The author of “Twilight” has a unique way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the hit vampire romance novel.
Stephenie Meyer has reimagined the blockbuster novel with gender-swapped characters. She told “Good Morning America” on Tuesday that in the new 442-page “Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined,” original hero Edward Cullen is now Edythe, and heroine Bella Swan is a boy named Beaufort (Beau for short).
The book was released Tuesday.
“I wanted to do something fun for the 10th anniversary, and the publisher wanted like a foreword, and I thought, ‘Well, maybe something more interesting,’ ” she said.
The wildly successful franchise resulted in more than 150 million books sold and a series of successful films starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.
Initially, the book starts out the same, Meyer said, but there are some changes as the reader delves further into the new book because the characters’ personalities are slightly different. But at the heart is still the story that made the books and movies the subject of obsessive fandom.
“It really is the same story,” she said. “It’s just a love story. It doesn’t matter who’s the boy and who’s the girl. It still works out.”
Meyer said she was motivated to make the switch because of questions she received at signings about Bella being a “damsel in distress.”
“It’s always bothered me a little bit, because anyone surrounded by superheroes is going to be in distress,” Meyers explained. “I thought, ‘What if we switched it around a bit and see how a boy does,’ and, you know, it’s about the same.”
But Twi-hards shouldn’t get too excited about a new series starring Edythe and Beau, as Meyer doesn’t see it happening.
“I think that this is just one version with Beau,” she said.
