I’m more thankful than I can say to everyone who came to my first few appearances during the start of my Abandon book tour (you can see tons of cute photos of yourselves on my Facebook page here) . . . .

. . . as well as to those of you who couldn’t make it in person to any of my signings so far, but have joined me on my blog tour stops!

And to all the amazing bloggers/reviewers who’ve posted such thoughtful reviews—and even teaching guides!—about Abandon, as well as to everyone who’s picked up a copy of the book so far . . . .

I can’t thank you enough!

Especially because, while all my books are special to me, Abandon has an EXTRA special place in my heart. To find out why, check out this post I wrote for the fun ladies at Forever YA.

No matter how many times anyone tells you no, anything can happen . . . often in the blink of an eye. Which all of you have helped prove this past week by making Abandon debut at #6 on the New York Times bestseller list!

If I could, I’d give all of you one of these! (Hint: They’re giving them away at stops all along my blog tour!)

While these past couple of weeks have been some of the most insanely busy in my life, they’ve also been some of the best, thanks to all of YOU.

And I can’t wait to see more of you at the International Reading Association conference this coming week in Orlando (don’t tell me you’re not coming!), and then this Thursday in CANADA!

Here’s where you’ll be able to find me (besides the hotel bar):

Tuesday, May 10:

2:00-3:30pm Scholastic Signing Booth
Orange County Convention Center–Booth #840

Wednesday, May 11:

9:00-10:00am HarperCollins Signing Booth
Convention Center–Booth #1220

Followed by:

11:00-12:00pm Featured Author Speaker
Convention Center—West Building
Room W304

PLEASE STOP BY TO SAY HI!

Sadly I won’t be able to stay past noon on Wednesday because I have to rush off to catch my plane to:

CANADA (click me!)

Chapters Queensway
Thursday, May 12, 7PM
Contact the store for details
1950 The Queensway,
Etobicoke, Ontario
M9C 5H5
Canada
(416) 622-2838

I haven’t been to Canada in FOREVER! I can’t wait!

I’ll be back for signings in the US with authors Libba Bray and Maggie Stiefvater for Scholastic’s new This is Teen online community the week of May 23rd! Check out my schedule here.

And don’t forget my signings beginning June 28 for my newest adult release, Overbite (an exclusive look at the cover coming soon)!

Here are some other events you won’t want to

Abandon is in US (and Canadian) stores now (officially on sale Tuesday, April 26)!

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 of 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 today 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 written “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 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!

Ideas are fragile things. They can be so easily trampled. But the minute I confessed to you about mine, 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, they aren’t apps. They’re art)!

I thought they could help me explain in video format (not an app. Although you never know!) just how special this story is 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 it. What do you think?

While certain other people are stressing out just the teensiest bit about the upcoming royal wedding (see Princess Mia Thermopolis’s blog) on April 29, 2011, I’m stressing out just the teensiest bit about the book tour I’m about to leave on for my new YA paranormal Abandon.

(You can see the clock counting down the days until this event occurs—as well as a sizzling new excerpt and cool other extras—on the brand new web page for Abandon here.)

But if you ask me, Kate’s gig is nothing! It’s just twelve hours, including the ceremony, photos, afternoon cake-cutting reception, and evening reception.

Then afterwards Kate gets to go on a honeymoon on a yacht to relax and be a princess for the rest of her life! Check out MY schedule (there’s an interactive map! For real!) for the next fourteen weeks.

Do you see any yachts or relaxation or tiaras in there? No, you do not.

Not that I’m complaining, because it’s going to be fun (except the travel and the no yachts or tiaras). Part of the tour will include a new initiative by Scholastic to build a global community that connects teens with their favorite authors. It’s called This is Teen and will include me and authors Libba Bray and Maggie Stiefvater, both of whom also have books coming out this summer (but as far as I know, no yachts or tiaras either).

We will, however, be coming to cities near you to tell you stuff like in this video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Another part of my tour will be to promote Overbite, the sequel to my adult paranormal, Insatiable. Contrary to what you might think, Overbite is not a book about a girl with dental issues. Instead, it’s about a girl battling the forces of evil while (unfortunately for her) being in love with the prince of darkness (an example of taking on more than one can chew, since she doesn’t get a yacht or a tiara either. Sorry if this is a spoiler).

I’ll be able to tell you more about Overbite (and reveal the cover, excerpts, and webpage!) closer to its pub date of July 1.

I’m seriously super grateful for all of the great advanced press there has been for Abandon . . .

. . . like this great review from Seventeen Magazine.

Favorite part from Seventeen review: Pierce is a rockstar narrator. She’s bold, gutsy, and hyperaware. She might even be too brave for her own good. We love a girl who isn’t scared to take action. Pierce might be a little reckless, but at least she’s never a damsel in distress.

And this piece by the amazing Sue Corbett in Publisher’s Weekly Children’s Bookshelf about six new spring titles and their inspiration, including Abandon) and Chris Van Allsburg’s Queen of the Falls. Chris Van Allsburg was my idol when I was an illustration major in college. I can’t believe I have a book mentioned in the same piece as his! I seriously freaked out when I saw that)!

Favorite part from the Publisher’s Weekly piece (about Abandon, not Chris): Where I got to talk abou

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Guess what today is?

My 18th wedding anniversary!

No joke.

You can read more about it here. Or just read my book Every Boy’s Got One. (Every boy’s got a heart, silly. I know what you were thinking. You are naughty.)

Have a great April Fool’s Day! It’s the best day to fall in love (also to get married. You don’t even have to elope to Italy).

More later.

Much love,

Meg

A lot of stuff has happened since I last posted. I’m not going to bother giving a recap, since you all keep up with current events. It’s been the kind of month where some of us may have felt the urge to watch way too many Lifetime Movies of the Week in a row (such as Marilu Henner’s Fight for Justice or Angie Dickinson’s Deep Family Secrets) in an effort to escape our own real life problems, or the ones we keep seeing on the news.

But that’s okay! Stories like Marilu’s and Angie’s have been told (and re-told) for thousands of years exactly because they inspire us and let us know we shouldn’t abandon all hope. Just when it seems like winter’s dark and gloomy days are going to go on forever . . . BOOM!

Not only do the flowers start blooming (a sure sign that spring is right around the corner), but authors start posting. . .Their New Official Book Trailers!

Here’s mine for Abandon:

Click here to view the embedded video.

No, despite popular speculation, that guy’s not an angel or a vampire or a ghost. Think about the clues. Dante’s Inferno. Abandon hope all ye who enter here. Death. Graveyards. Springtime . . . ringing a bell?

Maybe this outrageously awesome review from Forever Young Adult will help you figure it out.

The book won’t be in stores until April 26, 2011. That isn’t much time! I have a lot to do to get ready. My tour schedule is below, and these are just a FEW of the cities I’m going to be visiting.

What will I be doing while I’m at all these bookstores? Well, talking and signing copies of Abandon, answering questions about my other books, giving away tips on how to be a writer, handing out some cool Abandon-related prizes, and possibly spilling some spoilers about the next book in the series, just to name a few things:

MEG CABOT’S AMAZING ABANDON TOUR

Tuesday, April 26, 2011
6:00 PM
Davis-Kidd Booksellers
387 Perkins Road Extended
Memphis, TN 38117
901-683-9801

Wednesday, April 27, 2011
7:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
1430 Plaza Place
Southlake, TX 76092
817-442-0207

Thursday, April 28, 2011
7:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
Mansell Crossings Shopping Center
Alpharetta, GA 30022
770-993-8340

Friday, April 29, 2011
Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Day of Royal Rest

Saturday, April 30, 2011
2:00 PM
Rainy Day Books
Unity Temple on the Plaza
707 W. 47th Street
Kansas City, MO 64112
(913) 384-3126

Sunday, May 8-Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Orlando, Florida
Meg will be a featured author at the International Reading Association Convention. See author schedule. Convention events are open to IRA members only. A signing in a local bookstore in Orlando that will be open to the public may also be scheduled.

But wait! There’s more . . . Abandon events are also tentatively scheduled for Toronto, Boston, Miami, and other locations (to be announced soon)!

In the meantime, also look for me here:

Tuesday, June 28-Saturday, July 1, 2011
New York, New York
Meg will be attending the

I know! It’s like I fell off the face of the earth, right?

But I’ve actually been right here, writing (and occasionally Tweeting. And Facebooking). It’s just so hard to tear myself away from my heroines’ worlds to tell you about my own because mine is so boring in comparison (uh . . . I got glasses?).

If you don’t believe me, watch this (the first in a series of videos about my new book Abandon that are going to be coming out, and I swear they get better and better as they go on. Hint: so does my hair, at least in the ones in which I appear):

Click here to view the embedded video.

Yes. I filmed that in a cemetery.

You never know where life is going to end up taking you as a writer.

Apparently, sometimes it is a cemetery.

I have no idea what kind of expression I am making here. I think it’s Please Don’t Haunt Me, Dead People.

You wouldn’t think the main problem with filming in a cemetery would be chasing away the chickens and tourists who kept wandering into the shot, but it was (for real).

Everyone keeps asking me “Did you write a modern re-imagining of the myth of Persephone because you love the Greek myths or something?”

And the truth is, I think the Greek myths are very interesting.

But I really only ever cared about the myth of Persephone while I was growing up because I always thought there was something very compelling about someone who felt such a connection to a girl that he resorted to doing something as outrageous as kidnapping her and then allowing the earth’s entire population to starve (that is like ten felonies right there).

(If you don’t know the myth, don’t worry, a video will follow soon to explain it.)

That’s why I used to sit around in Algebra and draw these little scenes from the myth in my notebook instead of paying attention.

I think everyone can relate to that scary feeling of falling in love for the first time— you really do think you’d be willing to do almost anything for that person.

And as a teenager, I was always longing to find that one special person who would not only completely love and understand me exactly as I was (no phony pretense), but come and take me away to a place where I would fit in.

Because I felt like I didn’t fit in at ALL where I lived, and that no one understood me, either. I kind of felt . . . Abandoned.

So to me, that’s what the myth of Persephone was about. And that’s what Abandon is about, too.

I should probably let you know I am going on a national book signing tour for this book. I don’t have all the confirmed dates or cities yet, but some of the states I know I’ll be heading for at the end of April are Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, and Kansas City, MO. As soon as I find out more, I will let you know!

You’ll also be seeing me at

It’s that day again: The day some people love to celebrate with little pieces of paper cut into the shape of a heart and exchanges of gifts of candy and jewelry, and other people hate with an all-mighty passion.

But don’t worry. Whether you’re a lover or a hater, I’ve got Valentines for everyone:

1) Nothing says Be My Valentine more than abducting a girl and forcing her to live with you in your underground palace in the Underworld.

Check out the newly updated page for my April 26, 2011 YA paranormal release, Abandon. We’ve added an exclusive sneak peek chapter, and an introductory video I shot in the middle of a cemetery last summer, in front of the most haunted crypt in Key West.

2) Win a free Advanced Reader Copy of Abandon, and the cool promotional stickers that go with it, to give to your Valentine (or just keep for yourself).

All you have to do is join the Abandon Facebook page and you’ll automatically be entered to win. A new winner will be chosen every week until the book debuts April 26, 2011. (You will be contacted for your mailing info if you’ve won. People who’ve already joined the page, you are already entered.)

3) Want to be alerted about more sneak peek chapters, videos, and contests BEFORE they are announced to everyone else? Then join the Meg Cabot Mailing List!

4) Come talk about a couple who loves to hate Valentine’s Day: Jess Mastriani and Rob Wilkins from the Vanished books (also known as the 1-800-Where-R-You series).

The current online discussion on the Meg Cabot message boards is about Books One and Two in that series (check them out here).

Rob may not have swept Jess off to the Underworld, but he took her a few places she wasn’t supposed to go. Which is just one of the many reasons her mother doesn’t approve of their relationship.

We’re giving away copies of the Vanished re-issue to the best conversationalists! And of course I’ll be stopping by the discussion to answer questions and talk about Rob’s abs in more detail.

5) Check out these cute romantic covers of my books from foreign lands:

Awwww . . . I know, right? That’s not at all what happens in Avalon High, but who cares?

(And did you know Avalon High, the movie, won the Writer’s Guild Award for Best Children’s Script, Long Form? Congrats!)

But this one wins the Valentine Heart Necklace from Jared’s. Princess Diaries 10, from Japan!

Could you die? Not even I could picture Michael and Mia’s horse and buggy ride through Central Park any cuter than that. Here is the whole thing:

There appears to be some kind of “controversy” over how Christina Aguilera sang the National Anthem at the Superbowl.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that one thing our great country has always stood for is being there for the underdog in times of trouble (usually. Sometimes we are a little late).

That is why I am here now to defend Christina.

The Star Spangled Banner is one the hardest songs in the world to sing (besides Happy Birthday). I can back up this statement with the following fact:

Not only are the words in The Star Spangled Banner confusing (what is a rampart, anyway?) and old-timey, but it is a song that requires a vocal range most people, except dogs, Christina Aguilera, and possibly Mariah Carey, do not possess.

This is why when you were a little kid and you were auditioning for a part in the touring production of the Broadway musical of Annie, they made you stand up on stage and sing The Star Spangled Banner.

Wait. Are you telling me you didn’t audition for the touring production of the Broadway musical of Annie when you were a kid?

Well, I did. And I can tell you, they made you sing The Star Spangled Banner to see if you could hit that high note mentioning the rockets red glare without dropping an octave, because so few people can (they also made me sing Happy Birthday, in chest voice, which is impossible for most people except Lea Michele and that lady from Wicked, because it contains the same note).

(No, I did not get the part, because I could not hit that note, which Christina hit with such ease in front of so many millions of people.)

Look, my grandfather got a purple heart in World War II fighting against the Nazis (he served under General Eisenhower and was shot in France). Though I have not been shot for it (yet), I love this country and consider myself a patriot.

But because no one but a professional can sing it well, much less remember the lines, I think it might be time to consider choosing a national anthem that all of us — not just professionals — can sing without fear of messing up because it’s just too hard.

We had a lively discussion about this on Twitter, and everyone had some thought-provoking suggestions for an alternative national anthem.

My husband was in favor of The Gambler by Kenny Rogers:

You got to know when to hold ‘em
Know when to fold ‘em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you’re sittin’ at the table
There’ll be time enough for countin’
When the dealing’s done

He also strongly argued for Horse With No Name by the band America:

I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
‘Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain

I have no comment except to say that I happen to know for a fact when we went for a trail ride in the Tucson desert with his younger brothers on Valentine’s Day once, his horse did indeed have a name, and it was Pancho.

My favorite suggestion — because everyone knows it and it would be very rousing to sing at sporting events — was the theme song to the famous 80s movie Ghostbusters.

It would be quite simple to change the words to this song so it is about our country, as I have done here:

If there’s something strange
in your neighborhood
Who ya gonna call?

AMERICA

If there’s something weird
and it don’t look good
Who ya gonna call?

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My mom is very excited because Garrison Keiler (best known for A Prairie Home Companion) talked about her (and her boyfriend) today on the The Writer’s Almanac. Here’s what he said (it’s even mostly accurate):

It’s the birthday of novelist Meg Cabot, born in Bloomington, Indiana (1967). As a kid, she hated the heat in Indiana, so she spent all her time in the library because it had air-conditioning. She realized that she actually loved to read, and decided that when she grew up, she would either be a writer or illustrate comic books.

After college she moved to New York and discovered that being an illustrator or a writer was not easy. So she worked as the manager of a dorm at NYU. Then her father died, and that changed two things:

First, she decided that life was short and she might as well do what she wanted, so she sent a publisher one of the novels she had written for fun, and eventually she got it published. It was a historical romance called Where Roses Grow Wild (1998). Second, her mom started dating again. She dated one of Meg’s college professors, and Meg was upset by it even though she felt like she shouldn’t be, so she wrote a story about a teenage girl whose divorced mother starts dating the daughter’s algebra teacher.

The story didn’t have much of a plot, so Cabot added a twist — the girl finds out that her father is the prince of a small European country, and that she is his only heir, and she has to go learn to be a princess. Before Cabot even published her first novel, Disney optioned the book for a movie starring Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway. In 2000, Meg Cabot published The Princess Diaries, and the film version came out in 2001. The Princess Diaries is a best-selling series, with 10 books in all.

It’s pretty cool when you can impress your mom ON your birthday. She was much more impressed by Garrison Keilor talking about her (she actually called ME to tell me about it) than she was when I told her that I am a birthday slut on Dlisted again this year. (In fact, she said, “What is Dlisted? Why would you want to be a slut? I do not think you are a slut. I don’t like that,” which I’m pretty sure Michael K would love to hear.)

I have no idea who took the photo above (it was sent to me by my friend Beth), but I LOVE it because for my birthday I had to work, so I kind of felt like that cat.

But I tried not to feel sorry for myself, because 99.9% of the population has to work on their birthday. Writers aren’t special. I like to celebrate my birthday by lounging around all day in my pajamas watching movies with either aliens or cowboys in them (how mad am I that Cowboys vs. Aliens is not coming out until this summer?). But fortunately I can do that when I am done with all the work I have due, so it’s not a big deal.

I have to say though, you all made me working on my birthday much more fun with all your happy birthday Tweets, Facebook postings, emails, cards, and messages. So thank you!!!!

In return, I offer you this, with something much more exciting (I hope) to come . . . when I finish it! Thanks again!!!! I love you all!

Click here to view the embedded video.

More later.

Much love,

Meg

As you know if you’ve been following my Twitter feed, my cat Henrietta has been having some health concerns. Nothing life threatening . . . unless you call inexplicably pulling out her own fur and then spitting it across the room life threatening.

Which of course I do, because now there’s a bald spot across her butt that resembles the one on the back of Prince William’s head.

Not to mention the fact that every time I come into the room I find wads of fur on my pillow, like a gift from the Fur Fairy.

So we contacted the mobile vet.

Because the worst part about going to the vet is getting Henrietta into her carrier (claws flailing, skin slashed) and then the car ride over (screaming, projectile vomit), and then pulling her out of the carrier (revenge poop flying everywhere), and getting her examined (vet giving up, insisting she needs to be anesthetized for the safety of everyone concerned, Henrietta instituting a riot in the back room where all the other pets are quietly waiting their turn, me having to go in there and break things up, B.A. from the A-Team style).

PS None of the above is exaggerated in the slightest. I only wish it were.

But now, blessings upon her, there’s a vet who makes house calls!

I was sure we’d be able to fool Henrietta into thinking nothing out of the ordinary was going on. She’d just be lounging around, spitting fur across the room, and then . . . SURPRISE! Thermometer up the butt.

Because really, Henrietta is a sweet little angel who fell down from heaven to be with me seventeen plus years ago. The only reason she misbehaves so badly when we remove her from her home environment, I’ve always insisted, is because she was found as a tiny one-eyed stray in Brooklyn. Brooklyn girls, as we all know, are very tough. They don’t like to be messed with.

This was before the vet suggested that perhaps Henrietta’s problems stem from “tortietude.”

“Tortietude” is the “attitude” commonly found in tortoiseshell cats, which “tend to be very nervous and jumpy, and prone to hyperactivity. They are also very sweet and loving when calm—” especially around their owners, to whom they are fiercely loyal, very much one-person cats “—but are easily riled up and very high strung.”

Of course, I’m not sure Henrietta is a tortoiseshell. She fits the personality profile, but tortoiseshells, or “torties,” are cats with “mottled” fur, usually with patches of orange or cream and chocolate, black or blue (they differ from calicoes in that calicoes are predominantly white).

Henrietta, as you can see, does have the colors listed above . . . but she has all of them. She looks like a frappuccino threw up on her:

In case you didn’t know, according to their Wikipedia entry, torties are believed to bring good luck. The Japanese Maneki Neko figurine is a calico cat, which is a subset of the tortie (or the tortie is a subset of the calico, whichever).

It’s said to bring money and good fortune, which is why you always see it in Japanese restaurants.

One thing I do know for sure: Tortie or not, Henrietta outdid

Thank you, Golden Globes. We needed that.

Just out of curiosity, have you spent the past twenty-four/thirty-six hours asking yourself the same question I have been asking myself?

Anne Hathaway

Olivia Wilde

Which one?

The thing is, they’re BOTH gorgeous.

And what does best even mean, when you get down to it? I would die for EITHER of those dresses. I guess the answer is, both.

Sunday night was a good night if you’re the type of person who likes looking at your favorite actors and actresses all dressed up in pretty clothes, getting awards they deserve . . . and you also like shows filled with romantic intrigue set in British manor houses in the early 1900s . . . and you ALSO like shows about crazy polygamists. Because then you, like me, had all your dreams come true.

Big Love, that show about a polygamist family that I always swore I was never going to watch (as opposed to that reality show about the polygamist family that I always swore I was never going to watch), came back to HBO for its final season on Sunday, and I am SO EXCITED because it is SO GOOD.

Hello, we are totally cRaZy.

I’ve also gotten sucked into Downton Abbey, the new Masterpiece Theater dramedy about the romantic entanglements of the servants and blue bloods in a country manor house in England in the early 1900s. If you aren’t watching this show, you TOTALLY need to, because it’s as dishy as Big Love.

If you live in England, Downton Abbey was already shown in full, so no spoilers please! (I already know they’re making a second season, which is fantastic, because we need more shows like this.)

Hi, we’re cRaZy, too, only we aren’t polygamists. Although some of us might be blackmailers and possibly murderers. The rest of us are searching for love and happiness!

Back to the Golden Globes:

Besides the clothes and all the empty boxes of Godiva chocolates on everyone’s tables, my favorite part was when Chris Colfer won for his role as Kurt on Glee. I loved his acceptance speech! I knew so many Kurts in high school, and I love the way he’s portrayed on the show (and I can’t wait for Anne Hathaway’s guest appearance as his aunt)!

I actually love the way ALL the characters on Glee are portrayed, except I can’t help thinking that in real life, Rachel is the kind of girl who, if her boyfriend dumped her, would not cry and beg him take her back. I feel like in real life, Rachel would narrow her eyes and go, “Really? You’re dumping me?”

Then she’d channel all her rage (not despair, because in real life she’d just feel sorry for him for making such a deeply tragic mistake) into her performances.

Then Finn would be all, “What’s happening? I’m scared. I thought this was supposed to be The Sound of Music. Why is Maria von Trapp biting me?”

And then Mr. Shu would have to step in and try to perform an intervention. But it would be too late because by then Rachel would just be all, “Later, losers! I’m leaving on a bus for LA!”

Which I realize is the prequel to Burlesque. But you know it’s true.

In Meg Cabot news, don’t forget our discussion on the Mediator begins today!

And you only have a couple m

I had this whole big post written out for today to let you know that we’re discussing The Mediator Books One and Two (Shadowland and The Ninth Key) on the Meg Cabot Book Club this month, and that you BETTER stop by here to join the discussion with me because I’m going to be all over it like a spider monkey, etc.

But then I deleted it because it was funny and I thought maybe it wasn’t appropriate in light of what happened this weekend in Arizona (and if you’re like my cousin Bobby, who’s all, “Why? What happened this weekend in Arizona? Wait. Did that flight attendant I met in Phoenix call you?”, I’m posting this link to the news story about it, just in case you don’t know what I’m talking about).

Then I flew into an existential crisis, asking myself why we’re all here and what life means and when will it be OK to laugh again? Maybe never.

Oh, yes. It was bad.

It got especially bad since my husband chose this past weekend to go out of town to do guy things with his guy friends, and my houseguests went home, leaving me alone with nothing but a lot of peppermint bark ice cream and some gluten-free fried chicken.

Yes. I know.

Then during my crisis I chose to watch a bunch of TV shows and movies my husband would never have watched with me, including the new MTV show I Used To Be Fat, which the title alone should explain.

Here is a spoiler:

Exercise – Chicken McNuggets = Lose 90 pounds.

Gabriella on I Used To Be Fat. She was elected Homecoming Queen BEFORE her weight loss, FYI. LOVE HER.

Then as I was wallowing around in despair, shoveling ice cream down my throat, I noticed the movie Eclipse was on. I couldn’t understand parts of it–like why so many of the boys in it weren’t wearing shirts during snowstorms–because it had been so long since I saw New Moon (and really, was this detail ever properly explained in any of the movies?) but many of you generously explained it to me over Twitter (thanks for that, I get it now: Werewolves are literally very hot).

This movie, like I Used To Be Fat, did not solve the problem of my existential despair, but it did solve the problem of what “team” I am on, Team Edward or Team Jacob, since many of you have asked, but I honestly could never decide, just like in fourth grade when everyone wanted to know who my BFF was.

I didn’t know! I liked everyone! Why did I have to choose one person?

Name-calling ensued. The BFF level of hostility in the fourth grade was at an all time high! I never did choose a BFF, a fact which led to my continuing status as a social outcast, but I didn’t care, and I still don’t.

I don’t like it when people play favorites. Why can’t we appreciate one another’s unique differences without having to say one person’s unique differences make him or her better than another person’s? This is why reality shows like American Idol upset me so much that I can’t watch them.

I have stuck by that motto . . . except for one person whose unique qualities were so obviously superior to everyone else’s, I had no choice but to declare him my BFF and then marry him. That quality is:

He makes me sandwiches. And they are very very good.

It wasn’t until the sandwich making scene in the kitchen in Eclipse that I realized one person’s unique differen

As some of you may know, certain theologians argue that at some point in the future there is going to be either a big party (known as the Rapture) . . .

. . . or those of us who have been naughty are going to be in bit trouble (which will be called the Day of Reckoning) . . .

Many people—such as myself—have been keeping a sharp eye out for signs of either event, and since 2011 dawned, things have been looking promising for a Rapture. I give you the following clues:

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds have been seen publicly together at numerous locations. Could they be dating? Outlook good for Rapture!

On the other hand, Kate Middleton and Prince William have said they don’t intend to have staff in their new home together (eek! Reckoning!) Early on in my marriage, I realized that my husband and I had widely divergent opinions on what “clean” meant. I think budgeting to have a third party do the tidying up can actually prevent a homicide. Note to British commonwealth: For the sake of the future of the world (and the monarchy), get Kate and William a housekeeper!

(Speaking of monarchies, today is Michael Moscovitz’s birthday! Yes, he’s the fictional boyfriend of Princess Mia Thermopolis, but he has a Facebook page. Say hi and give him a kiss!)

(The fact that so many people remembered this and Tweeted it: Sign of Rapture!)

Speaking of royalty, I would urge you to go see The King’s Speech (doing so will prevent the Reckoning: we need more good movies like this, and less bad movies! The fact that this movie is so good is definitely a sign that the Rapture is coming)!

This movie is the true story of Queen Elizabeth’s dad, “Bertie” (later called King George), who had a horrible stutter. My uncle Jack, on whom the character Uncle Jay from the Allie Finkle books is based, also had a stutter, so I understand and have deep sympathy for stutterers. I too had a speech impediment growing up, and spent many hours in Speech and Hearing class).

Bertie and his wife never thought his stutter would matter, because he wasn’t next in line to the throne, so he didn’t need to speak publicly. Bertie never thought he’d become king, much less have to give inspiring speeches to the public over the radio . . . especially as his country was being bombed by Hitler! Can you imagine?

But through a CRAZY series of events (that involve a very, very naughty American lady named Wallis Simpson), that’s exactly what happens!

Colin Firth plays Bertie, and Helena Bonham Carter plays his wife Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth’s Mum). But in this movie, the Queen Mum is very young and pretty and spunky, and determined to help her husband overcome his stutter, even when he wants to give up.

This movie is a deliciously yummy, inspirational love story that I wanted to watch all over again as soon as it was finished! It’s partly Bertie and Elizabeth’s love, and partly the love of the man the Queen finally finds to help her husband, that makes this story such total Rapture!

One of the cutest couples in all of history!

Another sign of the Rapture:

The movie The Fighter, because of all the funny mean girls in it! I thought it would only be about boxing (which, let’s face it, I am not so into), and so I really didn’t want to see it. Certain parties FORCED me to see it.

But it’s really about families, and how they can bring you do

I just saw True Grit starring Matt Damon and Jeff Bridges and Josh Brolin. It was fantastic.

But it made me realize how lacking I am in grit. Could you, like Mattie Ross (played by the amazing 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld, the true star of the movie), endure hangings, gunfights, stabbings, having to sleep next to numerous dead bodies, snakes, near drowning, getting spanked by Matt Damon, and being forced to camp outdoors in inclement weather just to avenge the murder of your father?

If my dad were murdered and I had to go through all of the things above in order to see justice served, there is a high likelihood I might just say, “Sorry, Dad. Avenging your death is way too much work. That new show Heavy about all the people battling obesity is on. Want to watch it with me from Heaven? Okay, cool.”

But not Mattie Ross.

Click here to view the embedded video.

True Grit

That is why this New Years, I’m setting some goals for myself. Because I really need to get some grit, and live more like the fictional characters I admire. I mean, I really love Mattie Ross and Princess Leia and Rapunzel from Tangled, but the truth is, when faced with an actual real life problem like, for instance, my alarm clock, I tend to just roll over and fall back asleep.

Mattie Ross would never do this! She’d get right up and get to business. Rapunzel would jump out of bed singing. Princess Leia would shoot her alarm clock with a laser blaster.

People are always asking me, “Which character from your books are you most like?” but the truth is, I’m not like any of them! I WISH I were brave enough to sneak out of the house at night and battle evil spirits, like Susannah Simon in the Mediator series (who throughout all her ordeals manages to maintain her keen Manhattan fashion sense).

I WISH I could tell where missing people are and was able to help find them, and that I regularly got detention because of always sticking up for the underdog, like uber-cool Jess Mastriani in the Vanished books.

And I WISH I could tell when the people around me were going to die, so I could warn them in advance, thus saving them, and also had a really cute dog that I’d saved from a shelter and had two hot guys, one of whom was a vampire, and the other a vampire hunter, totally battling it out over me like Meena in Insatiable (and Overbite, this summer).

I completely wish that, if I ever accidentally die and am then rescusitated and end up with the ruler of the Underworld following me around, like my character Pierce in my new book Abandon, I’ll handle it the way she does.

But I highly doubt if personally faced with any of these situations I’d do anything but go on YouTube and look at videos of people squealing over the puppies they got for Christmas until it all went away.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If I could just worry less about the size of my butt (like

Sure, 2010 had its downsides: the horrible economy, the earthquake in Haiti, the BP oil spill, just to name a few. The weather certainly could have been better. And what was with all those bedbugs?

But in what other year has something touched all of us as deeply as the miraculous rescue of those Chileans from that collapsed mine; the announcement of the engagement of a prince who lost his mother in a tragic accident at such a tender age; and a man weeping openly and without shame at the sight of a beautiful double rainbow?

Answer: None!

Those of us in the entertainment industry—oh, sorry, I mean the literary community—worked harder than ever this year to craft moving, exciting, and/or hilarious tales in an effort to help you forget your problems. And I think we did a pretty good job.

But I hope in 2011, we’ll do even better (more later on the projects I’ve got coming out next year)!

In the meantime, I Tweeted/Facebooked a request to all of you last week for your favorite books/movies/TV shows/scandals etc. of 2010, and was inundated with replies! I’ve posted them below, along with my own picks, for your entertainment.

Enjoy!

Best Movies of 2010:

After a long day, who doesn’t want to escape into someone else’s problems for ninety minutes via the big screen? There basically isn’t a movie that came out in 2010 that I didn’t see or don’t plan on seeing (except Love and Other Drugs. I love Anne Hathaway, but I can’t handle seeing people I’ve actually met naked. This is why I don’t belong to a gym. My only exception is my husband, but honestly, I try not to see him naked either), and I’ve found something to like about every one of them, even The Bounty Hunter, although that one was hard.

A lot of you chose Inception as your favorite movie for 2010, with The Social Network coming in a close second, and Tangled, Toy Story 3, and Harry Potter 7 pt. 1 tied for 3rd.

I’d like to throw in a couple of honorable mentions for the hilarious Easy A, Winter’s Bone (or, as I like to call it, “You don’t want to find your daddy”), and The Ghost Writer.

Whenever I mention this last movie, people always go, “Wasn’t that directed by Roman Polanski? But he pled guilty to having sex with a minor, then fled the country to avoid jail. I will never pay money to see one of his movies!”

Here is my two cents on this, or as I like to call it, My Moment of Brittany:

It’s true: Sometimes very talented people can be total douchebags (sorry. But you know it’s true. Your cousin Bobby is one, for instance).

Every family has a Cousin Bobby. He’s the one who gets totally drunk at every family gathering, then behaves inappropriately. Last year, Cousin Bobby stuck his tongue in my mouth by way of saying hi. WTF, Cousin Bobby? You’re married (three times), plus you have children (that you ignore). And PS, I do not like you, and I’m married, too. Oh, and did you forget we’re cousins?

Cousin Bobby: “I’m Dr. Shots. Get it? Come over here, I’ll give you a shot. OF TEQUILA.”

But then Cousin Bobby sat down at the piano and played this heartbreakingly touching rendition of Oh, Danny Boy, and none of us could stop crying.

Damn you, Cousin Bobby! You are so gross. How c

I went to see Tangled this weekend! It was really fun, but of course with the holidays and everything, it got me reflecting on “the princess thing.” Now that I have nieces and a lot of friends who have daughters, I’m always hearing about “the princess thing” from someone.

“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 par

If you’re like me, you’re panicking right now, realizing how behind you are in everything, including your Christmas shopping (if you’re shopping for Hanukkah, you’re basically screwed).

So here are some ideas for you (for gifts. If you, like me, had a book due last week, all I can say is, welcome to the club and may God have mercy on your soul):

1) Eleni’s cookies. Yeah, you can make cookies. But not like these. Can you make cookies shaped like the entire cast of the Nutcracker, or Santa on the Beach? I highly doubt it.

2) A Polaroid camera. This one is smaller than the older ones you might be used to, but you can still use it for those “art projects” you may not necessarily care to put on your computer or cell phone, because what if the photos get “stolen,” and then leaked all over the Internet? You wouldn’t want your mom seeing them, would you?

I said “art projects.” You people have dirty minds.

3) Rosebush, Michele Jaffe’s new YA, a romantic suspense (also the Meg Cabot Book club’s new Book of the Month) is out now, and would look perfect peeking out of anyone’s stocking. We’ll be reading and discussing this book for the month of December here, so get a copy while it’s hot. Yeah, while everyone else is Ho Ho Ho-ing, we’ll be trying to figure out who left poor Jane for dead beneath a rosebush at what was supposed to be a super fun unchaperoned Memorial Day party at the Jersey Shore.

Kirkus calls it “Cleverly written with a finger on the pulse of the target audience—a winner.” We just like hot boys and girls who kickass.

4) A gift certificate to a bookstore!

Look, I know you think this is cheating. You’re all, “But where is the thought? The warmth? The consideration that is supposed to go into a gift to a loved one?” To this I say “Seriously?”

You’re reading an author’s blog, so you like books. Which means most of your friends/family probably do too.

And even if they don’t, if you get them a gift certificate to a bookstore, they’re going to find something there they like, like magazines or candles or Burt’s Bees emergency skin repair kit or whatever. So just do it. They’ll love it way better than that weird thing you got them last year

And if you give them a gift certificate, they don’t have to spend it right away. They can hold onto it until, cough, Abandon comes out at the end of April (yeah, I just said that so I could put the new Abandon cover on here because it got tweaked and I want to show it off. You can see her hair now, and I think it’s pretty. If you click on that link back there, you can see the whole thing).

5) Of course, if you’r

If you’re like me, you probably spent the holiday weekend eating, shopping, and watching movies. I have to send most of what I bought back because of course I bought it online and it’s way too small (this probably would not be the case if I hadn’t also bought ten boxes of peppermint bark from Crate and Barrel. For myself).

I do not suggest bathing suit shopping at this time of year. I don’t know what I was thinking.

But anyway, here are some of the movies I watched:

The Kids Are All Right

The Kids Are All Right is a movie about a family just like yours, except that it has two moms. I’m not saying your family doesn’t have two moms, because it might. It’s just that I doubt your two moms are Annette Bening and Julianne Moore.

In The Kids Are All Right, the teenage children of Annette Bening and Julianne Moore decide that it’s time to meet their birth father, a sperm donor. This decision catapults the family into (mostly comedic) disruption. The birth father is played by Mark Ruffalo.

This fact caused a disruption in my household, too.

“Is Mark Ruffalo in this movie?” my husband wanted to know.

Me:
“Maybe. I don’t think so. No, definitely not.”

For reasons unknown, He Who Shall Not Be Known In This Blog has had a long-standing feud with the actor Mark Ruffalo, whom he has never met. So the feud is one-sided.

Him:
“What? That IS Mark Ruffalo! Were you trying to trick me? I am not watching this.”

Me:
“Why? What did Mark Ruffalo ever do to you? He is a talented actor who once nearly died of a brain tumor. Then he rehabilitated himself, and has gone on to star in many fine films such as this one. What is your problem with Mark Ruffalo?”

Him:
“Just look at him! The smug bastard.”

Me:
“He is not a smug bastard. He’s hot. He looks a little like you.”

Him:
“Don’t even try. Look how he’s driving that motorcycle.”

Me:
“You’d look hot on a motorcycle like that.”

Him:
“You wish I would buy a motorcycle like that and die on it in a fiery crash so you could marry Mark Ruffalo, don’t you?”

This went on until the end of the movie, when Mark Ruffalo “got what he deserved,” although apparently not quite entirely, in the opinion of my husband.

Him:
“Those lesbians should have beaten him to death with baseball bats. That would have been a better ending.”

Obviously, we needed something to calm us down after the Mark Ruffalo debacle. So I popped in the movie Inception, which seemed like it would be harmless enough.

Inception is a movie starring Leonardo di Caprio about a man who, for a fee and along with a team of his own employees, will go into your enemy’s dreams and steal them. He does this for purposes of corporate espionage.

If you can get past the idea that it is possible for one person to walk into another person’s dreams, let alone do it with a whole team of other people, Inception is a fun movie, even though I couldn’t understand anything that was going on almost the entire time, because it was hard to tell when the characters were awak

It’s that time of year again. The one where we cease all normal activity and are forced to sit at a dinner table with a bunch of people we probably don’t see that often (or sometimes even necessarily like all that much). In some households, we hold hands with these people, say a prayer, then go around the table and say what we’re thankful for.

Only we can’t tell the truth because Great Aunt Mignonette is sitting there, and it’s unlikely she’s going to share your appreciation for the continuous birth control pill that allows you to be period free, let alone Drake, former star of Degrassi turned rapper, or the fact that Jennifer Grey won Dancing With the Stars.

So I like to make a list of the things I’m REALLY thankful for in advance to get them out of my system before Great Aunt Mignonette* comes over, and that way, when it gets to be my turn at the table, I can say, “I’m just thankful we can all just be together once again.”

(*Ha, burn! I’m having a Great Aunt Mignonette-free Thanksgiving this year! And the truth is, most great aunts are pretty cool and appreciate the continuous birth control pill and Drake just as much as we do. But I’m going to put my list here anyway, so when I’ve had way too many mimosas while watching the Thanksgiving Day parade, and can’t remember what I’m grateful for when someone asks, I’ll have something to refer to.)

Things I Am Thankful For This Thanksgiving:

That there’s a new Disney princess movie (starring the amazing Mandy Moore!) with a kickass heroine that’s getting rave reviews. Let’s hope it’s not the last.

*

That I do not live in North Korea.

Yeah. She’s talking to YOU, Kim Jong Il!

*

That it turns out my cat Henrietta–whom I was convinced had some rare and exotic form of cat cancer because she was tearing out giant clumps of her own fur and spitting them across the room, so the vet wanted to put her under anesthesia to take a blood sample because she’s so crazy no one but me can get near her–only had fleas. FLEAS! We discovered this with a flea comb, no anesthesia or blood sample necessary.

Which is amazing, considering the fact that she’s an indoor cat who never even ventures downstairs to the first floor of my house, where my indoor/outdoor cat, who does not have fleas, occasionally hangs out.

Henrietta as a baby, exhibiting her resentment over the fact that I wanted to make the bed.

*

I am also thankful for Revolution Flea Medication, which cured Henrietta of her bizarre hair pulling and spitting, and got rid of the fleas!

*

That there are people like author Brenda Novak, who runs this amazing website which has raised over a million dollars for diabetes research, and who asked ME to donate something!

So I’m donating a Royal Afternoon Tea at the Palm Court at The Plaza in New York City for four (not including ME! The tea is for four ladies, such as two mothers and their daughters, or four aspiring authors, or the four Real Housewives of New Jersey, or anyone who cares to bid on it, plus ME, the person who is taking all of you out) anytime between the last week of June and July 4, 2011!

. . . I’m also including a sign

First everything sucked. Now everything’s crazy!

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 Boo

It’s finally here! Premiere night for the movie based on my book, Avalon High!

And the best part is, this isn’t some snobby premiere out in Hollywood that only the stars are invited to . . . it’s a premiere we can ALL go to, right in our living rooms!

Because it’s on Disney Channel, which we all get (well, unless you don’t have cable or you live in some country that doesn’t have Disney Channel, in which case, I’m sorry! But I’m sure the movie will come out soon where you live)!

So let’s get together for our premiere party on Twitter! I’ll be live-Tweeting my thoughts on the movie (No! I’ve never seen it!), and you can Tweet back yours (I’ll also be on Facebook!) all night! Join me on Twitter or my Facebook page, or both! Be there at eight sharp! You don’t have to dress up, but do try to have popcorn.

Here is the official movie poster. Isn’t it AMAZING????

I love it!

Now, I know some people have already gotten to see this movie On Demand where they live, and have said it doesn’t quite follow the book. Remember how Anne Hathaway didn’t have blond hair, and there was no Tina or Boris, and Mia’s dad wasn’t dead in the Princess Diaries movie? There are changes like that in the Avalon High movie, as well.

But everyone ended up loving The Princess Diaries movie anyway, because it was like it’s own separate Princess Diaries universe, which was very sweet. I know Avalon High is going to be the same way.

As we know, it’s hard to cram 300 pages into a 70 minute film (that’s one page of book per minute of screen time)! I know about the changes that have been made to this story, and I understand why they did them. To quote Britt Robertson, who plays the movie’s heroine (this is from the Jacksonville Observer) about Avalon High:

“Avalon High” is adapted from Meg Cabot’s (“The Princess Diaries”) book of the same title. “If you read the book, you see she does a brilliant job incorporating lightheartedness with the mystery, combining all these different elements,” says Britt. “The screenplay writer did the same thing. There’s action, comedy, drama, romance and mystery. It’s got a little bit of everything. A few things are different from the books for time’s sake, working within the hour-and-a-half time constraints. But they did a brilliant job of adapting it.”

Not ALL the changes were made for time’s sake. Some were made to draw new, younger viewers into the story more quickly, and to keep them there, which to me is a good thing! Now a story that means a lot to me is going to find a whole new audience that might never otherwise have heard about it . . . something that happened after The Princess Diaries appeared on film.

I can’t tell you how many letter I got after that movie came out that said, “I never read a book before I saw that movie, but I wanted to know more about the story, so I bought the book, and now I can’t stop reading.”

To me that’s the point of having books made into films! One reason I became a reader as a kid was because of a movie: The Fantastic Voyage (about a group of scientists who get shrunk down to microscopic size and injected into a man’s veins to d

I’m going to make a general statement that some of you might not agree with, but I don’t care. Lately, things seem to suck.

Maybe they’re going great for you and if that’s true, fantastic. But if you’re like a lot of people I know, it’s the opposite.

We live in sucky times. So it’s important not to let the suckage win! How? Well, look at Camille Grammer on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills:

If you’ve been watching this show, you know that on the first episode, this fine lady can be seen kissing her husband Kelsey Grammer goodbye as he leaves to go on a yearlong business trip (I guess if you’re an actor, sometimes you have to go away . . . for a year).

Those of us who follow the tabloids (like me) know that Kelsey won’t be back. By the time this episode aired, Kelsey had already impregnated his girlfriend, Camille had (rightfully) filed for divorce, and the girlfriend had suffered a miscarriage.

But Camille still kept a brave face, trying rise above the suckage with the art of dance.

All of us need to remember Camille Grammer’s bravery in the face of such suckage . . . how she danced instead of crumbled!

And we must try to do the same.

Combat the suckage! Here are some of my hints on how (besides not marrying Kelsey Grammer in the first place, obviously):

Dance:

Okay, most of us can’t dance like Camille Grammer.

I’m going to yoga though. In this way, the suckage is defeated, at least for a while. I just hope no one ever films me doing it.

Arts and Crafts:

Crafting is an excellent way to fight the suck. I myself am not a crafter, but I’m the daughter of one. My mom was always crafting, and then selling her crafts at various bazaars, and making money to buy new supplies to make new crafts.

Now instead of bazaars, most people go to Etsy, your place to buy or sell all things handmade. My favorite crafting website is Regretsy, for reasons that should be obvious:

While I cannot craft, I did used to draw a lot. Most of my best drawings were inspired, like the one above, by real life, like this one of my boyfriend at the time, begging my forgiveness:

I can’t believe that relationship didn’t work out.

Music:

If you can’t craft, you can reduce the suckage in the world by writing a song and singing the suckage away, like Willow Smith’s Whip My Hair.

Also, if you are a fan of Justin Bieber, you should note that his haircut is exactly the same as Johnny’s from the original Karate Kid.

Is this on purpose? What is going on? Why has no one talked about this before? Is it some kind of conspiracy? Does Justin belong to the Cobra Kai dojo?

Write:

Writing is a very good way to fight the suckage

I guess it’s time you all knew the truth . . . I AM a witch!

Or at least I dressed as one for Halloween. I was a good witch, casting spells for peace and hope for everyone.

(Unfortunately, even though I’m descended from a real-life witch—as everyone who has read the story of where I got the inspiration for my book Jinx knows—my spells never work. But there’s always a first time)!

According to the news, more Halloween costumes were sold this year than any year in recorded history. I guess people were really feeling the need to escape from their every day lives for a little while . . .

. . . even this little guy!

My favorite part of this Halloween, however, was all the signs. Everyone seemed to be carrying a sign! Like this dog, who was responding to all the haters who show up every year at the Key West Halloween parade with big signs that say things like GOD HATES AMERICA, GOD HATES DIVORCE, GOD HATES SINNERS, GOD HATES YOU:

Hilarious.

It’s kind of fun to protest protesters. At Comic Con this year, when the haters showed up, anti-haters got very creative with their signs in response:

Too funny! The haters were squashed by the humorists, and went home. Ha!

The day before Halloween, there was a big rally in Washington DC, which my mom said she was going to (and she may actually have gone, but she may have stayed home instead and watched it on TV). I’m not really sure what she ended up doing, but there were a lot of signs at this rally, any one of which could have been hers (or the author RL Stine’s, who was also there). It was kind of hard to tell for sure, but it doesn’t matter, because the signs were all so funny:

(Via Buzzfeed’s 100 Best Signs at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.)

I only got to watch the rally on TV, but I ended up being a little inspired by Jon Stewart’s message about how we are living in very hard times, but not end times. It’s often difficult to remember this when most of us have terrible things happening, if not to ourselves, then to people we know and love.

But like Jon said, things have to get better, if only because we all work so hard to get things done every day, and we do it together, despite our different signs.

And now

Fall in New York City is always magical (even if none of the tourists seem to be heeding the advice of the fabulous Stefon on SNL), but I’m glad to be home, first of all because Henrietta missed me so much (she hasn’t stopped talking since I walked through the door) and second of all because Fantasyfest (the annual weeklong fundraiser for AIDs) is in full swing here in Key West.

I’m proud to live in a place that attracts so many middle-aged married couples from Des Moines who use the opportunity to fulfill their lifelong dream of walking proudly down the street dressed like this:

(I know your mom and dad told you that they were going on a cruise this week but I just saw them outside of CVS and this is what they were wearing and they said to say hi.)

But you know what? If that’s what turns people on, I fully support it, because it’s not hurting anyone and the money goes to such a good cause. And fortunately for them, what happens in Key West stays in Key West (except for everything captured on the assorted webcams around town).

There are no judgments here.

I said no judging!

The good news is that you don’t have to go all the way to NYC or Key West to have a good time. I met a lot of families who were having a blast in Austin last week (you can see some of them in this extremely cute video) at my events at the Texas Book Festival.

Super cute reader in Austin

For those of you who missed these signings, the nice girls at Forever YA filmed and posted parts of them on their site, including a sneak peak of the cover for my new book, Abandon!

This was just supposed to be a special treat for librarians who attended the Scholastic Librarian Preview last week (and of course attendees of the festival), but since the cover got picked up and posted by so many people online, we decided to give everyone a glimpse. This isn’t the final/final cover (it’s still being tweaked), but here’s the beautiful design and synopsis they’re working on for now.

(And if you haven’t signed up for the Meg Cabot e-newsletter, you might want to do so. In addition to this month’s contest offering free copies of Avalon High books and T-shirts in celebration of the release of the Avalon High Disney Channel movie on November 12, we’re going to be sharing some other pretty exciting news very soon!)

I got to meet some AMAZING authors as well as readers in Texas, including many involved in the Zombie vs. Unicorn event.

I’m in Austin, Texas at the Texas Book Festival!

The first thing that happened to me here was that I tried to make my hair really big because everything is big in Texas. Except, it turns out, hair. No one but me wears big hair in Texas anymore, especially in Austin. This ended up not going so well in any case.

I need to learn to take photos of myself without having to stand in front of a mirror.

Anyway, I got my hair to calm down long enough to go to lunch with the cool lady bloggers from Forever Young Adult. That was super fun.

We talked about a lot of book-related stuff, but mostly our hopes and dreams. One of my dreams is that one day we will live in a world where big hair is acceptable again. I hate flat irons, and big hair is just more fun. Like big butts! Sir Mix-A-Lot is a very wise man, and says it very well in his song on this topic.

After lunch I went on the news LIVE!

That was fun, too. I got to meet a veterinarian (I wanted to be a vet as a kid by my SATs were too low. You need to know math to be a vet. James Herriot never mentioned this. Who knew?) and also artist/songwriter Terry Allen, who will also be at the Festival, in the green room. Green rooms are one of the best places to interesting people, outside of airports and of course bathrooms.

Then we had to drive really fast to San Antonio for my signing, because we were already late. Hideous Austin traffic made us even later!

But my fantastic readers waited, and it was so nice of them!

I got to meet tons of really fantastic women of all ages.

Hopefully I’ll meet even more of you at today’s events at the Capital.

**Texas Book Festival**

3:30 PM – 4:15 PM
Presentation/Talk, Q&A session
Sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church
1201 Lavaca St.
Austin, TX

Go here for more details on this event!

This event is free open to the public!

After the presentation, I’ll be signing at the Children’s Book Signing Tent on Colorado St. between 12th and 13th St. from 4:15 PM – 5:15 PM.

8:00 PM – 9:30 PM
Austin Bat Cave and Texas Book Festival Present “Zombies vs. Unicorns Event”

This event is a Zombie vs. Unicorn “smackdown” and will feature audience participation and multiple authors, including myself, Holly Black, Justine Larbalestier, and many more. For more info, go here

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