Back to the Interview

Andrew: Because we all finished reading it, I think it's safe...

Stephenie: Yay!

Matt: Yeah...

Andrew: ..to say we all loved it.

Matt: Yes.

Stephenie: Thank you.

Laura: It was amazing.

Stephenie: I - you know, I haven't gotten all the reaction yet, but I hear murmurs that some people are upset with me, so I'm glad to hear you guys liked it.

Matt: Well, it's over. That's probably why a lot of people are so upset.

Andrew: Yeah. That's definitely part of it, I think.

Stephenie: I think it kind of goes back to the dream of what Steven Spielberg was saying about the new Indiana Jones and how people all had written their own stories.

Andrew: Hmm.

Stephenie: And I think that when you leave that space for people to do that, it's hard to make them happy.

Matt: Exactly.

Andrew: Yeah.

Stephenie: Yeah.

Andrew: So, did you always have a four-book saga planned out in your head?

Stephenie: No. When I wrote Twilight, that was - you know, I didn't know I was writing the book...

Andrew: Right.

Stephenie: I wasn't thinking about that, right? So as I wrote that, it was its own thing. And then when I continued on, I wrote, you know, the other sequel, Forever Dawn, which was basically a rough draft of Breaking Dawn.

Andrew: Oh, okay.

Stephenie: And then - so that was the end. So two books then. And then my editor came and said, "You skipped right over the end of high school. People want to see more high school Bella. Let's go back and develop that." And so that's what I did. But I knew the ending, and when I started New Moon I knew it would be a four-book story arc.

Andrew: Oh.

Laura and Matt: Oh.

Andrew: Interesting.

Matt: Okay. But how did you come up with the...

Stephenie: I'm a little disorganized. As you can tell.

[Andrew and Matt laugh]

Andrew: I think it turned out great, though.

Matt: So, Stephenie, how did you come up with the title for Breaking Dawn?

Stephenie: Well, the first book was originally called Forks because...

Matt: Yeah.

Stephenie: ...I just really liked that, and I thought, "I would pick up a book called Forks. How can you write a book that's wrong about Forks?"

[Everyone laughs]

Stephenie: My editor didn't think this was a very good idea, so we kicked around a ton of titles. And then we finally did come up with Twilight. Then the other titles became really easier. [unintelligible] was really obvious to me. Eclipse came really well. And then Breaking Dawn, I fevered on something cheesy, I didn't want to go back to that. I wanted more of a sense of impending doom while at the same time breaking day, you know?

Andrew: Yeah.

Stephenie: And, actually, Pel on the Lexicon was the one that originally suggested that. I kind of was kicking it around, like, "Guys, what do you think?" She said, "Breaking Dawn." And I said, "Ooh, I like that." And that's what I ended up using.

Andrew: Oh wow.

Matt: Yeah. It does kind of have that...

Elysa: Awesome. Okay, so this has been discussed and mostly the cover of Breaking Dawn. What does it mean to you?

Stephenie: Ooo, you guys are - I figured I'd answer that one tonight for the very first time, but you guys [unintelligible].

[Andrew and Matt laugh]

Stephenie: This cover has kind of two - two things. For me the main thing is, this is a metaphor for the entire story arc, because you have Bella going from being the most helpless player on the board to being the most powerful on the board.

Matt: Yes! Yes!

Stephenie: So...

Laura: Oh, Matt had it right.

Matt: Yes!

Andrew: Good job, Matt.

[Elysa says something unintelligible]

Stephenie: The pawn to queen. And the other - I kind of wanted to foreshadow - the final scene in the book is not a battle scene. For me it's more of a court room drama. And so I wanted to get that sense of people very methodically plotting their move. And so I liked the chess metaphor.

Andrew: Oh, wow. That's great. You know, what I really loved about this cover was that there are so many ways you could interpret it.

Matt: Yeah.

Stephenie: Right. But all the covers are that way, to an extent.

Andrew: Oh.

Stephenie: And so I thought it would fit well with the whole series.

Andrew: Sure.

Matt: Mhm.

Laura: Yeah. I will say we spent hours sitting around discussing what this cover could have possibly been.

[Andrew, Matt, and Stephenie laugh]

Laura: We had everything you could possibly think of. It was ridiculous.

Andrew: Yeah.

Stephenie: Well, that's exactly how it's supposed to work. So awesome.

Andrew: Yeah.

[Andrew and Matt laugh]

Laura: So, this might be a difficult question to answer, but what was your favorite scene to write from Breaking Dawn?

Stephenie: I said at Comic Con that it was my favorite Edward and Bella scene...

Andrew: Yes.

Stephenie: ...was in Breaking Dawn. And it's the very last scene in the book, like the last two pages.

Matt: Aww...

Stephenie: Yeah. That was one of my favorite things of that. So then, writing the Jacob Black section was the most fun I've ever had. I was just laughing the whole way through. It was fantastic.

[Laura and Matt laugh]

Matt: That's awesome.

Laura: Yeah, really. I have to say, I'm so appreciative that you did that, because Jacob - I know I'm not the only one here who says that Jacob is their favorite character, and reading from his perspective was just awesomeness. That's the only way I can describe it.

Andrew: Yeah.

Laura: It was fantastic.

Andrew: Yeah, it was really...

Stephenie: Writing from his perspective was was just hugely fun. And he's always been one of my favorites, and, you know, I've been hearing his little snarky inside comments the whole time I've been writing, you know? I know what he's thinking, I'm hearing his responses...

Andrew: Yeah.

Stephenie: ...that he doesn't say, and it's been great to finally be able to have those.

Andrew: I'm so glad you brought up those snarky comments, because I was actually laughing when he was saying some of those things.

Matt: Yeah. Uh-huh.

Andrew: Especially the Rose-Jacob interaction. It was just so funny. I loved it.

Matt: Yeah.

Stephenie: Oh. I very much enjoyed Jacob and Rosalie. [laughs]

Matt: Yes.

[Andrew laughs]

Matt: Oh, I love them. I love those blonde jokes.

[Andrew laughs]

Stephenie: Yeah.

Matt: Well, I just love how when Bella was sick, and we were from Jacob's point of view, he was kind of taking over Bella's sarcasm a little bit. And you kind of mention that a little bit in the book.

Stephenie: Yeah. Well, one of the things that went in Forever Dawn, the original series, it does not have that section, and the whole thing is narrated from Bella's perspective, because Jacob has not developed into the character that he was by the time I started Breaking Dawn. You know, it's just in Twilight he's a very small role, so - but part of the problem with the original draft was that it gets a little grim for a while.

[Andrew laughs]

Andrew: Oh.

Stephenie: And I...

Laura: Yeah.

Stephenie: ...wanted it to be outside of this life and death struggle for a little bit. And, you know, to have it there but at the same time be away from it. And I also wanted to show where the action was. Bella's sitting in a house for a week during that part of the time doing nothing... [laughs]

Andrew: Right.

Stephenie: And there's a lot going on that she can't see, so I needed [unintelligible].

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: Mhm.

Laura: So, kind of moving along a little bit, Renesmee. Was she always going to happen from the beginning, or was she a surprise to you the way she was to Bella and Edward?

Stephenie: From the time I started Forever Dawn she was a big part of the story.

Andrew: Oh.

Stephenie: And, in fact, wouldn't be in [unintelligible] situation.

Matt: Mhm.

Laura: Mhm.

Stephenie: They wanted me to end the story at three books, and I couldn't do that and get Nessie at the same time, and so it was really for her that I was fighting that whole time, because I wanted her. [laughs]

Laura: Oh, wow. So kind of like the way Bella was fighting for her. That's really cool.

Stephenie: Very similar. It was very similar, actually.

Andrew: Hmm.

Elysa: Going back to Jacob a little bit, because, like Laura, he really is one of my favorite characters. I really love him a lot. I've always sort of felt like fans judged him a bit too harshly for some of his behavior in Eclipse, and I'm wondering, do you think that now after Breaking Dawn, after we've seen all the sacrifices that he's made, that fans will ease up? Do you think that he's redeemed himself?

Stephenie: You know? No. Because I thought that people would get him in Eclipse. I thought that they would understand how much of his gruffness and attitude is about his heart being broken and how much he was already giving, even in Eclipse, to make an alliance with his enemies for her.

Elysa: Yeah.

Stephenie: So much of it's self-sacrifice, and the willingness he was to hurt himself for her, it kind of broke my heart. And then for people not to get that, I was very surprised. So I will never predict [laughs] that people find Jacob Black redeemed.

[Andrew laughs]

Stephenie: No matter what I write. Because I don't think some of them can be convinced in any direction besides just hating him. [laughs]

Matt: Yeah.

Elysa: All right, that's true. And I was disappointed with that too, becasuse from the very get-go I loved Jake, you know, so - but...

Stephenie: Well, I've always been inside [unintelligible], so I've never gotten that - that sense of - that he was up to no good, that he's this bad person. That's always surprised me.

Elysa: Right. Right.

Andrew: Mhm.

Elysa: Well, what about imprinting? There was a bit of that - well, obviously, a lot of that in Breaking Dawn, but Jake says at some point, I think it's when he's talking to Leah, that he wasn't too thrilled with the idea of having him imprint. I think he says something along the lines of, you know, he wanted to keep a mind of his own, or at least he had a mind of his own, or something. So, what are your thoughts on imprinting? Do you think that it sort of relinquishes free will or is it just sort of the werewolves - or the shape-shifters, excuse me - the shape-shifters...

[Andrew laughs]

Elysa: ...version of soul mates?

Stephenie: I'm kind of on the line between that. On the one hand it doesn't leave you a choice. And it can mess up your life, like it did with Sam. You know, and someone else's life in the bargain. On the other hand, it gives you a life-long love that you're never going to tire of, and that is always going to be fresh and new. And so there's a gift and a curse wrapped up in there.

Laura: Right.

Andrew: One thing I had been wondering about: towards the end there is the resolution with the Volturi - Volturi, sorry. Why did you have the Volturi understand Rensesmee's situation instead of having some sort of, you know, like, climactic battle or something? Because it was a surprise - I did enjoy it, but I was surprised that the Volturi sort of, you know...

Matt: Cowered away...

Andrew: Understood - well, not so much coward...

Stephenie: Work it out.

Andrew: What's that?

Stephenie: They work out. They work out, and it wasn't a big battle where everybody got slaughtered. And a lot of that is because I was not ready to slaughter everybody. And it would have happened that way, and I had this discussion with my editor, you know, there were a couple different people giving me feedback on this, and I always wanted it to be an official game. I knew who I was going to have to kill and I didn't want to go there. It was always this way for me, but, you know...

Laura: Speaking of...

Stephenie: ...I thought about doing it. I just couldn't do it.

Andrew: Okay.

Matt: Aw, okay.

Andrew: Go ahead, Laura.

Laura: So just speaking of the Volturi, we were curious to learn more about some of the other vampires. Like, for instance, what did Jane have as a human that translated to her special ability as a vampire? And were there any other interesting tidbits you could give us about any of the Volturi or the Denali that we don't already know?

Stephenie: Well, that's an open-ended question.

[Everyone laughs]

Stephenie: I could go on for hours! There is stuff on the website, actually, about Jane and Alec and how they were sort of shaped as they became vampires, because they were, you know - they were in England and considered witches at the time, because they had, like, Alice had - when the Volturi caught up to them they were actually being burned at the stake, which shaped how their powers manifested.

Laura: Okay.

Stephenie: It's the pain of that. So that was one, but yeah, all of the characters have, you know, back stories in my head. I'm kind of waiting for some questions that I'm expecting about the index that I provided at the end. I'm sure - I'm pretty sure those are coming. [laughs]

Andrew: Oh yeah, I thought that was...

Laura: Yeah. [laughs]

Andrew: I thought that was pretty cool how you had that in there.

Matt: Yeah, I like them too.

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: I liked as a reference to keep going back and forth.

Andrew: Yeah.

Elysa: So, why was Bella able to, essentially, skip her newborn stage? Was it due to the attitude and preparation that they had suggested?

Stephenie: Yes, it was because...[unintelligible]...her personality. Well, her personality is a very controlled personality in some ways. And it translated really well. She was sort of uniquely fitted towards it.

Matt: Yeah.

Andrew: Oh, okay.

Elysa: Right, right.

Matt: And she pretty much embraced the vampire stage too, I mean, she didn't really - it wasn't really like her body was - her whole existence wasn't against it.

Andrew: Mhm.

Stephenie: No, and it was just Bella. Everyone else was kind of stunned by it.

Matt: Mhm.

Andrew: Yeah.

Stephenie: The Cullen family anyway, and then those that were born into different families, like, you know, the Volturi, would never have been taught that they needed to do anything differently. So she just had a lot more prep time than anybody else.

Matt: Yeah.

Andrew: Yeah.

Elysa: Right, right, that makes sense.

Laura: Now this - it seems like this is somewhat disputed between some of the vampires, particularly Edward and Carlisle - at least for a little while. Is there an afterlife for the vampires?

Stephenie: Damn. You know, I'm not good about answering questions about things that haven't been answered in the novels that are...

[Everyone laughs]

Stephenie: Because there's that chance that I might go there.

Andrew: Yeah.

Stephenie: I mean, I think that at this point in the story it is still up in the air. None of them know because they haven't seen.

Andrew: Mhm.

Laura: Okay.

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: That makes sense.

Elysa: I think you touched on this a little bit already, but our next question was, was there ever a point when you considered killing off one or more of the main characters?

Stephenie: I know who would have to die if I went ahead with the series, and that is kind of one of the reasons why I don't want to.

Andrew: Oh.

Stephenie: I'd have to kill a lot of people if it ever really came down to a fight, a pitched battle. People would die and that's no fun. So I do know who I would kill, but I don't know if I ever will go there.

Andrew: Mhm.

Matt: Oh. So, Stephenie, we saw that the issues between Jacob and his old pack were resolved in Breaking Dawn, but does he ever go back to join them with Sam and his pack? Or does he stay as an alpha and lead his own.

Stephenie: The alpha thing isn't something you can really turn off.

Matt: Right.

Stephenie: So, he realizes he's in, so that's why he sort of pulled some of his friends over and he's got his own pack now. There's no going back.

Laura: And speaking of that, did you always know that Jacob and the rest of the pack were shape-shifters? Or was it just kind of something that came about maybe in the middle of the series, maybe?

Stephenie: I still think of them as werewolves because, really, what's the definition of a werewolf? A man turns into a wolf so technically, yeah. But I knew their back story in a very - I haven't defined it entirely, but I knew where it came from. And I knew that it had been a different story than if they had been bitten by a traditional werewolf, and so I kind of had to make the decision early on, do traditional werewolves? Where are they at? What's with the moon and the silver bullets? And I kind of decided that they must [unintelligible] and that they would be close to extinct at this point. So, I've known that.

Andrew: Now, Edward mentioned at the end of the book that the Volturi would eventually try to pick each of their family off individually. Does this mean we'll see more books about the future of the Cullens? Is that what you may be leaning more towards? Or are you ready to move on to something else?

Stephenie: I mean, that's definitely left open for that purpose.

Andrew: Yeah.

Stephenie: Clearly, there would be a possibility for a lot more stories there, but I have not yet decided. You know, I have to admit, it's been a really long year.

Andrew: Yeah.

Stephenie: And I don't know if I am ready to dive back into that. I think that I'm going to go and explore a different direction for a while.

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: Uh-huh.

Andrew: If you had to choose a character's point of view to go from, other than Edward's, who would be your third favorite to write from, I guess it would be.

Stephenie: You mean from this point out?

Andrew: From - yeah, just from anyone else's point of views. Like Jaspar, or...

Matt: Alice.

Andrew: Yeah, or Carlisle. Alice, of course. Yeah.

Stephenie: Do you mean for - to go back and redo from a different perspective? Or from this point on?

Andrew: Well, maybe...

Matt: Maybe...

Andrew: ...either.

Matt: Like, their story, or something even.

Andrew: Yeah, maybe.

Stephenie: Well, because I'm writing from Edward's perspective on Midnight Sun, I actually get to get a lot of people's perspective because he's reading everyone's thoughts.

Andrew: Oh, yeah. That's true.

Stephenie: So, you really get a lot of Alice's, and a real extent to Rosalie, as well, and Emmett. It all just - you really get their perspective, too, when Edward's telling the story. I don't really have the urge to go back to any of those characters. And if I were to go forward, I don't think that those would be the ones I'd do.

Matt: Hm.

Andrew: Hm.

Matt: Okay.

Elysa: All right.:So, we get to see a lot of really cool new characters in Breaking Dawn and, just as a personal aside, I have to tell you how much I adore Garrett.

Stephenie: Yes, I loved him instantly.

[Everyone laughs]

Stephenie: I'm a big Garrett fan. I love the guy.

Elysa: And his little monologue at the end, the revolutionary sort of monologue, that just thrilled me.

Matt: Yeah.

Elysa: He just won be over completely. But, I mean, who's your favorite of the new characters? The personality-wise and in terms who you like to write?

Stephenie: I enjoy Chavon quite a bit. She actually had - and Maggie - in the original draft there was a little bit longer towards the end. It was too long, which is why it got cut down. It's still very long. But I cut out some interactions with Chavon and then I also - I really enjoyed the Romanians. They're new to the version of the story and I loved having them come in with their totally different attitude...

Matt: Yeah.

Andrew: Yeah.

Stephenie: ...and just kind of their - I got a huge kick out of them. [laughs]

Matt: That was funny. I love the Romanians.

Andrew: Didn't Aro give them a look too? I was like, oh geez.

Stephenie: Oh, yeah.

Andrew: Yeah. That was great.

Stephenie: It was just like the last cue and they're still kind of the thorn in the side, never quite eradicated the entire clan, you know.

Andrew: Right. [laughs]

Matt: So, Stephenie, this question I've been dying to ask ever since Breaking Dawn finished. What is your opinion - or not what is your opinion, gosh. What is the overall message to the series?

Stephenie: [sighs] You know, my editor said that to me.

[Everyone laughs]

Stephenie: When I gave her the outline, she said, "What's the moral of the story?"

[Andrew laughs]

Stephenie: And I was like, there's no moral to the story. The point is to have a good time.

[Andrew and Matt laugh]

Stephenie: So the message is, did you enjoy, you know, the ride? Hopefully, because that's what it was about. It was about having fun and entertainment.

Matt: Oh, okay.

Stephenie: Nothing beyond that was intentional. [laughs]

[Matt laughs]

Andrew: Okay, interesting.

[Andrew and Matt laugh]

Elysa: Right. Yeah. Okay, so I have a question for you about Jasper because our mutual friend, Kim, is just in love with him, so - and she's wondering, does Jasper actually feel other people's emotions or does he just feel the emotion coming off of them?

Stephenie: Oh, he feels their emotions, which, to me there's not really a distinction there. You know, for him, people are putting out this emotional aura all the time and if someone's very sad then he's going to feel that too. He can separate from himself a little bit, you know, and he knows that he's not sad, but he's still feeling the effects of it.

Elysa: Right.

Matt: Mhm.

Elysa: Right. Well, when he is trying to influence someone else's emotion, does he have to feel it himself? Like if he's trying to calm someone down, does he have to feel calm or is he able to do that outside of his own emotion?

Stephenie: He has to be calm to calm someone down.

Elysa: Wow. Poor Jasper.

[Andrew and Matt laugh]

Laura: I feel so bad for him.

Stephenie: He's had a lot of practice. He's good at it. [laughs]

Elysa: Yeah, I guess that's true. [laughs]

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: Mhm.

Laura: So I know we kind of talked about the encyclopedia or the official guide to the Twilight saga that was advertised at the end of Breaking Dawn. What, if anything, can you tell us about what to expect?

Stephenie: You know, I am only tangentially involved in that. It should just be sort of - I think a lot of it will be old information to someone who's read everything on the Lexicon, and everything on my website, and everything that's out there. They'll be like, oh yeah, I know a lot of this. But to someone who hasn't put in that effort, it'll be a good reference guide for them.

Matt: Mhm.

Stephenie: I'm hoping to be able to add in some new material. Don't know if it's going to happen. We'll see when we get off tour and what their production schedule is like. If what I'm working on doesn't make it in time, I'll just put it on my website.

Andrew: Okay. Cool.

Laura: Awesome.

Elysa: Cool.

Andrew: Now - oh, Elysa, you have a question?

Elysa: Oh, okay, sure. Well, I know that you're a big fan of the band Muse, and so am I, so I was wondering, was there any particular songs that really stood out to you while you were writing Breaking Dawn? Any one or two in particular that inspired you the most?

Stephenie: On my playlist at the end in the - it's fitted to the battle scene, I hear the song "Take a Bow" as the Volturi are coming into the meadow. I can just see them almost moving them to that, the way it builds and kind of expands. I mean, it's an amazing song. And then "Assassin" is Garret's speech, which you guys [unintelligible]. [laughs]

Elysa: Right. Perfect, yeah. I totally see that. That's a good one.

Matt: Mhm.

Andrew: Awesome. Now a couple questions about the movie. At Comic Con, you were doing an interview with Katherine Hardwick, the director of course, and she said that you'd be seeing what they put together the following Tuesday. So do you want to say anything about the film? Like, have you seen it? A rough cut of it at this point?

Stephenie: I did see a very, very rough cut.

Andrew: Ooooh.

Stephenie: There were, you know, there's a lot of transitions and things like that. A lot that they didn't do because it's still in the very early stages.

Andrew: Yeah.

Stephenie: But I was kind of amazed at how the emotions came through and how certain Rob is and how Bella-y Kristen is, and how them together just really caught that chemistry. It's kind of mind blowing.

Andrew: Wow. Awesome. That's really exciting to hear.

Stephenie: And I think - I think that you guys knew Rob before, as Cedric. And kind of have seen him in action but he's going to blow you away. You're not going to believe it when you see how - what his skill range is. He's amazing.

Andrew: Right. Because Matt and I were at Comic Con and we saw the scene that they played at the panel, at that now, like, historic panel...

Matt: Yeah.

[Stephenie laughs]

Andrew: ...with you guys. [laughs] And that scene, it seemed like it was pretty much complete. It was definitely a lot different than when they played it at the MTV Movie Awards. And that scene was just awesome; it just felt so cool.

Matt: I was so excited. The last scene we actually saw what Bella was seeing when she got bit.

Andrew: Oh yeah.

Stephenie: Yeah. [laughs]

Matt: And then they stopped. [laughs]

Andrew: That was crazy. So is it true to the books? Do you think the fans will be very happy with it? Because that's always been a big thing with Harry Potter, about it being true to the books. And, frankly, they - they really haven't, and it's a thing the fans have come to accept. So what do you think the Twilight fans should expect?

Stephenie: It totally depends on the attitude they go in with. Like I've had people e-mail me about trailers they've seen, and say, you know, this line is different than it is in the book, I'm concerned. It's like, okay, well, you need to be because if you're expecting them to come out and spout all the lines out of the book and have everything happen in the same order, you know, that's just not possible unless you were doing a twelve-hour mini-series.

Matt: Exactly.

Stephenie: Can't be done. But what I was looking for, and hoping for, was that it would feel like Twilight, and the little things that are different are almost, like, little extras, you know, that totally could happen because they're absolutely in character, and when they're talking to each other it sounds like Bella and Edward and it's, like, little extras for me and there are scenes even that I wish I could put into the book.

Andrew: Yeah.

Stephenie: They're that much in line. So if you're expecting to see the book exactly as it is, you're not going to see that. But you are going to see the soul of Twilight, and that's what counts to me.

Andrew: Yeah. Awesome.

Laura: Awesome.

Matt: Awesome.

Stephenie: Okay, well, Elizabeth just walked in so that's my cue; I have to run over to the theater.

Andrew: All right, great. All right, well, Stephenie, thank you so much, this was a lot of fun.

Laura: Yeah, we really appreciate it.

Stephenie: Oh, absolutely. It was fun for me too!

Andrew: Awesome!

Matt: Aww.

Andrew: Good luck on your show today. I'm sure you'll do fine.

Matt: Good luck, Stephenie.

Stephenie: Oh, thank you!

Matt: We'll see you Thursday.

Andrew: Yeah, Matt and I are going to be at your L.A. stop, so...

Stephenie: Oh cool, cool! I'll see you on Thursday then.

Andrew: Yeah, definitely. All right, thanks a lot!

Matt: Thanks!

Stephenie: Thank you.

Andrew: Bye.

Laura: Bye.

Stephenie: Bye.

Matt: Bye.

Elysa: Bye.

Andrew: Okay, there it was. That was wonderful. That was a lot of fun.

Laura: Wow.

Andrew: Wasn't it, Laura?

Laura: That was awesome. She's so nice.

Andrew: Yeah. And many of you know that we do run a fan site and podcast for Twilight, TwilightSource.com, and also Imprint the podcast. So feel free to check those out if interested in what Stephenie had to say. I can't - do you think that J.K. Rowling would by annoyed that Stephenie thinks that Harry Potter - or Edward - would win in a duel versus Harry Potter?

Laura: I don't know. I'd be interested to hear what Jo would say.

Matt: Yeah. Hey, Jo, come on the show.

[Andrew laughs]

Laura: Come on the show, Jo. Fire back.

Matt: We're waiting.

Andrew: Yeah, now she has to fire back. She can't let that hang.

Matt: Have you gotten our e-mails, Jo?

[Andrew and Laura laugh]

This Week in MuggleCast History

Andrew: Okay, well, actually, today's actually a very big day for MuggleCast. It's actually the three year anniversary of when MuggleCast was first released.

Laura: Oh my God.

Andrew: August 7, 2005. Can you guys believe it? Three years. So this week we are going to do This Week in MuggleCast History, and why not go back to the very first episode? I'm just going to start it right from the beginning, and we'll only play like a minute, minute and a half, but...

Matt: Okay.

Andrew: You know, talk about it afterwards. So, here we go. Let's go back in time, turn on the time machines. [makes time machine noise]

Andrew: This is MuggleCast, MuggleNet.com's brand new podcasting feature: Episode 1 for August 7, 2005. If you haven't finished reading Book 6 yet please do not listen to this podcast, as we do talk about several different spoilers.

Ben: Welcome to MuggleCast. I'm Ben Schoen.

Andrew: I'm Andrew Sims.

Kevin: And I'm Kevin Steck.

Andrew: Loving this music.

Ben: This is the first edition of a brand new feature brought to you by MuggleNet.com. Each week our discussion will be centered around one topic. This week we'll be discussing the recently released sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. But first we need to take a look at this past week's news. Within the past week we've seen a lot of news for the fourth movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Laura: You guys sound so young.

Ben: A lot of brand new pictures have also been released. Kevin and Andrew, what do you guys think?

Andrew: Okay, well, I'm really thinking this movie...

Andrew: Who's that?

Andrew: ...will be one of the best ones yet. And I said that about Prisoner of Azkaban too, but this one I really think is going to be good. The director, Mike Newell... [pronounces New-ell]

Andrew: Newell! Newell, you idiot!

[Laura laughs]

Andrew: ...he's the director of Mona Lisa Smile, Four Weddings and A Funeral...

Laura: Listen to that audio quality. Terrible.

Andrew: [laughs] Okay, well, that's...

Matt: Who was that?

Andrew: That was me! That was nasally Andrew.

Matt: Awww! Twelve-year-old Andrew.

Andrew: [imitates nasal voice] I think this movie's going to be the best one yet. I've said that before. [snorts] But I really think so this time. I mean it.

[Everyone laughs]

Micah: Ben sounds the same.

Andrew: Oh geez. Ben...

Matt: [laughs] I know.

[Laura laughs]

Andrew: So does Kevin. And what's great about that episode was...

Matt: I agree.

Andrew: ...that I was so prepared. I had - I had a notepad with all the - everything I said about that movie in the first sentence, I had it all jotted down. I researched, like, you know, Mike Newell. I was looking into the films he's done. I was pretending like I was an expert on it, because when we first started that show, there was a little pressure to sort of be experts because we were like, well, you know, how are we going to do this? We need a way for people to rely on us so it was just, you know, [imitates nasal voice] "this movie, I think it's really going to be the best." So that was fun. We - I don't know if I've said it on the show before, but it took us so long. Initially, I was doing the intro to that show. Like to, you know, "Hey everyone! Welcome." But I just kept breaking down or, like, laughing and being so nervous every time I tried so then Ben finally was like, "Okay, let me do it." Wish we had the bloopers from that original stuff, but there it was.

Matt: Awww.

Andrew: Thank God I'm not nasally anymore.

Matt: That was the first episode, right?

Andrew: Yeah.

Micah: That's amazing. 150 episodes later.

Laura: Yeah, I remember listening to it, too.

Andrew: Yup.

Matt: I know, I know.

Andrew: Micah, now, you were a listener before, you know, you got...

Micah: For one episode.

Andrew: ...on to the site.

Micah: Yup.

Andrew: Did you - you listened to the episode. What were your honest thoughts about it?

Micah: My honest thoughts about it. I liked it. I mean, I thought that it had a lot of potential, clearly, and... [laughs]

Andrew: Meaning it sucked but it could get better.

Micah: No, because - hold on a second. Let me see if I have an e-mail here that I sent to Kevin all the way back then.

Andrew: Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

Laura: Yeah, I want to see if my thing in the staff forums is still there, because I think I was actually really mean. Oh no, mine was really nice.

Andrew: What did you say, Laura?

Laura: Well, Ben posted a topic in our staff forums just asking what everyone thought of Episode 1, and everyone was kind of commenting that they thought the episode should be shorter, and I agreed with that. I said, "Yeah, I'd say you want to go around twenty minutes shorter. I like the idea of a rotating cast, but I see no problem if Ben and Andrew want to sit in on them to make sure they're going the right way, since they're heading the project. Overall..."

Andrew: Damn straight!

Laura: "...I thought it was really cool and well done. Nice work." I was so nice.

Matt: Aww. You were so nice.

Andrew: Now, was that legitimate or were you lying?

Matt: What happened, Laura?

Laura: No, I don't recall not liking it. Like, I just remember a lot of people didn't like it, I remember, so I thought maybe I was one of them.

Andrew: Staff-wise.

Laura: No, I remember I was upset with you guys because there were no girls on the show. And I ranted a lot about that, but...

Andrew: Yes. You and a couple others.

Laura: Yeah.

Andrew: Anyway, so that's This Week in MuggleCast, looking back at some MuggleCast history. Let's see.

Matt: This Week in MuggleCast.

Make the Music Connection

Andrew: What's next? I know what's next!

[Make the Music Connection intro plays]

Andrew: Matt, you have some songs prepared for us this week?

Matt: Yes, I do.

Andrew: Okay. All right. Let's begin with Laura.

Laura: Oh boy.

Andrew: Here's your song.

["Funkytown" by Lipps Inc plays]

Andrew: What's the name of the song, technically?

Matt: [sings] Funkytown...

Laura: Wow. I don't even know what to say to that.

Matt: You do know the song, right?

Laura: Yeah. Yeah, I know the song. I'm just grasping at straws here to try and think of how it has any connection whatsoever to Harry Potter.

[Matt laughs]

Laura: Oh, shoot. I guess the only - damn it! I don't know. I guess I can just... [laughs] ...this is so stupid. In Book 3, when Harry couldn't go to Hogsmeade, he really wanted to go, so he really wanted to go to Funkytown, I think.

Andrew: I like that. I was thinking of Hogsmeade, too.

Laura: Okay, good, so I'm not the only one.

Andrew: It kind of is Funkytown if you think about it, you know?

Matt: It is kind of funky.

Andrew: If only it was in the '70s.

Laura: Yeah.

Matt: Yeah.

Andrew: Who's next, Matt?

Matt: I don't care. Someone choose.

Andrew: I'll go and fail.

Matt: Okay. Oh, I'll give you an easy one.

Andrew: Oh good.

Matt: Okay, here we go.

Andrew: Okay.

["If I Didn't Have You" by Mitchel Musso plays]

Andrew: Is that "You've Got a Friend in Me"?

Matt: No, it's "If I Didn't Have You" from Monster's Inc.

Andrew: Oh. Well, this is definitely Snape's song to Voldemort as Voldemort's about to kill him.

Matt: What?

Andrew: In the Shrieking Shack.

Laura: Wow, Andrew, wow.

Matt: Is that a joke?

[Laura laughs.]

Andrew: No. Okay, it's Dumbledore's song to Snape as in that one flashback where Dumbledore is telling Snape, you know, how much he trusts him and how much he's done for him.

Matt: Okay.

Laura: That's - that's pretty good. I can agree with that.

Andrew: Thank you. Thank you. I got to fix the audio problem where - I don't know if you guys noticed, but the lyrics on songs are never loud.

Laura: Yeah, I know. You can only ever hear the instruments.

Matt: You can really only hear the melody.

Andrew: Yeah. I don't - I don't know why that is, but I've got to fix that.

Chicken Soup for the MuggleCast Soul

Matt: Okay. And so now we're going to move on to Chicken Soup for the MuggleCast Soul for this week, and this week's comes from Polly Clair, 13, of Dallas, Texas. And she writes:

"Hello, MuggleCasters. First off I wanted to say that I hope you all had an awesome time down here for Portus, even though I was too young to go. I started listening to Imprint and I think it's really good. Now my Chicken Soup for the MuggleCast Soul isn't one about some fatal disease or getting me through last year of school, though you got me through my boring math class. My Chicken Soup is about the fact you guys got me through the nights when I thought I would just break down. When I was four years old my sister, who is now eleven, was diagnosed, the youngest person in my country to have bi-polar disorder. And in the past couple of years she's been showing signs of Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism. Our family recently got into a big fight with our school district, which automatically meant stress in my house. Stress in my house means I get yelled out because if someone yells at my little sister she throws things, and when she was two she broke my mom's front window of the car with her head. And on top of that, I apparently am the one who's expected to pick up after my sister has had little fits, and I have glass in my feet to prove it. So what I did to keep myself from totally breaking down is this: I will go into my room and play all the old MuggleCasts as loud as my speakers would let me. All your jokes and little quirks made it that much easier to forget the stress that I have that a normal thirteen year old shouldn't. I mean, come on, I just turned thirteen on the 14th of July. Oh well. Thanks for reading this. I love the show and I can't wait until your next live MuggleCast."

Andrew: Aww. Well, thank you, Holly. That was a very sweet e-mail.

Laura: Yeah, I'm glad we were able to help you in some way.

Andrew: All right, well, that does it for this week's show. People probably know that we had planned on this episode, 156, being our final weekly show, but then the Stephenie Meyer interview actually came sooner than we thought, so we decided to put that here and then delay the final weekly show until next week so we can do it justice.

Micah: Plus we're missing a couple of hosts that we'd like to have back for our final show, and they weren't able to make it this week.

Andrew: Right. Right. So next week we're going to have as many people on as possible, so it's going to be a fun time. But, of course, again, we're not ending; we're just stopping the weekly shows. We're going to do shows as often as possible. One other thing: check MuggleCast.com for a news post I made about calling in with your thoughts on the show as a whole and all that, and we're going to play a couple of them throughout the show next week. So I think that does it. Thank you, everyone, for listening.

[Show music begins]

Contact Information

Andrew: Thank you to Stephenie Meyer for coming on and speaking to us about the Twilight fandom and all that. It was a lot of fun. Before we let everyone go we want to remind you all about our contact information. Laura what's the P.O. Box?

Laura: That's P.O. Box 3151, Cumming, GA 30028.

Andrew: And as I mentioned, we also have the MuggleCast hotline. To call us if you're in the United States you can dial 1-218-20-MAGIC. If you're in the United Kingdom you can dial 020-8144-0677, and if you're in Australia you can dial 028335668. You can also Skype the user name MuggleCast, but remember no matter how you call us just keep your question or comment or whatever under sixty seconds and eliminate as much background noise as possible. You can also visit MuggleCast.com for a handy feedback form to contact anyone of us, or just use our first name at staff dot mugglenet dot com. I would recommend e-mailing us directly, because right, I know Matt and I - oh, and Micah - we're all having problems with our e-mail. I'm not sure what's going on, but I haven't been getting many e-mails. Matt hasn't either ...

Matt: No.

Andrew: ... and neither has Micah. And I think there's something wrong with something, so we're going to look into that. But also look at MuggleCast.com for a variety of community outlet links, including the MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Frappr, Last.FM, and the fanlisting and the fan forums over at MuggleCastFan.net. Follow us on Twitter.com/MuggleCast, Digg the show at Digg.com, and vote for us once a month at Podcast Alley.

Show Close

Andrew: Don't forget also on MuggleCast.com right now we have a banner at the top, Teddy Bears for Hope, and you can contribute to our little campaign we're running right now. Thank you, everyone, for listening. Once again, I am Andrew Sims.

Laura: I'm Laura Thompson.

Micah: I'm Micah Tannenbaum.

Matt: And I'm Matthew Britton.

Andrew: We'll see you all next week for Episode 157. Bye-bye!

Laura: Bye.

Micah: Bye.

Matt: Bye.


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Written by: The Transcribers