AMELIA ATWATER-RHODES
...on why she chooses to write about vampires [100k MPEG-3] or [140k WAV] ...on criticisms that people may act out scenes from her books [65k MPEG-3] or [90k WAV]
	VIDEO
Visit with the teen queen of vampires Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K
	AUDIO
CNN NewsStand's Sharon Collins reads a passage from one of Atwater-Rhodes' latest books [125k MPEG-3] or [175k WAV]
	PRODUCER'S NOTEBOOK
Teen novelist shows spirit

Top-selling teen author pens vampire tales

February 25, 2000
Web posted at: 4:22 p.m. EST (2122 GMT)

(CNN) -- Concord, Massachusetts is a town haunted by the presence of literary giants like Emerson, Hawthorne and Thoreau. But a new spirit in town is doing some haunting of her own.

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes may look like an average teenager, but looks are deceiving. She is a top-selling author who published her first book when she was only 14.

Unlike her literary predecessors, her subject matter isn't philosophical. Amelia writes about vampires, and she has just signed a deal for two more books.

"I like writing about vampires, just because they can do more than humans can do," she says, "It's not normal life... because obviously, I experience normal life as a teenager everyday, and so by writing I can get away from that and do something different."

Writing is only part of the equation; Amelia has created a complex vampire world with more than 250 characters.

CNN NewsStand's Kerry Rubin visited with the teen queen of vampires and learned more about how she works and what she hopes to do next.

Review: 'The Embrace'
September 3, 1999
14-year-old author creates a 'well-realized fantasy world'
July 29, 1999
Salon review: 'The Vampire Armand'
October 22, 1998
Books: Reviews -"Pandora" by Anne Rice
March 24, 1998

Concord, Massachusetts

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