Meg Cabot

Meg Cabot
Born Meggin Patricia Cabot
February 1, 1967
Bloomington, Indiana, United States
Pen name Meggin Cabot
Patricia Cabot
Jenny Carroll
Occupation Writer
Genre Chick-lit, Mystery, Romance
Notable works The Princess Diaries
The Mediator
Avalon High
Website
megcabot.com

Meg Cabot (born Meggin Patricia Cabot; February 1, 1967) is an American author of romantic and paranormal fiction for teens and adults and used to write under several pen names, but now writes exclusively under her real name, Meg Cabot. She has written and published over fifty books, and is best known for The Princess Diaries, later made by Walt Disney Pictures into two feature films of the same name. Meg's books have been the recipients of numerous awards, including the New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age, the American Library Association Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, the Tennessee Volunteer State TASL Book Award, the Book Sense Pick, the Evergreen Young Adult Book Award, the IRA/CBC Young Adult Choice – as well as many others (see awards section for specific book wins).[1][2] She has had numerous No. 1 New York Times bestsellers. Cabot has more than 25 million copies of her books—children's, young adult, and adult—in print worldwide.

Personal life

Cabot was born in Bloomington, Indiana.[3][4] After Meg graduated from Indiana University, Cabot moved to New York City, with the original aim of pursuing a career as an illustrator.[3][4] in 1991. However, she soon quit this job and started working as an assistant manager of the freshman dormitory at New York University.[3][4]

Meg Cabot married financial writer and poet Benjamin D. Egnatz on April 1, 1993. Their wedding date,[1] April Fool's Day, was a deliberate play on her husband's belief that only fools get married in the first place. The wedding was actually an elopement in Italy. Her novel Every Boy's Got One is loosely based on her own elopement. She has two cats, Henrietta (a one eyed cat) and Gem, about whom she often blogs.

After living in Indiana, California, New York, and France, she now splits her time among New York, Key West, Florida and Bloomington, Indiana.[5]

Publications

Young adult novels

The Princess Diaries series

Main article: The Princess Diaries

The Princess Diaries series is the most notable series written by Meg Cabot, and has been published in more than 40 countries.[6] The first book in the series was published in October 2000; the series spent 38 weeks on the New York Times Children's Series Best Sellers List and was sold to publishers in 37 foreign countries.

In 2001 and 2004 respectively, the series was brought to the big screen by Walt Disney Pictures as The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews.

Note that in the UK and Australia the books are published under titles based on the volume number (e.g.: Mia Goes Fourth).

Illustrated by Chelsey McLaren:

On January 6, 2009, a companion book to Volume X: Forever Princess entitled Ransom My Heart was published under the name Princess of Genovia, Mia Thermopolis by Avon Books, the adult division of HarperCollins, the Princess Diaries series publisher. All author proceeds from the novel, which was printed on 100% recycled paper, go to Greenpeace.

On May 2014, Cabot blogged that there will be two new books in the series, one adult book titled Royal Wedding and one spin-off middle-grade book, titled From The Notebooks of a Middle School Princess, taken from the point of view of Mia's long-lost sister, Olivia Grace, to be published in Summer 2015.

The Mediator series

The Mediator Series is about a 16-year-old girl named Susannah "Suze" Simon. Suze is a mediator, whose role is to help ghosts finish their business on earth so they can pass on to the afterlife. To this end, she can see, touch, communicate with, hit, punch, and 'kick ghost butt' when she has to. The series begins just after Suze's widowed mother marries Andy Ackerman, so Suze has moved to Carmel, California, to live in an old house complete with three stepbrothers. To make matters worse, her bedroom is haunted by an attractive male ghost named Jesse de Silva, who died 150 years earlier. Suze remembers that back in New York a fortune teller had told her that she was a mediator (which proved correct) and that she would only fall in love once but it would last for an eternity. Her one love for eternity just might be Jesse. But does he love her back?

The first four books were originally released under the pseudonym Jenny Carroll (this was when Cabot was working with different publishing houses). Haunted was the first title to have Meg Cabot's name on it. The first four books were later reprinted under Cabot's real name in 2005 with new cover art when Twilight was released in hardcover. The UK titles for the series were as follows: Shadowland- Love You to Death, Ninth Key- High Stakes, Reunion- Mean Spirits, Darkest Hour- Young Blood, Haunted- Grave Doubts, and Twilight- Heaven Sent.[7]

The Mediator series rights have been sold to producer Julia Pistor.

In December 2010, HarperTeen reprinted an omnibus edition titled The Mediator: Shadowland and Ninth Key.

In May 2014, Cabot blogged that there will be one adult novel of the Mediator, titled Remembrance. The book is expected to be released on February 14th, 2016. [8]

1-800-WHERE-R-U series

This series revolves around Jessica Mastriani, an ordinary 16-year-old girl given extraordinary psychic powers after being struck by lightning. Her powers allow her to know the exact location of missing children; after seeing a picture of a person, they appear in her dreams. The first four books take place over less than a year, and chronicle her attempts to help missing children while trying to avoid the scrutiny of the federal government. The fifth book, published four years after the fourth book, picks up the story line after Jess has turned 19. Over the course of the books, Jess is romantically involved with Rob Wilkins, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks.

The first four books were written under Cabot's pseudonym, Jenny Carroll. After poor sales, the series was discontinued. Sales improved when the books were re-released in 2004 under Cabot's real name. Cabot was unhappy with the discontinuation; she stated that she wanted to take the series up to eight books. Her current publishing house agreed to publish one more installment. Missing You was released in December 2006 and that was the end of the series.

The 1-800-WHERE-R-YOU series was the basis for the television show Missing, which aired on the Lifetime cable network for three seasons from 2003 to 2006.[6]

The series has been reprinted in the US in an omnibus edition, and retitled Vanished.

All-American Girl series

The series revolves around Samantha Madison, a Washington, D.C. native, who, while skipping her after-school art class, saves the life of the president, and becomes a national hero. The two books are about her rise to fame and her love life with the president's son, David, who appears to want to take their relationship to the next level in the second book. There is also a short story called Another All American Girl in the anthology Our White House:Looking In, Looking Out, about Samantha's experience in the White House.

Avalon High series

There is a sequel to the first Avalon High novel. However, instead of a regular novel, it is part of a new partnership HarperCollins brokered with Tokyopop (a leading United States manga company). It has been released as a three-book manga series, called Avalon High: Coronation. The first manga, titled The Merlin Prophecy, was released on July 3, 2007 and was drawn by manga artist Jinky Coronado, who does the Banzai Girl manga. She also illustrated the other two manga.

The Avalon High film was shown on Disney Channel on November 12, 2010. Britt Robertson played Ally(Elaine), while Gregg Sulkin played Will.

The Airhead trilogy

This three-book series is about Emerson Watts, an overachieving high school student. She wakes up after an accident, and discovers that her brain has been transplanted into the body of teen supermodel Nikki Howard. Now, she is no longer judged by her grades but by her looks, and she has to fight the worldwide corporation, Stark Enterprises, if she wants to find out what really happened to her old life and to protect her friends and family.

The Abandon trilogy

Blurb for the first book in the trilogy, Abandon:

She knows what it's like to die. Now Death wants her back.

Seventeen-year-old Pierce knows what happens to us when we die. That's how she met John Hayden, the mysterious stranger who's made returning to normal life—or at least life as Pierce knew it before the accident—next to impossible. Though she thought she escaped him—starting a new school in a whole new place—it turns out she was wrong. He finds her. What does John want from her? Pierce thinks she knows... just like she knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven. But she can't stay away from him, either, especially since he's always there when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most. But if she lets herself fall any further, she might find herself back in the place she fears the most. And when Pierce discovers the shocking truth, that's exactly where John sweeps her:

The Underworld.'

Cabot has stated on her website that there is great excitement concerning the series in Hollywood and that there is a strong possibility of it being turned either into a movie or a TV series .

Stand-alone young-adult novels

Children's novels

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls

Adult novels

Boy series

These books are loosely connected romantic comedies told in emails, IMs, and brief journal entries. The Boy Next Door was a Kelly Ripa Book Club Pick on LIVE! with Regis and Kelly.

Heather Wells series

The Heather Wells series is an adult mystery series that features former pop star Heather Wells. Heather was once a teen star, but was fired by her recording company when she asked to sing songs she had written instead of the ones they composed for her. The book opens just after Heather has gotten a job as a residence house coordinator at New York College and quickly discovers that young girls in the dorm are being murdered.

The second book was originally titled Phat Chick, but this was changed by the publishers to It's Not Over Until The Size 12 Chick Sings, and finally, Size 14 is Not Fat Either, which continued Heather's amateur sleuthing adventures.

The third book in the series is published under the title Size Doesn't Matter in Australia and Great Britain. (In other countries, such as the U.S. and Canada, it was entitled Big Boned.) In Size Doesn't Matter, Heather solves another mystery, and is involved in a love triangle with Tad, her boyfriend, and Cooper, whom she secretly loves, but rejected her.

In March 2008 the series was contracted for two additional books, which were released in 2012 and 2013.

Queen of Babble series

Queen of Babble debuted at No. 27 on the New York Times Bestseller List. The main character of this romantic comedy, Lizzie Nichols, is a recent college grad who isn't sure what she wants out of life. All she knows is that she can't keep a secret, even her own. This causes her many romantic, friendship, and work-related problems, especially after moving to New York City after graduating from college.

Insatiable series

The first book in Meg's latest series for adult readers, Insatiable, was released on June 8, 2010, and became an instant New York Times bestseller. This series is a modern retelling of Bram Stoker's Dracula, but with a twist. The main character, Meena Harper, has a special gift: she can foretell people's death . . . just not her own. Even worse, she's being forced by the television show for which she works to write vampires into the plot due to their popularity. Meena, however, hates vampires (she doesn't believe in them, and doesn't like how they always go after—and kill—girls). This complicates things when she finds out from Alaric Wulf, a demon-hunter with a secret unit of the Vatican called the Palatine Guard, that vampires are attacking girls all over her native New York City, and that her new boyfriend might be one of them . . . Lucien Antonescu, Dracula's son, the Prince of Darkness. A sequel to Insatiable called Overbite[9] was released on July 5, 2011.

Romance novels

These novels were written under Cabot's pseudonym Patricia Cabot:

Written under Cabot's characters

Other works

She Went All the Way is a romantic comedy novel with elements of a (mild) thriller. The plot focuses on a recently dumped screenwriter, Lou (a woman) whose actor-ex elopes two-weeks post breakup—with someone else. The recently married bride also unceremoniously dumped her boyfriend, Jack, an A-list actor. When Lou is assigned the fourth installment in Jack's major movie franchise, they not only meet, but share a wacky adventure, with moments of genuine danger.

Short stories

Screenplays

Adaptations

In 2001, the film version of the Princess Diaries was released. The film starred Anne Hathaway as Amelia "Mia" Thermopolis and Julie Andrews as Clarisse Renaldi. A sequel to the Princess Diaries film was released in 2004 and titled, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.

A Canadian television series based on the 1-800-WHERE-R-YOU series titled, Missing was broadcast on the A and W Network in Canada from 2003 to 2006. The series was broadcast on Lifetime in the United States.

The Disney Channel original movie version of Avalon High premiered late fall 2010.[10] the film starred Gregg Sulkin as A. William Wagner and Britt Robertson as Allie Pennington (Ellie Harrison)

An untitled Queen of Babble movie is currently "in development". The book has been optioned by Jeffrey Sharp of Sharp Independent, with Kristen Bell slated to star. There has also, been some talk of The Mediator being adapted into a film or television series.

Awards

Charity

Meg has teamed with the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the Starlight Children's Foundation to mentor seriously and terminally ill children.

Events

In March 2012, Meg helped raise money for Authors for Henryville to benefit tornado victims in Indiana.

In 2010, Meg donated proceeds from books purchased at the Kappa Book Fair and Dinner to the Craig Hospital in Denver. The hospital specializes in spinal cord and brain injuries.

In 2009, Meg held a Tiara Auction to benefit the New York Public Library. Tiaras decorated by celebrities, authors, and designers such as Julie Andrews, Vera Wang, Tommy Hilfiger, Lauren Conrad, Mo Rocca, and Julianne Moore were auctioned and raised over $15,000 for teen programs at the library.

Short stories and books benefitting charities

In 2012, Meg's short story, “Wooden Animal,” appeared in Significant Objects, an anthology that benefitted Girls Write Now.

And in 2011, Meg contributed the story "The Protectionist" to the anthology What You Wish For. One hundred percent of proceeds benefitted the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, which builds libraries in Darfuri refugee camps in Chad.

All of Meg's proceeds from her story, “The Exterminator's Daughter,” in the anthology Prom Night's From Hell, benefit First Book, a nonprofit organization connecting book publishers and community organizations to provide access to new books for children in need.

All of Meg's proceeds from The Princess Diaries, Volume 4 1/2, Project Princess, go to benefit The Lower Eastside Girls Club of New York City. Editions sold to publishers in 10 countries outside the US benefitted local charities in those countries.

All of Meg's proceeds from the novel Ransom My Heart by Mia Thermopolis, Princess of Genovia (with help from Meg Cabot) go to benefit Greenpeace (Ransom My Heart is also printed on recycled paper). The proceeds from sales of Ransom My Heart to publishers in 8 countries have also gone to Mia's favorite charity.

Meg's story, "The Night Hunter," was included in the anthology Fear: 13 Stories of Suspense. All author proceeds from this book benefit the Reading Is Fundamental literacy program for children.

In 2008, Meg contributed a story (“Another All-American Girl”) to the anthology, Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out. All proceeds benefit the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance.

Meg's also written short stories for anthologies that have benefitted the Teenage Cancer Trust, War Child, No Strings, Lisa Libraries, Kids Company, and the New York Public Libraries, among other organizations

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Princess Diaries I (1) | Author Meg Cabot. Megcabot.com. Retrieved on 2012-12-31.
  2. ↑ All-American Girl | Author Meg Cabot. Megcabot.com (September 1, 2002). Retrieved on 2012-12-31.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Meg Cabot Biography. Notablebiographies.com. Retrieved on 2012-12-31.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Historical Romance Writers Author: Patricia Cabot. Historicalromancewriters.com (December 3, 2012). Retrieved on 2012-12-31.
  5. ↑ Biography of Meg Cabot, Meg Cabot
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Meg Cabot Biography – Airhead Author – CosmoGIRL!. Cosmogirl.com (February 1, 1967). Retrieved on 2012-12-31.
  7. ↑ Transcript for chat on Saturday, January 29th, 2005. Topic: Twilight by Meg Cabot. MegCabot.com
  8. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/mediatorbooks/posts/10152436335793097
  9. ↑ Giving Thanks | | Meg CabotMeg Cabot. Megcabot.com (November 24, 2010). Retrieved on 2012-12-31.
  10. ↑ "Disney Channel & Disney XD Present Programming Plans for 2010–11 – TV Ratings, Nielsen Ratings, Television Show Ratings". TVbytheNumbers.com. March 3, 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-11.

Sources

External links