that she feels fine, despite Edward’s puzzled concern, as she feels very safe with him. This comment does not appear to please Edward.

Wanting to start questioning Edward, Bella comments on the colour of his eyes, as she had noticed that they were currently very light, which usually means he is in a good mood. This observation stuns Edward. Bella then goes on to explain that she expects him to be in a bad mood when his eyes are black and that she has a theory about it. Following Edward’s enquiries, Bella tells him she will explain her theory in the car, as long as he answers a few questions first. Edward agrees to this.

Bella starts by asking Edward why he is in Port Angeles but he refuses to tell her, so she starts a different line of questioning. Through the discussion of a supposedly hypothetical situation, Edward admits that he can read minds – with the one exception of Bella.

Bella persuades Edward to explain how he knew she was in trouble, and how he knew where to find her. As she does so, she touches the back of his hand. His skin is ‘cold, and hard like a stone.’

Edward explains that he followed Bella to Port Angeles, as he is trying to keep her alive. This doesn’t bother Bella as much as she thinks it perhaps should. She then points out that maybe, since the incident with Tyler’s van, Edward has been interfering with fate and that she should have died. Edward responds by ominously reminding her of the first time they met, admitting that her number had been up then. This scares Bella momentarily, but she is able to calm herself before Edward looks at her again, as far as she is concerned, she is still alive because of Edward.

Drawing the conversation back to how Edward was able to find her in Port Angeles, Bella aggress to eat while he talks. Edward explains that he had been monitoring her whereabouts through Jessica’s mind and hadn’t noticed when she had gone off on her own. He explains how he traced her through the thoughts of other people, finally finding the minds of the men who had her cornered.

As he speaks, the anger Edward appeared to feel directly after rescuing Bella returns and he describes how hard it was for him to leave the men alive, which was why he couldn’t let Bella go home with Jessica and Angela.

After Edward has finished speaking, he and Bella leave the restaurant – neither walking close enough to the other for their bodies to touch; this saddens Bella as she remembers what Jessica has been saying about her and Mike almost reaching the first-kiss stage of their relationship.

As they head out of Port Angeles Edward tells Bella it’s her turn to talk, as she had promised she would tell him of her new theory about him in the car.

Characters involved: Bella Swan, Jessica Stanley, Angela Weber, four thugs, Edward Cullen, restaurant hostess, Amber (waitress)

Characters Mentioned: Charlie Swan (the Chief), Mike Newton, Eric Yorkie, Tyler Crowley, Lauren Mallory, Renée Dwyer, Alice Cullen, Carlisle Cullen,  Emmett Cullen, Esme Cullen, Jasper Hale, Rosalie Hale, woman in the bookstore

Places visited: Port Angeles, La Bella Italia in Port Angeles

Memorable quotes:
“How did you know where…?” 
~ Bella realising Edward has taken her to the restaurant without having been told it was where she needed to be.

“It was cold – the way my jacket felt when I first picked it up in the morning, hanging in the drafty hallway.”
~How Edward’s jacket feels when Bella first puts it on.

“Usually you’re in a better mood when your eyes are so light…You’re always crabbier when your eyes are black.”
~Bella commenting on Edward’s mood changes

“Just one exception” 
~ Edward pointing out that he can’t read Bella’s mind.

“His skin was cold and hard, like stone.”
~Bella about Edward’s skin

“Your number was up the first time I met you.”
~Edward confesses to being a threat to Bella.

“I was strangely anxious.”
~How Edward feels when he does not know where Bella is.

Important Information Learned:
Bella feels very safe with Edward, despite discovering he is a potential threat to her.

Bella is not the only one who is dazzled by Edward’s smile and eyes, other women are affected by him too and he doesn’t seem to notice.

Bella doesn’t appear to react to danger in the same way others do – she should have gone into shock but doesn’t.

Edward can read minds – with the exception of Bella, and is able to track someone by reading people’s minds.

Edward is trying to keep Bella alive and safe

Edward is a real threat to Bella.

Edward’s skin is cold and as hard as stone.

Edward searches for Bella in his car until the sun starts setting, only then does he consider getting out to search for her on foot.

Bella needs to have more proof / explanations before she is willing to share her new theory with Edward.

Come one – come all!  The Lexicon Chat is now open for business.  Come and "meet" your friends in the Twilight world…and you never know when of if Stephenie will stop by. 

CHAT!

Alphie

I have a few very important announcments to make concerning the Lexicon.  First of all, for those of you that visit the message boards, you may have noticed a few changes afoot.  We’ve been cracking down on net speak and one word posts as well as spammers and it’s become too big of a job for two people to do.  Thus, we have enlisted the help of a few moderators for various areas of the boards.  You can read all about it in this thread. 

Now, for an even bigger announcement.  I feel a little like Mr. Darcy when I say that in vain I have struggled and it will not do.   For the last few weeks – since just before I got my ARC of New Moon – I have been hiding a secret that I simply can’t keep under covers any longer.  I think most of you know that Stephenie and I have grown to be friends though e-mails and phone calls.  What you probably don’t know is how often those e-mails and phone calls happen.  I get, on average, 2-3 e-mails from her a day and we talk on the phone 2-3 times a week.  There is a very good reason for all of this correspondence, which I will now make public for the first time.

You see, somewhere in the writing of Lion and the Lamb, Stephenie got very frustrated at the fact that she could give me feedback, but I couldn’t give her any in return for Midnight Sun.  In what I image to be a gesture of throwing her arms up in the air and saying, “Oh, to heck with it,” she started sending me portions of Midnight Sun to look at and gasp at and totally growl in disgust at my own inability to truly capture Edward’s inner character.  I treated these bits of text with great respect, but I responded to them the way I would any piece of fiction sent to me for a beta read.  I turned on my “track changes” option and started commenting on the various things I liked and the few – VERY FEW – things I didn’t. 

Little did I know that what I was sending Stephenie was something that she craved – the thoughts and opinions of an adult who cherished these characters almost as much as she does, and who has some semblance of what it takes to make a story work.  In between the squeals of delight, the ohhhhs and ahhhs, and the gasps of surprise, I found myself making comments on the subtext or missing moments or general things that still had me confused.  I had no idea that Stephenie was taking those comments – all of them – even the ones of great praise – to heart so deeply that she would make me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

About the time I received my ARC of New Moon, Stephenie told me that she had a very daunting task in front of her that had her rather stressed.  She was facing having to rewrite Eclipse for what would essentially be the third time, which, to my understanding, was a very troubling task for her.  She had mentioned on the phone how there were issues with the ending and things she needed to add in here and there and how she was having trouble keeping things straight in her head and just knowing which way to go in some cases.  She told me that what she really needed was someone she could trust with her story – someone she could tell it to and get the feedback she needed.  Someone who would listen to her whining and fussing and help her work through the big decisions she was facing.  Someone…like me.

Now please, don’t start thinking that I’m here to simply brag about my own abilities.  I have been totally humbled by the whole experience so many times, I can’t even begin to count!  I don’t consider myself a great writer by any means.  But I think in this case I was the first person that Stephenie came to meet who had tapped into something in her stories and understood them on a different level.  Stephenie and I have so many things in common – our age…families…religion.  We’ve clicked in more ways than just a love of Edward.  For all these reasons and more, she asked for my help.

In plain English – what all of this lead to is me officially helping Stephenie with Eclipse.  My official title is “editorial assistant”, but that sounds much more important than it really is.  What I do is this – Stephenie writes something, I read it and make comments as I would normally make when beta reading.  I send it back to Stephenie and she takes the comments I make and either uses them or ignores them. 

An even simpler way to describe it is to say that I’ve pretty much read everything Stephenie has written that pertains to the Twilight universe.  I have read all of Midnight Sun as far as she has written it – which stops somewhere in Port Angeles.  I have read all of New Moon – obviously – as well as some out takes from the first draft of New Moon.  I read the entire first draft of Eclipse, which is now being reworked.  I have read Forever Dawn because the plot covers events that happen in Eclipse and book four.  I have even read a few bits and pieces of what will potentially be books five and six.  Someone at MySpace asked a while ago as a joke not knowing the real answer – “Alphie, what of Stephenie’s stuff haven’t you read?”  Well, to be honest, I haven’t read The Host, but I know some of the plot and she should be sending it to me in a few weeks. 

What does this mean for the Lexicon and for Lion and the Lamb?  Well…that’s tricky.  For the Lexicon itself, I have no worries.  The only things posted on the official Lexicon are things that Stephenie has allowed.  It’s in the message boards where I have difficulty.    I’ve stayed silent so that I could keep commenting and writing as just as a fan rather than as someone “in the know.”  But in recent weeks I’ve found it more and more impossible to do just that.  I’ve been dragging up my old thoughts and feelings and idea that I had before I had read all of these wonderful stories in order to post honestly.  Everything you have read from me in recent weeks has been based on those old ideas and thoughts.  I have been BEYOND careful not to spoil anything or let a plot line slip.  Many times I have been in the middle of writing a post and found it too difficult to continue.  There are so many things I want to comment on and I simply can’t because I know too much. 

As for Lion and the Lamb…well that’s been much easier than I thought it would be.  You see, Lion and the Lamb doesn’t have anything to do with the plot of New Moon or Eclipse.  The only “spoilers” I risk letting out are things to do with other characters that haven’t been introduced yet.  For example – the Denali coven.  I’ve read all about them.  I’ve “met” them, so to speak.  I could write about them, but I have chosen not to for fear of spoiling anything.  But as for the actual plot of my own fan fiction, I’ve strayed so far from the real deal that there is no way I could truly ruin Midnight Sun at this point.  So it is my intention to keep writing Lion and the Lamb with the understanding that I know I am wrong, but I am going to portray “wrong” in the most believable way I can.  However, I’ve been so busy helping with Eclipse that I haven’t had time to write much of my own.  I will update again, but it might be a few weeks.

Believe me when I say that I am truly humbled by this experience.  From the attention my fan fic has received, to the popularity of the Lexicon, right down to the fact that I am helping to work on a piece of fiction that will soon be in the hands of millions of fans.  It’s a little dumbfounding and sometimes over whelming.  I don’t want anyone to start thinking of me differently.  I’m the same Alphie who fell in love with the same book that you all did.  God – for I do believe God had a hand in all of this – has just placed certain opportunities in my path that six months ago I wouldn’t have even dared believe.  It’s been an awesome experience all around.  I’m thankful for the opportunity, and I’m very grateful for my new friendship with an awesome person like Stephenie.

Lastly, please do not ask me for any information about the future of the books.  I know – I KNOW what you are feeling because I was right there with you all.  But the thing is, I signed a nondisclosure agreement, and under this contract I can’t divulge any upcoming storylines, new characters, anything that Stephenie does not allow me to reveal. Simply, I intend to uphold this position of trust. 

So, to sum it all up, you’ll still see me around the Lexicon and a few other sites, but I won’t be posting as much as I used to. All I can do is assure you all that you will LOVE what’s coming up!  I PROMISE as a fan that the books will be well worth the wait. 

I have posted this same message on the message boards.  Feel free to comment on it over there.

Alphie