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Meg Cabot

Books:

Meg has written a lot of books... I'm not going to list them all here, because it would take up my entire post!

But this interview is to celebrate the upcoming release of the newest book in the Em Watts series:

• Airhead

  

• Being Nikki

  

• Runaway

  

Where can you hide

When everyone knows your name?

Em Watts is a prisoner: Brandon Stark, heir to the Stark corporation family fortune, is holding her captive.

Em Watts is a liar: She's told all her friends she loves Brandon, and that everything is fine.

Em Watts is scared to death: She really doesn't know how she's going to get out of this one.

She's still in shock over the fact that the girl whose life she was forced to take over when her brain was transplanted into her body is alive—alive and furious with her for stealing what she claims was rightfully hers...

...including Brandon Stark, who's intent on finding out what that girl's secret was, and using it to get revenge on his father.

But that's not all Brandon wants…he wants Em. And not just to use her to trick Nikki into revealing that secret, and helping him secure his place as head of Stark Enterprises once and for all.

But Brandon's not the only one who wants something from Em. Christopher wants to use her to hurt Brandon…for taking her away from him, and to destroy Stark Enterprises.

Em Watts is tired: She's tired of being used. Tired of being lied to. Tired of being told who she can and cannot love. Tired of the lies she's being forced to live.

With everyone she loves furious with her for things she can't explain, Em's reached the end of her rope...what's the point of even going on?

But when she discovers the truth about Nikki's secret, she knows there's only one person she can turn to.

Will Christopher be able to put aside his personal feelings and help her expose her employer to the world? Is it even fair to get Christopher involved — since if he agrees, there's every chance that Stark Enterprises will try to have them both killed—this time, permanently?

Maybe it would be better for Em to just keep on running...

I'm really excited to kick of the RUNAWAY Blog Tour! Here's my interview with Meg:

You write books for kids, you write books for teens, you write books for adults.. (is there anything you don't do!) Who is your favorite audience to write for?

Actually, I can’t seem to pass the Florida state written driver’s license exam or flat-iron my own hair. So there’s a lot I can’t do!

But even though I know all writers say this, I really do write only for myself, not with a specific audience in mind. So I honestly don’t picture any particular “reading audience” when I’m writing. I will say however that the Mediator fans write the longest (easily five or six pages, single spaced), most impassioned fan letters, which I’ve always found interesting.

As a multi-published author what is the hardest aspect of writing? The easiest?

The easiest part is definitely the first draft. Not that it’s easy to write—it’s super hard!

But in retrospect it always seems easiest, because I’m always so excited about it.

But then comes the part I hate the most: When my editor sends that beautiful, perfect first draft back, all marked up, along with a four (or eight) page, single-space editorial letter, telling me everything I need to rethink or change.

Of course she’s usually right . . . after revisions, the book is always much stronger.

But revising is SO HARD! I really, really hate revising. So, that’s the hardest part for me.

What is the most interesting comment you've received about your books?

“Most interesting” vs. “meant the most to me”:

“Meant the most to me”: The ones where readers have written to say how much my books have helped them get through a difficult time in their lives, such as going through chemo, or coping with the death of a parent.

Because that’s exactly why I write the kind of books I do, to help people through dark times like those. I’ve had rough patches like those myself, and other people’s books are what helped get me through them.

“Most interesting”: When a prison minister wrote to thank me for writing The Princess Diaries because it had “such positive moral values” and said he liked to show the movie to incoming prisoners, because it was so inspirational.

I still haven’t gotten over that. Somewhere out there is a prison where they show The Princess Diaries movie to incoming prisoners! All these guys in orange jumpsuits are sitting there watching Anne Hathaway and Matarazzo in schoolgirl uniforms as part of their prison indoctrination!

Describe your writing style in three words.

“Just shoot me.”

Wait did you say writing style or what I’m thinking while I write?

Your author Blog was one of the first of its kind. Do you think it's important for authors to have an online presence?

I think it’s important for an author to have a website with a bio and a Coming Soon page (so readers can see what she has coming out next).

But I completely understand (and respect) why an author wouldn’t want to Twitter or have a blog or Facebook page. Those are total time suckers (although for some of us, the distraction can sometimes be welcome)!

What is a day in the life of Meg Cabot like?

Oh, you don’t even want to know. It’s chaos, because we’ve been remodeling a house that was built in the 1850s, and every day, it seems, we find some new thing that’s wrong with it. I’m lucky to get a few hours of writing in. That’s not even mentioning all the industry related emails and phone calls from people with urgent business that must be taken care of immediately!

Fortunately I’ve trained myself to be able to write with headphones on, blaring rock music (currently alternating between the new Vampire Weekend and Lady Gaga albums), to drown out the sound of the bandsaws, ringing phones, and email pings.

If you could travel back in time for one year, where would you go, and what three things would you take with you?

You mean like if we found a Hot Tub Time Machine? I wouldn’t need a year, a day would be enough to correct the horrible Strategic Boy error Past Me made on July 13,1985, summer of Live Aid. That’s what I would set my Hot Tub Time Machine dial to.

I’d take:

--Cash (obviously only pre-1985 bills so Past Me would not be incarcerated for passing forged bills)
--A certain phone number and address Past Me didn’t have and was unable to find (no Internet back then)
--And a copy of one of my own books from the Future, so Past Me would believe me when I told her she was making a huge mistake staying with That Boy

Although I’m a bit worried about the Butterfly Effect (Ray Bradbury’s theory which shows that anyone who messes with the past, even a little bit and with good intentions, inevitably causes havoc in our present).

Probably messing with my own past will ruin my Present and Future. So most likely given the opportunity, I would avoid the Hot Tub Time Machine.

Aren’t you more interested in the future, anyway? The possibilities seem endless! I’d way rather take a trip to the future in the Hot Tub Time Machine. Maybe I’ll finally learn to drive and flat-iron my own hair.

You can also see the complete tour details at Meg's Website! I'll be checking out the twitter party!