Age doesn't matter for popular author

Her fans know her as the girl who never really quite grew up. But author Meg Cabot certainly is an adult, even if her novels would make you think she is still in high school.

Cabot, 39, has written nearly 40 novels for young readers and adults. She is the author of the Princess Diaries series, and has also written the Mediator series and numerous adult novels as well. Cabot's new book is called How to be Popular, about a girl who longs to be in the in-crowd.

Cabot, who splits her time between Key West and New York City, is married and has a one-eyed cat named Henrietta.

In a telephone interview from New York, Cabot discussed her teenage years, her ability to channel high school life, popularity and what's next in her life.

How did you get into writing this book?

You know I get so many e-mails from girls and they say how they all wish to be popular, like Mia from the Princess Diaries, but I wanted to tell them it's more about being a good person, which is what gave me the idea for the story.

Do you know how a book is going to end before you start writing?

Yes I do. It's like going on a trip, you know where you're going. Plus before I start writing I have to send something like a summary on the book I want to write to my publisher and I have to include the ending in that.

Do you have any rituals you have to go through before you start writing?

I don't really have rituals, I mean I have conditions, like I have a hard time writing without music, and I like to write in bed. I've written on planes before, but I don't feel as comfortable.

How can you go from being a wife and having a full-time job to being able to put yourself into the mind-set of a teenage girl?

Well I don't think I ever really grew up. I think I had such a hard time as a teenager, it really stuck with me and I never forgot it (laughs). Plus I go onto my message boards and read what the girls talk about and I also go back and read all my old diaries.

Were you popular when you were in high school?

Oh God no! (laughs) I was hideously unpopular, but that was okay. I was dorkier because I was into art, so I tried to incorporate that into the book.

Were the characters in your new book based on any friends you had in high school?

Yeah, they all kind of were, they weren't all one person, they were mostly all composites of other people. Steph was mostly based on me and Darlene was completely based on one girl I knew from school.

Do you still keep in contact with old classmates?

Yeah, oh yeah, a lot of them. I talk to the real life Tina Hakim Baba all the time and the real life Lilly.

Do people treat you any differently now that you're famous?

Yeah, I mean I went to the dry cleaner and the lady knew me, because of the Princess Diaries movies. But everyone's seen the movies. I've even been bumped up to first class before on a plane because they ran out of seats or something. But sometimes it's kind of fun (to have people recognize you), but most people have seen the movies instead of reading the books, so that's how most people know me.

Do the lessons in the book Stephanie reads to become popular relate to how you must act when you're famous?

Not actually. I've used them after I started doing research for the book, but I mostly got them from advice books and Web sites. Even corporate world advice and old advice books for teens, they're not really up-to-date advice, but they still worked into the book. The advice on how to be popular I found does relate to the corporate world, too.

Stephanie's most embarrassing moment is the Super Big Gulp incident. What would you say has been your most embarrassing moment?

There was this time before a play a guy kissed me (my first kiss). And I was thinking through the whole play, "He likes me. He likes me." Well afterward, I told one of my girlfriends and she was like, "Oh no, he does that to everyone." I guess he was doing it for good luck or something.

After your readers finish reading your new book, what do you hope they will learn from it?

I want them to see it's more important to have good friends and that being popular isn't as important as being a good person. Like, Steph, she used her popularity for good, but not everyone is like that.

I know that you went to college and studied fine arts (drawing), but how did you get into writing novels instead?

Well, I always wrote novels for fun, like a hobby. It never occurred to me I could get published until after college and my husband kept on telling me to try. So I did for a few years and kept on getting tons of rejection letters, until about three years later, I finally got someone to represent me.

If you had never become a writer what would you be doing?

I wanted to be an art therapist. I was thinking of going back to college after I had a hard time getting my books published, but I kept trying and eventually did get someone to represent me.

Do you have an iPod?

Oh yes.

What type of music is on it?

Right now, a lot of Pink, and of course Kelly Clarkson. Saving Jane, and a new girl band from my hometown called Some Girls. I'm mostly into the girl rockers and I create playlists to write to.

Did you know any of the band members from Some Girls when you were in school?

Yeah, I knew the drummer Freda Love, now Smith. I went to school with her and a few of the other girls.

The character Jason in your new book was obsessed with his BMW. What kind of car did you drive in high school?

I actually didn't drive, but I knew a guy in school who was obsessed with Volvos, plus my husband loves BMWs too. I never really got into cars like guys do, it always seemed to bore me.

What are your plans after you finish your tour and promoting your new book?

Well I have to write Princess Diaries 9, which should be out by January. I have to write Queen of Babble 2 and another book, so I will have plenty to do.

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