Meg Cabot graciously took the time to answer some questions about her busy schedule, her many book series, and new installments to look forward to reading soon.
Head to your bookstore on Tuesday, September 15 for Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Stage Fright, sure to be a hit with young girls everywhere.
Chick Literature Examiner: Meg, thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions for your Examiner chick lit fans, I really appreciate it. I can only imagine how busy you are, so for starters what is on your to do list today?
Meg Cabot: Thanks for interviewing me! I'm a big fan of the Examiner, which always seems to be covering topics that pop up on my Google Alert....
My to do list today is cRaZy because I'm leaving for a book tour (in Brazil of all places...but my readers are pretty multicultural)!
Today I have to
--finish this interview
--write a quick blog entry
--finish the book I'm writing and send it to my agent (PRESSURE--3,000 words left)!
--get a new computer from the MAC store because my old computer broke and they said they couldn't fix the old one before I leave for my book tour
--get my nails done (VERY IMPORTANT!)
--talk to my editor about the other book I just turned in (yikes)
--go buy wine to take to a friend's wedding anniversary party for dinner tonight
--answer an email from my friend who is going back to school--Can you imagine going back to school at 42? Good for her!
--catch up with all the reality shows I missed
--PACK!
And it's still only noon and the only thing I've finished is this interview. WISH ME LUCK!
CLE: With over twenty-five book series published and new installments for some released all the time it's amazing you are able to keep them all straight and so fresh. With new releases for Allie Finkle, Airhead, a new paranormal series Abandon, and (yay!) a new Heather Wells book, how do you decide when it's time to work on each one?
MC: Usually when my editor tells me to hurry up and turn one in because it's due! Seriously, though, I have a calendar listing when all the first drafts are due, then the completed manuscript, etc. That calendar's filled up until around 2012 I think. It's OK though, because these are all book ideas I came up with and submitted proposals and chapter samples for, hoping my publishers would love them as I did (and they did, or they wouldn't be on the calendar). So I like looking at the calendar and going, "Oh, good, I get to work on _____ now!"
CLE: You went to college to study art and returned to creative writing later in life. Did any of the characters in your published works make an appearance in your earliest stories?
MC: I'm eternally grateful that all of the books or stories I wrote in high school or college ended up getting rejected! The stories I came up with back then didn't follow the rule of "Write what you know" and aren't anything like what I write now (but I thought they were very "deep" because they were so sad). Fortunately Judy Troy, a great writer and writing workshop instructor I had in college, took me aside one day and said if you have the gift to be funny it would be a waste not to use it, since making people laugh is actually harder than making them cry.
So my job now is to make people laugh, because that's what I'm good at, just like my brother, who is a police sargeant, is good at protecting people. We all have our thing we're good at. The trick is just to figure out what that thing is.
CLE: Considering you write "chick lit for all ages", how different does each age group react to meeting you in person at your book signings?
MC: Oh, I don't think it varies by ages at all! It's really more by person. You can get outgoing 10 year olds and very shy 60 year olds. I've had 17 year olds cry upon meeting me (I know the feeling--I cry sometimes when I see myself, too, especially first thing in the morning), and then 45 year olds who just gush like teenagers. It's great! So I never really know what to expect, except not to expect anything. That's pretty much my life philosophy.
CLE: You have mentioned that some of your characters are good examples of how you felt growing up. Is there one character that is the most like you?
Although most of what they've been through, I've been through (tiaras aside), I wish I could be more like my characters! I'm not a vegetarian or super environmentally conscious like Mia in The Princess Diaries, but I'd like to be! I was never good at math or computer games like Em in the Airhead series, but I'd love to be. I love good food like Heather in the Size 12 mysteries, and did work in a dorm, but I'm not brave or determined to right wrongs like her. I love fashion like Suze in the Mediator series...but I can't see ghosts.
And though I love animals like Allie in the Allie Finkle series, I'm more shy than she is, and I didn't have a book of rules! I guess I give my characters some experiences I had, but most of their qualities are ones I daily only aspire to!
CLE: On the 15th of this month the fourth Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls book - Stage Fright, will be released. How much of Allie Finkle is you at nine years old?
Most of the facts of Allie's life--having "mean girls" in her class and two annoying little brothers, wanting a kitten and to be a veterinarian when she grows up--that's all me (and a lot of 9 year olds, I think)! I had a group of diverse friends just like Allie, and another girl totally wanted to beat me up...until I talked her into being friends instead (Rule #1--Talk fast)!
In Stage Fright, Allie realizes she might have another dream--to be on the stage!
But then she doesn't get the lead role in the school play, something that also happened to me. Learning to deal with rejection and still carry on with your dream is hard at any age. In Stage Fright, Allie not only deals with not getting the part she wants, but with a friend who says the most dreaded words of all: "I hate you!" All very autobiographical! I think girls (and even some boys) of all ages will relate!
CLE: Finally, because I love Heather Wells, can you give us any clues as to what's in store for Heather in the next book?
Heather's definitely having a hard time finding a wedding dress in her price range that compliments her figure--always a challenge! Meanwhile, her brand new boss just happens to be planning her wedding too...and she's making Heather feel a little inadequate because she's so much more organized (she has a bridal binder). Plus, Heather's adjusting to living with her boyfriend Cooper...on the same floor of their brownstone. And of course, it wouldn't be a Heather book without a murder: someone's trying to kill Heather's ex's new wife, Talia, who comes to Heather for help...not about the murder attempts, but about a sticky situation that involves some bridal blackmail. It's a very wedding-y book...especially for someone who was originally planning to just elope! Poor Heather.
CLE: Thank you so much for answering these questions. I hope you have a lovely time in Brazil!
MC: THANK YOU!
For more about Meg Cabot visit:
Meg Cabot provides chick lit for all ages
Meg Cabot's Heather Wells mysteries are a must read
Meg Cabot says she is working on fourth Heather Wells book
Comments
Oh, thank you for this interview, Stacy and Meg. It was a fantastic find; just what I needed today.
Wow, great interview! Meg Cabot is one of my favorite authors.
St. Louis Book Examiner
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