STEPHENIE MEYER

AGE: 35
OCCUPATION: Author of the Twilight series of young adult vampire novels
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 0
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 0

PRO: Heartland vampires — now there's a twist. The latest installment, Eclipse, unseated Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on the USA Today best seller list. A Twilight movie has been cast.

CON: Meyer says she's often asked, "What's a nice Mormon girl like you doing writing about vampires?" In this post-Romney age of full disclosure, she may be called upon to make a "Kennedy speech" about Vampirism: what is it, exactly? A cult?