Book Event

Last night’s event was hosted virtually by an independent bookstore in North Carolina called Bookmarks presenting Meg Cabot talking about her newest romance book No Words. The reason I attended this event was because when I saw the name Meg Cabot, it was instantly recognizable to me, not from The Princess Diaries like it is for some, but because of one of my favorite series I had read when I was younger which was The Mediator. I was excited to see what Meg Cabot has been up to in all the years since I’ve read The Mediator series and what kind of books she typically takes her time to write now. What gave me the courage though to attend this event, even though I haven’t read Cabot’s newest book, was how Bookmarks marketed their event. They stated that it is not a book club event necessarily, but an event where the book would be discussed without spoilers and the attendees could dive into the romance genre in general. That way everyone would feel welcome even if they hadn’t read the book. That worked for me since I love talking about different genres in general!

First off, I was blown away by how many books that Meg Cabot has apparently written! The host of this event said that she has read 57 of Cabot’s books and that there are many more she still hasn’t read. That was amazing to me and I have to say that I loved the host for this event. You could tell that she was a super fan of Meg Cabot, carried the conversation so well, was enjoyable to listen to, had such great questions, and was able to get us all involved. I loved her testimony also to how much she had loved The Princess Diaries and how carries the character Mia in her heart forever.

After the discussion, I have to say that the book No Words sounds very interesting after hearing the author describe it. It is apparently about a writer who goes to a book convention and thinks that her arch nemesis isn’t going to be there, but it turns out that he is anyway. I loved hearing how this book had turned into the book it had turned into. Cabot had said that before covid the setting was going to take place at a firefighter convention but because she could not properly research that because of covid, she decided to have the setting at a book convention instead, which worked out very well for her because in this book she was able to incorporate advice, personal experiences, and even personal pains that she has gone through. One of those was how in the early 2000s herself and a couple other authors had been plagiarized.

One of the great pieces of advice that was apparently demonstrated in her book was that when at a festival or convention or anywhere, to always make sure you go to the parties and the dinners. Those are the places you meet great people. When she was a younger writer, she spent her time in her room writing instead of socializing and she wishes that she would have done that differently.

It was very cool to see in this conversation how many readers love when a book is full of diary entries, text messages, emails, and other forms of communication that help them feel even closer to the characters and help the story feel relatable to them. Personally, I have come across books that I like the text format back and forth, but never thought about it too much because it isn’t one of my favorite things in books, but it is always interesting to see what things get which readers most excited.

Of course, Meg Cabot talked about The Princess Diaries which always gives inspiration, especially since it had apparently been rejected everywhere in New York until finally years later the industry realized that YA books can have an entertainment element that could be specified for women readers. It was fun and really cool to hear her talk about her experience with the actress in the movie who played the main character and very settling to hear how she sees the movie and her books as two different universes.

I loved Meg Cabot’s passion! I have now added her newest book along with a few others on my wish list, even though I hadn’t been planning to at the beginning of this event since I’m not a big romance reader. Cabot was such a joy to listen to. I loved how funny she was and her great unique personality that wasn’t afraid to say what she wanted to say. I thank Bookmarks so much for putting on this event for us.