Author Stephenie Meyer talks about work after 'Twilight'

NEW YORK, March 28 (UPI) -- American author Stephenie Meyer says penning her book "The Host" was a freeing experience after her "Twilight" vampire novels became first a literary phenomenon, then a series of blockbuster movies.

"It was freeing," Meyer told United Press International Tuesday while promoting the film version of her futuristic, alien-invasion love story "The Host" in New York.

"I started writing this while I was still working on the 'Twilight' books and I just wanted an escape from the editing and the pressure. That world became more populous than I had intended it to. So, I didn't think about separating the stories. ['The Host'] just was its own story. It was a different world and had different rules and very different people," explained Meyer, who is also a producer on the film.

"When I'm writing a story, it's kind of like when you're on set. You have that day's thing to do and you kind of get the bigger picture at the end when you watch the film put together. In the moment, you're looking at this scene and the emotions for this moment and everything and when I'm writing, I'm kind of doing that. I'm very focused on where the story is in this moment and then you look at the bigger picture when you're done and actually get more levels out of it."

So, what made "The Truman Show," "Simone" and "Gattaca" filmmaker Andrew Niccol the perfect person to write the screenplay for and direct "The Host?"

"Nick Wechsler, the other producer, was like, 'I think we can make this into a movie.' And I was like, 'I don't think we can.' He said, 'I think we can.' He was right. But he asked what my favorite science-fiction movies were and my very favorite science-fiction movie is 'Gattaca,'" Meyer said.

"For me, I like science-fiction when it's about people's lives and choices and reactions, with the added element of some fantastical element that we don't have to actually deal with in our lives. I think Andrew was calling it 'social science-fiction,' which is what he is drawn to as well. We were perfect for each other because he understood everything so well and he is such a phenomenal writer. I didn't think he would do it. It was like: 'Yeah, sure, Andrew Niccol's wonderful, if we could get him. That would be a dream world.' And then it was, which was nice."

Co-starring Saoirse Ronan, William Hurt, Frances Fisher, Diane Kruger, Max Irons and Jake Abel, "The Host" opens nationwide Friday. Set on Earth in the not-too-distant future, the film is about a young woman who fights to maintain her humanity after an alien from another planet inhabits her body, tries to erase her memories and attempts to take over her life.