Meg in Mankato

It doesn’t matter if you are a tween, a teen, or an adult, when you read a Meg Cabot book (or series), you feel like she’s reading your mind. Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls. The Princess Diaries. The Queen of Babble. Meg Cabot relates to women of all ages.

I (along with fellow editor Julie Gassman) was lucky enough to see Meg Cabot speak in Mankato, Minnesota, this week. As Meg talked about her books, I couldn’t help but feel like I was listening to my sister or best friend. She was funny, relatable, and honest. It’s easy to see why her books are so popular. Meg Cabot gets it. And finding “it” is not easy in the book publishing world—especially with the teen set.

Meg talked about how Maud Hart Lovelace (the well-known author of the Betsy Tacy books) has inspired her voice as a writer. Lovelace was able to write stories that are timeless. Her characters and stories are still relevant today. Meg has tried to do the same with her books and characters.

As a writer, connecting to audiences and writing timeless stories is the ultimate achievement. As an editor, it’s a challenge to help writers achieve this goal, but it’s our job. It’s fun to imagine my children reading timeless classics and finding new classics, hopefully published by Stone Arch Books or Picture Window Books.:)

-Christianne Jones (Managing Editor, Capstone Fiction)


P.S. It must be written that Meg Cabot wore the most amazing dress. She looked like she could play the part of any one of her characters in a movie adaptation.