Final Meg-A Readers Recap #10 with an EXCLUSIVE Meg Cabot INTERVIEW!!

Happy Friday Everyone!!!

So today's the LAST recap of Meg-A Readers Blog Hop! The FIRST (hopefully) Annual Meg-A Readers Blog Hop!

For today's post I've decided to give you recap BEFORE I give you all the super special thing Diana and I have been dying to share with you for months!!

Recap #10:

• Bibliojunkies "Queen of Babble" review
• Blethering About Book's "Size 12 is Not Fat" Review
• Journal of a Bookworm's Review of "Size 12 is Not Fat"
• Young At Heart's Review of "Queen of Babble"
• Molly's AWESOME "Which Meg Cabot book should YOU read?" Quiz!! 
• Diana over at Little Miss Drama Queen's GIVEAWAY!! 
• Diana's Quoteable Quotes Part 3 (Meg-A Readers Edition)! 

 Some great posts right??!!

Before I go into this super special event on The Romance Bookie, I just want to also quickly say a HUGE THANK YOU (!!!!) to all the participators and people who have contacted me, telling me what a great event this is! I REALLY hope ALL of you sign-up again next year!  Diana and I have already started discussing the possibilities for next year! And hopefully, it will be even bigger than this year! :)

I also want to give a special shout-out to James over BookChic, to Meg Cabot, Ann (Meg's fabulous assistant), and of course my SUPER AWESOME co-host DIANA!!!! Thanks DIANA!!!

NOW to the SUPER SPECIAL EVENT!!!

When Diana and I first started Meg-A Readers I kept thinking "How to end Meg-A Readers, how to end Meg-A Readers??" Well at the time I honestly didn't think this was going to end up happening, because after all the Guest of Honor, whom this event is overall for and about (Mrs. Fabulous Meg Cabot) is a SUPER busy person! I mean, we want her to write more books for us (especially now that's I've run out of them on my bookshelf!!!), and she's got tours, and events, etc.

Back in May, I got one of the most awesome Twitter messages ever!  It was a message from Meg's assistant Ann, whose been SOOOO awesome, and along with Meg has been supporting Meg-A Readers since it started back in May, telling me that Meg really wanted to support Meg-A Readers and send Diana and me a box of books for giveaways! Yup, everyone those fabulous Meg Cabot books I've been giving away over the past few months?? Yeah, those are personally from Meg Cabot, herself!!

Well, anyway Ann helped me accomplish one of my top goals for The Romance Bookie...

AN INTERVIEW WITH MEG CABOT!!!!!!

This interview was a dream come true, it was almost up there with meeting Meg back in February at Passion and Prose!

So to end Meg-A Readers with a bang, so to say, Diana and I thought there was no better way than to have a few words from the fabulous Guest of Honor herself!!!

The Romance Bookie: What kind of music do you listen to as you write?  Do you have a current favorite song?

Meg Cabot: Good question!  I usually make playlists for every book I write, with a song specific to each particular character. Dorky, I know, but I can’t help it!  It just happens.

For Underworld, I listened to these songs every time I wanted to slip into John’s mindset about Pierce:

The Black Keys “Howlin’ For You”

Jared Evan’s “I’m in Love With You”, and 

Dramarama’s “Anything, Anything”

(Although she’s actually much nicer than the girls depicted in those songs! Especially the one in “Anything, Anything.”  Yes, John’s desperately lonely and will do anything to get Pierce to join him in the Underworld, even give her “diamonds, pills, and hundred dollar bills.” But unlike Persephone in the myth of Hades, Pierce is already intrigued by John.  He doesn’t really have to give her jewels, drugs, and money!)

For Pierce, I listened to:

Little Boot’s “New in Town”
(though the lyrics of that song are better suited to Pierce’s friend Kayla.  However, the tone of it suits Pierce, and she IS “New in Town”) and

“Everything I Own” from the movie Bandslam

 
Gah, I never thought I’d admit that in public! My secret shame, unveiled!

Another embarrassing confession (I’d only do this for you, Mandy):

When I’m writing I actually like to listen to hip-hop and rap, the naughtier the lyrics, the better, since it keeps me energized and awake!  Pitbull is my current favorite artist.  I love him!  So that’s what I listened to while writing the latest Heather Wells.

(I will admit, I have always wanted to see "Bandslam"! Yes, I know lame, but I always like Alyson Michalka)

TRB:  What is your writing process like?

Meg: My writing process is called “5 by 5 or $5.”  See below for an explanation!


I come up with an idea for a book and usually jot it down and let it gel for a few years (for real!) before I discuss it with anyone.  I have found that if I talk about a book idea too soon, it can “crawl back up” (like when someone says “God bless you” before you actually sneeze.  Have you ever noticed when this happens, you never sneeze?  This happens to me with book ideas if I talk about them before I write them down). 

I try to write every day from 10AM until 5PM.  I start by rereading what I wrote the day before, then deleting most, but not all, of it (sad but true).

In this way, very slowly, a book eventually evolves.  Then I turn it in, it gets edited and sent back to me, I revise it, and then I start all over again. 

But I can’t always write every day, because things happen.  The week I got this email, for instance, a friend’s husband died, so I had to travel to see her.  Or I’ll have a book tour. Or family will come to visit. Or I’ll have groceries to shop for and then something will go wrong with the car. Or I’ll get so many wonderful messages on Facebook and Twitter from readers, of course I’ll want to read them all, or I’ll have interviews like this one to complete, or my 20 year old cat will get sick.  Basically, Life intervenes!

This is why fellow author Rachel Vail and I invented “5 by 5 or $5.” Rachel and I decided that if, by 5PM we have not written 5 pages, we have to donate $5 to a certain politician we both hate very much (I will not name the politician, as that would not be very princessy.  Just know that he/she is someone so despicable that we are always VERY careful to finish our 5 pages by 5 o’clock in order not to have to donate $5).

We let each other off the hook for emergencies only.  Also, deleting 5 pages counts, because deleting is just as painful (and creatively important) as writing 5 pages.





(I love that idea!! I'll have to remember that one! :))

TRB:  Any completely new ideas running through your head that you think will make it on book store shelves?  And could you give us a teaser? :)

Meg: Sadly, as stated earlier, I can’t tell you about new ideas until they’re already written, or they will crawl back up (this is also a Breakfast Club reference.  Points to anyone who can name which character said it and what he was referring to.  Yes, it’s gross).

But I CAN tell you that I’m playing around with some ideas for a 7th book in the Mediator series, and that I just completed the 4th book in the Heather Wells mystery series, Size 12 and Ready to Rock, which will be out July 10! 

And of course, there’s Awaken, the sequel to Underworld, which will be out next spring, along with Size 12 is the New Black, the next Heather Wells mystery.  As readers of Big Boned, the last Heather Wells mystery, know, Cooper’s finally

(do not read further if you do no want a spoiler:)

proposed, so there are wedding bells in the air … but considering it’s Heather, those bells could actually be bullets! 

Spoiler over!


(I can't wait for all your future works!!!)

TRB: Where do you think you got your amazing humor from?

Meg: Aw, thanks!  But I do not think my humor is amazing.  If you couldn’t make everyone laugh at the dinner table at my house, no one noticed you. So I sort of learned it just to get attention. 

I also had great, funny teachers, from elementary school all the way through college, and I owe a lot to them.  My teachers were all the best!

Growing up, I also always looked for books that had a humorous element to them in order to escape whatever traumatic thing was going on in my life, and was always very grateful to authors who could make me laugh when I was feeling my lowest (and I mean authors from every genre, from romance to mysteries to sci-fi). 

So I feel very fortunate that I’m in a position now to be able to return the favor to readers like myself. 


(I think all of us Meg Cabot readers can agree that we are glad you're returning the favor!)

TRB: What was the first thing you ever wrote about?  And how old were you?


Meg: My first book was called Benny the Puppy. It was about a puppy named Benny whose life trajectory was quite tragic (entire family perished in a freak prairie tornado) until he found happiness in the form of adoption by a kindly local Navajo tribe.  I wrote it when I was seven years old. 

The film rights are still available, Disney!

(That is a joke.)
 
TRB: What actress could you see play Pierce, if Abandon were to be made into a movie?

Meg: I never answer this question on the grounds that some of my books have been made into movies and television shows, and many more of my works (including Abandon) are currently optioned for film and television.  What if whoever gets cast as Pierce Googles this question someday, then finds this blog and sees that I was asked this question and I didn’t mention her name?  She might think I don’t like her!

So, actress-who-has-been-cast-as-Pierce-who-is-reading-this-in-the-future, whoever you are, I love you, you’re perfect!  We ALL love you, don’t we, readers?
 
TRB:  What actress could you see as Heather, if Size 12 is Not Fat were to be turned into a TV show (which is what I am hoping for!!) or a movie?

Meg: Same answer! 

But I will add that I’d love to see Heather on film, especially since she ALMOST made it as a TV series (on ABC Family). So you never know!

Of course, actress-from-the future-who-is-reading-this, it would be great if you could be a size 12 (or larger) actress, since there aren’t a lot of roles (or role models) out there for women who are larger than a size 2, and there is a lot of pressure to be thin in Hollywood (and everywhere else!).

But none of us will hold it against you if you are not a size 12.  We understand the pressure you’re under, and would just like you to be happy and healthy!  But if you are not a size 12, please don’t say no to the chocolate mousse tonight at dinner, since none of us will be doing so.  Thanks!
 
(I've been saying that Heather Wells would make an awesome TV series for years!!)


TRB:  Random Questions: Hugh Jackman or Johnny Depp?

Meg: I love Hugh, but there is also a certain charm in Captain Jack Sparrow! However, may I have Pitbull instead?
 
(I love Hugh too!! :))

TRB:   Favorite movie of all time?

Meg: Wow, another tough one!  Of course Star Wars (A New Hope) is my favorite movie of all time.  I know it seems cheesy now, but I saw it when it was originally in theaters in the 70s (yes, I am old) with my whole family, and it was the last time I remember them all being together and happy, so it’s more the memory of that, maybe, than the movie itself.

But it’s also a great story with a strong female character who endures something horrible (torture on the Death Star) for a great cause (to save the galaxy) and then helps defeat the Evil Empire with her bravery, AND gets the funny guy (well, after Return of the Jedi) in the end (we’ll ignore the part where she makes out with her brother).



(That's a great reason for having a movie as your favorite! And Star Wars is awesome!!)


TRB:   And lastly, any advice for aspiring writers?


Meg: My advice is always the same:

Write about the things you love.

Write the kind of stories you’d want to read.

Words can hurt.  A wise writer uses them kindly.

Isn't Meg just the most awesomest person ever!!! And SOOOO funny!! Pitbull??!! HAHAHA! :)

I also wanted to announce the winner really fast of the Signed Copies of "Insatiable" and "Overbite" before I end this post:

***Maria Smith***

You have been contacted through email, and have 48 hours to respond before I pick a new winner. 

Before I go and shed the tears of sadness for Meg-A Readers being over, I want to say once again a HUGE thank you to Meg Cabot!!

Thank you everyone!!

The Romance Bookie :)