Meg's Diary

Mail Call

I figured I better blog again soon because who knows when my online service will conk out thanks to Hurricane Frances! Right now they are projecting that it might not hit the Keys, but who knows where it will end up heading in the next few days?

Anyway, I got a lot of mail about my VMA blog, mostly telling me the premiere for the new season of Degrassi starts October 1 on the N. So thanks for the tip!

And of course I meant that people booed, not “booked”, the Kerry girls. “Book” was a typo. The Kerry girls were “booked” for the show, which was a good thing. It was a bad thing for people to “boo” them. Thanks, Mom, for being the only one to point that typo out to me.

Some readers seem worried that I apparently don't know the names of the guys in No Doubt. Look, I have ALL their CDs, including their first one, which I actually purchased before some of you were born. Do I have to know the names of the people in the band to enjoy their music? My head is WAY too full already with having to remember stuff from my books, and gossip about Britney. There is no more room in there for this kind of thing.

As far as Stevie Wonder and Lenny Kravitz are concerned–since many readers wrote in, concerned that I don't know who they are, either–I would like to assure you all that I do. Stevie Wonder is the one who wrote that song that Will Smith later sampled for his theme song to the movie “Wild Wild West.” The song I could not get out of my head for WEEKS afterwards.

And Lenny Kravitz was married to Lisa Bonet, who played Rudy's older sister on The Cosby Show. He is currently in the Gap ads with Sarah Jessica Parker.

So, see? I am AWARE of all these things. But there is only so much room in my brain, and MOST of it is stuffed with things about made up countries and ghosts and J-Lo. Please don't ask me to cram in more stuff, like about Tony Kanal, who, as we all know, was very mean to Gwen anyway.

But I didn't JUST hear from people who are worried about my not knowing my male musicians (although I do prefer female vocalists because I can sing along with them without having to change the pronouns of their songs). I also heard from people who—well, you can see for yourself. Because I am once again opening my mailbag to you, so you, too, can experience the rollercoaster of highs and lows that is Meg Cabot's Inbox.

***Dear Meg
My mum and dad are opposed to me reading romance books(eg by meg cabot/Jenny Carol)so my friend secretely lends me hers.Now we're leaving school.How can I buy any of these books without my parents knowing?I'm 11 and my parents won't let me walk anywhere without them.
Thanks!-Iluvromance***

This is an extremely tragic email. How could this poor girl's parents not approve of ROMANCE??? Violence, I could understand. But who did ROMANCE ever hurt? There are no studies showing that people who read romance ever go out and LOVE too many people!

I say you should print out this blog, Iluvromance, and show it to your parents and point out that Meg Cabot's books portray extremely positive female role models and besides which routinely give very important life lessons such as Don't Flunk Algebra and Date Geeks Not Jocks. This should do the trick.

***Meg,Why do Mia & co dislike fast songs? Do you hate dancing to them too?***

Well, I vastly prefer writing to fast songs, and dancing to slow songs. I find that when dancing to fast songs, people tend to drift away from each other, making it very hard to drape your arms around the neck of the boy you like.

That could be just because I'm such a bad dancer, though.

***I'd just like to saythat i think you're books are fab. They will be the first things I read when I break up with my boyfriend (which is, unfortunately, inevitable). But you know the sad thing? I'm 15. I should be reading classics but your books have attitude and I'd like to be as funky as some of your characters. So i just wanna say keep on writing, i love the heroines and the guys (they are so hot, i want one, can you get them on e-bay) and the plots. A lot of it is unrealistic and happy but also they have feelings and emotions. They always make me laugh too, (my mum doesn't always get the jokes that I share with her) and yeah, i think that's it. ***

Well. Thank you. I am glad I have provided you with something to read when you break up with your boyfriend, and with characters who have feelings and emotions.

I don't agree with you, however, that at age 15—or any age, basically–you should necessarily be reading the classics. I think people should read whatever they want—the classics, comic books, and books by Meg Cabot as well, even if they are unrealistic and your mom doesn't get the jokes from them—because reading ANYTHING is always better than reading nothing (Note to Iluvromance: show this to your parents, too).

***Hello,Meg Cabot
i'm your fans.I very like your book Princess diaries.i read all volumes there.It's so cool.If i read that,i get inspiration for my own life.So,i want to know everything about you.Thank you.***

No, thank YOU. And you can look up everything about me on this website, which I understand is being completely updated very soon.

***Hi! i LOVE your books so MUCH! they are so honest because they sound so much like you! actually, its surprizing because most authors dont do that! kind of sad because if they did, their stories could possibly be a lot better than they were before,wouldn't they? they say you should always write what you know.***

Yes, they DO say that, don't they? Of course, I don't really know what it's like to be a princess, save the President's life, or speak to ghosts. But I try to imagine how I would act if any of those things ever happened to me, and then write about that. I'm glad it seems believable to you. But this letter actually goes on to say:

***i was wondering: did you go to the hollywood premire (however you spell it)? really. if you didnt there is no justice in the world if you didnt! i mean, you spent all that time writing the books and if you never wrote the books, they wouldnt have the pd series to base the movies on! so really it's because of you they're even having the premire in the first place!***

Well, thank you! I did, in fact, go to the premiere to the first Princess Diaries movie. I had a great time and met Julie Andrews and everyone involved in the film. It was super fun!

I couldn't go to the premiere of the most recent film, however, because I was on book tour in Indiana for my new book Teen Idol. Honestly, I do feel that there is no justice in the world, but not because of THAT. I tend to feel there is no justice in the world because if there were, George Lucas would not have filmed that scene in “Attack of the Clones” where Hayden Christiansen and Natalie Portman were rolling around in that field with those stupid cow things.

My eyes are still bleeding from that.

***Dear Meg,
I started reading your books one day when I was all alone (parents vacationing) and feeling ill, so i went to my local supermarket and bought the first four Princess Diaries, I laughed so much they made me feel 100% better! I just had to buy more. I adore your writing style and really admire the way you write so many books of such a high quality.
Thank you for making my ill days (of which unfortunately i have many) so much happier.***

Wow, thank you. I'm always glad to hear that my books have helped speed along someone's healing, mostly because they have the opposite effect on me, in that while I'm writing them, I myself feel sick, because I am convinced that they suck so badly, no one who reads them will ever
be able to stop throwing up.

So it's nice to hear from someone on whom they had the opposite effect.

***Right, so I've been TRYING to imagine what the guys in your books look like, but I've only been able to imagine Paul well, since I know a guy who looks a lot like him. So I was wondering if you could name some actors that remind you of your characters! It'd be really great.
P.S. I LOVE YOUR BOOKS, EVEN THOUGH I HAVEN'T READ TEEN IDOL YET!
P.P.S. I haven't read Teen Idol because I have to save up my money to buy it, and I don't want to spend all of it on it. I'm really just waiting for the paperback to come out, even though that would be SUCH a long time. It'd be great if I could get it as a gift though. Especially a prize.
P.P.P.S. I love your advice, too! I was thinking of something to ask you about, but I don't really need any advice right now. That's probably because I read your advice, though, so I know what to do in situations. For example, I'm going to become a doctor and maybe write and try to get published. Sorry though, I shouldn't have told you that, because your advice was not to tell anyone.***

The author this email is extremely wise (for going to medical school and not telling anyone she wants to be a writer). Bravo! She could have signed up to win Teen Idol as a prize on the Meg Cabot Book Club, but we have moved on to a new book this month (Mariah Frederick's most excellent True Meaning of Cleavage, which is NOT about boobs) with new prizes. However, I will tell her that there is a question on the Which Meg Cabot Hero Is The Ideal Guy For You Quiz on www.megcabotbookclub.com which asks:

If your life were being made into a made-for-TV movie, you would want your leading man to be like:

a) Jesse Bradford
b) Gael Garcia Bernal
c) Trent Ford
d) Benjamin Mackenzie
e) Adam Brody
f) Chad Michael Murray

Each of these actors were chosen because they in some way remind me of a hero from one of my books. Good luck guessing which one is which, though!

***HI!!! I love your books. I right alot of books myself. Im Wondering……..can you wright a few more books for childern. Not like picture books……but like chapter books for kids around 9-12. I would REALY apreseate it.***

Sadly, I cannot do this. That's because I've noticed that in books for kids ages 9-12, there is very little kissing. I find books without kissing in them extremely boring. So I don't think I will be able to write for this age group. Fortunately the author of this letter wants to be a writer herself, so perhaps she can fill this void with her own work.

***Hi!!Meg!
I am a Japanese girl.
Your stories are my favorite books.
I am 20 years old…too old.
but I like your stories best!
and I wish you come to Japan,
you talk to and teach us your nobels …
Byeby!***

I so wish I knew what nobels were. SOOO wish I knew.
But no one is too old for YA books. NO ONE. That I know.

***Dear Meg,
HOW COULD YOU?!? why on earth would you let disney waste millions of dollars on making another horrid PD movie?!? I will never think of the characters the same way. how could someone who writes with such wonderful detail ruin her own characters like that????***

Hmmm. This reader seems to be feeling a lot of anger towards me. I can understand her feeling upset, but she shouldn't worry so much about Disney, they made a lot of money from the movies and probably don't feel they were a waste.

Probably what this reader doesn't know is that without the movies of the Princess Diaries, there would be no Meg Cabot books at all, as I would still be working as the assistant manager in a freshman dorm at NYU, and would never have had the time to write them. In fact, right now I would probably be taking a drunk freshman to the hospital, instead of writing this blog.

But that's OK.

Still, whether or not the movie is “horrid” is obviously a matter of interpretation, or I wouldn't be getting flooded with letters like this one:

***Dear Meg,
Yesterday, I saw Princess Diaries II (the movie) in theaters. And it was SO GOOD. Maybe even better than the first one. The movie totally did the books justice. Anne Hathaway looked SO BEAUTIFUL in the movie!! And Julie Andrews is so high class and….awesome (for lack of a better word).***

Then there's:

***MEG!!!! I LOVED PD2 SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!WHEN IS THE CHARACTER OF NICHOLAS GOING TO BE INTRODUCED IN THE BOOKS???? HE IS HOT HOT HOT!!!!!!!!!***

Sadly, never, because he was written by Disney, not me. But thanks for writing.

Now I think I will close with an email I got the other day when I mentioned I was looking for a quote to give to people for their Wall of Inspiration. This quote won't work for me, since I didn't write it, and I'm pretty sure when people write to me asking for quotes, they want something I wrote.

But I thought this was a very cool, especially in light of the gossip blog I wrote a few days later:

***Meg, Here is a quote that you might like. I got it from Little Town on the Prarie, Caroline Ingalls wrote it.

“If wisdom's ways you wisely seek,
five things observe with care:
to whom you speak, of whom you speak,
of how, and why, and where.”***

Thank you very much, Angela C! And thanks to author Laura Ingalls Wilder, as well.

This very well might be the best Back to School advice anyone has ever given. Try it yourself and see. I bet you'll be pleased with the results.

That's it for now.

More later.

Much love,

Meg

PS Girls Night In, the new short story collection I'm in to raise money for www.warchild.com, goes on sale today!!! Don't forget to pick up your copy soon before they all sell out!

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