It’s Friday! In my house that means it’s time to do some tidying up for the weekend, which is generally when the houseguests show up.
As you can see, we’ve been doing lots of tidying up on this site. There are new links on the Meg in the News page under Cool Stuff…
And be sure to check out the new Meg Cabot International links under Cool Stuff, as well as new covers from all over the world (there tons of other covers, of course. These are just the ones we’ve had a chance to put up)! They’re looking for Ambassadors in France and the UK, people…(and yes, you do have to live in those countries to qualify).
And be sure to check the Tour page soon…my public events for my tour next month in Poland, Germany, and France will be going up next week!
Also, one last Haiku Winner who chose Missing You still hasn’t gotten his/her copy. Please e me from the same email address you sent your winning haiku to let me know if it’s you!
I really thought I’d answered everybody’s questions in my last entry, but some of you had even MORE questions. So here are some answers below, just to make sure we have things really nice and tidy before the weekend:
Question: Meg, what do you think about Anne Nicole being dead?
Answer: Like the rest of America, I am bewildered and saddened by this tragic news. What will happen to the baby? And Sugar Pie? Honestly, I really just don’t know what to say. Anna Nicole did nothing but make us laugh (usually not on purpose, but that’s OK), and the world is a lesser place without her.
Q: So does this Scholastic thing mean you won’t be writing anymore teen books for HarperCollins?
A: Correct. I will be finishing up the books for HarperCollins for which I am currently contracted, then all of my future teen (and, obviously, tween) books will be with Scholastic. But HarperCollins will always be the home of The Princess Diaries series, All American Girl, the Mediator series, and all of the other books I had so much fun writing there, including a few that are yet to come out, like Pants on Fire and Jinx…and, of course, the mangas!
Q: What about your adult books?
A: Good question, and one I realize I forgot to address in my last entry. I am still at HarperCollins for my adult books. The Queen of Babble series is a trilogy that will end with the third book, Queen of Babble Gets Hitched (or does she? Heh heh heh) next year.
The Heather Wells series is a trilogy as well, which means that right now it’s slated to end with Big Boned, the book I’m currently working on.
I promise readers will not be left hanging by the endings of either Queen of Babble Gets Hitched or Big Boned (don’t worry, though—no one dies—well, except the murder victim in the case of Big Boned).
But where we go from there with the adult books remains to be seen. That’s what’s so fun about turning 40. You just don’t know! Are you going to have a pimple in the morning, or a wrinkle? I’m excited to find out what the future holds. (Well, excited might be the wrong word for it, especially when you’re talking about pimples…)
Q: Can you tell us what your new teen trilogy Airhead is about?
A: Sorry, I really can’t. Like it said in the press release, while Abandon is a modern retelling of the myth of Persephone–
Meg’s interpretation from her 10th grade Geometry notebook of The Myth of Persephone…Oh, all right, Scholastic, yes, you can use these for the Abandon cover if you really want to
—Airhead is a bit of a departure for me, and I can’t really even explain the plot without giving away the twist in the story—
More from Persephone in the Geometry notebook. This one is titled: “Wait—you’re kidnapping me and forcing me to live in the Underworld with the spirits of the Dead? Ew.”
Like I was saying, since Airhead’s got a little bit of everything—drama, comedy, romance, mystery, even a touch of sci-fi—it’s hard to define.
This one is called: “Eek! I’m in the Underworld now! Where are my clothes?”
If I had to compare Airhead to one of my previous works, I’d say it’s a more grownup All American Girl, with a tiny bit of Princess Diaries and some 1-800 thrown in for good measure (but it’s definitely not a paranormal).
This one is called: “Great. I’m trapped in the Underworld with a hot guy, and I can’t find my clothes. I’m going to be banned in Texas for sure.”
Q: You wrote a short story called “Allie Finklestein’s Rules for Boyfriends” for an anthology called Shining On to help raise money for CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation, which will be out in the US in May 2007 (it came out in England last year). Is that the same Allie as Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls?
A: Wow, good eye! No, it’s not the same Allie. But I got the idea for the concept (and name) from that short story. I just enlarged the idea of a girl who had a lot of rules for her boyfriend(s) to a girl who had a lot of rules for life. And who is nine, not sixteen.
Q: Why are you leaving Florida during hurricane season for Indiana? Aren’t there tornadoes in Indiana?
A: Yes. That is why my barn has a storm cellar. Although actually the part of Indiana I am from is not flat at all, but known for its very pretty hills, some of which are more than 1000 feet above sea level (and thus making the Hilly Hundred possible). So while tornadoes do happen, they are a rarity. We used to always pray one would hit the school. But one never did, at least in my day.
Q: How are your migraines doing now that you’ve given up TaB?
A: Well, I definitely have less of them! Nothing, not even the preventive migraine medicine I am currently on, prevents migraines 100%. But instead of having them every day, I now only get them a couple times a week, which believe me, is a BIG improvement.
And while I don’t miss diet soda or artificial sweeteners (which really surprised me) any more, I just COULDN’T give up my morning cup of Earl Grey tea with milk. So I still have that. And I couldn’t cut chocolate completely out of my life. Who could? That would just be cruel. Nor could I give up the biggest migraine culprit of them all, red wine, because all the food I love (pizza, pasta, meat, cheese, pizza, chocolate, pizza) goes so well with it!
But hey. At least it’s good for your heart (in moderation)!
Finally, I would just like to point out that on the episode of THE OC that aired on my birthday, Taylor was wearing a shirt that I own but can’t wear anymore because my boobs have deflated due to lack of carbonation; Caitlin was wearing a pair of shoes that I also own; and Julie was wearing a dress I once tried on, but looked really bad in. On her it looked stunning, of course.
What does this mean? I don’t know. Except that the connections between me and the OC don’t end there. Stay tuned to this blog for my Valentine’s Day entry to see what I mean….
Now I have to go clean out the cat box (I told you, Friday is housekeeping day)!
More later.
Much love,
Meg
