Meyer caught in Twilight plagiarism row

Stephenie Meyer, author of the hugely successful Twilight vampire books, has been accused of plagiarism in her novel Breaking Dawn. US entertainment website TMZ reports that a young American author named Jordan Scott, 21, is claiming that Meyer's final book in the series rips off key plotlines from her vampire novel, The Nocturne. On her website, Scott says she started writing her book in 2003, when she was 15, and had it published in 2006. Breaking Dawn did not come out until two years later.
 
TMZ has got hold of a 'cease and desist' letter from Scott's lawyers. They argue that passages in Meyer's book contain a "striking and substantial similarity" to Scott's. These include a post-wedding sex scene, a passage about the death of a main character’s wife dies, and a scene about a woman carrying a demonic child with evil powers. Scott also claims that the dialogue in each of these passages is near-identical to hers.
 
The 15-page legal letter includes lengthy comparative excerpts. One passage in Scott's book reads: "Her lips brushed against mine before she rolled off me, onto the sand... I said, 'I will try to be careful, love; I will, I promise you. I'll be gentle as I can, but it is going to hurt you a little'... There was silence. It could have been no more perfect."
 
This is the scene at a similar point in Meyer's novel: "His lips brushed down my neck to the tip of my shoulder... 'I promised we would try,' he whispered, suddenly tense. If I do something wrong, if I hurt you, you must tell me at once.' The moment was so perfect, there was no way to doubt it."
 
Meyer and her publishers, Hachette, say Scott's claim is "completely without merit". A spokesman said: "Neither Stephenie Meyer nor her representatives had any knowledge of this writer or her supposed book prior to this claim."
 
Meyer's four vampire romance novels have sold more than 53 million copies worldwide and two have already been made into films, starring British actor Robert Pattinson, with a third about to start shooting. ·