Wow. So, I don’t know about you, but I found out I had a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving….

…and not just that, unlike Real Housewife of Atlanta Kim W., my hair isn’t falling out…at least, not anymore.

(When I had lyme disease, hair loss was one of my symptoms. So if you’re finding hair all over the place–but remember, we naturally shed a hundred shafts of hair a day!–one reason might be lyme disease. See your doctor.

One thing it’s not: Cancer. Your hair doesn’t fall out until AFTER treatment, Kim.)

Okay, so here’s my list of stuff I’m thankful for:

1) That the terrorists who attacked Mumbai last week have finally been subdued. I am sorrier than I can say for the victims and their families! There are no words.

2) That I do not work at this Wal-Mart.

3) That I was on tour in Thailand last month and not this month. It was only a few weeks ago that I was at one of the airports the protesters have seized! Thailand is such a wonderful country. I hope things there can come to a speedy, peaceful resolution.

4) He Who Shall Not Be Named In This Blog…even though we went through a slight domestic squabble this Thanksgiving over me putting a hot pot on the drying rack and melting its wax coating (the rack’s, not the pot’s. You know Sarah Dessen and her dish towel problem? Well, in my relationship it’s: ME: “It’s just a drying rack.” HIM: “DO YOU THINK DRYING RACKS GROW ON TREES? DON’T PUT HOT POTS ON THEM! AND USE A COASTER!”).

But even though he’s been in a bad mood for the past month (he is an IU basketball fan and season ticket holder and hasn’t been able to make it to any of the games), I am still grateful for him. The fact that I am published at all and here writing to you is almost entirely due to him: the first few years we were together, I hid from him the truth about my excessive credit card debt (This is why I relate so entirely to the character Alyson Hannigan plays on How I Met Your Mother.)

When HWSNBNITB eventually found out about the debt, he paid it off, so we wouldn’t have bad credit as a couple. He worked two jobs to do it, one writing financial brochures in an investment firm, and one teaching English as a second language, while also studying for his PhD, allowing me to work my one relatively easy job (in the dorm at NYU) so I could keep writing the stories I dreamed of publishing one day in my spare time.

Why did he do this? I can think of only one reason.

Because he is awesome.

So when he said, “Why don’t you at least TRY to get some of those books you’re always writing published?” it only seemed fair that I listen (although it took my dad dying before I actually got up the guts to send out some query letters. Life is short. If there’s something you always wanted to do, don’t wait).

It wasn’t until many years later that I was actually making enough money from my writing to support us both. But when I was, I said, “Honey, it’s my turn to take over paying all the bills. What do you want to do?”

Little did I know what he wanted to do was go to culinary school (where he would, yes, learn to make delicious meals for me, but also become the coaster and drying rack dictator), then move with me to Key West and restore an old house (and also manage the financial end of the Meg Cabot LLC).

I know. Did I mention the awesome part?

And I’m very thankful. Even though the master bathroom renovation he insisted would be finished October 16 still isn’t done.

5) Anyway, the last thing I was so grateful for this holiday weekend was…YOU! Because where would I be without you readers? I’m so grateful to you, I’m giving away some of my books for free here (and there’ll be even more opportunities to win free books coming up on this blog soon)!

Believe me, your enthusiasm is sometimes the only thing that keeps me going. Did I mention I didn’t make my NaNoWriMo goal? FAR FROM IT.

But it doesn’t matter, because

a) It’s a CHALLENGE, not a COMPETITION

b) Who says you can only write novels in November? Novels can be written ANYWHERE, ANYTIME! So I’ve got all of December (as well as the rest of 2008…and 2009…and 2010…) to keep going! And

c) I have YOU to cheer me on, with all your emails (which I swear I read, I just don’t always have time to write back) asking for more books, more books, MORE BOOKS!

Well, I’m happy to oblige. And in the meantime, look for Forever Princess, Ransom My Heart, Best Friends and Drama Queens, and Being Nikki, COMING SOON!

January 2009

January 2009

March 2009

May 2009

And thank YOU!

More later.

Much love,

Meg

If you’re a typical American, today you’re either

a) traveling

b) cooking frantically

c) finishing your work so you can go home to get ready to start traveling or cooking.

If you aren’t American, you’re scratching you’re head, going “What’s Thanksgiving?”

It’s just a non-religious national holiday in America where everyone eats a WHOLE LOT. Oh, and gives thanks for what they have. The Pilgrims started it, before they gave the smallpox infected blankets to the Native Americans (see: Princess Diaries Volume III, Princess in Love for a fuller explanation).

Anyway, we here at Casa Cabot are in deep Thanksgiving mode (since it’s He Who Shall Not Be Named In This Blog’s favorite holiday). When you live in Key West, the southernmost point in the continental US, you generally don’t travel during the holidays. People come to see you.

This is one reason why: Fort Zachary Taylor beach.

Here is another…the cats at the Hemingway House, once in danger of being removed by federal order, all safe and sound now thanks to Purrfect Fences.

Right now HWSNBNITB is cooking up a storm, even though we don’t have houseguests this year (they’re all coming at Christmas and New Years. And every weekend after that until April). He’s currently making his favorite, cranberry relish. In case you are wondering what cranberry relish is, it’s something HWSNBNITB told me not to tell you about on pain of death when I was skulking around the kitchen just now, because it’s a secret family recipe.

But I can tell you one ingredient:

There’s much more, of course, but I want to eat it, so I don’t want to get him mad.

Anyway, I know you’re saying to yourself, “Oh, no! It’s the day before the day before Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year! I’ve got only a month until Christmas! What should I get everyone this year?”

Relax! I’ve got your back, as always. It’s so obvious! The gift to give this year is books, of course.

Why? Because books are the gift they can open again and again….

(Ha! Do you like that? I just made it up myself! At least, I think I did. If you heard it somewhere else already, DON’T TELL ME! I’m all aglow with the joy of thinking I made it up myself.)

And anyway, this year is the best year EVER to give the gift of a book, because book retailers are bending over BACKWARDS to make giving the gift of a book easy for you!

(Did I ever tell you my first “real” job was as a Christmas gift wrapper in a bookstore? It’s true! It was a total nepotism hire, my mom worked there. Unlike me, she’s an excellent wrapper).

But wait! If you should happen to choose to give a MEG CABOT book this year, and want it signed by the author, well, it’s easier than ever to get that done, as well! (I promise I won’t wrap it for you.)

Just send a self-addressed stamped envelope to me at PO Box 4904, Key West, FL 33041-4904, and I’ll send you back a bookmark, flyer, and rubber princess and candy tiara bracelets (while supplies last)….

…along with a gorgeous signed book plate like this one…

(Specify number of bookplates desired. For more details or for overseas residents, click here.)

What books BESIDES mine do I recommend giving this holiday season? Those tips are coming very soon! But many readers have sent me this fun link, which, when you put in the name of an author you like, tells you the names of other authors just like her that you might like as well! (Hint: This could totally help in your holiday shopping day after tomorrow, when you buy books for all your family and friends!)

Meanwhile, I’m giving out some tips of a different kind on the NaNoWriMo website….Don’t miss my pep talk!

I can’t even tell you how many people have sent me this, because the cat in it looks exactly like Slutty McSlut A Lot (who would also do something like this).

And, just to let you know in case you missed it, apparently unhappy people watch more television. I read this with complete disbelief. WHAT? I watch a great deal of television (at least two hours or more a day), and I am not unhappy!

(Well, obviously sometimes I am, but that’s why I write all these books with the happy endings. Then I watch television. To cheer myself up!)

But wait! According to Shape Magazine, it’s OK to waste time watching trashy TV (well, sometimes)!

Phew! I feel better now.

In fact I’ve made myself a TV Playlist from iTunes. It includes the theme songs from my favorite TV shows, including Bitter:Sweet’s The Bomb from Lipstick Jungle and Scissor Sister’s Filthy Gorgeous from Kath and Kim. Celebrate your love of TV, is what I say! And the fun thing is, these songs are so upbeat, you can’t help but get up and dance to them. So you get exercise, too.

Finally, here’s another Meg Cabot video for your enjoyment. I will only say what I always say every time I see myself on screen: Why? Why did I do that to my hair?

But you know what? This Thanksgiving, I’m just grateful I have hair:

Happy Thanksgiving!

More later.

Much love,

Meg

Who wants free books? You do? Then your wish is my command.

For the next thirty days, HarperCollins is offering the ENTIRE first Princess Diaries book FREE online to anyone who wants it–no strings attached! Just click here.

And here’s where you can pick up the widget, if you’d like to tell all your friends.

Why are they doing this? To get you excited about the last book in the series, FOREVER PRINCESS, which comes out January 6, of course!

Congratulations to Mary Kathryn, Sarah, Fiyan, Alicia, and Nancy, all of whom won copies of Queen of Babble Gets Hitched in the latest book giveaway on my website this month (your copies are in the mail)!

So, how would like you to win a complete set of The Princess Diaries series to help you prepare for the release of Forever Princess? Sign up here.

(You might be asking yourself, what’s with that TOTALLY GORGEOUS TIARA in the picture above? Can I win that, too? The answer is…yes, you can! Well, sort of. More information will become available closer to the publication of Forever Princess. Stay tuned to this blog!)

Look: when times get hard, who is always there for you, to cheer you up when you’re down, keep you company when you’re lonely, and put a smile on your face when nothing else can?

Books, that’s who!

I know. I feel the same way. And that’s why I want to make sure you’ve got plenty of them. So sign up to win (and be sure to click to read)!

Meanwhile, are you dying for a sneak peek at what’s happening in Forever Princess? Here’s another video from Meg TV (complete with action figures) with a few clues about Mia’s LOVE TRIANGLE….

A lot of you have been asking about my OTHER new Scholastic book series (besides AIRHEAD and ALLIE), Abandon, which I haven’t talked about in a while.

Allow me to assure you Abandon is still very much in the works. Book 1 is done. But we’d hoped to release Books 1, 2, and 3 in the series kind of close together. The problem is that I got a little behind in my schedule last year due to the Great Ovary Removal. So I still need to write 2 and 3. But I’m on it, and those should be finished very soon. So hang in there!

Meg’s interpretation of Persephone being kidnapped by Hades, as depicted during Intermediate Algebra when Meg was supposed to be paying attention to the quadratic theory.

For more illustrations from Meg’s Algebra class, go here.

Okay, back to catching up on everything I have due! And you–yes, you! Start reading!

More later.

Much love,

Meg

No, that’s not how many words I have in my NaNoWriMo book (although I’m getting close). 10,000 is actually how many hours it takes people to achieve expertise in their field…

…at least according to Outliers, the new book by Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell. He quotes a neurologist who says:

“In study after study of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice-skaters, concert pianists, chess players, and master criminals, this number comes up again and again. Ten thousand hours is equivalent to roughly three hours a day, or 20 hours a week, of practice over 10 years… No one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.”

This does sort of make sense. I mean Tiger Woods first picked up a club when he was two. He’d easily put in 10,000 hours of practice hitting golf balls before he won his first tournament.

Britney and her dancing? Ditto.

(Although admittedly you couldn’t tell by her last VMA performance, but we’ll cut her some slack for that due to extenuating circumstances.)

And sure these people were also probably born with an innate talent for their chosen profession, but practice—and having access to the right opportunities, such as Britney’s early years snake handling with the Mickey Mouse Club–helped.

So, you know. I’m just saying. If you want to do something and do it well, practice. If you love doing it, this shouldn’t feel like a chore. Right?

Sadly, according to Mr. Gladwell there’s no guarantee that if you put in your 10,000 hours you’ll be super successful (look at Jean Claude Van Damme). But your chances are astronomically greater than someone who didn’t put in her hours…

…although yes, there are people who have only put in 100 hours of practice who are just as successful as people who practiced way more. We call these people One Hit Wonders. Or just plain Pratts:

Anyway, here’s someone who’s already putting in some solid work on her 10,000 hours: Meet Cameron, a young aspiring writer featured on Amy Poehler’s awesome new online series, Smart Girls At The Party, one of my New Favorite Things:

So cute! I love the song! I love Cameron! And you know what? I love Barbie! I do! In the Bratz vs. Barbie war, I choose Barbie, because her feet don’t come off with her shoes (sick) and Barbie has always had actual jobs, such as ballerina, jet pilot, and (at least when I played with the kids I babysat for) private detective, a la Stephanie Zimbalist in Remington Steele.

In other news–Lipstick Jungle is not cancelled! It’s just not renewed for next season. If you want to save it, you know what you have to do.

Anyway, I heard the Obama girls will be having slumber parties at the White House after they move in. Dude—I want to go to a slumber party at the White House so badly!

And okay, so I know I wrote that one book where a girl saves the President from being assassinated, then gets asked out by his son.

But I swear that President wasn’t based on this new one! I wrote that book a long time ago.

And yeah, okay, someone just optioned the film rights for that book. But don’t you see what this means?

It means I need to write another sequel, for when the film hits! And to do so, I need inspiration. And for that, I need to go to a White House slumber party.

But since I realize I’m a bit old to be invited as a guest, I have already decided: I’ll go as a Slumber Party Planner (you know, like a Wedding Planner? Only for slumber parties. I just made that job up. That’s what 10,000 hours of practice gets you)!

I have a lot of experience in this because:

a) I have been to a lot of slumber parties

b) I babysat a lot as a teen—it was my primary source of income and I sent myself to Europe with two (2) separate boyfriends on the money I earned doing it. The Babysitter’s Club had nothing on me.

c) No child ever threw up or got lost in the White House while I was babysitting.

I have some great ideas for the White House Slumber Party I’m organizing. First of all, Lip Synch in the Lincoln Bedroom, Jennifer Garner in 13 Going On Thirty style (no jumping on the bed though, I promise)!

I think we should lip synch to this girl-centric video that I’m loving at the moment…it’s by Katy Perry (and no, I don’t think she’s a one hit wonder). Because brides! With baseball bats! Also: Pink bicycles!

Hot N Cold



Then, of course, laser tag on the White House lawn (us against the Secret Service)! What could be more awesome?

Then we’ll have my favorite gluten-free snack (popcorn mixed with M&Ms) as we swoon while watching a high school girl try to fight off her romantic feelings for a vampire who can’t trust himself not to bite her, however much he might love her (here’s an exclusive sneak peek of the scene where they kiss for the first time).

PSYCH! Made you look! What did you think it was going to be? Twilight? It’s not even out yet!

But you have to admit, that girl was hilarious. Oh, Buffy!

Anyway, then after that, lights out!

Seriously, I think I should be able to get a kickass sequel out of all that. Especially if I get the Jonas Brothers to show up. Believe me, I’m working the phones. My friend Paris H. is ON it.

The best part of all is…my services as Slumber Party Organizer? Free. Of. Charge. Because I’m just such a generous, giving soul. No, really.

Oh, one more thing: what about a dachshund/poodle mix for the White House dog? I’m told they’re good for people with allergies. I saw one being walked the other day (his name was Doodle. Dachshund+poodle=Doodle…get it?) and he looked just like this one (minus the cat):

So cute!

Okay, off to go work on my 10,000. If you hear of any openings at the White House for Slumber Party Organizers, LET ME KNOW!

More later.

Much love,

Meg

Greetings diary readers! Sorry for the recent lack of updates. I’ve been busy finishing (and handing in—ALLELUIAH) my revision of BEING NIKKI, as well as traveling back to Key West from Indiana (I got to use the brand new Indianapolis airport—on the first day it opened! There was a band! And free wi-fi! And the burgers from the new TGIF were heaven).

Anyway, due to all this, my word count for NaNoWriMo is still ZERO. I plan to remedy this soon, but I am seriously doubting I’ll be able to catch up with any of you. But that’s okay. IT’S NOT A COMPETITION. It’s a challenge.

For those of you who are participating in NaNoWriMo, I appreciate all the thank you notes for the pep talk I sent you. I know not all of you are like me—people who think about cheating on their work-in-progress with a new WIP when the going gets tough. I can’t even tell you how many new ideas for books I came up with while I was working on BEING NIKKI.

But when you’re in the middle of your WIP (around the 30,000 mark for me) it can be hard sometimes to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The idea of just starting a whole new book begins to seem awfully tempting.

Which is why I have this blue plastic milk crate full of half finished stories (not to mention a hard drive full of them, after I finally got a computer and stopped typing my stories on old pieces of notebook paper). It’s embarrassing, really.

Oh my God, I went to take a picture of the milk crate for this entry, and I opened the dusty cupboard where I keep it, and I found it like this: filled with old notebooks and photo albums instead! I freaked out and screamed, “WHAT HAPPENED TO MY MILK CRATE???” and HWSNBNITB said, “Calm down. I moved everything in it to a waterproof bin in case of a hurricane”

Isn’t he awesome?

So I wanted to let everyone know (those of you who might be like me, and are considering cheating on your WIP) that you’re not alone.

But there’s nothing worse than an abandoned story! I feel so bad for mine! They’re worse than the stories I finished that never got published, because at least I know how those turned out. I don’t even remember how any of these the half-finished stories were supposed to go, such as—

…the historical romance about the feisty Southern belle who secretly worked for the Underground railroad.

I am not kidding you, it’s 150 pages of diary format and her name is Blue Belle. BLUE BELLE! Ugh.

…the one about the feisty art historian who is trying to keep the Nazis from finding out about the Lascaux cave paintings while having a romance with a member of the French resistance.

Apparently I was more interested in the feisty art historian’s wardrobe than the story because I drew a lot of pictures of her clothes (and I was in my twenties when I wrote this). Also, what were the Nazis going to DO to the Lascaux cave paintings if they found them that was so bad? I have no idea now. But apparently something REALLY REALLY BAD. They had to be stopped! 250 pages worth of stopped!

…the one about the feisty pickpocket who ends up snowed in with a distrustful but totally hot physician in 1870s Minnesota.

Feisty! 250 pages worth of feisty!

Okay, maybe it’s just as well I didn’t finish any of them. But seriously, it’s sad I don’t know what was supposed to happen in them (mainly because I ditched them for other stories I didn’t finish either). Because maybe they would have turned out okay.

So don’t be like me! Finish your stories! Otherwise you’ll just have a dumb milk crate (or waterproof plastic bin, or hard drive) filled with half-finished stories no one, not even you, knows the ending to.

(On the other hand, if your story REALLY isn’t going anywhere, and you aren’t contractually obligated to finish it–go ahead and give up if you get a better idea! Seriously, I am all for quitting. Because sometimes the only way you can make time for the stuff at which you’re REALLY going to be successful is to quit the stuff that just isn’t doing it for you…such as, a story about a feisty art historian who is trying to save the Lascaux cave paintings from the Nazis.)

You might be wondering how I’m spending my time not working on my NaNoWriMo story now that I’m done with my revision. Well, the usual way: watching TV (and the Shiba Inu Puppy Cam, when it’s on) of course!

I have so much TV to catch up on, such as Lipstick Jungle (which got cancelled, which at first I was sad about, because how many shows about smart, creative business women are there? But then seeing how the last episode ended and what’s coming up in the next episode, now I’m not so sure it’s a bad thing, because how crappy was what they did to Victory? And the whole Nicco-baby story line is icky).

And then there’s Friday Night Lights (this is sad, but I had no idea I got Channel 101, but I do! Yay!). And I don’t care what anyone says, I love KATH AND KIM. It’s like cotton candy for my brain…bad for me, not at all filling, but so fun and yummy!

Plus it stars two of my favorite people, Molly Shannon and Selma Blair! I’d watch them do anything, even just sit there and brush their hair.

And, you guys, seriously, what is TLC, The Discovery Channel, and BBC America DOING with shows like My Fake Baby, Britain’s Youngest Grannies, and My Shocking Story (just to name a few)? Are they trying to stop my writing career cold in its tracks? Why do they have to keep putting on these deliciously grotesque shows that I CAN’T STOP WATCHING (and neither can my girlfriends because we have to call each other afterwards and freak out about them)?

Anyway now, for your entertainment, I present two of my favorite things (stories that, THANK GOD, their creators finished) together for the first time: South Park and High School Musical. I apologize for this in advance and can only say–if I could be anyone besides me, it would be Trey Parker and Matt Stone because I think they have more fun than anyone in the whole world:

More later.

Much love,

Meg