Meeting Meg Cabot

There was a pretty long line but it was so worth it! Meg was extremely friendly. She even gave me some advice on finding an agent for my own books.

I finished this book the previous night at 11:30. Loved it. And now I have a signed copy.

According to Meg, there are only three places you can wear a tiara and get away with it. Your wedding, prom, and coming to see Meg Cabot.

Meg said when she met Julie Andrews at her film premiere of The Princess Diaries, all that came out of her mouth was, "I loved your books!" Having only met famous authors at book signings and never any famous actresses, especially not Julie Andrews famous, it was all her brain could manage to spit out.

Luckily, Julie Andrews actually has written some books, as Meg later found out.

I think what I liked most about the whole evening was Meg's sincere appreciation of her fans. I'm sure there were over one-hundred people in line to meet her, and she took the time to chit-chat with every single one. Go Meg!

And Here's How It All Started...

            I know I've had some people wondering how a mom of three kids can write three books in less than a year. Well, I don't really have an answer. But I can tell you how it got started...

Jealousy. Perhaps not the best virtue, or a virtue at all, but it’s what made me start writing. I read a novel called Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day Goerge. At the end she included her bio. As I read it, you guessed it, jealousy set in. She said she had one small child and another on the way when she wrote her book. How? I couldn’t understand.

I had always had characters running around in my head, shouting to be set free. In particular, the town of Jefferson, Texas--its cobbled streets and Victorian homes--inspired me to create a story from real-life legends. But I ignored it. Life would be perfect, distraction free. It would be when the moment was right, when the universe sang to me, “Now is the time!”

Then my mom had a stroke in June 2010.  She recovered quickly. But it made me realize that now is the time. 

I had three small children and a husband who worked eighty hour weeks, but I didn’t let it stop me.

I began writing. My husband encouraged me in his own way. I set a goal of writing a 65,000 word novel (about 225 pages). Every day he would come home and say, “Only 60,000 words to go! Only 50,000, only 35,000.” One month later, he could taunt me no more. I had achieved my goal. I had written all 65,000 words. It was my first novel and it still had a lot of work and endless revisions, but I had done it. I fell in love with writing. It saved me.

I’m glad I ignored the little voice in my head, the one that told me I had to wait for just the right time when everything was perfect. Life never is perfect, but when I am writing, it’s the closest I ever come.

            And for those of you curious to read my novels, I have plans to e-publish books one and two. I will let you know as soon as it happens!