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I can’t believe it’s been a decade and a half since we first met that so not-ready-for-royalty princess, Mia Thermopolis, and six years since we last saw a book about about her! She–and we–have come a long way since then, from barely passing Algebra, to that first kiss from Michael, to saving Genovia, her kingdom, from financial ruin!

And now they’re here at last: Royal Wedding, the first adult installment in the series that so many readers have been waiting for (and those who aren’t familiar with Mia’s secret diaries will enjoy, too), along with the first middle grade installment (with illustrations by ME!) for younger readers about a brand new member of the Genovian royal family, From the Notebooks of Middle School Princess.

I hope you’ll enjoy this trip back to Genovia! Long live us all, because we’re ALL Genovian princesses, in our hearts!

XOXOXO Meg

 

The post Mia is back! appeared first on Meg Cabot.

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Meg Cabot (of Princess Diaries fame) is the author of over twenty-five series and books for both adults and teens. Her most recent book is the paranormal romance Insatiable, a modern sequel to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Armed with the Oxford World Classics edition, she launched a Dracula reading group earlier this summer, and now–in an exclusive Q&A–shares her thoughts on all things vampire. Read on for the chance to test your Dracula knowledge and win prizes!

If you were bitten tomorrow, and had to choose a vampire name, what would it be?
Well, obviously, Meg Cadaver.

If someone attacked “Meg Cadaver” with a stake, and you only had Dracula to block the blow, would it work?
Absolutely.  My super vampire strength, combined with the amazing power of Bram Stoker’s prose, would easily defeat their piddling human arm and wooden stake that was probably made by Ikea.

If Dracula had a Twitter handle, what would it be?
The possibilities are so endless . . .
Longinthetooth
Vampyvlad
Undeaddandy
CoffinCasanova
Although personally, I’d probably go with a simple 8U.

What is the most fascinating thing about vampires?
They never seem to die.

What is the most boring thing about vampires?
They never seem to die.

Who is the most ultimate, hard-core, awesome vampire of all time?
I feel compelled, because of the forum, to answer Dracula. But if you weren’t here I would answer Blade.  I realize he’s a Daywalker, of course, but he has that awesome haircut.

Who is the sexiest vampire of all time?
Sadly for me it’s Michael Nourri circa 1979 as Dracula in “The Curse of Dracula” on the TV show “Cliffhangers,” which I wasn’t ever actually allowed to stay up to watch.  Which is probably why, in my feverish imagination, it’s still the best.  And now I never want to see it, as it could never live up to what I remember thinking, from the commercials: that it had to be the most fantastic show of all time.  Considering it was canceled after only one season, I think this must be untrue.  But you never know.

I’m upset that most modern vampires don’t wear cloaks. How do you feel about this?
I agree.  In Insatiable, I gave my vampire a black Burberry trench coat, the tail of which flapped around a lot in the wind during moments of high tension, to give the impression of a cloak.  But it’s definitely not the same thing. In my defense, the only way to give a vampire a cloak in a book set in modern times and not have him stand out like a big freak is to either make him be an eccentric bestselling author, have live him in the subway tunnels of NYC with the mole people, or have him work at a Medieval Times restaurant.  None of these are particularly appealing options, especially the first.

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I'm going on vacation next week. I will be OFFLINE. I'm trying to decide if I want to pre-blog some back reviews and then just set them to post or if I just want to leave it and see you when I get back. It will probably depend on what I have time to do. It won't be tonight because it's the first night of Passover! There's a strong chance that I will, once again, be the youngest person at Seder (Ok, I know I won't be the youngest, but the baby can't talk yet!) so I should probably brush up on the 4 questions...

Anyway, how much do you love Meg Cabot? Reading one of her books is like laughing with your best friend until your stomach hurts. Also, you should totally check out the advice videos that she is doing with Michele Jaffe? They're chock full of good advice. (Like, don't trip boys to get them to notice you) Also, hysterical.

I recently read Cabot's upcoming book, Being Nikki, the sequel to Airhead. I'll review it around the time it comes out (May 5th) but I'm telling you now, it's crazy good and I liked it a lot more than Airhead and that if you haven't read the first one yet, you should go do it now, so it's all nice and read by May 5th.

Also, if you've already read Being Nikki, email me, because I want to talk about it. Especially the ending. OMFG.

So, here are two other Meg Cabot books that I've read and haven't reviewed yet.

Forever Princess

It's the VERY LAST Princess Diaries book!

About 2 and half years have passed since we last saw Mia, and not much has changed. For some reason, she's still with icky JP. She's not friends with Lilly, and Michael's still in Japan. After her "wait, Genovia is a democracy" bombshell, her dad's running for Prime Minister, but Prince Rene might beat him!

Graduation is coming and Mia got into every one of the schools she applied for. She's certain that this has less to do with her merits and more to do with her royal status. None of her friends got into their top choice schools, so she's told EVERYONE that she didn't get in anywhere. She also told everyone that her senior project is a history of Genovian Olive Pressing. Which it's not. It's a romance novel. A lot of the story centers around Mia trying to publish her romance novel under a pen name, so she knows it will be published because the book is good, not because it was written by a princess.

OH! And then, to make matters even more complicated? Michael's back from Japan. And even hotter than ever. But Mia's still totally in love with JP, right?

Cabot's own publishing career started in romance. I have to wonder how much of Mia's tribulations mirror Cabot's experiences, especially the crap people give Mia once they find out she's written a romance. JP's a total jerk about it (SURPRISE) and tells her she shouldn't be wasting her talents writing such trash and she should be writing literary fiction that will change the world blah blah blah.

I spent most of the book wanting to put corn in JP's chili and then pushing him. And then wanting to smack Mia for being so totally clueless that she doesn't see that JP is evil and slimy and gross.

When I was reading the book, I had to stop and write the following:

Why do I love this series so much when I have such a love/hate relationship with Mia? When will she get a spine? Why JP? and why for 2 years? Ew... I just cannot forgive [Mia for dating] JP. To the point where Mia, for choosing him and STAYING WITH HIM [that was underlined 4 times] is no longer funny, if mildly annoying, but just DUMB [also heavily underlined.]

So why do I love this series? Because Mia, as annoying as she is, is funny:

When I go to college the first thing I'm going to do is pick out all new friends. Because the friends I currently have are psychotic.

Also, because of how it ended.

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Best Friends And Drama Queens

See, where Mia annoys me, I love Allie. Because Allie has spunk and a spine is a lot less neurotic than Mia. I'm sure when Allie hits puberty, she'll get a little more neurotic, because that's what happens when you hit puberty--YOU GO INSANE but she'll keep her spine and kick a little more ass. Because that's what Allie is--KICK ASS.

But I shouldn't say that, because this is a Middle Grade book, and so I shouldn't use swear words when describing it. (Too bad, KICK ASS)

There's a new girl at school and she comes all the way from Canada! Too bad Cheyenne thinks that playing pretend is babyish. And she has high heel zip-up boots like Allie wanted, but her mom wouldn't let her have. But Cheyenne's also not that nice. She starts the kissing game, where packs of girls chase down unsuspecting boys on the playground and then kiss them. (Ok, so we totally played that in my elementary school, too. But if a pack of guys did that to a girl, it would be BAD NEWS. Why is it ok for girls to do to guys? I mean, they eventually get in trouble, but we never did.) She also starts "going with" boys and wants EVERY GIRL to go with a boy.

Allie doesn't want to go with a boy. And Caroline and Sophie aren't talking to each other to talk about. When Allie stands up to Cheyenne, she has to face her full wrath.

I love that Allie doesn't know how to handle situations but not in a "I'm so helpless!" type of way. I love that she knows some things--she doesn't want to "go with" anyone but doesn't know others--how to tell a boy that without being mean.

This is an excellent series for middle grade girls. It's funny and affirming without being cheesy or message-y. I think Allie might be my favorite Meg Cabot character.

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Are you, like me, eagerly awaiting the release of Forever Princess the very LAST Princess Diaries book?

Well, Meg Cabot has a lovely sneak peak for us here. Just a little something to tide us over until the January!

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This weekend I... read 6 books, cleaned the house, hosted a party, went to see Emmy Lou Harris in concert, watched some TV, saw Big Rig, and spent a lot of time messing around on the internet.

It was a good weekend.

Let's talk about 3 of the books I read this weekend. We're going to slightly stretch "nonfiction" here. (Amazon is not playing with me right now. Linkies and pictures will come later)

Princess Lessons Meg Cabot

Told from the point of view of different characters from the popular Princess Diaries series, this book gives pointers on how to be the perfect princess. Everything is covered from how to write an excellent thank-you note, to posture, to how to defend yourself if your bodyguard is otherwise occupied. We hear from Grandmere, Lars, Lilly, Tina, Michael, and a host of others, all with Mia's commentary. Plus, movie lists by Mia and Lilly.

A fun companion volume for die-hard fans of the series.

Perfect Princess Meg Cabot

Once again, a companion volume to Princess Diaries. This on is cataloged as fiction though. In it, Mia, Grandmere, Michael et al. go through and list princesses through history, myth, legend, and pop culture and Mia gleans a lesson that can be learned from each. Every one from Elizabeth the 1 to Xena is covered in each characters voice and fashion.

There's also a fun rundown of who's a princess and who isn't (Britney Spears and Strawberry Shortcake are NOT princesses).

An irreverent and fun look at girl royals of all stripes.

Holiday Princess Meg Cabot

The Library of Congress says this is nonfiction. My library, however, says it's fiction.

Focusing mainly on Christmas, with quick nods to Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year, Mia and co. tell us how to shop for boys and how Christmas is celebrated around the world, covering New York, Genovia, and everywhere in between. Also, Mia and Lilly's top holiday movies, the lyrics to Auld Lang Syne, and lots of holiday crafting fun...

Over all, these three companion volumes are fun additions to the series, with every character playing their part, but nothing I'd ever use for research!

Picture Book of the Day has the roundup!

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Alright, I'm insane and didn't sleep all weekend. And when I woke up on Monday at 12:00 (I didn't have to work until 1, and I had gone to bed at 9 on Sunday) I still felt like I had been run over by a MACK truck. Apparently flying to Iowa and back last weekend, a few days of Code Red air days and no sleep = sinus and ear infection. So I didn't go to work yesterday which is very, very poor form. BAD JENNIE. Also, there is definitely a point of diminishing returns. I probably could have read the same amount if I had slept because the lack of sleep was messing with my reading speed and comprehension.

But it was fun.

Anyway, today I'm adding pictures and things to my 48 hour posts, I'm also going to be posting some things on my spoiler blog because I have a lot of opinions on where Princess Diaries left off.

ALSO! The 24 Hour Read-a-thon is coming up in 2 weeks.

This one is a little different--

1. Everyone reads for the same 24 hours (1:59 Saturday afternoon to 1:59 Sunday afternoon if you're on the East Coast like me.)
2. You can read anything you want.
3. Instead of fame and glory, this one's for charity (Reading is Fundamental.)

SO! I'm asking for sponsors to help me for this. There are a few ways to sponsor me.

You can just donate a lump sum. Or, you can donate based on how I do.

I will personally be donating $.03 for every book, hour and page I read. Based on this past weekend, I'm expecting that to be around $60-$70.

I've already received some sponsors, so including my own donation, I will be raising $.08 for every page I read, $.06 for every book, and $.06 for every hour.

If you would like to help me raise money for this worthy cause, please email me at kidsilkhaze (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Anyway, some further thoughts on books. I think I forgot to mention that Pure Dead... talks about poop. A lot. Mainly dragon poop. And baby poop. And how Yetis like to eat poop. This can either be a turn off or a selling point, depending on your audience.

Also, it was obviously written by a mother. There is a lot in here for adults poking fun at childhood foibles that kids won't get. But, for kids, there's poop. Lots and lots of poop. And talking crocodiles.

Also, the character of Ffup was interesting. I'm still not keen on how her personality totally changed when she found out she was a girl. I also think her as a teenage mother was odd, because she was very much a teenager and not ready for a child, even if she was 600 years old.

All in all, it was just very, very British. British children's books are always much more adult than American children's books are.

UPDATE:

Also, I wanted to add how much I love Mia's dorkiness. She talks in Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings similes. And she rights Battlestar Galactica fanfic. And is an expert on Lifetime movies, much like my friend Sarah.

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Hours read/blogging: 41 Hours, 30 minutes

Number of books read: 19

Number of pages read: 4299

WARNING: I am reviewing series books. While this review contains no spoilers for this book, it probably contains spoilers for previous volumes in this series. It’s the nature of the beast.

Princess Mia Meg Cabot

Well, Michael and Mia are officially splits-ville. Mia spends so much time wallowing in bed in the aftermath that Lars has to literally pick her up, chuck her into the limo and drag her off to therapy. There she's told to do at least one scary thing a day. Like go shopping with Lana Weinberger.

And everyone thinks JP and Mia are a couple, because of some photos that appeared in the New York Post. Lilly's no where near talking to her.

Also, Mia has to give a speech about Genovia to this highly exclusive women's society, Domina Rei (like Opus Dei, but non-religious and for women.)

The following thoughts were so forceful that I had to type them while reading the book:

JP needs to go away. He needs to go away NOW. Or Mia needs to wise up to see what he's doing and PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE!!! He is scum! Trying to put the moves on her and drive Mia and Lilly apart. I mean, I have my issues with Lilly, but who the hell does this guy think he is?! And why doesn't Mia or Tina see it? Oh wait. Tina does see it. Someone needs to hit Mia upside the head with a frying pan and knock some sense into her.

Ok. Now that I've finished the book, and this is the last in the series so far, I definitely have some thoughts for the spoiler page. Look for them tomorrow.

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Hours read/blogging: 39 hours, 10 minutes

Number of books read: 18

Number of pages read: 4025

WARNING: I am reviewing series books. While this review contains no spoilers for this book, it probably contains spoilers for previous volumes in this series. It’s the nature of the beast.

Princess on the Brink Meg Cabot

Michael has invented a robot that will do heart surgery without having to crack open someone's chest. Only he had to go to JAPAN for OVER A YEAR to get it up and running. He needs to prove to the world and to Mia's family that he's worthy of a princess. It's his quest, but Mia's not handling it well... especially when he tells her that he's sick of cold showers so not being around her all the time without doing IT might make his life a little easier.

So maybe it's time to give him her Precious Gift (just the fact she calls it that shows she's so not ready yet) and then he'll change his mind and stay in New York.

I hate J.P.-- I'll add thoughts on this later if still necessary after reading the next book... Read the rest of this post

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Hours read/blogging: 35 hours

Number of books read: 15

Number of pages read: 3619

WARNING: I am reviewing series books. While this review contains no spoilers for this book, it probably contains spoilers for previous volumes in this series. It’s the nature of the beast.

Party Princess Meg Cabot

This one took me forever to read-- the lack of sleep started getting to me until I made another pot of coffee. Anyway!

Mia's student government is out of money 3 months before the end of the school year--which means they can't rent the graduation hall. Whoops. So, in order to raise the money without having to sell candles, schemes are put into motion. Lilly has a lit mag that she's calling Fat Louie's Pink Butthole, of all things. And Grandmere has written a musical about Genovian history and forcing Mia to play the lead.

And Michael's throwing a party. So he invited Mia (duh, girlfriend) but Mia's not a party girl and doesn't want to go. Whinge whinge whinge.

Ok-- WTF is with Mia moaning on about this party? SUCK IT UP. Michael would for you. Dude. It's 1 party on 1 night. I could understand if she were freaking out about what to wear or even the how to act aspect, but no, she just straight up doesn't want to go and is moaning about that.

Also, you can't Netscape something. Netscape is a browser, not a search engine, so you can't force it into being a verb, like we've made Google a verb. Because Google is a search engine, so you can look things up with it. You can access Google via Netscape, but you can't check Netscape for something. Ergh.

BUT! I love that Hermione and Ron are on Mia's list of couples you'd hate to see break up. Especially because this came out in 2006, before they were ever officially together. Even though we all knew it was coming. Even if Ron does have the emotional range of a teaspoon!

Ok-- 7 hours left...

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Hours read/blogging: 28 hours, 25 minutes

Number of books read: 12

Number of pages read: 3420

WARNING: I am reviewing series books. While this review contains no spoilers for this book, it probably contains spoilers for previous volumes in this series. It’s the nature of the beast.

Well, I'm not going to beat Midwestern Lodestar in books or page count (I must learn her secrets!) but maybe in hours? Let's not talk about how much coffee I've had to drink already... plus I've seen 2 sunrises this weekend... Anyway...

Princess in Pink Meg Cabot

All Mia wants is to go to prom with Michael, so why hasn't he asked her? Because he thinks prom is lame and doesn't want to go!!! Then, at her birthday dinner, a busboy trips over Rommel and gets fired for dumping soup over Grandmere. Lilly takes up the cause of the unjust firing, but then ends up chosing Jangbu (the busboy) over Boris (boyfriend of 8 months) for a rousing round of 7 Minutes in Heaven. And things go from bad to worse as the the busboys go on strike and most of New York's service unions join them... meaning it doesn't matter what Michael thinks about prom, as it's been canceled and everyone blames Mia.

Still funny! And this volume is still filled with the same self-constructed drama that wouldn't be an issue if Mia weren't so... 15. But there are some bigger things Mia has to deal with that don't have an easy out that her neuroses won't let her see.

Also, it's nice to see that sticking a spatula down your best friend's throat during a frosting-related fight is a recurring event in Cabot's books. (Also happened in the opening chapter of Allie Finkle. In this case, it's Mia remembering a fight she had with Lilly when they were kids.) Also Lilly... I don't know how I feel about her... she has a lot of negatives, and I'm not sure we've seen enough of her positives to balance those out yet... Read the rest of this post

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Hours read/blogging: 26 hours, 35 minutes

Number of books read: 11

Number of pages read: 2659

WARNING: I am reviewing series books. While this review contains no spoilers for this book, it probably contains spoilers for previous volumes in this series. It’s the nature of the beast.

Project Princess Meg Cabot

A short little vignette of a book about Mia's G/T plus a few students' trip to West Virginia for to build houses for a Habitat for Humanity-esque organization. Plus, Mia gets 5 whole days without her parents, Grandmere, or Michael's parents to always be around. Now, if only she weren't so sleepy and smelly...

Cute and short. I can see where this would be a nice volume to hold fans over while waiting for the next full-length installment.

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Hours read/blogging: 26 hours, 5 minutes

Number of books read: 10

Number of pages read: 2609

WARNING: I am reviewing series books. While this review contains no spoilers for this book, it probably contains spoilers for previous volumes in this series. It’s the nature of the beast.

Princess in Waiting Meg Cabot

I don't think I've mentioned this yet-- all these books start with a quotation from The Little Princess. It's awesome.

So... Mia's off to Genovia for Christmas, where she creates a minor political scandal when she starts saying that what they really need is parking meters. Also, she's trying to navigate her new relationship with Michael. Grandmere doesn't think he's the most suitable of consort, but if
Mia insists, she should at least play hard to get a la Jane Eyre. Now, there's one love affair I never understood. Had I not already known what was eventually going to happen, I would have been rather confused when they fell in love...

There's a lot of Mia-constructed does he love me or not drama. But you know it's a good book (or at least an engaging Character voice) when you don't mind reading 259 pages of whinging on about "does he love me like a friend or is he in love with me."

Also, I love the fact that Mia wears Queen Amidala underpants.

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Hours read/blogging: 21 hours, 25 minutes

Number of books read: 8

Number of pages read: 2098

WARNING: I am reviewing series books. While this review contains no spoilers for this book, it probably contains spoilers for previous volumes in this series. It’s the nature of the beast.

Princess in the Spotlight Meg Cabot

So, Mia's now totally in love with Michael and completely oblivious that he's in love with her too. Her mom's pregnant and getting married to Mr. G. And Grandmere wants to plan the wedding. And Mia's getting notes from a secret admirerer that couldn't be Michael... could it?

More hilarity ensues. I CAN NOT believe I haven't read this sooner. No wonder Lauren stared at me all agog when I said I hadn't a few months ago. Why haven't you people told me sooner?!!!!

Off to read more!

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This satirical suicide bomber character from the Seamour Sheep comic strip series will soon be available as a designer vinyl figure, produced by Crazy Label. We hope that the release of the Uncle Abdul figure will help to satirize the act of killing.

The photograph shows the first hand-painted Uncle Abdul toy prototype being greeted by the very rare red-nosed edition of Marty Mole.

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Check out the Seamour Sheep and Marty Mole designer toy figures giveaway at Vinylpulse.com!

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