I’m off to my world tour today but I want to make sure you hear this here first since the press release went out today:
THE PRINCESS AND THE (GREEN)PEACE
Bestselling Author Meg Cabot Reveals that Princess Mia Thermopolis Will Pen Historical Romance Debut, RANSOM MY HEART:
(Avon A/an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; ISBN 9780061700071; $13.95; On-Sale 1/6/2009)
Princess Mia Thermopolis (a.k.a. Meg Cabot) to Donate All Proceeds to Greenpeace
NEW YORK, NY; September 15, 2008 – Today, international bestselling author Meg Cabot announced that Her Royal Highness, The Princess Mia Thermopolis, heroine of Cabot’s global bestselling Princess Diaries series, will be celebrating the release of Cabot’s Princess Diaries Volume X: Forever Princess (the final volume in the Princess Diaries series) with the publication of HRH The Princess Mia’s debut historical romance title, RANSOM MY HEART, being released by Avon A (an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) on 1/6/2009.
This royally-connected high school student penned the romance as her senior project. Cabot notes that Princess Mia has always been an outspoken animal rights activist and committed environmentalist, and that she will donate her worldwide proceeds (advances and royalties) for RANSOM MY HEART to Greenpeace.
“And though Mia will not, as she once dreamed, be spending her gap year working for Greenpeace manning a rubber dinghy, keeping whales from getting harpooned, income generated from this book will help someone else do so,” says Cabot.
In recognition and respect of Princess Mia’s dedication to green initiatives, Avon A will print RANSOM MY HEART on 55#/416ppi Enviro100 Book, which contains 100% post-consumer fibers, created by FSC certified Cascade Mill in Quebec.
Meg Cabot, who assisted HRH The Princess Mia on the finer points of writing RANSOM MY HEART, is also a supporter of environmental causes. Cabot’s preferred mode of transportation around her Key West hometown is a bicycle. Pink, of course. Her back-up bicycles match the bright colored covers of her #1 bestselling Princess Diaries series. The 41-year old author once had a learner’s permit when she was 23, but let it lapse when she moved to New York City. Her no-speed beach cruisers with giant seats fit her new tropical island lifestyle.
Cabot believes it’s important to try to be environmentally aware: she recently launched an activist section on her website (megcabot-staging.htnwbil5-liquidwebsites.com), where she encourages readers to become involved with community activism and provides information about her favorite causes, including Greenpeace and the Environmental Defense Fund. “I’ve always been conscious that we have a responsibility to leave Earth a cleaner place than we found it, so future generations can enjoy it as well,” says Cabot on her website.
“It’s wonderful that Princess Mia has so generously donated her advance and royalties in support of our campaigns,” says Greenpeace Executive Director John Passacantando. “As the father of two daughters who are activists for the environment and avid readers of the Princess Diaries series, Princess Mia’s generous gift to Greenpeace means a great deal. Whether Greenpeace is fighting for solutions to global warming, saving the great whales or preserving ancient forests, we will work to fulfill Princess Mia’s wishes to protect the planet’s most fragile ecosystems.”
About Ransom My Heart:
In celebration of the final volume of the Princess Diaries series, Forever Princess, Avon A/an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers is proud to announce a true publishing event: a sweeping, deeply sensual medieval romance by none other than Her Royal Highness, Princess Mia Thermopolis of Genovia. RANSOM MY HEART is an epic tale that will delight fans of the historical romance genre.
Hugo Fitzstephen is a tall, handsome knight who has just returned from the Crusades with a life-altering secret. Finnula Crais, “the fair Finn,” is an adventurous beauty with more than a few secrets of her own. Finnula needs money for her sister’s dowry, and fast. Luckily she happens upon a knight in need of rescue in a local tavern – a nobleman who evidently has returned home to England from the Crusades with saddlebags of jewels, money, and lots of it. Finnula reasons what could be simpler than to kidnap him and hold him for ransom? Well, for starters, Finnula could make the terrible mistake of falling in love with her hostage . . . and falling into bed with him. Now they’re stuck with one another, and their lives-and the lives of everyone they know-will never be the same.
About Royal Highness, Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo:
Mia Thermopolis is a sometime vegetarian and full-time animal-rights activist who cares deeply about the environment. She often laments her looks, and continually struggles to understand her new role in the world as princess of Genovia. She is known for biting her nails, being concerned about her life to an exaggerated degree, and writing in her diary whenever she can. Mia lives with her family and cat, Fat Louie, in New York City. Visit her online at www.miathermopolis.com (coming soon!).
The Final Princess Diaries installment, in which you can read about Mia’s travails trying to become a published author, will be in stores January 6, 2009!
About Meg Cabot:
Meg Cabot was born on February 1, 1967, during the Chinese astrological year of the Fire Horse, a notoriously unlucky sign. Fortunately she grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, where few people were aware of the stigma of being a fire horse—at least until Meg became a teenager, when she flunked freshman Algebra twice, then decided to cut her own bangs. After six years as an undergrad at Indiana University, Meg moved to New York City (in the middle of a sanitation worker strike) to pursue a career as an illustrator, at which she failed miserably, forcing her to turn to her favorite hobby—writing novels—for emotional succor. She worked various jobs to pay the rent, including a decade-long stint as the assistant manager of a 700 bed freshmen dormitory at NYU, a position she still occasionally misses.
She is now the author of over twenty series and novels for both adults and teens, selling fifteen million copies worldwide, many of which have been #1 New York Times bestsellers, most notably The Princess Diaries series, which is currently being published in over 38 countries, and was made into two hit movies by Disney. In addition, Meg wrote a series of novels written entirely in email format (Boy Next Door, Boy Meets Girl, and Every Boy’s Got One), a mystery series (Size 12 Is Not Fat/ Size 14 Is Not Fat Either/Big Boned), and a chick-lit series called Queen of Babble.
Meg is now writing a new middle grade series called Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls, as well as an edgy new YA series, Airhead, both of which debuted in Spring of 2008.
Meg currently divides her time between Key West, Indiana, and New York City with a primary cat (one-eyed Henrietta), various back-up cats, and her husband, who doesn’t know he married a fire horse. Please don’t tell him.
About Greenpeace:
For more than 35 years, Greenpeace has been on the front lines of environmental action across the globe. From the first handful of activists who leased a small fishing vessel to stop nuclear testing off the coast of Alaska to the thousands of activists now working to push U.S. policymakers for comprehensive and science-based climate change policy, Greenpeace is one of the boldest and most independent campaigners for the planet. Today, Greenpeace has more than 2.9 million supporters around the world and engages a diverse array of effective strategies to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
Greenpeace’s effectiveness is recognized and respected in the global community, as evidenced in part by the fact that Greenpeace is the only environmental group with formal standing in the United Nations. Beyond the high-profile tactics for which it has become famous, Greenpeace employs world-renowned scientists, policy experts and grassroots strategists who devise and spearhead targeted, thoughtful campaigns in 42 countries. These efforts are aimed at engaging the most influential leaders in our society for wholesale environmental change. Learn more online at www.greenpeace.org.
RANSOM MY HEART
Avon A/an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; ISBN 9780061700071; $13.95; On-Sale 1/6/2009
Author’s note:
Through this book, the heartfelt dreams of a princess who has longed to become a published author will finally be realized. And isn’t that what books are for–so that readers (and writers) can vicariously live their own dreams? Well, through RANSOM MY HEART, we finally get to find out what princesses dream of–AND help the environment! It’s a total win-win situation. How often do THOSE come along?
Thanks for reading, everyone!
More later.
Much love,
Meg
