New Twilight Novella Incoming

That sound you hear is a million voices crying, "Squeeeee!" in unison, because Twilight author Stephenie Meyer is releasing another book. Don’t get too excited, though, Twi-Hards: it’s just a novella spin off that follows one of the characters in Eclipse.

Meyer originally wrote The Second Short Life Of Bree Tanner back when she was deep into finishing Eclipse, before the first book had even hit shelves. It riffs on the death and vampiric rebirth of a young girl who has a minor role in the story and will be played in this year's movie by Tideland’s Jodelle Ferland.

Speaking on her official site (via USA Today), Meyer outlines the story’s history, including the fact that it was originally intended for a very different purpose. “I’m as surprised as anyone about this novella. When I began working on it in 2005, it was simply an exercise to help me examine the other side of Eclipse, which I was editing at the time,” says the author.

“I thought it might end up as a short story that I could include on my website. Then, when work started on The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide, I thought the guide would be a good fit for my Bree story. However, the story grew longer than I anticipated, until it was too long to fit into the guide.”

She’s apparently ended up providing early copies to screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, Eclipse director David Slade and some of his cast, so they can take a look at Bree’s story and flesh out her character. Oh, and they had to burn their manuscripts when they were finished reading. Paranoid, much?

Of course, now talk has begun to turn to what Twilight film producers Summit might do with the story. Given its relatively short length, the likelihood is nothing at all, though taking into account the box office of the first two movies, we’re sure they might cook something up to squeeze some more cash out of this profitable franchise. Animated short with Ferland voicing, a la Kill Bill’s anime story segment or the Animatrix? Could happen.

The book will hit shelves on June 5th, and part of the price of every copy sold will go to the Red Cross.