-LRB- OPRAH.com -RRB- -- When the first book of the `` Twilight '' series was released in October 2005 , no one could have guessed the phenomenon it would become . Four years later , 70 million copies have been sold worldwide . The books have spent 143 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list , and the first movie in `` The Twilight Saga '' grossed $ 380 million at the box office . The story , a love triangle between a vampire , a human and a werewolf , has ignited an international frenzy , and the woman behind it all is 35-year-old author Stephenie Meyer . Once a stay-at-home mom , Stephenie says the idea for `` Twilight '' came to her in a dream . `` It was two people in kind of a little circular meadow with really bright sunlight , and one of them was a beautiful , sparkly boy and one was just a girl who was human and normal , and they were having this conversation . The boy was a vampire , which is so bizarre that I 'd be dreaming about vampires , and he was trying to explain to her how much he cared about her and yet at the same time how much he wanted to kill her , '' Stephenie says . `` It really captured my imagination . '' That dream became Chapter 13 of `` Twilight . '' Oprah.com : Get your Twilight '' primer Before the night of the dream , Stephenie says she had lost herself a little in the work of motherhood . `` I was really burned out . I really had gotten into that zombie mom way of doing things where I was n't Stephenie anymore , '' she says . '' -LSB- Writing `` Twilight -RSB- was a release . That was the dam bursting . I 'd been bottling up who I was for so long , I needed an expression . '' Though she 'd been married for 15 years , Stephenie says she did n't tell her husband at first about her new passion . `` My husband thought I 'd gone crazy . I 'd barely spoken to him because I had all these things going on in my head , and I was n't telling him about this weird vampire obsession because I knew he 'd freak out and think I 'd lost my mind , '' she says . At first , Stephenie was documenting her dream only to make sure she would remember it , she says . `` The dream was just something I was so interested in , and it was so different from what my everyday was at the time , '' she says . `` I just wanted to remember it so badly . That 's why I started writing it down -- not because I thought this would be a great story for a novel . '' Oprah.com : Read an excerpt from `` Twilight '' Though Stephenie had been an avid reader all her life , she says she was never a writer before `` Twilight . '' `` It seems kind of presumptuous to me -LSB- to think -RSB- anyone else would want to read the things that are in my head , '' she says . `` I did n't think of it -LSB- as a book -RSB- . I did the dream . And then I wanted to see what would happen with them . It was just me spending time with this fantasy world , and then when it was finished it was like , ` This is long enough to be a book ! ' '' Before `` Twilight , '' Stephenie says she read every type of book except for horror . `` That was the genre I just knew I was too chicken for , '' she says . `` I read a little bit of everything . ... When I was 8 , I was reading `` Gone with the Wind '' and `` Pride and Prejudice '' and all that , not knowing it was n't my reading level . '' Oprah.com : Gift ideas for every reader on your list Now that `` Twilight '' is a huge success , it 's hard to imagine any literary agent rejecting it . But Stephenie says she 'd submitted it to plenty of people before she was signed . `` I got nine rejections , five no answers and then one ` I 'd like to read more , ' '' she says . Stephenie says it was her sister who really pushed her to keep submitting it to more agents . `` She was the only one in the world who knew what I was doing , '' she says . These days , the `` Twilight `` series is more than just a literary hit . The first two movies have also created a stir and catapulted three young stars into the limelight . British actor Robert Pattinson , who plays the lead vampire Edward Cullen , is now an international heartthrob . `` I knew that the problem was going to be Edward , because he 's the perfect vampire , '' Stephenie says . `` How do you cast that from your pool of human actors ? '' When producers found Robert , Stephenie says it was a perfect fit . `` He 's got something about him . He does n't look like everybody else . There 's something unusual , '' she says . `` There are moments where he looks exactly like he did in my head . '' Stephenie says casting Bella , the book 's protagonist , was a bit easier . `` There 's plenty of people who look like the girl next door , '' she says . `` We were really lucky -LSB- to cast -RSB- Kirsten Stewart , who is a phenomenal actress . I did n't know if we were going to get that caliber . '' Though Twi-hards , as fans are called , know most everything about the series , Stephenie says there is one secret she 's never revealed before . `` There was a different ending to `` New Moon '' originally , '' she says . `` It was a much quieter book . It was very much all in Bella 's head . '' Oprah.com : Are you a Twi-hard ? Take the quiz ! Stephenie says fans have her mother to thank for `` New Moon 's '' current dramatic ending . `` My mom 's like : ` You know , Stephenie , maybe a little more action at the end would be a good idea . Maybe you need that , ' '' Stephenie says . `` And she was right , as usual . '' Find out more about `` New Moon '' Her mother 's suggestion prompted Stephenie to introduce the Volturi , an all-powerful coven of vampires living in Italy , sooner than she 'd planned . `` That 's kind of my favorite part now , and it 's there because my mom told me it would be better that way . '' From The Oprah Winfrey Show © 2009 Subscribe to O , The Oprah Magazine for up to 75 % off the newsstand price . That 's like getting 18 issues FREE . Subscribe now ! TM & © 2009 Harpo Productions , Inc. . All Rights Reserved .