Stephenie Meyer has announced that she will be releasing a new novella on June 5, just weeks before “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” hits theaters. The new novella, “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner” takes place during the events depicted in “Eclipse” but is written from the perspective of a minor character. Bree, a “newborn” vampire recruited by villainous Victoria to kill the book’s heroine Bella Swan, is the main character of the novella.
“It’s a surprise,” says Meyer on her Web site. ”I never intended to publish this story as a stand-alone book. I began this story a long time ago before ‘Twilight’ was even released. Back then I was just editing ‘Eclipse,’ and in the thick of my vampire world…I started writing from Bree’s perspective about those final days, and what it was like to be a newborn.”
The short story was meant to be a published as part of the upcoming “The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide,” but the books publisher thought it was too long to be a part of that book. Instead, they wanted to publish it as a separate book.
Meyer doesn’t want anyone to think she’s just looking for another pay day off of her phenomenally successful series. From 12 p.m. on June 7th to July 5th the entire story will be available at www.breetanner.com for free. ”You all have bought a ton of my books,” Meyer tells fans on her site. ”I wanted to give you this story as a gift.”
If you feel like your “Twilight” collection isn’t complete without every word of the saga inscribed on real paper, not to worry. Little, Brown is putting out a hardcover edition on June 5th as well. One dollar from the first 1.5 million copies sold in the U.S. will go to the Red Cross International Response Fund.
