I love reading all your comments and questions on Facebook and Twitter. But some of them require answers that are too long to write in 140 characters. And let’s face fact: I write 55,000-100,000 word books for a living. It’s hard for me to write anything in 140 characters.
So I thought I would try to answer a few questions from Twitter and Facebook here. Who knows? Maybe you’ll see one of yours. Or a friend will see yours, and Tweet you about it. That is what social media is all about!
From Malena
Hi Meg? What are you going to be for Halloween?
Am I the only person freaking out because Halloween is this week and I still haven’t figured out what my costume is going to be? I did come up with one, but when I showed it to some people, no one knew what I was until I explained. See if you can figure it out:
Get it? I’m one of those people who always writes “First” under an online news story whenever he/she is the first one to comment.
OK, never mind, maybe I’ll just go as a witch again, like last year.
From Ana Christina
Helo Meg, how is your cat Henrieta doing? We haven’t heard about her in a while.
Well, thank you for asking, Ana Christina. Henrietta has a bit of arthritis, and now requires special stairs so that she can reach the side of the bathtub on which she likes to stand to drink out of the caps from water bottles, which are the only receptacle from which she will consume liquid. But other than that (and being completely insane) she is doing well.
From Cristen
Hey Meg, I was wondering if you happened to know when Underworld is coming out because the suspense is killing me!
Dear Cristen,
The suspense is killing me too! I’m glad you want to know more about Pierce and John (and this is a good time of year to wonder about them, since Coffin Night just took place here in Key West! Once again, no coffin burners were actually caught)! Look for Underworld, the sequel to Abandon, in stores in May 2012.
From @janelleminniti
Hanging out for @megcabot to release the next heather wells book…..
Dear Janelle,
That’s funny, because my editor and I were just hanging out, trying to pick a cover for Heather Wells #4! I’d show you what we finally decided on, but then, of course, I would have to kill you. Size 12 and Ready to Rock will be out in late Summer 2012!
From Daphne
I just finished “Overbite” and it was really engrossing! Loved everything about it. I would love to see/read about what happens to them next!! ♥
Thanks Daphne! I’m super glad you liked it. The ending of Overbite certainly left the door open for a third book (with a very intriguing premise for a heavenly love triangle . . . ha ha get it? Heavenly?), but for now I’m concentrating on Heather Wells and the Abandon sequels (and maybe some other surprises if I drink enough caffeine).
From Sanny Appy Gal
Hey Meg!! I love all your books. From the first word I read in the first Princess Diaries Series I fell in love with all your books! I always wanted to know where you get all those awesome ideas!! Can you share your secret?
Good question Sa
Right now we’re in what is commonly referred to as the Dog Days of Summer.
I used to think people called this time of year “the dog days” because it’s so hot, even dogs don’t want to move from their nice comfy spot in the shade.
But it’s actually because historically, August was when Sirius, the Dog Star, was the brightest star in the sky.
So everyone back in olden times thought Sirius was to blame for bringing all the heat.
They didn’t know about meteorology and seasons and stuff like that. They also thought the reason winter came was because Hades had kidnapped Persephone, the daughter of goddess of the harvest, and was forcing her to live with him in the underworld. So the goddess of the harvest was so mad, she was making it cold.
Oh, old timey people. You make me laugh.
So what the old timey people would do when it got REALLY hot was find a nice fat dog, then slit its throat as a sacrifice to Sirius, to make him be less mad and stop it from being so hot.
(Author’s note: There was no ASPCA back then to stop people from doing stupid things like this).
And guess what? This did not even work! It stayed hot. And someone was minus a dog.
But this is how the Dog Days of Summer got its name.
So if you’re feeling a lack of motivation or just generally blah right now, you should know that you’re not alone. It’s not the fault of anyone’s dog (not even Sirius, which due to gradual shifts in the earth’s rotation, is no longer the brightest star in the sky during August).
But these ARE still the Dog Days.
But don’t worry, because there are a LOT of people working to try to get us out of our doldrums right now (thank God, because when I’m done trying to work on my current project every day, all I want to do is have a nice cocktail and be entertained by someone else’s project).
Here are some other people’s projects that I’m enjoying right now (I’d tell you about mine, but since it’s the Dog Days, I’d just fall asleep while doing so):
After long and exhaustive study, I’ve determined that one of the reasons the shows on the USA channel are so entertaining is because the network makes a conscious effort to match the color of their sets to their main characters’ eyes.
Case in point, Necessary Roughness, USA’s new show about a single mom sports psychologist who works for a pro-football team in New York City:
As you can tell from the above photo, this show is already good because every week Dr. Dani Santino (who just got divorced from her cheating scumbag of a husband) has to solve the mystery of what is wrong with her patient (always a new patient every week, always some kind of athlete, or married to one), and also has to juggle the guys she works with, pictured above, some of whom are kind of hot for her (the one from Buffy and one from Gilmore Girls)!
(I’m sort of mad I didn’t think of this show, because I was into sports psychology as far back as 2004, as you can tell from this blog entry. DANG!)
But the important thing is that in almost every scene, USA Network makes sure actress Callie Thorne’s golden brown hair and eyes match something golden brown on the set, usually leaves, so the show has a sort of warm, golden, autumnal feel to it. Don’t believe me? LOOK:
Author James Patterson recently released a novel book trailer: promoting his YA novel and his adult thriller in the same television commercial.
In the book trailer embedded above, Patterson shares the spotlight with an animated version of Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life‘s protagonist . As the video explains, Middle School was written for a YA audience while Now You See Her is an adult thriller.
Many authors write for both young readers and adults. Melissa de la Cruz‘s first adult novel, The Witches of East End, included appearances from characters her Blue Bloods YA series. Meg Cabot recently released Overbite, a sequel to her adult vampire story Insatiable. Last April, she also published the first book in her YA trilogy, Abandon. Who else can follow Patterson’s example?
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Abandon by Meg Cabot
Summary:
Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera 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 let’s herself fall any further, she might find herself back in the place she fears most. And when Pierce discovers the shocking truth, that’s exactly where John sweeps her: The Underworld.
Release Date: April 26, 2011
Publisher: Scholastic
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 320
Format: Advance Reader Copy
Source: Publisher
