Woo Hoo!  It is Friday again, and that means we are releasing a portion of the Stephenie Meyer Fan Junket!  We are following up last week’s release with more goodies about The Second Short Life of Bree Tanner!  If you can’t listen, then have fun reading the transcript below…

[audio:https://twilightseriestheories.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Bree-Tanner-Clip.mp3|titles=Bree Tanner Clip]

Q:Well we did fall in love with Bree, and we were trying to figure out why she was destroyed.  We can’t figure out a rule that she broke.  She didn’t reveal herself to a human, she wasn’t in a fight… So we want to save her… So, why? Why is she not around?

SM: She’s not around because, there are the specific rules, there are general rules… Don’t attract attention.  And, the specific rules, and armies are against the rules.  So once you’ve screwed up enough, so that people are noticing, and people are noticing big time with this, you all are gone!  If they just said, “This member of this wild coven was bad, and this one was bad… We’ll kill them!  But you guys did okay.”  That’s not how you rule with terror.  You know!  Iron fist, man!  You all suffer!

(Everyone Talks!)

SM: She would have been fine if she hadn’t been a part of that group. Yah… Bad decisions.  Her and Riley both.

Q: I was just wondering if Jane had an ulterior motive with that?  There was something between her and Jane.  Did Jane see her (Bree) in the trees?

SM: No. Jane didn’t know.  Jane came into it thinking… She didn’t know what the newborns had been told. She had that one exchange with them. She doesn’t know. And, what has this girl (Bree) already told them? You know, she was ready to… She wanted to make sure the statements on the table at the end were the ones that they should be.  Even though she’s not in control, she is pretty high up.  She has a sense that at some point it’s going to hit the fan with the Volturi, that the Cullen’s are of special interest.  But at the same time it would embarrass her, the people in charge (her bosses), if she slipped up. She was all flying on her own with this one.  But she was impatient, she was like, when are they going to do this? We’re (Volturi) getting embarrassed because this all out there.  So she finally goes to Victoria and says you have to do something or I’m going to have to kill you all.  She doesn’t want to do that.  She wants the Cullen’s to get killed. And, she’s all along making her own decisions which could get her in a lot of trouble.  You know?  So, she’s very tense for Jane. She doesn’t usually have to fly solo for stuff like that.

SM: You guys have all seen the “Decisions, Decisions” clip right?  I love that!  It’s not in the Bree novel, but I love how pissed she gets with Felix.  She’s on edge.  She’s very calm on the exterior, but she could screw up and that’s a very scary thing for her.

Q: When I first picked up the Bree book, myself, the title “The Short Second Life…”  Then I started reading the beginning and she talks about how as a vampire you don’t really remember that first life and this is the new chance.  I got a little Twi-sophical on it… I just wanted to know, from your perspective if you think the life of a vampire is a ‘Redemption Story’?  Like a rebirth… Second chances?

SM:  I think in some ways it’s exactly like your first life, because you get to decide. Right? Which side you’re on? And, some people are like Victoria, and they want the power like the Volturi.  They kind of the same as who they were. So you could change in your second like, but most of them… some of the do!?! I think that Laurent waffles a little bit.  You know, he makes an attempt. It’s not impossible to change but it’s very difficult.  Which is how I see human nature… How many people do you know… I think I know of two people that have totally turned their lives around out of hundreds of people. It’s a really hard thing. I think it’s the same thing for the vampires.  Now Jasper’s a good example of someone who did find redemption in the second half of his second life.  But I don’t think that just being given a second chance necessarily mean you’re not going to do the same thing you would have before.  Now you just have the chance to do it more violently, and kill more people… Yes!  (Laughter)

Q: What happened to Bree?  We talk about souls, after Eclipse especially,what happened? Does she have one?

SM:  See, I feel like that’s a question that is for later… If I kept going.  That’s something that they don’t know at this point. Right?  Bree didn’t know. And I haven’t gone there yet.

Q: Have you decided in your mind?

SM: Yah.

Q: She (Bree) does say she wants to be with Diego. She thinks I want to be with Diego now. Does she really get to be with Diego in the end?

SM: Vampire Heaven… That would be a cool book, right?  There are a lot of angel books out. I haven’t read any of them… I’ll have to find some good ones.

Q: Instead of killing people they have to go around helping people?!?!

SM: It’s like the original ‘Little Mermaid’.  Like the sprites that have to go around doing good deeds for their soul.  maybe that’s it.  Vampire chores…

Q: I was leaning more towards cannibal mermaids later?

SM: Yah… I love the cannibal mermaids.

Q: We talked a little bit about Riley, and how Bree Tanner changed some perceptions about Riley. I had a lot of pity for him… Originally.  Then I read Bree Tanner and it takes it away a little bit. Ok, maybe a lot!

SM: We see him get about as dark as someone can get!  And, yah, I had way more pity for him until I got to a point where I realized what he would have done to Diego. And, that he would have been a part of that. He really liked Diego, but because of that tie to Victoria he was able to cross even the line of friendship and any kind of decency. So, by the end he is not a pitiable figure. He loses that ability. I still, when I read Eclipse, when I look at the end, that moment when Edward gives him a chance and he could rethink it… And he knows what she is, because of what he’s just gone through with Diego.  He didn’t care about the others. I think he’s about to find out she doesn’t care about him, but he just betrayed his friend in the most spectacularly horrible way!

Q: Do you think there is any remorse when he (Riley) did it? Or do you think it was just  completely *snap* you have to send them to Victoria.

SM: Absolutely.  Oh, I think that was really hard. I think that when he came to her. He knows his rules. And when Diego says, “Hey. Look man. I gotta tell you something” And he’s already been through this before with other Vampires, who he has taken to her. And he knows that he’s going to be destroyed.  He doesn’t know how bad it’s going to be, because at this point she’s super freaked out. Right? And she wants to know everything he knows and so it’s not just a matter of, you know,  tearing him up and lighting him on fire at this point. Uhm, so I’m sure he begged for him and said let’s do this, this way. We don’t have to do this. We don’t have to know. And she says, “No, this is what we are going to do.” And he went along with it.

7:08

Q:  Yeah, that killed me too. But even more than that, was how he manipulated Bree into believing, ‘Oh, he’s going to be up there, he’s going to meet you there.’

SM: It’s a new Riley when he comes back. Like he has become the worst version of himself possible. And kind of  had to really embrace the darkness. And when he comes to her he’s so. He’s very Victoria at that point. He’s manipulated her and he has all these little secrets and he’s just stringing her along. He knows that she knows. And he knows, that she…is gonna die and he’s just leading her along at that point he’s almost enjoying himself. (everyone breathes)  Because he’s gone so dark, he’s like you’re all  going to suffer now too.

7:47

Q: Honestly, I was thinking when I was reading Bree: That. Okay, this is. He probably came to this realization, right before he died when Victoria. You know, when Victoria and what with Victoria’s been  string him along with. I mean, it one of those things where I hate to think that they are all alike but they experienced kind of a similar with Bree. Not completely, blindly walking into the battle but for her,just to have that hope that, ‘I’m going to be with Diego.‘ And Riley having that hope that he’s going to be with Victoria in the end.  And…

SM: “When she gets what she wants then we’ll be together and all this nonsense this will all be over.” Right? And then for him to realize that all those lies that he was string along and thinking these newborns will buy anything and how dumb they all are, then he realized that’s me. (yeah) That’s what, you know, what she did to me and. I wonder if he got around to hating her? If he had enough time? (incoherent) Would you have time when your dying, Would the grieving get to the point where you’d real how hateful she is?

8:39

Q: Well and so did he or did Victoria? Victoria killed Diego and and make Riley watch or did he participate?

SM: Oh, no. Oh, no. He had to participate.

8:45

Q: Yeah,that’s kind of the question to me, like to make that full change, I would think he would have to be physically involved with that torture that  they put Diego through.

SM: Yeah, hold him down. Help out. I think that Victoria probably took some pleasure in that, right? And showing her power there. “I can make you kill your friends. I can make you hurt your friends.” You know, she’s pretty twisted. And uh, she probably dies too cleanly. Doesn’t she?

(Everyone agrees)

SM: I mean. I mean I  wanted Edward to have a chance to finish it himself. Right? Because all this time he’s protecting Bella, and he’s keeping her away from it, but he doesn’t get to finish it. And it’s kind of like for me, it was, he felt bad about it, but it was a great moment for him to be able to, you know, avenge all this crap that they didn’t bring, they didn’t  deserve and like finish it. It’s over, and I don’t have to worry about this anymore. But then that does mean she dies pretty clean and where’s the fun in that!

(laughter)(the witch is dead)

9:46

Q:  My question was, in terms of Riley, was there anything else, that you think Bree Tanner changed about the conceptions of Twilight Universe?

SM:  (thoughtful breath) I don’t know.

9:56

Q: And did you do it on purpose? Like were there anything you said.  I’m going to clarify this point, so I’m going to use Bree Tanner as a means for doing  that?

SM: You know, not really. I mean  after wards I kinda hoped that people would have a better perception of Vampires.  The Twilight Vampires, every one is like. “Oh they’re so..sweetness and light or whatever, I don’t know they’re so soft.” And you know there’s a world full of the real thing. So you get to see some of that.(yeah) I don’t know. It was just fun. Like killing a ferry boat full of people, that was fun!

(Everyone talks) [[she was like was there news about that? I didn’t read about it in Eclipse.]]

SM: We spend a lot of time in Washington. We do the Ferry’s a lot, and you kinda. While I was writing, you sit there kinda thinking looking around.(room chimes in) Look at All these people and they’re kind of isolated.

(Everyone talks!!)

SM: Well if you going to get to Seattle you’ll have to go over to the peninsula and like (ride the ferry) The ferry’s are very safe. Like Gray’s Anatomy aside, they are very safe. And their fine. Very pretty, very pretty trip.

11:16

Q: Coming of the Bree – Riley stuff, Diego was tortured that’s how they know the “ninja line”

SM: She asked him, like everything and at first he wasn’t talking. But I have like a really strong believe that you don’t, that you can resist torture forever. Like you know you have in the TV shows were people says, Oh, I’m going to take it. Oh, your gonna talk. You know pain is a really forceful kind of  emotion. So I that he ended up telling the whole story and we know exactly what they learned and when they learned it and the whole all of their little inside things. ‘Cause she (Bree) asked for things that only he would know.  So that they would be able to keep her around. ‘Cause already Riley’s aware of that she and Fred. She’s the only one that’s ever close to him. Fred is the on guy. That if Fred had participated in this battle it might have turned out differently. And like if they could have got him there, they could have won, probably.

(It was anyone’s game)

SM: It was anyone’s game. It was a toss up. If they could have figured out, I mean, Edward would have known who he was, they could have neutralize them somehow? But that was a game changer if he’d been there. And Riley’s thinking, we’re going to have him with us, but you know this is going to be cake.

12:35

Q: That was one of our most asked question: Is he (Diego) still dead? Because it’s not so spelled out that he’s dead.

SM: Diego?

(Everyone talks) Yeah, Yeah.  He’s gone.

SM: The stuff that Riley’s knows….

(Everyone talks) I think the people wanted him to still be alive. Yeah, Yeah. I was hoping he was able to get away.

SM: Killing people is hard. I mean it’s and interesting thing to do as a writer, Uhm but it’s always hard, and I know I’ll get some crap, because some people live in my books a lot of times. It’s hard to kill people and you kinda want until it makes sense in the story, that there’s no other way.

(Everyone talks) I’m almost glad he did because Bree is dead too.

SM: You know there’s a balance to tragic romance. Right? The reason why Romeo and Juliet is still around is because they both died. I remember seeing Miss Saigon  for the first time and the end I think, That’s crap! He didn’t love her. He totally moved on! How does this rate? She shoots herself but he’s off and married and happy…Come on!

(Everyone talks) I don’t like to watch sad things. Yah.

SM: You know I don’t do it on purpose but, some of my favorite things to re-watch are the emotional angst; Steel Magnolias, but I have to be tricked into  it. I won’t go see a movie if I know if it’s going to be tragic, I have a really hard time doing that.

(Everyone talks and laughs)

Thanks so much to *JEN* for transcribing the audio! (Jen Brewer Creator, Owner and Administrator for TwiTwitter with help from StoryMaster. http://twitwitter.ning.com/)  You are AMAZING!

[audio:https://twilightseriestheories.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Bree-Tanner-Clip.mp3|titles=Bree Tanner Clip]

To read our previous posts from the Stephenie Meyer Fan Junket 2010 click HERE!

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All Photos: Julie Adamson