Publishers Can't Resist Twilight Fanfic; Happy Birthday Bram Stoker

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Simon & Schuster hopes fanfic will bring 50 Shades of profit; Orhan Pamuk recommends Zen for Obama; Google doodles Bram Stoker; Ellen Hopkins has two new books on the way.

Twilight fanfiction writers just keep getting book deals. Fifty Shades author E.L. James wasn't the only person who had the notion to transpose Bella and Edward's timeless romance in other settings. And she's not the only one who's sold Twilight fanfic to a top publishing house. Simon & Schuster have announced their purchase of Beautiful Bastard and its sequel Beautiful Stranger by Christina Lauren (the pen-name of writing duo Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings). The books began as The Office, a series that reimagined Twilight's lead couple in a fraught workplace romance. No word on how much the authors got for their work, but sources have described it as "substantial." Rejection-hardened authors aren't too amused:

Another Twilight fanfic book sold! I clearly miscalculated by writing something intimate, original, and interesting. I shall remedy this.

— Roxane Gay (@rgay) November 8, 2012

The books are due for publication in February and May of 2013. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Google wishes Bram Stoker a happy birthday. Whoever is in charge of Google's Doodle operation has decided to take the feature in quite the literary direction lately. They celebrated the 161st anniversary of Moby Dick's publication this year last month, and today they're honoring Dracula author Bram Stoker, who would have turned 165 today had he been bestowed with the same immortality as his most famous literary creation. The stern black-and-white drawing has a nice, creepy Victorian feel to it. [Google.com]

Orhan Pamuk wants Obama to read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. As they do with most interviewees, The New York Times Book Review asked Orhan Pamuk which book he would recommend to American presidents. The answer of this critically revered Turkish Nobel laureate might surprise you. He didn't choose some pedantic political tract or obscure, high-fallutin' novel. He choose the multi-million bestseller Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. He says he often gifts the book to friends, because it's "a great American book based on the vastness of America and the individual search for values and meaning in life," he respondes. "This highly romantic book is not a novel, but does something every serious novel should do, and does it better than many great novels: making philosophy out of the little details of daily life." [The New York Times]

Ellen Hopkins has two new books in the works. Ellen Hopkins is perhaps best known for her novel Crank, a cautionary novel about drugs that made it onto NPR's Best Y.A. Novels list. Fans of troubled teen narratives will be happy to know that she has a deal fro two more Y.A. novels, to be released through Simon & Schuster's Margaret K. McElderry Books imprint. The first on deck will be Rumble, about a "nihilistic teenager who undergoes a life-changing accident." The other is unnamed at the moment, and release dates are still pending. [Washington Post]

Watch Timothy Ferriss disembowel a bird to sell books. The 4-Hour Chef purports to teach readers how to cook "like a pro," learn "anything," and live "the good life," which apparently involves slaughtering birds in the woods. At least that's what we're getting from the trailer for Timothy "Four-Hour Workweek" Ferriss' new book. Pre-order your copy now! 

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.