LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

It’s a success story that’s something to bite home about.

“Breaking Dawn,” the fourth and final novel in the “Twilight” series, arrives in stores this weekend, concluding the vampire romance that’s been keeping readers up all night since the series debuted in 2005. The books have a monster hit among young adults and beyond, with the first novel, “Twilight,” selling 3.5 million copies, and “Eclipse,” the third installment, topping even “Harry Potter” on the bestseller list. A film adaptation is due in December.

It’s all been a lot to take in for author Stephenie Meyer, a wife and mother of three who told CBS News she never expected she’d be published – much less writing bestsellers.

“I never dreamed of being a writer,” she said. “And I know that just sounds horrible because so many people do and they don’t get this opportunity.”

Meyer sent out 15 query letters for “Twilight” with little response until getting an agent. A month later, she had a deal with book publisher Little, Brown.

It’s a similar tale to the rejections suffered by J.K. Rowling before “Harry Potter” struck gold, a comparison Meyer’s humbly aware of.

“In my head, you know, J.K. Rowling and some of the other authors that I’ve always loved are in this other place, you know? So this put me up there with the real authors,” she said. “And that was, you know, a lot.”

Meyer was inspired to write “Twilight” after a particularly vivid dream featuring the series’ star-crossed lovers, Bella and Edward – a vampire who resists his temptation to suck human blood.

“It was June 2nd, 2003,” she said. “It was this boy and a girl in a meadow. And they were having this conversation that I was eavesdropping on in my dream. And it was about how compelled they were to be with each other and yet how hard it was for him not to kill her every second they were together. And I just thought, ‘Whoo!’”

After waking up in the middle of the dream, Meyer didn’t want it to end – so she kept it going on paper.

“I wrote it down. I had made my dream into a real existence,” she said. “And I was hooked on writing from that day.”

Now, Little, Brown has reportedly printed 3.2 million copies of “Breaking Dawn” and the “Twilight” film is poised to tap into a nation of love-thirsty teenagers.

But if the Sun ever rises on the vampiric success of “Twilight,” Meyer won’t just dry up and blow away.

“I was in a good place beforehand,” she said. “I didn’t really have a Cinderella story because Cinderella is, you know, this abused shut-in, right? I have this great family. And I live in a place I really love. And so my life wasn’t bad to begin with. It was already good.”

“So if everything goes away tomorrow,” she added, “and no one ever picks up another one of my books and no other movies are made and I just stay in my house, I’m gonna be OK with that.”

Copyright 2009 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
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