Stephenie Meyer went on Good Morning America on Tuesday to announce she’s releasing a new Twilight book in honor of the 10th anniversary of the original novel. It’s called Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined, and it swaps the genders of almost every character in the book.
Bella is now a human named Beau and Edward is a vampire named Edythe. In a foreword to the story, the author explained that there are slight personality changes to the characters. Beau is “more OCD” and “not as angry,” but Meyer said the love story is the same. The book is already available in hardcover and e-book, starting Tuesday.
In the foreword, Meyer said she was inspired to write the book because she wanted to do something special for the 10th anniversary and she had always been annoyed that people accused Bella of being a “typical damsel in distress.”
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“My answer to that has always been that Bella is a ‘human in distress,’ a normal human being surrounded on all sides by people who are basically superheroes and villains,” wrote the author. “She’s also been criticized for being too consumed with her love interest, as if that’s somehow just a girl thing. I’ve always maintained that it would have made no difference if the human were male and vampire female — it’s still the same story.”
On Good Morning America, she reiterated the similarities. “The further you get in, the more it changes because the personalities get a little bit different, but it starts out very similar and really, it really is the same story because it’s just a love story and it doesn’t matter who’s the boy and who’s the girl, it still works out,” said Meyer.
Almost all of the characters in the book have their genders swapped except Charlie and Renee, Bella/Beau’s parents.
Characters in @Twilight swap genders in 10th Anniversary bonus called ‘Life and Death:’ http://t.co/b2bOM6MZu3 pic.twitter.com/Drqethf0eQ
— Good Morning America (@GMA) October 6, 2015
“I have a really hard time believing that any judge at that time (or even now) would give a child to a transient, unemployed father over a mother with a steady job and strong ties to her community,” explained Meyer in the foreword.
Meyer also apologized in the foreword for not releasing Midnight Sun, the book told from Edward’s perspective. She said she didn’t feel like there was enough time and had only planned on writing “one or two” chapters of Life and Death. However, she said, it was “not only fun, but also really fast and easy,” so she finished the whole thing.
Meyer said she doesn’t see herself turning the gender-swapped version into a series of books or a movie in the future, like she did with the original Twilight series. The movies starred Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson and inspired a very large, loyal fan base.
“I think that this is just one version with Beau,” she said. “I don’t really see [a movie] happening, and a lot of the people I’d put in it would be like Grace Kelly, so it’s a little too late for some of my first choices.”
Big @Twilight reveal: Stephenie Meyer’s ‘Life and Death’ is a reimagining and reverses genders of Bella and Edward. pic.twitter.com/aMMlzqK4rJ
— Good Morning America (@GMA) October 6, 2015
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