Prolific author Meg Cabot has written about princesses for years. Her whimsical self-portrait was a continuation on the theme, but with the added foundation of her years studying as a fine artist. She’s come full circle now, releasing From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess (Feiwel & Friends), the first book she’s both written and illustrated.
April Hall: Your portrait is great! Are all three of the faces you? Do you see yourself in three different roles? Can you describe those personas?
Meg Cabot: Thanks so much! I don't actually see myself in any of the figures except the one on the cloud, the storyteller-illustrator sprinkling fun (and maybe a little advice) into the lives of her readers…and in the case of this picture, Cinderella.
I threw in a moon and a princess because I feel uncomfortable being the center of attention. (But also because I was taught you need to have an odd number of figures/objects in a picture, or the eye automatically divides the page.)
I chose Cinderella because none of the heroines in my stories ever need rescuing. They occasionally just need a little empowerment!
I chose a lady moon because of the Lewis Carroll poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter." It's one of my favorites because the moon is female. She complains about the male sun being rude, refusing to quit shining even when it's night and her turn to shine! Stereotypical alpha male.
AH: You are a formally trained artist, right? What made you follow the writing path? You’ll be illustrating your first book to be released this summer. Why now?
MC: I majored in studio art at Indiana University (with an emphasis on drawing) and moved to New York City after graduation with the intention of being an illustrator. But even in the ‘90s, I couldn't pay the rent on what I was earning!
I'd always loved to write and did take a few writing workshops in college. I wrote novels for fun in my spare time (which I realize is an odd hobby). My husband was always asking, "Why don't you try to publish some of those books you've got hidden under the bed? Then we could pay off all those shoes you bought at DSW."
But I was too mortified to let anyone see my stories. I felt my drawings were much better.
Then my dad died when I was 26, and I decided that life is too short to be shy or afraid of rejection, so I sent out some of the books.
I got a lot of rejections, but some of them were encouraging, like, "Not now, but if you have anything set in Victorian times, let us know. Victorians are hot."
Illustrators know how to cut and paste something to please an art director—good writers can do the same thing. So I got my first novel published when I was 30 (it was a historical romance novel set in Victorian times).
The Princess Diaries soon followed. (An editor told me "princesses are hot." I was already writing a diary book about a girl whose mom is dating her teacher, so I just made that girl a princess.)
But honestly, I still consider myself an illustrator more than I do a writer. I can't believe it's taken this long to do my first illustrated book. From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess takes The Princess Diaries a step further with the diaries of Princess Mia's little half-sister, who has only just found out she, too, is a Genovian princess, but there's a twist—Olivia can draw, and wants to be a wildlife illustrator (something I wanted to be at age 12).
Now I finally get to combine my two greatest loves. I feel like a princess at last!
AH: As a student, what teacher made the most impact on you and how?
MC: Wow, this is a hard question to answer because I attended public school in Bloomington, IN, where I had a lot of great teachers. It's hard to pick just one!
But the one I remember most is Connie Hunter Williams. I even named the teacher in my middle grade book series, Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls, after her!
Mrs. Hunter taught fourth and fifth grade at my elementary school, and instilled in us a love for storytelling by reading aloud for 10 or 15 minutes at the end of each day from her own favorite children's books. I was always so anxious to find out what was going to happen in the next chapter that I'd go to the library and check out the book (and then read the whole thing) before Mrs. Hunter got to Chapter 2.
(I sometimes worry that it was because of me that the term "spoiler alert" was invented.)
Mrs. Hunter was one of my first teachers to encourage my love of writing by entering one of my stories in a creative writing contest. I can't remember if my story won—but that wasn't the important part to me. The fact that she chose something I'd written was such a thrill that it kept me writing (in secret, of course) as a hobby for years to come.
And when the rejections poured in later, I often thought to myself, "Well, Mrs. Hunter believed in me, so all of these agents and editors are wrong." So I kept writing, and kept sending out my manuscripts.
And in the end, it turned out Mrs. Hunter was right all along!
AH: You seem always willing to help nonprofits continue their work, whether donating time or work. Why is that important to you?
MC: I know what it's like to have a run of bad luck. Now that things are looking up for me, I try to help those who are going through hard times of their own whenever I can, because I remember how grateful I felt to those who helped me.
AH: Finally, is there a question that you’ve never been asked in an interview? That is, something you’ve wanted to share, but have never had the opportunity?
Q: What's your idea of a perfect day?
A: Sleep late, wake up to a perfectly prepared brunch, then head to the pool or beach with a great book—not my own, of course! Someone else's, so I don't know the ending.
Then maybe spend an hour or two writing or drawing, then attend a fun dinner party with friends or family. And obviously all of this is taking place in my palace in Genovia!
See Meg Cabot at the ILA 2015 Conference in St. Louis, MO, when she speaks at the Author Luncheon Sunday, July 19. The luncheon is an add-on to conference registration and tickets are $65.
April Hall is editor of Literacy Daily. A journalist for about 20 years, she has specialized in education, writing and editing for newspapers, websites, and magazines.