Meg's Diary

The End…or a New Beginning

It ended exactly where it all started…at the library, of course!

I mean, I spent HOURS as a kid and teen at the library, escaping into a world of books. Everything was just BETTER at the library (besides fantastic books, the library had air conditioning, candy–from vending machines–and bathrooms where no one pounded on the door and told you to hurry up, none of which I had at my house).

So how great was it that the Princess Diaries series got to go out with a bang in the greatest library of all?


No, not Joe the Stone Lion outside of AEHS, Mia’s school…guess again!

I had an amazing time at the New York Public Library Princess Diaries event on January 9. I can’t even describe to you what a blast it was–how beautifully Jack Martin and an amazing team of YA librarians decorated the room and ran the program, how fantastic Austin Scarlett was when we introduced the tiaras for the tiara auction to raise funds for teen library programs (you still have until January 31 to bid!); what good sports Mo Rocca and Dylan Lauren and USA Weekend creative director Robert Slagle and illustrator Chesley McLaren and Seventeen Magazine editor-in-chief Ann Shoket and all the other designers who were there were; how amazingly well the Switchblade Kittens played…I’m actually at a loss for words!

So I guess I’ll just have to tell you about it in pictures:

It all started at the New York Public Library:

You know, the one with the lions out in front?

You walked into this big room that had been amazingly decorated….

…with Vera Wang Princess gift bags on every chair!

The tiaras that were on display looked great (if I do say so myself):

(Austin Scarlett’s and mine.)

And there were books everywhere….

(OK, they were all mine….)

And the Switchblade Kittens were selling their amazing Rebel Princess ware in honor of their new album:

I was running around in a tiara I’d borrowed from my friend Lisa (who took these awesome photos) because she had one that had SNOWFLAKES on it (there is a deep symbolic meaning to the snowflakes which you will know if you’ve read Forever Princess)….

…while the Switchblade Kittens were warming up…

Then Austin Scarlett showed up, looking fantastic, as always….

And it was time to stop goofing around….

Hi, Mom!

…and get to work!

I finally got to meet the people from Greenpeace (the organization to which all the author proceeds from Ransom My Heart are going). They were soooo nice (and yes, Mia had another check for them, which she gave me to give to them…shhhh).

And the designers who were there (pictured below: Robert Slagle, USA Weekend; Austin Scarlett; Krista Blomberg, designer for Tommy Hilfiger and Mo Rocca) were such good sports!

Illustrator Chesley McLaren and designer Amy Amato looked royally regal in their tiaras!

Maggie Siegel (of Dylan’s Candy Bar, and an Indiana University grad!), Leah Linder (of Dylan’s Candy Bar, also an Indiana University grad!), and of course, Dylan Lauren of Dylan’s Candy Bar, tiara designer extraordinaire, looking fab!

Soon the room filled up!

And Jack Martin kicked off the event with a royal introduction….

Austin and I got to work introducing the celebrity tiaras that are being auctioned off to raise money for teen programs at NYC library branches all this month!

If you ask me, we did a heck of a job….

…and got a lot of laughs.

Then I did my talk about the Princess Diaries series, and how hard it is to say goodbye to Mia.

I will admit, there were some tears.

Followed by some hugs.

The Kittens were ready to go after my book talk.

They rocked the house! (My favorite songs from the album are ‘Size 12 is Not Fat’ and ‘Brown-Eyed Boy’—you can guess who that song is about!)

What a book signing looks like from an author’s perspective (if she’s lucky):

Then it was finally time to say goodbye to Mia and everyone and go home.

I had a blast!

Until I got home and found that my entire kitchen and front hallway had flooded because someone in an apartment near mine had jammed so much CORN down their sink that it had regurgitated into mine and overflowed all over my floor. BACK TO REALITY.


Not the kind of corn that was floating all over my kitchen floor. Sadly.

And then I had to get the super to come and wet vac it all up before it warped my wood floors. AT ELEVEN O’CLOCK AT NIGHT.

And when I left for my signing in Long Island the next day I had three plumbers in there snaking my drain.

I also had no Internet all week because it was BROKEN. Oh, and my doctor found a big lump in my boob so I had to go get an emergency mammogram so I thought I had cancer all week but guess what? IT WAS JUST A BIG LUMP OF FAT. Or, more probably, corn.

Oh, yeah, and I also misplaced all my best jewelry and thought I’d been robbed but just as I was about to call the police I found it all in the pocket of my purse where I keep my gum. SO THANK YOU AMBIEN for robbing me of all memory of putting it there. I am now switching back to Sominex.

So that is a glimpse into my SUPER GLAMOROUS AUTHOR LIFE.

Um, where was I?

Oh, yeah, but seriously, thank you to everyone who came to both my NYPL and Lake Grove signings. Special thanks Rachel G. for the adorable tiara earrings, Kaila for the fantastic handmade card, and Diana for the amazing chocolate and female-centric CDs.

Special thanks as well to Vera Wang Princess for providing the goody bags; Seventeen Magazine for providing the media promotion; HarperCollins; Jack Martin (again) and all the YA librarians who worked so hard on this signing, all the tiara designers (remember, the bidding continues all month long!), my publicist Rachel Breinen, my agent Laura Langlie, and everyone else who helped out!

The folks from Greenpeace have also been so great. Did you know Mia and I have our very own page on the Greenpeace website? Well, we do! You can send a Ransom My Heart/Greenpeace e-card, and even read a Q and A between us.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t help tearing up at this lovely Forever Princess review that someone sent me, and then doing the same thing over this one, too.

And did you know there’s a Meg Cabot fan club in Hungary? Well, someone told me that there is. Sweet!

And now I’m finally home in Key West, where my friend Beth is visiting with her friends Bob and Bob for her birthday, and where temperatures are expected to plunge to an unseasonable 65 degrees! It’s horrendous, but somehow we’ll muddle through, I’m sure.

In the meantime, I’ll be judging the entries from the Forever Princess trailer contest, and sharing the best of them with you soon (though the competition is fierce)! Judging is now closed, so no more entries, please!

But you’re free to go online to discuss the trailers, the books (Forever Princess and Ransom My Heart), and whatever else your heart desires on the message boards! Just remember to hide those spoilers!

Thanks again to all of you, and remember: There are 18 days left in the tiara auction! Plenty of time to talk your rich childless friends into bidding (or to sign up for extra shifts to make some extra $ to bid on your favorite). Just think, how glam will your bookshelf look with something like this sitting on it????

I’m just saying.

XOXO to you all.

More later.

Much love,

Meg

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