Back on October 6, 2005, American author Stephanie Meyer first released the "Twilight" novel to the world, and little did she realize that the vampire love story would become an international phenomenon that would inspire a mega movie franchise.
The book became such a hit that the author penned three more novels to complete its saga - "New Moon," "Eclipse," and "Breaking Dawn." Not to mention, the books were even translated into five films starring former couple Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart as Edward Cullen and Bella Swan.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of "Twilight," Meyer wrote a brand new book called "Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined" that switches Edward and Bella's roles. Instead of having a guy vampire, it's the female lead named Edythe who thirsts for the blood of an ordinary teenage boy named Beau.
"I wanted to do something fun for the 10th anniversary," Meyer told Good Morning America, according to Mashable.
Meyer said that the character of Bella has often been met by criticisms because she was always the damsel in distress waiting for Edward or her best friend Jacob to save her. So this time, she created a stronger female lead.
"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," Meyer explained. "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."
All in all, what Meyer hopes fans will understand about her new book is that it's just a love story, and there's no need for one gender to be more superior than the other.
"The further you get in the more it changes because the personalities get different," Meyer said. "It's just a love story, it doesn't matter who's the boy and who's the girl. It's really very much the same thing. My hope is that maybe the younger readers may be introduced."
Before writing "Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined," Meyer actually tried writing a different "Twilight" novel called "Midnight Sun," which shares Edward and Bella's love story, but is told by Edward's point of view instead of Bella's.
A lot of fans got very excited for the project, but it never materialized since Meyer got exasperated after a few chapters of the book were leaked online.
