TIME reporter Lily Rothman asks the author of Twilight about her new book, The Host: When you have a book or a movie about young people, I’m sure the question of role models comes up and I know with Twilight some of the criticism we heard was about whether Bella was a pushover or Edward was sort of too aggressive. How do you think Melanie holds up as a role model for young women?

Twilight author Stephenie Meyer: You know, I like to write about stories that I think are interesting. I never stop and think, ‘Oh, you know, this is a role model for people.’ It’s fiction. The main character is an alien. It isn’t a teenage girl. It’s an alien who is in a teenage girl’s body. I don’t really feel like we should be looking for our role models in fiction.

Stephenie Meyer understands that mothers and fathers are
nature’s role models. A functional pair is provided for every child conceived.