Bloody hell: Young author accuses Stephenie Meyer of plagiarism

Illustration by Jillian Tamaki

Our diligent friends at TMZ are reporting that a 21-year-old author named Jordan Scott has sent a cease-and-desist order to Stephenie Meyer’s publisher, claiming the Twilight author’s upcoming book, Breaking Dawn, contains some suspiciously familiar material.

Scott alleges Breaking Dawn, the fourth instalment in Meyer’s teen-vamp saga, has “striking and substantial” similarities to Scott’s 2006 book The Nocturne, part of a trilogy she began writing she was 15. TMZ has the letter, which suggests both books contain a “post-wedding sex scene” and a scene involving “a woman who's sick because she's carrying a child with ‘evil powers.’”

Meyer’s rep has said it’s all malarkey.

Given the sheer ubiquity of the Twilight books, this is a potentially devastating accusation. I cannot comment on the solidity of Scott’s claim, so I will deflect it entirely and ask: is it possible that the vampire genre has been sucked dry? That it’s become bloodless, drained of ideas, long in the tooth, a pale version of its former self?

(You think this is the full extent of my vampire wordplay? Hells, I’m just warmin’ up!)

Anyways, your opinions on the topic of Meyer and the vampire genre — as well as more jagged jokes — are welcome.

-- Andre Mayer