I will be participating in a panel at the Melbourne Writer's Festival called "Fading Twilight" as a part of the schools program. My position on the panel is in defence of the Twilight saga, why? Because that's the position I was put in.
In honour of this blog, and to further my attempts to find a book for every reader, I thought it appropriate to give you a little taste of what my Twilight defence might look like.
I know that when most people hear the words Twilight, Edward or vampire now they feel a little shudder creep up their spine. Fair enough. Vampires that shine like diamonds in the sun? Really? In traditional vampire lore, the only chance of this happening, would be in a burst of flame so spectacular, that the flames would shine like diamonds on the horizon. But let's face it, if you don't want to read a vampire romance then just don't. There will be plenty of other books for you to read. If your sister or brother or child comes up to you though, Twilight book in hand, and you look at them and laugh, think about this. Before books like Twilight and Harry Potter (which for a while there got a similar groan of disapproval), the number of teenagers proudly reading on the tram was pretty small. In fact, the number of teenagers reading at all was small. And while personally I would rather be reading John Irving, the chances of someone picking up "The Cider House Rules" without first being are reader are slim to none. However, even though Irving is a far cry from Stephenie Meyer, once someone is enthusiastic about reading in general, it will be much easier to gradually slide them onto something more substantial.
I could rant longer but I won't. Don't be a hater, any reading should be encouraged, and then maybe one day when you're on the tram you can think to yourself how nice it is to not be harassed by the end of school crowd, because they will all be sitting quietly reading the latest pulp.
