70,000 Twilighters Visit Forks

Did you go to Forks this year? Well so did about 69,999 of your friends. According to the Forks Forum and Chamber director Marcia Bingham 70,000 Twilighters signed the Forks guest book in 2009. Forks, Washington used to be a small logging town that got a few tourists a year for camping and hiking in the Hoh Rainforest. However, in 2009 tourism for Forks went up by almost 500 percent!! And that is all thanks to a family of bloodsucking vegetarians.

Stephenie Meyer has really reawakened and changed Forks. When you walk down the street that is downtown Forks you can’t help but notice Twilight, it is everywhere!! Every store has Twilight Products: the pharmacy has Bella’s first aid kit, the Locksmith has student ID’s and press badges, there are even whole stores that sell exclusively Twilight items. But don’t get me wrong Forks is still the hometown it has always been, the people who live there love it and they are so friendly. Most of them really love the Twilighters and what Stephenie Meyer has brought to their town. Some of them will even get into the action by pretending like the Cullens are really walking around. The Miller Tree Inn Bed and Breakfast that serves as the Cullen house actually will leave little notes signed by Esme for their guests.

Forks is an amazing town and a must have stop for all true Twilighters. We are just glad we could be a part of the big tourism boom. And we are all optimistic about 2010 as well “We’re going to beat this year,” Bingham predicted, looking ahead at 2010.

For all the great places to stop on any Forks trip, check out ExperienceTwilight.com. This site has all the locations described in the book, and a whole lot more!!

Did you go to Forks this year? Got any good stories? Share them with us here!!

Tinsel Korey Spreads the Love

When Christmas Rolls around we all can’t help but feel a spirit of giving. Well, Tinsel Korey has raised the bar this year! Tinsel Korey plays Sam’s beautiful fiance and “mother” figure to the wolfpack.

Most of you know that the Quileute tribe featured in the Twilight saga is actually a real tribe that lives in La Push, Washington. Tinsel made a visit down to La Push in September and really hit it off with Quileute nation, especially the students. When she went back to Vancouver for filming, she left a piece of her in La Push and thinks of them often, tweeting about them and mentioning them in basically every interview. So we should not be surprised that Tinsel decided to spread her Christmas Joy in their direction.  Since she does have a name that is also a common Christmas decoration, I guess that gives Tinsel an extra dose of Christmas Spirit because before she left La Push, Tinsel signed personalized autographed photos for every student at the reservation, they received these photos as a Christmas present and they were all very touched. Twilight Lexicon reports that Jackie Jacobs shared this story about how it all went down:

“I was moved to tears when she requested the student list from Stephanie at the front desk of the Tribal School and when she proceeded to write each students name on her photo I actually did cry knowing how much that would to mean to the kids”, says Jacobs.

But even as much as she loves the Quileute’s they are not the only ones that received some love from Tinsel this year. Twilight Examiner tells us that she also sponsored an coat drive to benefit the Navajo children and elderly in Rough Rock, Arizona. We are told that this event was very successful and I am sure that they all appreciate it in this cold weather.

Tinsel Korey plays the sweet Emily so well on screen, and now we know why. She is really a great example of what we all should be doing this holiday season. Nice Job Tinsel!!

What do you think of Tinsel’s gifts? Have any holiday stories of your own? We would love to hear them!

Forks Reality Show Update

Hey Twilighters!! Ok so a few days ago I gave you some info about a reality show starting in Forks, Wa, the hometown of Bella and the Cullens. Well, now I have a bit more info for you, including pictures courtesy of Chris Cook at the Forks Forum!!

The casting call took place today and will be continuing on until tomorrow. Tons of Forks locals, Twilight fans and not Twilight fans arrived at the Vagabond restaurant for their chance to be on this show and they all seem to be very excited. Forks Highschoolers: Heather Nelson, Taylor Pearson, and Lauren Henry are all show in the picture below filling out the questionnaires that will be used to determine who makes it in to the show.

Like I mentioned before this a reality show but there is no more information about the actual details of the show beyond that is a show “based on local residents life in Twilight’s hometown” What we do know is that television producer Zig Gauthier is getting some help from Dazzled by Twilight store owner, Annette Root.

I can’t wait to hear all the specifics of the show and see who made it in, We have a few friends down in Forks and it would be cool to see some familiar faces, plus I can’t wait to see how Twilight related it is, I mean how could it not be!! Stay tuned for more details!!

Got any details of your own? Did you go to the casting call? Share your stories with us!!

Forks Reality Show?

We definitely live in the era of reality TV. TV is more reality shows than anything else it seems. With everyone jumping on the Twilight bandwagon, I guess we shouldn’t be so surprised to hear about a Forks Reality show. That’s right, Los Angeles-based television producer Zig Gauthier has issued a casting call for Forks locals. What the show is about specifically has not been announced yet but here is what we do know.

Zig Gauthier is proposing to film a reality show in Forks that will star local residents. My guess is that it will be something along the lines of how there town has changed since Twilight and the Twilight craze. A post to the Forks Forum posted the casting call to their locals, giving them all a chance to be a part of this experience. Before you sell your house and move to Forks, Zig Gauthier is looking for permanent residents of Forks to be in this show.

In a phone interview with Zig Gauthier Forks Forum got us a little more information. Apparently Zig Gauthier has been working with Dazzled by Twilight owner Annette Root, and he stated that she was very helpful with the interviews. He also gave some more details about the casting call and what was going to be expected. Apparently Forks locals will be asked to fill out a one-to-two page questionnaire and will have their photo taken.

It will be interesting to see what come from this, what kind of show they make. We will keep you posted on all the little details, so stay tuned!

Do you live in Forks? What kind of Reality show do you expect? Join in the discussion!

Stephenie Meyer Day Part 3

Stephenie Meyer Day is on September 13th, which most Twilight Fans know is Bella’s Birthday, so it wouldn’t be complete with out Bella’s Birthday Bash. Bella’s Birthday Bash was hosted by Leppells and we were issued an invitation to come be at the party and sign copies of our book, Experience Twilight: The Ultimate Fan Travel Guide. The whole event was beautiful and I was so glad we could be there! Here are some pics of how everything was decorated!!

There were actually 3 cakes for Bella, but here is a pic of one of them!!

The Main event was the Twilight Music girls, another Twilight Inspired band that is one of my favorites!! They already have a couple CD’s available and they made an appearance at Twi-con this year. They gave everyone at the Birthday Bash an exclusive look at there new Song “The End” (which is my new favorite song) and I got some video to share with you!! Sorry it is so dark, I am so disappointed how badly it turned out, but the sound is perfect!!

They were really nice and took the time to talk and take pictures with the all us fans. I asked them a bit about themselves and how they got started and they told me that they were all musicians and friends who fell in love with the Twilight books (who can blame them!). When they discovered that they had all written songs about it, they decided to put them all together and start a band, hence the Twilight Music Girls!!

We also got a limited edition CD that is a live sneak peak version of their next album. Check it out they even autographed it!!

That night we also tried to go to the drum circle at La Push but unfortunately they had to start early do to the tides and we missed it. However we were there just in time to meet a very special guest, Tinsel Korey!! Tinsel Korey is the actress playing Emily, Sam Uleys Fiance in New Moon. She was very nice and she was there taking pictures and signing autographs as a fundraiser for the Quillette High School. I was able to get a picture with her and we even gave her a signed copy of our book, hopefully she will share it with others on the set!!

As you can see Stephenie Meyer Day was alot of fun and we can’t wait till next year!! We hope to see you guys at more Twilight Events!

Did you go to Stephenie Meyer Day? Share your Stories with us!!

Stephenie Meyer Day Part 2

Okay time for Part to of the Stephenie Meyer Day Saga!! While our author Katherine Kidd was doing the book signing, I grabbed the camera and checked out the festival. The main event for Stephenie Meyer Day is a festival at the park in the middle of town. It is full of vendors and great Twilight Photo ops that no Twilight Fan should miss. Bellla’s Truck was parked in the center and there are always people posed all over it, but i did manage to get a few shots of just the truck, check it out!!

Twilight fans were everywhere and who can blame them because there was so much to do. The vendor booths were everywhere selling all the greatest Twilight Merchandise that you can think of. There was Jewlery, stickers, buttons, candles, even Twilight scented products. Many of the vendors were making there crafts right there at the festival and it was fun to watch. Here are some pics:

The Forks Police car was parked behind Bella’s Truck so of course i needed to get a pic of that!!

Of Course I had my favorites although there was many to choose from. One of my favorites was Essence of Twilight which sold lotions and perfumes that smelled like how Stephenie Meyer describes the characters in the books. It was really cool and such unique product. I got some lip gloss that smells like Nessie and it smells so good!

The Post Office had a booth and they were selling special Postmarked envelopes with Twilight Logos. It was very cool!!

The booth that was smelling candles smelled so good and it had the coolest candles you have ever seen, even the bees loved them!! There special for the day was a candle that smelled like Bella’s Birthday cake and it really did. They even had a huge candle that was decorated like Bella’s Birthday cake.

98331 Gear had a booth and it was so busy i couldn’t even wedge in to get a picture of the booth, but know wonder because they were selling the coolest stuff. They have some new really great shirts and now they have buttons too that they were giving out free with purchase. I was able to get a picture of one of their Employees Reena and her Vampire Makeover, she looked so cute!!

The Band that was playing while we were there was called Spradlee and it was good Twilight influenced band that was actually from Forks. They appeared later at an event we were at, but I will tell you more about that later!!

The fun went on to spill out into town and there was so much to do all down the road. I ran into some fun people and events along the street, including some awesome Twilight Look-alikes.

The events didn’t end here, there is still so much more to tell. You will never believe the fun we had and the people we met so keep watching for the rest!

Stephenie Meyer Day Part 1

Hey Guys!!
We just got back from Stephenie Meyer Day in Forks, Washington and it was blast!! Thanks to everyone that came down to join us and get there book signed and stamped. We had a stamp that was exclusive to each event we were at (I will tell you more about that later) so if you got a stamp from us show it off to all your friends!!

There was so much that we did that I can’t even fit it all into one post so I will tell you a bit everyday and share with you some behind the scenes and photos you can’t get anywhere else!!

For anyone who is new Forks, Washington is the setting for all the Twilight Books and yes, it is a real place!! Every year Forks has a Stephenie Meyer Day, hosted on Bella’s Birthday which is September 13th. The event lasts all weekend and there are tons of fun Twilight activities to do over the weekend. As you know, we have a book Experience Twilight:The Ultimate Fan Travel Guide so we were doing 2 different book signing events.

The first event was at 98331 Gear, an awesome Twilight store in the heart of the real Forks, Washington owned by good friend Staci Chastain. 98331 Gear has the coolest Twilight Clothes you will ever find with the best phrases including “Phasing On the Fly” and “Let US Prey” IT is the place to go shopping for Twilight Merchandise so bring lots of money to spend!! Unfortunately, we weren’t there to shop, but we did have lots of fun signing books and meeting fans. We heard some great stories about all of your Twilight travels and how much the book has helped!! Author Katherine Kidd signed so many books that her hand still hurts from it!!

 

While we were there, Staci was doing some great Twilight makeovers that were so popular even MSN came to check them out!! Staci did one of her makeovers on camera to kind of show the fans how it is done. Her daugther was such a good sport sitting through the whole thing, Thanks Devon!! Anyway, it should be on MSN, I just don’t know when, as soon as I know I will keep you posted!! But I did sneak some pictures of the camera crew and a few others from the day so check them out!! Sorry they are a little blurry, I had to get them fast and quiet!

Here are some pics of a Twilight Volvo that was driving around the front of the shop. Sorry about the shadows, this was a very bad spot to try and take pictures!

It was so much fun and the adventure is not over yet!! Stay posted to hear the rest of our adventure!!

Were you in Forks for Stephenie Meyer Day? Were you one of the fans we met? Share your stories and pictures with us!!