the domestic zoo

from Stephanie Meyer’s website:

This has been a very upsetting experience for me, but I hope it will at least leave my fans with a better understanding of copyright and the importance of artistic control.

So where does this leave Midnight Sun? My first feeling was that there was no way to continue. Writing isn’t like math; in math, two plus two always equals four no matter what your mood is like. With writing, the way you feel changes everything. If I tried to write Midnight Sun now, in my current frame of mind, James would probably win and all the Cullens would die, which wouldn’t dovetail too well with the original story. In any case, I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on Midnight Sun, and so it is on hold indefinitely.

I’d rather my fans not read this version of Midnight Sun. It was only an incomplete draft; the writing is messy and flawed and full of mistakes. But how do I comment on this violation without driving more people to look for the illegal posting? It has taken me a while to decide how and if I could respond. But to end the confusion, I’ve decided to make the draft available here (at the end of this post). This way, my readers don’t have to feel they have to make a sacrifice to stay honest. I hope this fragment gives you further insight into Edward’s head and adds a new dimension to the Twilight story. That’s what inspired me to write it in the first place.

You can read her full statement and the draft here: http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html

I worked second shift today, which I almost never do, and now I’m remembering why.

It’s.

So.

BORING.

I mean, at least at night I get to watch movies when there’s not much going on. But I’ve just spent the past four hours killing time on the internet in every way possible (well…not every way), and my shift is barely halfway done.

Waaaah.

Hannah rode a different horse during her lesson this week, a beautiful and extremely rare American Indian horse named Adriana. She’s a lot bigger than Gary, and a bit feistier too.

She’s earned the affectionate nickname, “Adriana the ADD Horse”. To say she’s a bit easily distracted would be an understatement. During the lesson she stopped repeatedly to chew grass, to sniff the fence post, to watch a bird and to nibble on the plastic barrels in the middle of the arena.

Speaking of easily distracted, did I mention I love horse noses? ‘Cause I do, I really do…

We pass by his pond on our way to the Post Office. I’m not sure if he’s a domestic goose or a wild goose, or maybe something in between, but he’s lived there seemingly on his own for a few years now, and my sister has dubbed him “Jeffrey”. I know even less about sexing geese than I do about goose species, so we’re taking it on faith that he’s a Jeffrey and not, say, a Jennifer.

We’ve made those kind of mistakes before, of course. Just this spring I was using my zoom lens to take photos of Buttons, our resident (and presumed male) red squirrel, when I spotted some very pronounced, concentric and evenly spaced spots on Button’s belly. Whadya know? Buttons was a mom.

Anyway, back to Jeffrey…

Lately he’s taken to crossing the street and hanging out in the cow field, so trying to spot him when we drive by has become something of a hobby. And I think the cows are equally as curious about him as we are…