Meg Cabot: A True Author Outline Essay

Ever encountered a book where you just want to smash it against the wall? Tired of reading predictable sappy story lines? Well then, you’re in luck! No matter the mood you’re in, Meggin Patricia Cabot, better known as Meg Cabot, will take you on a journey beyond your wildest imagination from the very first moment you begin reading the first page of one of her novels. In fact, she’ll connect with mind and soul in the multiple genres she writes, making you want to go to the nearest library and check out another. Meg Cabot was born on February 1, 1967, in Bloomington, Indiana. She was an active reader from a very early age, at first gobbling up comic books and science fiction at the local library. In many interviews, Cabot claims that she found her way to the library during the summer months because she was looking for air-conditioning. While cooling off in the library, Cabot soon discovered classic literature, such as To Kill a Mockingbird, by southern writer Harper Lee, and Jane Eyre, written by English novelist Charlotte Bronte(Henning). Jane Eyre, the story of the romance between a man and his daughter’s nanny, in particular, had a lasting effect on young Cabot. As she explained in a 2004 interview with Christina Nunez, â€Å"It introduced me to the world of romance, which I have never left. † In addition to reading, Cabot was also obsessed with princesses and the belief that a ‘Prince Charming’ was out there for everyone. â€Å"I was a traditional Disney-princess worshipper,† she told Trudy Wyss of Borders. â€Å"You know, I had the Snow White birthday cake when I was six, and drew Cinderella endlessly on my notepads. Cabot read about princesses (her favorite fairy tale being Beauty and the Beast ) and fantasized about being a real-life princess, often telling her mom and dad that her ‘real’ parents, the king and queen, would arrive one day in Indiana to find her. In 1977, after seeing the movie Star Wars, the ten-year-old’s obsession for royalty grew to new heights. â€Å"I became obsessed with Princess Leia,† Cabot explained, â€Å"its one thing to be â€Å"I am living proof that it is possible to profit from being a high school freak. † Princess of a kingdom; it is quite another to be princess of an entire planet! It’s no wonder she made a real success with the Princess series. Success, however, does not come overnight. With about a thousand rejection letters, Meg was able to finish off a novel that would blossom her career. The inspiration for Princess came from an event that happened in Cabot’s own life. After her father died her mother began dating her daughter’s former art teacher. Cabot was so horrified that she began keeping a diary. She expanded the diary entries into a story about a ninth-grader named Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo, also known as Mia, whose mother is dating her algebra teacher. Cabot also visited her old high school diaries to add true teen voice to her character, a gangly, shy freshman being raised by her single mom in Greenwich Village loft in New York City. How does that pertain for the title Princess? Well in addition to facing the trials and tribulations of teenage life, Mia’s world is turned upside-down when she discovers that her father is actually the prince of a tiny European country called Genovia and that she is next in line to inherit the throne. Suddenly Mia is a celebrity, and her worries about boys comes to a pause for princess lessons, bodyguards, and fending off the paparazzi(TeenReads). And after finishing seven books off of Mia’s life, Cabot created the major motion picture The Princess Diaries starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews. Which later earned itself a sequel. Cabot began to write her own stories because, as she claimed in an Onion Street online interview, there was absolutely nothing else to do. â€Å"That was back in the days before cable and VCRs were opular, so there really was nothing to do but write stories of our own. â€Å" In addition, Cabot wrote for the high school newspaper and kept detailed journals that proved to be excellent when writing Princess Diaries. She was also active in after-school activities, including choir, theater, and the art club. Although she enjoyed writing Cabot never planned on becoming a professional author. Instead, she dreamed of being an actress or a veterinarian. Unfortunately, she flunked algebra and did rather poorly on the math portion of her SATs. As part of admissions requirements most universities require a student to take SAT examinations; they are divided into two sections—verbal and math reasoning—and help assess what a student has learned throughout their high school years. ) Following graduation from high school, Cabot decided to study art at the University of Indiana, where she could attend tuition-free since her father was a professor. In 1991, with a bachelor of fine arts degree in the palm of her hand, the artist moved to New York City to pursue a career as an illustrator. Instead, she landed a job as a freshman dormitory assistant manager at New York University(Nunez). It was not exactly her dream job, but there were periods when work was slow, which gave her plenty of free time to return to her early love: writing. Picking up the pace, Cabot released Insatiable in 2010. Now, this book may prove to be a bit more the adult reader, none-the-less, it is recommended. Tired of those sappy-sob vampire love stories? Well then just grade me an F. Insatiable is the first vampire/paranormal story Meg writes about. With multiple points of views, Meg Cabot leaves the reader speechless by writing about a love triangle between Meena Harper, the perplexed tomboy, Lucien Antonescu, the rich bad-boy, and Alaric Wulf, a vampire-hunter. At first, the only thought in mind might be, â€Å"another Twilight story†. Fortunately, it is not. Being the story spoiler that I am, Cabot finishes the novel not by a happy ending, but a rather joyful one. She doesn’t write about an irresistibly attractive vampire who wins the girl (though Lucien is). Oh no!  On the contrary, Cabot retells Bram Stoker’s Dracula, with a twist. The vampire doesn’t get the girl; making this book ‘a must read’. With that, author Meg Cabot has become a one-woman marketing sensation, a publisher’s dream because she is able to produce novels with amazing frequency. She is also a diverse writer who has found equal success in a multitude of genres, including historical romance(Avalon High, Lady of Skye, Abandon, etc. , ), young adult fiction(Mediator, All-American Girl, Ready or Not? , Princess Diaries, 1800-R-U-There? etc), and contemporary adult fiction(Insatiable, Portrait of My Heart, Queen of Babble, etc. ). It seems as though, Cabot knows exactly what we want to read; morals, romance, comedy, the paranormal, you name it. She knows exactly how to touch your heart and make you wish that you were the main character in the story. With this said, Meggin Patricia Cabot has written over 67 novels in a time period of 1998 till present day. So whenever you’re in the mood to read, you know you can always count on Meg Cabot to take you out of your little shell, and onto an adventure.