When Meg Cabot started writing her own stories as an adolescent, her mother encouraged her but also warned her that she would struggle, she may never get published, and she'd need to work a second job indefinitely.

Most of that was true for Cabot. She worked at her writing on and off throughout college and published a few books in her early adulthood. But she needed that second job for 10 years before the story she concocted about an accidental princess turned into the mega best seller Princess Diaries series, which now has 14 installments and counting. Cabot is also the author of the sexy supernatural Mediator series, various romance novels, and teen and tween fiction. She has published more than 80 books, which have sold upward of 25 million copies worldwide. A new Princess Diaries book, Royal Wedding, was released this month, and two new titles are due by 2016.

Cabot, 48, who lives with her husband in Key West, Florida, talks about finding story inspiration in everyday life and the importance of sticking with something you love.

Both of my parents were teachers, and I grew up in a college town in Bloomington, Indiana. My dad worked at the university, and so did a lot of my friends' parents. When you see your parents reading all the time and all your friends and friends' parents, that's just what you do. There was an emphasis on writing stories too. If it was raining out, [my parents would say], "Here are some pencils and some paper, write a story." I just never outgrew it.

I started writing Star Wars fan fiction when I was 11 or 12. I really identified with the character of Princess Leia. It was the first time in a movie I had seen a character who grabbed a gun and was shooting at the men and also ruled over these rebel fighters and was also a princess.

Kathryn Wirsing

My fan fiction was all about what Luke and Leia did afterward. I did not know they were brother and sister, so it was all about them getting together. Then eventually my mom said there's such a thing as copyright law. You're spending all this time writing this and you will never be able to publish. So I started writing my own stories that were like Star Wars but on a different planet. So instead of "the force," it was "the power."

Being a writer wasn't something my parents were super thrilled for me to be. They knew it was a hard life and it was hard to get published. My mom wanted me to understand that I would have to get a day job too.

I went to Indiana University because my dad taught there, and it was free. I could do whatever I wanted, and no one could say I was wasting my parents' money. I met a guy who was a random friend of a friend of mine, and he asked me what I wanted to major in. I said, creative writing, and he said, "No, don't do that! They are going to suck all the love of writing out of you." And I didn't want that to happen, so I majored in art because I loved art too.

I worked in a bookstore, but I wasn't writing anything. I was reading my romance novels and thought I could probably write one of these, especially the historical romances. So I started taking art history and medieval history. I started writing historical romance novels on the side hoping that I could sell one. I wrote about four or five. At the bookstore, they had all these books on how to write a romance novel and how to sell one, but I just couldn't work up the courage to send them out. I didn't know what I would do if I got rejected.

I moved to New York because that's where all the publishing stuff is and I was trying to get a job as an illustrator. I got a couple of jobs but not enough [to live on]. I really needed benefits and a job to pay the rent. That's when this guy who I had reconnected with — the same guy who told me not to major in writing — said to me, "You should get a job at NYU because they give free tuition for employees. You can work there, start taking classes, and figure out what you really want to do." I thought, What a great idea! Then we started hanging out all the time, and we ended up hooking up and getting married.

Kathryn Wirsing

I got a job being an assistant manager of a 700-bed freshman dorm. [I] got to be around young people, and most of them would sleep until noon every day so I could write in the morning. I really liked it. You got great benefits. I started taking more writing classes at NYU like "how to get published" and "how to get an agent."

Around that time, my dad passed away from cancer, and that's when I really felt like I should do this. If there's something you really want to do, you need to do it. The worst thing that can happen, I thought, is someone can die who you love, not that you can get a rejection from some dumb publisher.

So as soon as I got back from the funeral in Indiana, I started sending the books out. And, of course, they all got rejected. I just sent letters out to agents telling them who I am and what I had written. I did get an agent finally. And she started sending the books out and she got me a contract writing romance novels with St. Martin's Press. I did it under a different name, Patricia Cabot, because I didn't want grandma to find out. They published about four books, but it wasn't enough money to quit my day job by any means.

While that was all happening, my mom called to say she was dating again and it was one of my art teachers I had in college. Even though I was very happy for her, that was really gross to me because I knew this guy. I just started writing about how I felt about it. It morphed into a story about a girl whose mother was dating her teacher and the girl turns out to be a princess. And that turned into the Princess Diaries. I sent that to my agent, and she loved it. But nobody wanted to publish it. It was too snarky for kids, too young for adults. I probably got 20 rejections. Every major publishing house turned it down except Harper Avon, who is still the publisher of those books.

I started the Mediator series shortly after my dad died [as well]. I was in my mid-20s, and his death hit me really hard, even though he'd been sick with cancer for a long time. I'd heard it was common for people who've suffered the loss of a loved one to feel as if they're being "haunted" by that person, but I kept seeing my dad in the oddest places — like at Knicks games! On TV! That's what gave me the idea for Suze in the Mediator series, a girl who not only sees the dead ghost of her father, but all lost and wandering spirits and helps them to their final destination.

Kathryn Wirsing

The Princess Diaries was the first series to find a publisher, and the Mediator series quickly followed, but they were with two different publishers, and I had a non-compete clause with the first one. So I had to write them under two different names — Meg Cabot and Jenny Carroll. Jenny Carroll was the name of my now dead cat.

Disney bought the film rights [to The Princess Diaries] before it got published. When I got an editor for the book, she said, "Don't get too excited. A lot of books get the film option, and that doesn't mean it's going to get made." But Disney kept calling with stuff that was going on with the movie and asking me questions [about the story]. And finally they sent me a big check. And I was like, "I'm outta here!" I quit NYU. I had been in that job for 10 years, and I loved it. But I had so many book contracts at that point.

I sold the rights to the Princess Diaries overseas as well, and that market immediately wanted multiple books. So I had to start working on them right away. And America saw the interest and said they wanted more in the series too. I remember there was one point where I wrote 12 books in one year.

If you see a book as a series, you can tell the editor, but usually they want to see how the first one goes first. Sometimes they'll buy a two-book option, meaning I owe them two books. Usually if you're just starting out, it will be a one-book deal. With the Princess Diaries, I was telling them, "It was going to be 16 books — you should buy them all!" It's a good thing to have an agent because they'll tell you to calm down. You don't want to lock yourself into a deal like that starting out because your books can really take off and your time is going to be worth a lot more later on. You want a short contract to be in a better bargaining place for the next books. You want to retain your foreign rights and film rights and not sign those over to the publisher because you get more money for yourself. And that is what I did.

The [Princess Diaries] book came out in 2000, and it did really well without the film. I had a book tour, and it got on the bestseller list. It was just through word of mouth. I remember walking into bookstores seeing these young girls — they were probably 12 or 13 — and being so shocked that they had even heard of it. I thought, Who are they here for? And it was me. They thought it was so great that there was a book out there that wasn't looking down on them, wasn't afraid to be a little smart ass, and it had pop culture references.

I eventually wanted all my books to be under one name. I had to maintain three websites. I had Meg Cabot, Jenny Carroll, and Patricia Cabot. It was too much to do all that. Even though social media wasn't then what it was now, it was hard.

I managed to convince my publisher of the Meg Cabot books to absorb the Jenny Carroll books and allow me to write them under my name. They purchased the rights to the backlist so the entire Mediator series was republished under my real name. I stopped writing the historical romances because they weren't turning out to be as profitable. Also, it was a ton of research. I did about eight of those total. So I had all my books under one name and things got more under control.

Kathryn Wirsing

The producer and I went to the theater the night before the Princess Diaries movie came out. We wanted to see how the audience would react. It was completely packed. There were people who couldn't find a seat and were standing in the aisle. The manager was yelling at people because it was a fire hazard. It made a ton of money that weekend, and we realized it was going to be a huge hit. It's because people could take their kids, their grandma, and everybody of all generations could go see it.

I didn't really want any involvement with the movie. If my dad's death taught me anything, it's to have fun with the time I have left on earth. And watching someone make a movie out of one of my books does not sound fun to me. I understand that this might sound like fun to someone else. It's just not my jam. I'd prefer to spend my time writing.

After the movie came out, there was a surge in sales for the book. I had written two to three sequels to the series. [The publisher] started asking for more right away. I was in the position to renegotiate for a lot more [money]. It also opened the door for me to do more books [in different genres].

I've written about 80 published books by now. Inspiration for the stories usually comes from something that's happened in my life. I'm working on a story right now that was inspired by a specific family event. Or it will be something I read in the paper or happened to me or happened to someone I know. And I will make up characters that go around whatever that story is.

On the days I'm going to write, I get up, have breakfast, and I have to make the bed. If the bed's not made, I feel like everything's going to fall apart. Then I write in the bed while it's made. I write on a laptop from 10 to 5, stop for lunch, and I keep the Internet turned off, which is very important. I just try to get as many pages as I can get done that day. It's really hard because there are so many distractions.

I feel stumped all the time. I feel like I did something wrong in the story or I just don't feel like I can write that day. So I'll turn off the computer, do some housework, take a walk, read or watch TV, or hang out with friends. I put it on the back burner, and sometimes it will unravel itself in my head. I'm fortunate because a lot of people who hate their job still have to go. I don't let myself have too many days off. I still have to work on it. There is a deadline.

It's very isolating because you're just by yourself. I miss having people to shoot the breeze with. You have to be very self-motivated and get the work done and sometimes you just don't, and that's bad. And the self-promotion is very difficult. Constantly having to go on social media and talk about myself is very embarrassing to me. I feel so ashamed saying, "Please, read my book!" It's great to be in that position to be able to do that, but so much time is taken by doing these things.

Kathryn Wirsing

It's a great challenge to try to be able to get a reader to escape from their world into yours and forget their problems for a day because you've written something that's so compelling that they forget they're in a hospital room waiting for test results or something like that. When I read good books and I've forgotten my problems, I love that. If I can do that for someone, I think that's really great. I don't know if I always succeed, and when I hear from readers who thank me for helping them through something, it's the greatest reward.

I don't have a choice what to do next because I have four books lined up. I'll be writing more Princess Diaries books, and the seventh book in my Mediator series is coming out in February. I do want to get a boat though and have some fun. It would be a fun mobile office. I could go out there on the water and get some ideas from the dolphins.

Get That Life is a weekly series that reveals how successful, talented, creative women got to where they are now. Check back each Monday for the latest interview.

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