A dim light fell on the country this weekend, as Stephenie Meyer's first book in the "Twilight" series went to the cinema and dazzled 16-year-old girls across the country and people who act like them. For the rest of us, bewildered is probably a better word to describe what happened.

All weekend, girls and the boys they dragged with them were lining up several hours in advance just to watch the quirky love story of human Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen. Students in Provo were particularly interested.

Meyer graduated from BYU in 1995 with a bachelor's in English. Because of this inside angle, The Daily Universe requested an interview with the 34-year-old author last week However, we were snubbed. After a few hours of searching, our reporter finally tracked down Meyer's publicist's e-mail address. But the publicist sent us an e-mail telling us Meyer was on much deserved time off. That's publicist-speak for "She's not going to grant you an interview, so don't bother us."

I'm willing to give Meyer the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure her publicist didn't even pass the message along that her alma mater's newspaper requested an interview. If Meyer has time for a self-indulgent cameo appearance, she has time for a 15-minute phone call.

We don't fault Meyer for being a little self-indulgent. She has achieved a degree of success few thought possible after J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" turned normal people into ravenous fans. We would, however, fault Meyer if she thought she doesn't need to talk to us. We may not be ABC or MTV or some of the national media outlets that have interviewed her, but we are her school. It'd be a shame if all her new-found fame and fortune has made her too cool for us. After all, some might call her books a fluke.

Then there's the possibility Meyer is just embarrassed to talk to us. For characters who are supposed to be chaste, Bella sure didn't look like she wanted to wait for marriage when she had her pants off for Edward. They only actually kissed, but they did it with her pants off. The entire film is just as sexually taunting, with Bella and Edward continually tempting themselves for more. I'm not sure I would call that chastity. But who could resist? Bella is attractive and mysterious — just the sort of human flesh Edward would want to sink his teeth into.

And then there's Edward. Men everywhere, be prepared to meet the Edward Cullen standard. Not only is he fast, strong, attractive, clever and otherwise talented, but he sparkles. Really. But for being all those things, it's unfortunate Edward was bitten when he was 17. Imagine an eternity of all that teenage angst and drama. The Cullens call graduating from high school over and over again a family joke. I call it an unliving hell.

What exactly has captivated female audiences across the country, I'm not sure, except that the "Twilight" series seems to be an eccentric fantasy come true, both for Meyer and the people who read her books. I'd like to emphasize the word fantasy, in case there is any doubt that is all it is.

So maybe it's just a little fantasy of ours to do our job. Part of that is talking to influential alumni as the voice of the Brigham Young University community. We're no celebrity gossip rag, but we can be a little self-indulgent too. She's welcome to call us later. Our phone number is a lot easier to track down.

Joshua Flake is the news editor at The Daily Universe.

Copyright Brigham Young University 24 Nov 2008