Meg Cabot

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Meg Cabot

Pseudonym(s):	Patricia Cabot Jenny Carroll
Born:	February 1, 1967 Bloomington, Indiana
Occupation(s):	Novelist
Nationality:	American
Writing period:	1998-present
Genre(s):	Chick-lit Mystery Romance Science fiction
Website:	http://www.megcabot.com/

Meg Cabot (born Meggin Patricia Cabot on February 1, 1967) is an American author of romantic comedies for teens and adults. She has also written under the pseudonyms Patricia Cabot and Jenny Carroll. She has written and published almost 40 books, and is best known for The Princess Diaries, which were adapted into The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement by Walt Disney Pictures. The 1-800-WHERE-ARE-YOU series was also adopted into a television show called Missing, which airs on the Lifetime channel. Cabot has more than 15 million copies of her books — both young adult and adult — in print worldwide. Her website averages about 61,120 unique visitors a month and her online book club Meg Cabot Book Club (which also includes a writing forum where members can post their stories and fan fiction) averages 15,000 unique visitors a month.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Works 2.1 Young adult 2.1.1 Series 2.1.1.1 The Princess Diaries 2.1.1.2 The Mediator 2.1.1.3 1-800-WHERE-R-YOU 2.1.1.4 All-American Girl 2.1.1.5 Avalon High 2.1.2 Other young adult 2.2 Adult 2.2.1 Series 2.2.1.1 Size 12 2.2.1.2 Queen of Babble 2.2.2 Romance 2.2.3 Other adult 2.3 Short stories 2.4 Screenplays 3 Meg Cabot Book Club 4 Awards 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Biography

Cabot was born in Bloomington, Indiana to college professor A. Victor and Barbara Cabot. She married financial writer Benjamin D. Egnatz on April 1, 1993. She has two cats, Henrietta and Gem, about whom she often blogs.

In 1991, Cabot received a B.A. from Indiana University. Before she published her first book, Meg worked as an assistant dorm manager at New York University. After living in Indiana, California, New York, and France, she now currently resides in Key West, Florida.

In May 2006, the Harvard Crimson released reports that 19-year-old author Kaavya Viswanathan borrowed passages from Cabot's Princess Diaries series, and other books, to place in her novel How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life. Viswanathan's novels were subsequently pulled from the shelves. Cabot has also writen many books for teens, including The Princess Diaries series which has won many awards also, her more recent series, The Mediator.

[edit] Works

[edit] Young adult

[edit] Series

[edit] The Princess Diaries

The first book in The Princess Diaries series was published in October 2000; the series has spent 38 weeks on the New York Times Children's Series Best Sellers List and has been sold to publishers in 37 foreign countries. As of April 14, 2006, the series was #4 on the New York Times bestseller list.

On April 6, 2006, Cabot announced a mistake on the back cover of her new book, Party Princess. In New Zealand and Australia, the picture on the back features Georgia Byng instead of Cabot. She said, "Don't worry. The copies of Princess Diaries 7 with Georgia Byng's picture on the back are being pulled from shops, and swapped for copies of the book with the correct author's photo (mine) on the back."

Cabot has stated that the series will end with its tenth book, when Mia turns 18.[1] However, she has also said that she may drop in on her (Mia) from time to time in the future.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] The Mediator

1. Shadowland, October 2000
2. Ninth Key, February 2001
3. Reunion, July 2001
4. Darkest Hour, December 2001
5. Haunted, February 2003
6. Twilight, December 2004

The Mediator series is about 16-year-old Suze Simon. Suze is a mediator, whose role is to help ghosts finish their business so they can leave Earth. In this series, she can see, touch, communicate with, hit, punch, and kick other ghosts. The series begins just after Suze's mother remarries, to a man named Andy Ackerman, and Suze is shipped off to Carmel, California, to live in an old house complete with three stepbrothers. To make matters worse, her bedroom is haunted by a very cute ghost of a man named Jesse, who died 150 years ago.

The first four books were originally released under her 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.

[edit] 1-800-WHERE-R-YOU

1. When Lightning Strikes, February 2001
2. Code Name Cassandra, August 2001
3. Safe House, March 2002
4. Sanctuary, September 2002
5. Missing You, January 1, 2007

This series revolves around Jessica Mastriani, an ordinary teenage girl given extraordinary psychic powers when she ducked under a set of bleachers during a thunderstorm and was hit by lightning. She now knows where missing children are located, dreaming about their current location after seeing a picture of them. She initially reports two missing kids to the national missing hotline, 1-800-WHERE-R-YOU. However, after her report reunites a missing child with his abusive father, Jess begins to reevaluate her role. The federal government also attempts to use her to rescue more kids, but she wants to play neither role. The four books chroncile her attempts to try to still help missing children while trying to avoid the scrutiny of the federal government.

The first four books were written under Cabot's pseudonym, Jenny Carroll. After poor sales, however, the series was discontinued. Sales improved when the books were rereleased 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 has agreed to publish one more installment. Missing You will be released in late December 2006 and will end the series. The storyline revolves around Jess several years after Sanctuary, when her former flame Rob appears in the hopes that she will be able to find his younger sister, who has vanished.

[edit] All-American Girl

• All American Girl, September 2002
• Ready or Not (novel): An All-American Girl Novel, July 2005

[edit] Avalon High

• Avalon High , December 2005
• Avalon High: Coronation (three-book manga series)
  • The Merlin Prophecy (July 3, 2007)
  • Hunter's Moon (unknown)
  • Homecoming (unknown)

An Avalon High sequel is in the works. However, instead of a regular novel, it is part of a new partnership HarperCollins brokered with Tokyopop (a leading United States manga company). It will be released as a three-book manga series, called Avalon High: Coronation. The first manga, titled The Merlin Prophecy, will be released on July 3, 2007 and is being drawn by manga artist Jinky Coronado, who does the Banzai Girl manga.

On August 31, Cabot reported at her website that the original book has been optioned by the Disney Channel for a made-for-television, live-action movie.

[edit] Other young adult

• Nicola and the Viscount, August 2002
• Victoria and the Rogue, March 2003
• Teen Idol, July 2004
• How to Be Popular, July 2006
• Pants On Fire (formerly titled Tommy Sullivan is a Freak), May 2007
• Jinx, September 2007

[edit] Adult

[edit] Series

[edit] Size 12

1. Size 12 is Not Fat, January 2006
2. Size 14 is Not Fat Either, November 28, 2006
3. Big Boned (tentative), December 2007

Size 12 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 will continue with Heather's amateur sleuthing adventures. The title of the third book, Big Boned, is tentative and may be changed.

[edit] Queen of Babble

1. Queen of Babble, May 2006
2. Queen of Babble in the Big City, May 2007
3. Queen of Babble Gets Hitched, May 2008

Queen of Babble debuted at #27 on the New York Times Bestseller List, the highest debut of any of Cabot's adult books; it was also the first of her adult books to be released in hardcover. The series focusses on Lizzie Nichols, a lover of vintage fashion - and of talking. In the first book, her big mouth gets her into trouble with her British boyfriend, Andrew, and Lizzie ends up rushing off to France where her good friend is vacationing and helping out with a wedding. Like most of Cabot's books, the plot is primarily based on romance, but it also deals with the aftermath of Lizzie's tendency to babble. The series is currently contracted as a trilogy.

[edit] Romance

• Where Roses Grow Wild, March 1998
• Portrait of My Heart, January 1999
• An Improper Proposal, November 1999
• A Little Scandal, June 2000
• Lady of Skye, December 2000
• Educating Caroline, November 2001
• Kiss the Bride, May 2002

These romance novels were written under Cabot's pseudonym, Patricia Cabot.

[edit] Other adult

• The Boy Next Door, October 2002 (as Meggin Cabot)
• She Went All the Way, December 2002 (as Meggin Cabot)
• Boy Meets Girl, January 2004
• Every Boy's Got One, January 2005

[edit] Short stories

• "The Christmas Captive" (as Patricia Cabot), included in the adult romance anthology A Season in the Highlands, which was published in November 2000.
• "Girl’s Guide to New York through the Movies," included in Metropolis Found: New York Is Book Country 25th Anniversary Collection, published in August 2003.
• "Kate the Great," included in Thirteen: Thirteen Stories That Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen, published October 2003.
• "Party Planner," included in the adult short story collection Girls' Night In, published September 2004.
• "Connie Hunter Williams, Psychic Teacher," included in the teen short story collection Friends: Stories About New Friends, Old Friends, and Unexpectedly True Friends, published August 2005.
• "Allie Finklestine's Rules for Boys," included in the CosmoGIRL! short story collection Shining On, published April 2006. The proceeds from the book go to the Teenage Cancer Trust.
• "Reunion," included in the adult short story collection Girls' Night Out, published June 2006.

[edit] Screenplays

• Early versions of the screenplay for Disney's "Princess Diaries"

[edit] Meg Cabot Book Club

Established on May 28, 2004, the Meg Cabot Book Club is an online community dedicated to the discussion of books. Cabot received the idea for the book club, with many of its features, from one of her readers, Allison Mishkin.^{[citation needed]}

Administered by webmistress Janey Lee of Hanee Designs, Cabot's book club has pages where readers can find free downloads (and the occasional book give-away), contests, polls, and message boards dedicated to all things Meg Cabot.

Once a month, Cabot joins her fans in a monthly chat to discuss that month's chosen YA novel and learn information about her own novels. Of November 2006, more than 17,000 members are registered on the book club's message forum.

[edit] Awards

• Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for Best British Isles Historical Romance, 1999, for An Improper Proposal
• Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers selection, Best Book selection, American Library Association, and New York Public Library Teen Book for the New Millennium citation, all 2001, all for The Princess Diaries
• Edgar Allan Poe Award nomination, best young adult category, Mystery Writers of America, 2003, for Safe House
• The Princess Diaries was voted "one of the nation's 100 best-loved novels" by the British public as part of the "The Big Read," British Broadcasting Corporation, 2003.

[edit] References

• "Meg Cabot." Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Volume 50. Gale Group, 2003. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2006.
• Cabot, Meggin. Meg Cabot Book Club. 11 Mar. 2006. 14 Mar. 2006. <MegCabotBookClub.com>.

[edit] External links

• Meg Cabot and other chick lit books

Official sites:

• • Meg Cabot (official UK website)
  • Interview and essays by Meg Cabot (Official publisher web page)
  • Jenny Carroll
  • Patricia Cabot
  • Meg Cabot at MySpace
• Meg Cabot Book Club
• Meg Cabot Interview: Not Suitable For Children!
• PopGurls 20 Questions with Meg Cabot