I’m really excited about the publication of this book (and not just because it’s always exciting to have a book published. It’s exciting just to finish writing a book, let alone get it published)!

But there are a couple of reasons that I’m particularly excited about Abandon.

Yes, like the very nice April 26th review in the New York Journal of Books says, Abandon “puts a new spin on the Greek myth of Persephone. . . .”

But, Meg I can hear you asking, didn’t you actually do that before with Avalon High (which was a sort of a modernized re-imagining of the myth of King Arthur)?

The difference between Avalon High and Abandon, as the reviewer goes on to say, is not only that “one is drawn right into the story, all the while trying to reconcile how this new take on an ancient myth is going to play out. The author is able to capture a sexy, angst-filled sensibility that is a popular and common thread in much of the recent offerings in young adult fiction,” but that “ . . . the author is also clearly not averse to tapping into darker elements.”

I know what you’re thinking: Meg Cabot? Dark?

But as I mentioned yesterday in my piece on the Huffington Post on how “Reading for Pleasure is Serious Business,” being a teen is dark (or at least, it was for me).

(I’ve actually gone fairly “dark” before. I’ve been writing YA paranormals—starting with The Mediator series, about a girl who helps the dead move on, and the 1-800 series [which has now been re-issued as the Vanished series] on which a Lifetime television show starring Vivica Fox called Missing was based—since the year 2000.)

But Abandon is a story I’ve been working on since I got the idea for it in high school. And when I posted the drawings from my Algebra notebook about it on this blog way back in 2006, you guys were so supportive when I later mentioned I’d always wanted to write it as a book! Remember?

Dreams are fragile things. They can be so easily trampled. That’s why I often advise aspiring writers to guard their story ideas like precious jewels and don’t post them on the Internet (they could be stolen, or worse). Sometimes when I told people back when I was a teen that I wanted to be a writer, they laughed, because I didn’t get the best grades, etc. So for a long time, I never even bothered to try to get published.

But the minute I confessed to you about my dream for this book, all I heard from you was a surge of, “YES!” You guys rock.

And because the first thing everyone asks when they hear you’ve written a book is, “Where did you get the idea for it?” I took that old Algebra notebook filled with drawings from the Persephone myth to the very talented people at One Hundred Robots in New York (because I’m so impressed with their book apps. To me, their apps are art)!

I thought they could help me explain to everyone in video format just how special this story has always been to me.

So they took those old doodles of mine from that high school Algebra notebook, and made them come to life, telling the story of how I came up with the idea of Abandon!

I love how they did it. What do you think?

Click here to view the embedded video.

(Drawings and voiceover narration mine. Animation and everything else, including music—they wrote the song!–theirs!)

So, as you can see, I’m super excited about Abandon launching today . . . not only because it’s exciting to see my book in print at last, but because I get to see all of you, who made this possible, on my book tour!

I’m writing this from my hotel in Memphis. Will you be at my (possibly historic, due to the bookstore maybe closing) signing tonight in Memphis at Davis-Kidd Bookstore?

Will I see you at my appearance in Southlake, Texas on Wednesday?

Or my signing in Alpharetta, GA on Thursday, or my signing at Rainy Day Books in Kansas City, MO on Saturday? I hope so!

(For details or a complete list of all my signings, go here!)

And for those of you I won’t get to see, hopefully I’ll be coming to a town near you soon . . . and in the meantime, thank you for letting me share this story with you! It means so much to me.

XXXOOO

More later.

Much love,

Meg

“Please don’t get my daughter any princess stuff for Christmas. We’re not doing the princess thing in my house. No offense!” (FYI, if you have to say “no offense” to someone, you have already offended them.) “I just don’t want her thinking that some prince is going to come rescue her.”

I don’t know where these people have been, but princesses have been rescuing themselves in fiction for quite some time now.

Hello.

Some people were giving poor Rapunzel crap about “the princess thing” before the movie “Tangled” starring her even came out. People were saying a new Disney princess didn’t stand a chance in today’s market. The mantra goes: “Girls will see a movie about a boy, but boys won’t see a movie about a girl.”

Rumor had it that Disney even changed the title for Tangled from Rapunzel because it would make the story seem less focused on the princess, and more on the thief who steals her heart (he’s not a prince anymore. There are no princes in the movie. The hero of this movie is a wanted felon. But don’t worry, he’s freaking hot, for a cartoon character).

This is because though Disney’s The Princess and the Frog grossed an entirely respectable $267,050,000 worldwide, it was thought it could have performed even better if it hadn’t had the word “princess” in the title, since no one’s little brother can be dragged to anything with “that word” in the title. And of course, there’s “the princess thing.”

If you watch the trailers for Tangled, it doesn’t even seem to have anything to do with a princess:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Frankly, I was a little sad about the princess thing. Princess Leia was my role model growing up (still is). What is the Rapunzel story without a princess?

But guess what:

I’m happy to report “the princess thing” is alive and well in Tangled (the GOOD princess thing, not the bad one people seem to think is still lurking around from the days of I don’t even know what). Rapunzel is probably the most kickass Disney princess I’ve ever seen. In fact, I’m pretty sure her creators based her on Princess Leia, and her romantic partner, Flynn Rider, aka Eugene Fitzherbert, on Han Solo.

True, Rapunzel isn’t the leader of the Rebel Alliance.

But that’s only because she’s spent the past 18 years locked in a tower by a psychopathic witch. Rapunzel is sort of Princess Leia, post-post traumatic stress disorder due to Grand Moff Tarkin’s interrogation droid.

Then she escapes, and all hell breaks lose. Instead of a laser blaster, she has a frying pan (the only weapon accessible to her).

Just like with Rapunzel, there are many people who continue to dismiss Princess Leia as an inferior heroine because of her hair.

But see how well you’d resist an interrogation droid, demanding you give up the secret location of the rebel base, or endure seeing your home planet destroyed (including your adopted mom and dad) right before your eyes.

Hair is really the least of Princess Leia’s, or Rapunzel’s, worries.

My favorite part of the movie was when Rapunzel finally summons the courage to break free (Rapunzel is never rescued, not even once, during the course of the film. She does all her own rescuing, and in fact rescues the hero multiple times, just like Princess Leia, who in fact Luke, Han, and Obi Wan never sought out to rescue in the original Star Wars movie. They stumbled upon her completely by accident, just like Flynn Rider in Tangled), she alternates between fits of joyful celebration and hysterical guilt over what she’d just done, as anyone who’d been trapped in the same room for eighteen years might.

It turned out ALL the kids in the audience with whom I happened to see Tangled had seen the movie multiple times. They had seen it so many times, in fact, they knew exactly what Rapunzel was going to say five seconds before she did it, and they yelled it at the screen EVERY TIME.

When I was 10, all I wanted was Princess Leia stuff. That’s all I wanted! I wanted everything Princess Leia. She was my idol. She was so amazing! She used diplomacy to fight the bad guys, but she could also shoot a laser gun.

It was kind of tough, though, because while they made a lot of Han and Luke and Chewie and R2D2 stuff, they didn’t make that much Princess Leia stuff. Even today, when Adidas came out with a ton of retro Star Wars stuff, they had Chewie coats and Stormtrooper jackets and even Boba Fett shoes, but there was nothing Princess Leia.

Come on! Boba Fett was a bad guy!

Girls want someone cool with whom they can identify. A girl who helps fights the bad guys, too, just like the guys, whether she uses song, diplomacy, a laser gun, or a frying pan.

So I understand why a lot of girls are going to be asking for this for Christmas.

I think it would be a shame for parents not to let them have it just because they don’t believe in “the princess thing.” Because the princess thing is amazing. It’s about standing up for what you believe in, protecting the people you love, and never letting the bad guys win. It’s about rescuing yourself, and yet risking your heart when you meet someone who seems worth giving it to.

I don’t see how the princess thing is bad. Do you?

More later.

Much love,

Meg

Case in point:

Every time you turn on the news, there is some story about how at the airports, they want you to go through one of those X-ray scanners that take a picture of your naked bits!

In my opinion, the fact that there might be a nude photo of me (especially an EXTREMELY UNFLATTERING ONE) floating around out there, possibly even being shown on the national news by my boyfriend Brian Williams, means that the terrorists have won.

So, I will be avoiding these machines if I ever encounter one.

I WILL let TSA pat me down, of course. I get patted down every time I go to the airport anyway! That’s because TSA thinks I am the beauty bomber, because I carry so many beauty products with me (and they do not seem to know what Cetafil facial cleanser is, even though I explain EVERY TIME it has been voted best facial cleanser by Allure Magazine for years).

I don’t mind getting patted down by the lady TSAers, who are always quite nice about it. To me it’s like getting a quickie airport massage, which I find relaxing before a long flight.

But that’s HARDLY the extent of the crazy, as anyone who watches the Real Housewives knows (I’m not even going to get into Kim Z). What about the fact that the soap opera Days of Our Lives has started having its characters do little mini-commercials for Cheerios and Chex Party Mix on the show (just like I had them try to force my character Meena Harper write for the characters on the soap opera she worked for in Insatiable! Only they’re not hawking vampire-related products on DOOL)?

And what’s with the sexy werewolf movie getting made based on Little Red Riding Hood? And the famously-dissed-by-Oprah author James Frey started his own “YA book factory” (read author Maureen Johnson’s recap here to find out why this is crazy). And three—THREE—insanely good movies coming out in ONE weekend? Couldn’t they spread them out a little?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (which in case you don’t know is about a young wizard many people are trying to keep from reaching adulthood).

Burlesque (which is about a young dancer many people are trying to keep from dancing).

And Unstoppable (which is about a runaway train many people are trying to keep from blowing up.) (See the hilarious SNL spoof of it here). (OK, this came out last weekend, but still. That is too many good movies at once, people.)

It’s all just CRAZY. And that’s not even including the fact that with all of this—ALL OF THIS—going on, and the holidays coming up, too, I STILL HAVEN’T FINISHED MY REVISIONS (or the other book I have due).

WHY GOD WHY???

But here’s the thing. There is a cure for the crazies:

It’s called READING.

If you haven’t started to read JANE by April Lindner, the November Meg Cabot Book Club Pick, I highly recommend you do so as soon as possible, as it’s quite therapeutic in helping to combat the crazies, and super GOOD! Join us for our discussion on it here!

And did I mention Tanya Stone’s The Good, The Bad, and The Barbie, which is now a Kirkus best Book of 2010?

“How Barbie looked was never the issue. Not to the girls who loved her. It was what she taught us that mattered. And what she taught us was that, like Barbie, we could be anything we wanted to be.” –Meg Cabot

That’s part of the foreword I wrote to this book, about my own struggles as a kid to get my mom to buy me a Barbie. She wouldn’t do it, because as a feminist, she thought Barbie was a bad role model.

You have to buy the book to find out how I won that battle of wills.

(PS The reason I needed a Barbie so badly was because I wanted to use her as a tool to help me with the narratives I was spinning in my head about a detective who was half Nancy Drew, and half Peggy Lipton* from my then favorite show, The Mod Squad. Barbie was a tool I needed to help solve crimes in my bedroom, such as who killed that massive slut, Skipper.)

*Peggy Lipton is Rashida Jones mom, FYI.

Barbie has always helped combat the crazies for me. I just got the Barbie Christmas catalog so I thought I’d share some of the new Barbies you may not know are out there:

Mad Men Barbie

Samantha From Bewitched Barbie

Christian Louboutin Forever Bad Role Model For Your Daughter Barbie

Justin Bieber Ken (actually he’s called Fashionista Ken, but we know the truth, right, ladies?)

Barbie So in Style It Takes Two Chillin’ Dolls – Grace and Darren (seriously, it says this: So In Style It Takes Two Chillin’)

Bad Girl Barbie From Twilight! She Is Mean! Yellow Eyes! She Has Yellow Eyes!

Comes With a Toilet Barbie!

I Can Shave Ken (Really! That is his name!)

People You Don’t Want Coming Over To Your House For Thanksgiving But They Just Invited Themselves And Now You Can’t Get Out Of It And OMG They’re Creepy Barbie

But I think the BEST thing that’s come out to combat the crazies this week (I’ve left the best for last) is the news that there’s going to be a royal wedding!

What is it about a wedding that makes everyone so happy? And a ROYAL WEDDING is the happiest news of all!

(If you want your book to be a bestseller, just call it Royal Wedding. I will buy it.)

So NOW every time you turn on the news, there won’t be just horrible stuff about the X ray scanners at the airport that will show your naughty bits to everyone: there is ROYAL WEDDING STUFF!

It’s so nice!

This brings me back to the early days of Diana and Charles (which I barely remember because I was, of course, so very young), but those were such happy times!

My girlfriend and I stayed up all night to watch Charles and Di’s wedding (because we believed, in our youth, that they’d never show the wedding again, so we had to watch it live, which in America was at 4AM).

Of course we acted it out beforehand with our Barbies dressed in toilet paper bridal gowns, and we dressed for the occasion ourselves in her mom’s old prom dresses, and we drank gallons of hot tea because we thought we were being British (and also needed to stay awake, and were so jacked up on caffeine that we had to go run around the Indiana countryside in the dark to calm down—my friend lived outside of town).

So, there we were, in our mom’s old prom dresses. With our Barbies. Running around in the corn. In the dark. It was insane. AND SO FUN.

So, to people who are grousing about “the cost” of William and Kate’s wedding: Who cares? WE NEED THIS WEDDING. We need to dress up our Barbies in toilet paper bridal gowns and run around the countryside in our mom’s prom dresses, jacked up on tea, screaming our heads off. To work off the crazy.

Otherwise, what else do we have to look forward to?

YAY!!!!

More later.

Much love,

Meg

But it’s super hard to relax when so much exciting stuff is going on. You know what I’m talking about: Bristol Palin on Dancing with the Stars. Someone finally figuring out an easy way to clean feet. This funny book, which has a hilarious title, and an even more hilarious cover (the insides are pretty hilarious, too).

But THERE IS SO MUCH MORE.

Like that Disney Channel released the Avalon High movie trailer.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can view/read all the details here! It looks unbelievable. I know I am the author, but I can say that, because I haven’t seen the movie, or read the script, or anything! The author is always the last to know. I can’t wait. I am very curious about who some of these people are (but I TOTALLY approve this trailer)!

Then Harper Collins announced they’re re-releasing the Mediator books, with all new covers!

These are the US covers (well, just one to show you so far). I think it’s beautiful!

No new news on the Mediator movie, but the way things are going, you never know! My advice: don’t blink. Things are happening WAY TOO FAST around here.

Then the city of San Antonio (!!!) got added to my Austin Book Festival signing schedule next week! Check it out here.

I already couldn’t wait to go to Austin (where they always seem to be going on Friday Night Lights, and where there are BATS you can watch emerge from their lair as you have cocktails), because I’m going to be attending a Zombie vs. Unicorn smackdown there—which you, too, can attend. Just click here to learn how—but I’m ALSO going to be doing a FANTASTIC gig with the fabulous Jenny Brown (which you can read about here).

But now a signing in San Antonio is in the mix? HELLO!

Please come, and make my day.

Bats in Austin

In Allie Finkle news, AllieFinkle.com’s got a fresh new look, and Allie is hoping lots of librarians will stop by Scholastic’s Live Broadcast October 19th at 1:00 pm ET to see what they’ve got coming up Jan-June 2011 (someone MIGHT have a special message for them).

(PS It’s not Allie who has the message.)

(PS Anyone can stop by, not just librarians. Edited later: Oh, sorry, I forgot. They can’t. It’s actually just for librarians. Too bad, because it’s really cool. Don’t you wish you were a librarian now? I do.)

The truth is, the more I try to relax, the more stuff keeps happening! But I DID try. Here is a photo of me leaving for Buff Booty Ballet, before I decided yoga was more my speed:

I would like to point out that every inch of my body hurts from so much relaxing. But I feel very energized for more BOOKS (both writing and READING them)!

I just have to figure out how to get out of bed.

More later.

Much love,

Meg

I saw the movie The Ghost Writer, in which very bad things happen to not one, but TWO writers who are hired to write ghost write a politician’s memoirs. Though I’m not a ghost writer, I could relate, especially to the part where the writer has two weeks to finish the book. I decided it would behoove me to follow his example (not the part where he tries to solve the murder of the former writer) and try to finish the book I have due. Which should explain my lack of blogging.

Starting a new series (the book I’m finishing up is ABANDON, the first book in my next YA series, due out next spring) is huge . . . but so is having a new book in my other series come out THE SAME DAY that book is due! (Allie Finkle #6, Blast From the Past, hits stores 9/1.)

So, basically, I’m a little distracted right now, with no time to do anything but write and, of course, re-energize by watching delicious movies.

This brings me to the movie RECKLESS, which was just released on DVD by Warner’s Archive Collection.

In case you aren’t familiar with RECKLESS, it came out in 1984 and starred Aidan Quinn (it was his first movie ever!) as the misunderstood rebel Johnny (he has FEELINGS!) and Daryl Hannah, just coming down off her BLADE RUNNER high (1982), but before the release of SPLASH (which also came out in 1984), as the spoiled cheerleader Tracey Prescott.

RECKLESS also starred a then unknown Jennifer Grey (of Dirty Dancing fame) and was written by also then unknown Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire). It was rated R for RACEY TEEN ROMANCE.

Warning: Do not watch this movie if you are sensitive about seeing things like Daryl Hannah and Aidan Quinn running around in their underwear, hitting each other with large foam things, because THIS HAPPENS. (There is also full frontal nudity on Aidan’s part, and quite a lot of steamy premarital sex. It was the eighties!)

I don’t think I can describe to you quite how much I loved this movie as a teen. Unfortunately, there seem to be few other Reck-hards. RECKLESS never seems to be played on TV, not even cable. I barely even remembered what happened in it, I hadn’t seen it in so long, because it was never released in DVD or even VHS, as far as I knew.

So the minute I saw that it had, I bought it, even though it cost an astounding $26.99. As soon as it arrived, I threw it onto my DVD player and settled down to watch.

Isn’t it funny how some things that you remember as being REALLY INCREDIBLY GOOD from your childhood don’t necessarily stand the test of time? I’m talking about Peanut Buster Parfaits from Dairy Queen, of course. Have you had one of those lately? I used to have one of those every single year on the first day of school, just to celebrate having survived not losing my class schedule, and EVERY SINGLE TIME that thing made me throw up.

(A better back to school treat would be Allie Finkle #6, Blast From the Past. It will not make you throw up, although someone does throw up in it. JUST A WORD OF WARNING TO SENSITIVE PEOPLE.)

Watching RECKLESS was quite a blast from the past, let me tell you. I would never say that it was a disappointment.

But I AM saying I think I know why it’s never played on TV anymore. And it’s not because of all the INCREDIBLY HOT SEX SCENES between Tracey and Johnny. Those are still SMOKING!

Let’s see if you can figure it out for yourself why they don’t show it on TV:

In RECKLESS, Daryl Hannah, as spoiled rich girl cheerleader Tracey Prescott, enjoys driving around the drizzly grey (unnamed) steel town in which she lives, usually to INXS tunes and with the top of her convertible down (who cares if its raining? Tracey doesn’t. Because Tracey is different), playing chicken with whoever dares her. Usually who dares her is Johnny. Johnny is different too. JOHNNY HAS FEELINGS! SO MANY FEELINGS!

This is why they belong together. Duh!

Tracey has a nice boyfriend played by Adam Baldwin (no relation to the Baldwin brothers). Adam, in case you’re curious, spent most of the 80s getting the crap beat out of him in various movies. Maybe you’ll recognize him:

My Bodyguard —Adam plays the bodyguard. Crap beat out of him.

The Chocolate War—Adam plays Carter. Crap beat out of him.

3:15—Adam plays Skip. Crap beat of him.

Reckless—Adam plays Randy Daniels. Sorry to say, crap beat out of him!

It’s possible Adam gets the crap beat out of him as Stillman in Ordinary People, but I can’t remember. You might also remember Adam from Chuck, where he may or may not have gotten the crap beaten out of him. Adam is also in the new release of Halo where, I presume, he gets the crap beat out of him.

Adam: Thank you. From all of us. You may not be the leading man, but you have let your face get beat in by the leading man in many movies for over 20 years, and for that, we salute you.

Of course, we aren’t supposed to think Adam is nice, because he’s kind to Tracey, and wants to get a steady job after high school graduation working at his dad’s steel factory, as opposed to Johnny who wants to GET OUT OF TOWN after graduation, and who also drives a motorcycle, and who also sneaks into the women’s restroom in the bowling alley to have sex with the waitress there on the sink during her shift. Obviously, she enjoys this immensely, as any busy bowling alley waitresses would.

Randy, in contrast, asks Tracey politely if she’d like to chastely make out with him in her convertible in the bowling alley parking lot. Tracey tells Randy to stick it up his ass (not in so many words).

Randy, take a cue from Aidan Quinn. Women like to do it on dirty sinks. Geesh.

Naturally, Tracey and Johnny hook up. This happens in the most awesome way imaginable. Tracey, a cheerleader, and Johnny, the quarterback (his only hope of GETTING OUT OF THAT TOWN is if he gets a football college) are randomly paired up by the student council, and then required to go to the ‘Tin Can-Can’ dance together (whatever that is. Who cares?) for Spirit Week, or something.

Randy is appalled! His precious flower might be touched by that nasty freak JOHNNY! How will she bear it?

Tracey is intrigued. She’s not sure, but she THINKS Johnny might have feelings.

Johnny prepares for the evening by soaking a white carnation in black ink to give to Tracey.

BLACK. INK. This, of course, is totally awesome.

It then transpires that Johnny’s dad works for Randy’s dad at the steel factory. And that Johnny’s mom—who apparently last had her picture taken when she worked as a cigarette girl in the 40s, even though this movie takes place in the 80s and Johnny is 17 or 18—has left Johnny’s dad, and that Johnny’s dad has since become a raging alcoholic and also likes to date prostitutes.

It’s really no wonder Johnny has so many feelings.

Then.

You guys.

The TIN CAN-CAN dance.

JOHNNY THROWS THE CORSAGE RANDY HAS GIVEN TRACEY ON THE FLOOR AND TUCKS HIS BLACK CARNATION INTO HER RED DRESS.

And Tracey’s all, looking down at this black thing on her dress, “Black?”

And he’s all, “Yeah. Black.”

But that’s not all. Oh no. Because not only that, but Johnny says a bad word, announces she shouldn’t expect him to stick around, rips the schmaltzy record they’re playing off the record player, and puts on Romeo Void’s Never Say Never.

I distinctly recall that it was at this point in the Von Lee Theater in Bloomington Indiana in 1984 that my heart exploded with joy.

Then Johnny grabs Tracey, and basically starts dancing with her in that adorable hunch-shouldered punk rock way that guys used to dance in the 80s (my husband still dances this way. Only like 8 guys in my entire school danced that way, and they NEVER showed up to school dances, only the kind of parties where people usually got hit in the head with fire extinguishers).

And Tracey LIKES it (of course), because it shows Johnny is DIFFERENT.

Until Randy freaks out and grabs Johnny and throws him to the floor. You can watch this entire scene here. If you don’t choose to watch this scene, well, all I can say is, you are missing out on a piece of American cinematic history, and I feel sorry for you. Because it is INSANE!

Obviously, at this point, RECKLESS achieves a level of perfection it can’t possibly sustain, but it definitely tries, at least for a while.

Clearly Tracy and Johnny are going to Do It, and I don’t think I’m really giving anything away if I tell you that they do. Only first they trash the principal’s office (no one said they were role models). Then they hit each other with giant foam things (what? I know. Just go with it).

Then they Do It all over the place. In the gym. In the boiler room. In the pool. In Tracey’s room. In Tracey’s mom’s room. In Tracey’s living room. Under the coffee table. Maybe some other places I forget. It’s basically awesome.

Which makes it so much less awesome when they stop Doing It.

The reasons Tracey and Johnny stop Doing It are myriad. For one thing, Tracey is a little bit of a snob, and Johnny lives on the Wrong Side of the tracks. She doesn’t want anyone at school to know she’s Doing Him. Especially Randy. Because she knows how many other movies he got beat up in, and I guess she’s protecting him, or something, from getting beat up by Johnny. I’m trying to give Tracey some credit here.

But it’s also Johnny’s fault, because even though he HAS feelings, he can’t communicate them very well. So he gets a little weird, basically showing up at Tracey’s house ALL THE TIME, and pretty much stalking her, instead of just doing her on the sink, which would be way more awesome. You can tell Tracey is thinking this. She’s like, Johnny, just stick to doing me, okay?

But Johnny has some pretty serious problems. For instance, he gets called out of the middle of class all the time and asked to come pick up his dad from work because his dad is so drunk, they’re worried he might fall into one of the huge uncovered vats of molten lava they have bubbling away, as factories so often do.

(HINT: THIS IS FORESHADOWING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN LATER.)

Nowadays, if an employee was drunk at the steel factory where they had giant vats of uncovered molten lava, the company might send him to rehab (hopefully), or at least fire him. Back in the 80s, they apparently just called the guy’s son at school, and forced him to come pick his drunk dad up.

Since Johnny didn’t have a car, he had to strap his dad to himself (with chains), then drive him home on the back of his motorcycle, his dad squealing with drunken glee (I know I would do this if I were strapped to Aidan Quinn with chains).

So, it’s kind of no wonder Johnny doesn’t want to work at the steel factory after graduation.

You can almost see the look of apology in the actors’ faces as what happens next starts to unfold. I’m pretty sure someone at the studio was like, “These kids are too happy, just running around, having all these feelings and sex in the boiler room and hitting each other with foam sticks! Someone needs to die . . . in a vat of molten lava!* Make it happen!”

*See Dante’s Peak, where grandma’s legs burn off in a lake of acid as Linda Hamilton and Pierce Brosnan sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” while escaping from an exploding volcano.

So poor Chris Columbus had to go along with it, and suck all the fun out of the story for a while.

You would think the coach might have understood why Johnny missed practice that one time his dad fell into the vat of molten lava at work and died, if Johnny had just TOLD HIM that’s what happened.

But no. Johnny doesn’t tell him. Because Johnny has too many FEELINGS to verbalize them. So Johnny loses his football scholarship.

Naturally Johnny is despondent over this, and so becomes a stark raving lunatic who not only stalks Tracey, but holds her over the side of a cliff because she doesn’t understand his FEELINGS (because he won’t talk about them) and won’t go out with him anymore, slicing open her cheek (admittedly by accident and he does apologize but seriously, it was a cliff, so not cool).

Johnny’s feelings build up to such a boiling point that he then sets his own house on fire (but it’s OK because who needs something as conformist and boring as a house? Only people without feelings).

Finally Johnny drives his motorcycle into the school (as one does) in one last desperate plea to get Tracey to talk to him (which she won’t do because she’s terrified of him, and every time they try to talk, the only way he can express himself is to point out that he has feelings, which we already know because he’s mentioned it previously).

Inside the school, Johnny finally finds a way to verbalize all his feelings (he does so in the middle of a pitch from a guy urging the senior class to join the Army. I am NOT kidding. The two options in the unnamed steel town in which they live are, apparently, join the Army, or go work in the factory with the uncovered vats of molten lava people can fall into if they’re drunk).

Tracey forgives Johnny for holding her over the cliff, and agrees she has feelings for him too.

But they don’t have time to process those feelings right now, much less get their diplomas, because Johnny has to leave town RIGHT AWAY (with what appears to be the five dollars that he took from the box in which he keeps his mother’s photo from which she was a cigarette girl in the 40s) for some reason (possibly because of the pending arson charges) and he needs her to come with him.

Tracey’s like, “What??? But I don’t have my makeup with me, just the credit card my mom gave me to buy stuff for college which she’s probably going to cancel if I run away with you and then I won’t be able to buy more makeup.”

Sadly, driving his motorcycle into the school has caused Johnny to attract the attention of Randy. Randy is tired of putting up with Johnny and his crazy antics.

So Randy expresses feelings by hitting Johnny with a chair.

This is a bad move on Randy’s part. Because even though Johnny is able to verbalize his feelings now, and should be able to talk things out with Randy, and does try to do so, Randy is still played by Adam Baldwin.

RIP RANDY

Then, the big finish (don’t read if you don’t want spoilers):

Tracey jumps onto the back of Johnny’s motorcycle, and they ride off together into the sunset (with nothing but the five dollars Johnny took from the burning house, the clothes on their backs, and the credit card Tracey’s mom gave her) to Bob Seger’s Roll Me Away.

And everyone in the whole school (except Randy) cheers for them!

And you kind of find yourself cheering for them, too. Because it turns out, YOU have feelings too!

Personally, I am still waiting for the sequel, Reckless 2: Johnny Stays Home with the Twins While Tracey Stars In Splash!.

Reckless: Two Tiaras

More later.

Much love,

Meg

But he’s home now so maybe now things will get back to normal.

HWSNBNITB is a little upset though because he bought The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo audio book to listen to while driving back from Indiana. He overheard me discussing it with friends and came away with the impression that it was a very sexy read (I guess can see how I might have made it sound this way, given the points I may have highlighted within his hearing).

(If you want Mia Thermopolis’s full review—plus the rest of her Summer Reading List and an update on what’s been going on in her crazy life—click here.)

So poor HWSNBNITB didn’t know what he was letting himself into. Midway through Tennessee he called me and was like, “I’m going to drive off the side of the road because I’m falling asleep. ALL THEY DO IN THIS BOOK IS DRINK COFFEE AND TALK ON SOME ISLAND!”

Oops. I assured him things get exciting around page 300 (but on an audio book, that’s like ten hours in).

Summer is made for reading (or listening to) fun books. It’s hot, everyone is on vacation, everything on TV is a rerun. It’s the perfect time to settle in with a good, fun read.

That’s partly how I discovered the exciting world of fiction, because it was SO hot during the summer where I grew up in Indiana (we didn’t have air conditioning in my house for many years, because it was my parents’ dream to “fix up an old house,” just like Allie’s parents in the Allie Finkle books).

It was at the Monroe County Public Library in Bloomington, Indiana, that I whiled away most of my summers, reading every “beach read” I could find (although we had no beach), and where I also read the entire Harlequin Presents line—primarily anything by Penny Jordan involving sheiks and virgins.

Why romances? Maybe because when it gets hot out, the minds of teenagers (and even some adults) begin to turn to thoughts of love. As in, a summer romance.

This might be why Insatiable is on so many Summer Beach (and blogger’s Must) Read lists right now. We’ve even updated the home page to reflect some of these fabulous reviews and accolades. It’s so sweet of all you (like Snarkyspace and Fangirlsview, just to name a few). Thanks for supporting it. You’re the BEST!

Anyway, this morning I was kind of thinking about summer reading and summer love, and all of a sudden this piece came on, about how TODAY is the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird. FUN! This is one of my favorite books of all time.

People like to say that the message of To Kill A Mockingbird—that we shouldn’t judge people before we get to know them, especially based on things like the color of their skin, or where they’re from, or what kind of names they have—is kind of outdated, because nobody does this anymore. We’re all one big happy family now. Prejudice no longer exists. I mean, look, we have an African American president!

I would love to think that’s true. Except when I was back in Indiana during the last election, I saw some “Nigger Go Home” signs in people’s yards when Obama came to my town to campaign. And given the fact that I keep getting phone calls from politicians asking me to support that law they have in Arizona (because they want to have it here in Florida, too)—you know, the one where you have to show ID to prove you’re a citizen, but they only ask to see it if you look like you’re from Mexico—I’m not so sure this is true.

A lot of people from Arizona (and here in Florida, too, believe me) say, “You just don’t understand.” But the fact is, my white brother (I have two. One is biological and one, who is African American, is adopted) is a police sergeant in Denver. I understand. I do.

Because it turns out books and air conditioning are not all you can find at the library. I found love there one summer, too.

Just not with my community’s sole white breakdancer, whose attention I’d inadvertently attracted one evening by exiting the library in front of the unfolded cardboard box on which he liked to practice his moves.

The reason why this relationship did not work for me is not because I disparage breakdancing. As we all know from Step Up, Step Up 2, and of course, the upcoming Step Up 3D (due in theaters this August), breakdancing is a legitimate form of artistic expression.

And I TOTALLY know what it’s like to love something that is often ridiculed by others. My friends made ENDLESS fun of me for reading so many books with the words “sheik” and “virgin” in the title.

What did I like so much about these books? Well, among other things, the heroes did not spin on their heads on unfolded cardboard boxes in order to try to impress the heroine. Unlike the girl in the movie poster below, I felt really stupid just standing there while B-Boy (his real name was Troy) was “breaking.”

Picture me as the girl in this poster. Only not smiling.

It was just that despite being urged by Troy (and many of my friends) to “break it,” I was not in the mood to “break it” (at least, not with Troy). Troy did not stir in me even one iota of an urge to “break it.”

But there’s a happy ending to this story (at least for me). Can you guess what it is? No, it’s not that I found my inner b-girl. It’s that I did have a secret crush on someone (not Troy) . . .

. . . and it turned out he liked me back. I just had to jettison my breakdancing baggage.

Because I’d read so many of “those cheesy books” (as my friends called them) while hiding from Troy (and the heat, and my friends) in the library, I figured out EXACTLY how to “break it down” for Troy when it came time “break it off:”

“Troy,” I said. “You are like the Prince of Q’Tar. You are too much of a man for me, a simple virgin. Love between us is just not meant to be. Good bye, Hassan–I mean, Troy–forever!”

(OK. I left out the part about the Prince of Q’Tar. But the rest is verbatim.)

It worked like a charm! Troy was out of there. He did NOT want anything to do with a simple virgin. Thanks, Penny Jordan!

Here’s the good part:

As soon as Troy took his cardboard box and left me forever, and everyone knew he and I weren’t actually an “item,” things began to heat up with the boy from school that I actually really did like. His name was . . . wait for it . . . .

KARIM! Yes, that’s pronounced Kareem, you infidels.

He wasn’t really a sheik, of course. But his mom really did move here from Egypt. And he had a moped. Even better than a camel to a teenage girl!

Readers, you can guess what happened to that moped. I broke it down.

Possessed by the sheik? Sounds great!

This is where the To Kill a Mockingbird stuff comes in. Oh, there’d been some hints before (guys who had the hoods of their pickup trucks painted with the Confederate flag used to call Karim “sand-nigger” in the hallway. Classy).

But when Karim and I moved to New York together—wait . . . what? Obviously YEARS later. There were a lot of ups and downs on that moped. Post-college we were on an up, so we moved to New York together—we had a lot of trouble finding an apartment. It was right during the beginning of the first Gulf War and many landlords, it seemed, were reluctant to rent to an Arab-American. This was not very classy OR Penny Jordan of them, as we were dangerously close to being kicked out of our sublet and onto the streets.

This was just like all the times when my family was the last to be served—and sometimes our food never came at all—in restaurants because of the color of my adopted little brother’s skin.

Things like this just make me want to cry. And made me want to become a writer, so I could write books where people like those landlords and the people who worked in those kitchens got what was coming to them.

Anyway, Karim and I finally did get an apartment. The landlords were Chinese-American. And although Karim can’t breakdance, he does speak Chinese, among many other languages. This came in handy for the job he’d come to New York to do . . . at the UN.

After a couple of years, Karim decided to leave New York City. He wanted to use those language skills to do something more. He applied to, and got into, an out-of-state grad school. I, however, wanted to stay in my new adopted city, which I’d come to love. We decided it was best to get off the moped permanently. We have always stayed in touch ever since, though, because of our secret baby.

HA HA HA! Kidding.

No, we stay in touch because of the friend from whom we got that first NYC sublet: He Who Shall Not Be Named In This Blog. He was Karim’s roommate on the program where he learned Chinese. I met him at a party at Karim’s house when I was 16. He asked what I was doing out so late on a school night and suggested I run along home, as it was past my bedtime.

Obviously because of this, he was not one of my favorite of Karim’s friends (HWSNBNITB is Hungarian. Is anyone really interested in Hungarians? No. They are very boring compared to sheiks). It wasn’t until many, MANY years later that HWSNBNITB eventually began to grow on me. The moment I realized I was in love with him, I almost threw up. The only person who could have been worse was Troy, the breakdancer.

Hi. I’m back. I heard you’ve been writing about me on your blog. Facebook me.

But because of my copious romance reading, I knew exactly how to handle the situation. He still doesn’t know what hit him. I told my friend Beth, “Oh my God, I’m going to throw up, I think I’m in love with HWSNBNITB,” and she said, “Well, he’s OBVIOUSLY in love with you.”

So I informed HWSNBNITB (he was sitting right there, not even paying attention. They never are) that he was taking me out on a proper date the following day. And so he did. The end.

Now that I think about it, everything that’s happened in my entire life can be blamed, in a way, on summer reads: When HWSNBNITB and I eloped when I was 26, we did it in Italy, because we’d both read and loved so many books set there. Karim and his mom came to the party my mom threw for us later in the backyard. I could not go to Karim’s wedding a few years later (to a lovely girl he met in grad school) because I had a big summer book due (and a book tour for another one). But HWSNBNITB went, of course.

And now today, I have another big summer book out . . . and another one due!

And it’s the 50th year anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird, a book that was a big summer read—and a big influence on a lot of people, including me—in its day.

And every time one of those politicians calls to ask for my support on their new law, I mention what Atticus Finch said:

That you can’t know what it’s like for a person until you’ve walked around in his (or her) shoes. Have THEY walked around in MY shoes? Because if they had, I don’t think they’d be asking for my support on this bill.

I’m more than happy to break this down for them, since they can never understand what I mean. Did you know, I ask them, that my last name isn’t really Cabot (pronounced Cabbitt)? It used to be Caputo, but my grandfather had to change it because there was a lot of anti-Italian sentiment at one time in this country, and he could never get a job. How different, I ask them, is that from Mexicans today? Or Arab-Americans?

It starts with requiring people with brown skin to carry proof of citizenship. Then it moves on to people with funny-sounding names. Where does it go from there? Detainment camps, maybe?

I think we’ve made a LOT of progress since To Kill A Mockingbird first came out. There’s a lot to celebrate.

Unfortunately, there’s still a lot more work to do, too.

But that’s OK. Whatever happens, if we work together, we can break it down.

And of course: we’ll always have Troy.

More later.

Much love,

Meg

To my surprise, I left the movies feeling less horrible, which means Killers did its job.

I was even more surprised when we walked past our local coffeehouse and found it packed (at 10PM at night).

Then I saw the sign:

Keys Oil Spill Crisis Response Task Force

I peeked in and realized that, as usual, everyone had forgotten about a VERY powerful group of people who don’t speak up very often (except when you forget to call).

A group who, like Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes, think “Gaga” is just something babies say, and that Justin Beiber would be so much better looking if he just got his hair out of his eyes.

The Grandmas!

Did any of us think the grandmas were just going to sit idly by and do nothing while tarballs coat the beaches their GRANDKIDS play on?

NO WAY!

The Grandmas have taken charge!

BP just spent 50 million dollars on a new PR campaign, but our local fishing boat captains are having to shut down their businesses because so many tourists have canceled on them. Really, BP?

Now that I know the Grandmas are on the case, lots of things are making me smile again.

Like that MARIE CLAIRE Magazine called INSATIABLE (which comes out June 8 . . . that’s this Tuesday! Can you believe it???) one of ‘the best of the season’s beach-friendly releases,’ in their July issue!

Even more amazing, the LA Times chose INSATIABLE as one of their Editor’s Picks for Summer!

I KNOW.

Then the girls on Go Fug Yourself, which is one of my all time favorite websites, said this made them want to read it!

Oh, and INSATIABLE is a Seventeen Magazine Beach Read, too!

(Causing HWSNBNITB to ask if seventeen-year-olds are even old enough to read Insatiable, since it’s an adult book. THIS WAS INCREDIBLE! I mean, HWSNBNITB knows it’s an adult book! He never pays any attention to anything non-college basketball related! He wouldn’t even watch the Insatiable book trailers because he thought they might “too girlie.” Although it’s probably a good thing he never saw the one where I got tackled by that guy.)

These ladies know. You have to celebrate the little things, right?

Here’s another thing worth celebrating:

I’m finally allowed to say I was given the 2010 YA Career Achievement Award (which honor authors for their entire body of work throughout their career) by RT Magazine!

(They asked me to keep it a secret until June. This was extremely difficult since I’m a huge blabbermouth, but somehow I managed!)

The winners and nominees were selected by RT’s staff of over 50 reviewers representing the readers’ voice in the women’s fiction industry.

Thank you so much, RT! This is the hugest honor!

Here’s their fabulous review for Insatiable:

The incomparable Cabot gives her own twist to the Dracula legend with a quirky and humorous tale that both skewers and embraces vampire fiction. Cabot takes a heroine with her own paranormal issues and gives her a vampire headache, which will delight readers. There’s also a dash of poignancy in this tale of star-crossed lovers. Irresistible as always!

Awwww! So sweet!

Like Grandma’s cookies. Mmmmm, cookies.

More little things to celebrate:

Did you know June is audio book month? (I didn’t.)

You can find most, if not all of my books available as audio books here (just scroll down for the links).

In honor of Audio Book Month, I’m having a contest to give away an audio book of Insatiable!

Grandmas (like my mom) love audio books because they listen to them as they are gardening (or scooping up tarballs on the beach)! Just an idea, if you feel like doing something nice for Grandma.

This week I did a whole bunch of satellite video interviews (like this one for Blogher). It was so fun! I got to speak to people from as far away as Australia! And they all wanted to know one thing (besides What’s the deal with the vampires?):

How could they help?

Well, here’s how:

Click here for sites my TV boyfriend Brian Williams (not a vampire) recommends.

Help the Birds and Animals:
International Bird Rescue Research Center
National Wildlife Federation
Seabird Sanctuary

Click here to help in Florida.
Don’t forget the Keys Oil Spill Crisis Response Task Force!

Look, I know we all felt scared for a while. And we still have a long way to go. But the Grandmas are here now.

They can’t do it by themselves, though. Help them clean up the beaches, save the birds, AND make Justin Beiber get that hair out of his eyes (come on, Justin. Do it for Grandma).

Don’t let the vampires win!

More later.

Much love,

Meg

So here’s an all Question and Answer post to answer everyone at once!

Q: Is it true that blond girl from Life Unexpected is going to star in the Disney Channel movie of Avalon High?

A: Yes, it’s true! You can read about it here.

A few readers have pointed out that Britt is blonde, and that Ellie (in the book) is brunette.

Some of you may remember almost ten years ago the ruckus that was stirred when it was announced that a brunette would be playing the part of Mia (a character who is a blonde in the book version of The Princess Diaries).

Back then I was like, “You know what you guys? It’s not going to be EXACTLY like the book because it’s a movie and no movie can ever be EXACTLY like the book because they have to smush 300 pages of text into 90 pages (that’s one minute of screen time per page). Also, it’s someone else’s imagining of the story, not yours or mine. Let’s see how she can act. Give it a chance!”

And you did! And look how well that turned out (even if I’m still waiting for that Princess Diaries DVD and merchandising money. Oh, well).

So, thanks for looking out for me (and my characters). You guys completely rock my world.

But I think we should remember the message of Avalon High (and Runaway, and Princess Diaries, and uh, all my books, I guess), after all:

Never judge people by their looks. It’s who we are on the inside that matters!

Q: Should I go to Prom? The guy I liked asked someone else. Isn’t it going to suck if I don’t go with someone I like?

A: Yes, you should go to Prom! Prom would suck even if you went with the guy you liked. BECAUSE THE PROM SUCKS!

But it’s that very suckiness that’s going to be so hilarious when you go! It’s going to help you bond with your friends and come to terms with the fact that you’re all moving on with your lives (even if you’re not graduating).

BECAUSE THE PROM BY ITS VERY NATURE IS LAME.

That’s why you have to go. Making fun of the prom while you’re there is what makes it so fun.

Going to the prom with someone with whom you’re romantically involved really only works out in books and movies (in my experience). Because in reality, your date will (most likely) only do something to disappoint you, such as throw up, pass out, or (in my case) announce that he has to go home to paint his dad’s ceiling (do not even ask).

But twenty years later you will still be emailing your friends going, “OMG remember Prom? It was so funny.”

Trust me.

Q: Will there be a sequel to Runaway?

A: A lot of you have been asking this! Right now there’s no new book with those characters planned. I’m already deep into my new YA series, Abandon, the first book of which will be out next spring.

Reading between the lines, I kind of wonder if it isn’t a sequel to Runaway some of you want, since all of the plot lines got resolved at the end, as much as more sexy stuff between some of the characters?

It’s kind of hard to do that in YA.

Which leads me to:

Q: When will there be another Insatiable excerpt released?

A: If you’ve signed up for my Author Tracker, today! There’s some awesome new desktop wallpaper, too. Click here if you didn’t receive it yet.

And check the Insatiable page for a major makeover, coming soon!

Q: What are you watching on TV now?

A: Oh, wow, so much. Nurse Jackie, Justified (so glad it got renewed for another season), Modern Family, 30 Rock, Parks and Rec (I LOVE this show), Jimmy Fallon, Sex and the City re-runs on TBS (can’t wait for the movie. Does Carrie get kidnapped by Aidan in the desert? Because that’s what it looks like judging by the trailer), How I Met Your Mother, 24 (I seriously don’t know why I watch this show. I don’t want to. But it’s like I have to. I wanted Jack Bauer to put that vibrating underwear from The Ugly Truth on Dana Walsh so badly), The Middle, Glee (obviously), Ruby (shut up, I love Ruby), and this show called Jerseylicious on Style that’s become my new ‘Oh, no, she did not’ train wreck show (I’m not alone. The New York Times has declared that America is fascinated with New Jersey).

No, this isn’t Snooki from Jersey Shore! This is Tracy and Olivia, they’re on Jerseylicious! Tracy and Olivia actually work for a living. Well, maybe not Tracy anymore.

I gave up on the New York City Housewives when it became clear Jill and Bethenny were never going to stop fighting. This just makes me too sad. I know it’s a “reality show” so they can’t MAKE these women be friends, but I’m already sad enough as it is about the giant oil slick coming to kill all the sea turtles and dolphins in Key West. I don’t need a reality show adding to my grief.

DO YOU HEAR THAT, YOU HOUSEWIFE BYOTCHES? STOP FIGHTING. THINK ABOUT THE SEA TURTLES!

Q: When will the Mediator books be re-released with those new covers in the US?

A: Sorry, they won’t! The Mediator series isn’t being re-released in the US. This is just a UK thing from my UK publisher.

If you want to grab copies of the Mediator with the new covers across the pond, you can easily do so by jumping over to Amazon UK here!

The US publisher of my 1-800-Where-R-You books is giving those a rebranding, though, and they’ll be available here in the US in September under the new title of Vanished!

Cool, huh?

Q: I like Taylor Swift, but all these websites say I shouldn’t, because she’s anti-feminist. I want to be a feminist, but not if it means I have to stop liking Taylor Swift. What should I do?

A: It’s getting harder and harder to be a feminist these days. Every time you turn around, someone somewhere is saying something you like is “anti-feminist”: Romances! High heels! Lipstick! Shaving! Sex and the City! Boys! Taylor Swift! Tacos!

But don’t worry. Part of being a feminist is doing what you believe in your heart is right (like Lucy Burns, who suffered hunger strikes, imprisonment, and the force feeding of worms just so we girls could have the right to vote).

And sometimes doing what you believe is right means liking something (or someone) and not caring what anyone else has to say about it.

Lucy in her prison cell, where the police hung her for days by her arms so people like you and me and Snooki could dance around in our underwear to Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga after a hard day of being the primary breadwinner (even though we still earn only 78 cents for every dollar a man earns) without being arrested.

Feminists, can we please, for this new decade, focus on what’s important? The definition of the word feminist is someone who believes women should have the same social, economic, and political rights as men.

I fail to see how Taylor Swift is actively working to undermine legislation in these areas.

Q: Where can I get an Advanced Reader Copy of Insatiable to review on my site?

A: If you have a book review site and haven’t yet received a copy of Insatiable but want one, we have a VERY limited quantity left. Email me with your snail mail address and a link to your site, and we’ll try to get back to you.

Now watch this. Then go dance with your friends at Prom to Taylor Swift:

More later.

Much love,

Meg

But today was the first day of the LA Times Book Festival . . . and it was warm enough for kids to sprawl on the green grass of the UCLA campus and lose themselves in a good book (which I saw kids doing everywhere I looked)!

Heavenly.

Here’s a photo recap of my stay in LA so far:

OK, so I had a great time at my Twitter Party, even though I didn’t know what a Twitter Party was until right before it happened.

Special thanks to the lovely staff of the Mission Viejo library, who were extremely helpful in setting up an amazing signing—Mission Viejo rocks!

Thanks too to my tirelessly enthusiastic Scholastic publicist Charisse “Tweet This” Melotto; my hilarious editor Abby “Really?” McAden; and Diana “Hashtags” Faust, the media escort who drove us the FOUR HOURS and back (with a special stop at In-n-Out) from our hotel.

EXTRA special thanks to all the teachers and librarians Tweeters who were in attendance, including Stiletto Storytime, who just posted this tribute I wrote to my all-time favorite school librarian!

(With so many school budget cuts, I think it’s especially important to remember and pay tribute to our school librarians! Even if we can’t remember their names.)

Anyway, everyone keeps asking to see the Precious (my new bag), who was at the Twitter Party, too:

The Precious is 100% polyester (and metal). She’s by Stella McCartney. Mom says: “Well, I wouldn’t take her to the grocery store.” True.

Anyway, I met the cutest readers in Mission Viejo, including (but in no way limited to):

Cute!

So cute!

I like to take pictures of the crowd, because one of the things I talk about during my presentation is that if you feel pretty on the inside, you’ll always project that confidence on the outside. My readers really are the prettiest, though:

Another thing I talk about is how if you want to be a writer, you have to read a lot. This little girl was already practicing in line:

Too cute!

Last night was my signing at Huntington Beach and it was SO FUN!

Besides the fact that I got to wear the Betsey Johnson shoes that were featured in the blog tour about my closet . . .

(I know, hot.)

. . . I had the best surprise ever when TMZ showed up in Huntington Beach!

(You can see I “enhanced” this photo quite a bit, but I still look stupid.)

Just so you don’t get the wrong impression, TMZ wasn’t exactly there to cover my misdeeds (I wish): No. A lovely reader named Shevonne was outbid on my Significant Object . . . by my mom (who technically shouldn’t have even been bidding since she’s a relative. But then, you know Moms.)

Later we learned that even though she hadn’t won, Shevonne had donated the money she would have spent on the object to the Heifer Project anyway (where I had promised to donate, and match, any winning bid. So the Heifer Project got three times what the Significant Object ended up selling for).

We were so touched by Shevonne’s gesture that my mom sent the object to Shevonne, along with a little Mom-like note. Later I also sent Shevonne a signed book.

I had almost completely forgotten about the whole thing until this cute girl showed up at the signing last night and plunked down this funny looking cow thing in front of me.

I was like, “Wha . . . ?”

And she was all, “I’m Shevonne!” And then she handed me all those goodies from TMZ, where she works!

Of course then I remembered!

Shevonne (the cute girl in purple in the middle)!

So, we love Shevonne, all her friends, and TMZ . . . who do good things for good causes!

Now every time you click on TMZ.com, you can think of sweet Shevonne and her adorable friends!

I was still coming down off that high when suddenly . . . it was morning! Time for the LA Times Festival of Books!

I did a presentation first thing with the amazing Cecil Castelucci, who writes fabulous books like Beige and The Plain Janes (just two of my favorites of hers).

Me and Cecil. You can’t see it here but Cecil has purple hair. It’s so great!

One thing we talked about is how moms should always tell their daughters that they’re the prettiest girls in the whole school.

Here’s a photo of the crowd (the prettiest crowd, as usual):

Hint: This is why even though my manuscripts got rejected hundreds of times, I knew the right agent/publisher would come along eventually, just like the right boy came along eventually. Those agent/publishers who rejected me were just intimidated by how pretty my manuscripts were, just like all those boys who never asked me out in high school were intimidated by how pretty I was.

At least, this is what my mom always told me. Yeah, she was totally lying, but it was nice to hear! So, thanks, Mom!

Me telling a reporter from Italy: Please tell your viewers to tell their daughters that they’re pretty (this is a big issue in Runaway)!

Here’s a review of the presentation from a writer who was in the crowd. I like knowing that my talks help people, especially people who are going through the same struggles I went through trying to get published!

Here’s another funny write up of the same presentation from the LA Times’s point of view. I wish I could take credit for the word “smizing.” But that’s Tyra Banks, of course!

I also like inventing new genres, like sci-fi-rom-com-mystery and Girl Gothic. Girl Gothic comes from my take on the “vampire” thing: I’m not wild about vampires . . . but I love pop culture. Vampire stories have been around (and part of popular culture) for centuries. They’re not a trend . . . they’re a tradition, one that started in ancient times, that flares up again and again.

Dracula (the most famous vampire story) is a gothic novel. I write books about girl empowerment. So, combine the two, and you get: Girl Gothic!

I can’t think of any other sci-fi-rom-com-mysteries, but other examples of Girl Gothic besides my upcoming releases Insatiable and Abandon are: Jane Eyre, Practical Magic, and Buffy: empowered heroines who stand up for themselves and have goals outside of snagging a man (but still love men, exasperating though they can be at times).

Charisse took this picture of the littlest princess at the Festival. She’s totally Girl Gothic. Love her!

Now I have to go eat some protein or I’m going to pass out. See you at the fair tomorrow for

“The Kids Are All Right”
11:00 AM – 12 PM
Panel Event: Moore Hall
Other Panelists:
Robin Benway
(I loved Audrey, Wait and can’t wait to meet Robin!)
Rosalind Wiseman
(I love Rosalind and her books. PLEASE watch the video up on her site right now about texting boys pictures of yourself in your bra. It’s great advice.)
Don Calame
(Oh my God, I’m reading Swim The Fly now, it’s so good! I can’t wait to meet Don!)
Amy Goldman Koss
(Amy will be moderating . . . she’s so funny online, I can’t wait to meet her in person!)

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Book Signing Session at Moore Hall signing booth

I had to sign 1350 books in like ½ an hour today, which meant I kind of had to rush with people, and I felt bad—no photos or chit-chat! But it wasn’t because I don’t love you . . . it was because I had to leave to let the next author sit in my chair so he/she could sign! There are a lot of authors at this Festival, and only a few booths, so we can’t stick around in the booth past our time slot, no matter how much we love you! So please forgive us!

I love SoCal and the LA Times Festival of Books . . . even if I haven’t gotten a chance to wear any of my three swimsuits.

But I have gotten to hang out with some of the coolest authors–and readers–in the world.

And that’s better than a fancy hotel pool and a swimsuit (and even a fantastic Stella McCartney bag) any day!

More later.

Much love,

Meg

Well, our shoes do, anyway.

Check out Hero In Heels to find out if YOUR favorite author/celebrity is auctioning off her shoes to help raise money to fight breast cancer! (OMG, hi, Bethenny Frankel!)

Mine aren’t up yet, and we’re checking to see when they will be, but to give you a sneak peek . . . .

They’re these Giuseppe Zanotti’s black suede leopard-print wedges ($600 when I bought them new)!

I swear I only wore mine once (to a chic party given in Brazil for the Rio Bienal!) As soon as I know when mine are up, I’ll let you know!

This is especially meaningful to me since yesterday my mom just got her 6 month cancer-free bill of health. YAY!

(She had uterine, not breast, cancer. But any kind of cancer is bad! Let’s fight to eradicate it ALL)!

Anyway, speaking of shoes, I had a blast hanging out with Teenfashionista.com this week. I know, I TOTALLY need to wear those shoes from Betsey Johnson, which I just bought in NYC, but haven’t had an occasion to wear yet (maybe at the end of the month on my mini-tour in Los Angeles?).

The other big news this week is that today the latest Stark Video went up at Luxury Reading (this is NOT the same video that went up on the Runaway page at BN.com. Same outfit, two different videos)!

I’m very proud of this ensemble though . . . everything is from Banana Republic. That crazy necklace broke immediately following the video shoot, though. I’m still mad about that, BR!

All of this fashion craziness kind of reminds me of Jessica Simpson’s new show, The Price of Beauty, which I can’t stop watching.

As Jessica is finding out, women all around the world, in all different cultures, do crazy things in an effort to look “beautiful,” only to discover in the end it really is what’s inside that matters. You can be the prettiest person in the room, but if you don’t believe in yourself, no one else is going to, either.

This is kind of the theme of the Airhead series. I mean, Em Watts doesn’t care about her looks, but she does think the guy she likes will finally notice her once she’s beautiful (thanks to the mysterious accident, courtesy of Stark Enterprises, that ends up with her getting her brain transplanted into a teen supermodel’s body. Uh, the science for this is closer than you think, you guys).

Then she discovers it was just her lack of confidence in herself that kept Christopher from noticing her in the first place . . . and in Runaway, this lack of confidence in herself is what may keep her and Christopher apart forever (oh, and end up getting her killed).

That’s the thing I think Jessica is trying to point out with her show (and I’m definitely pointing out with these books).

Also, what about corporations like Stark? They make so much money off us and our insecurities about the way we look. Is anyone holding them accountable?

(PS: I love this reader-made Stark video!)

I like how Jessica is making us think about pretty, what pretty means in different cultures, and how much we’re willing to pay for pretty.

I also like how Jessica posed (almost) without makeup for this magazine cover. She claims it wasn’t photoshopped, and it does look like her, back in her Newlyweds, just-got-up days!:

Anyway, be sure not to miss the cast of Glee on Oprah this week . . . not just because it’s the cast of Glee, and they’re on Oprah, but because one of my readers won tickets to the show and GOT TO SEE THEM LIVE!

Nicole wrote in to say: “If you DIDN’T see the episode, you should go watch! Mr. Shu does a dance off with Mike Chang and it’s amazing! ”

She’s even in The Question and Answer segment, and gets to ask a question! She’s the super cute girl in pink who asks the “Puckleberry” question at around 8:25!

Finally, in the world of tabloids, while the story of Tiger’s comeback and how a few of his mistresses are going to be stripping at a club nearby AND plan on going to the Masters to watch him play (this is always the best way to get your married professional athlete lover to take you back: Keep on keeping it classy, ladies) is pretty sensational, this is my favorite breaking gossip of the week:

YES! You go, In Touch! What year is this? Who cares? I’m glad I’m not the only one still holding out hope for that Brad and Jen reunion!

More later.

Much love,

Meg