The First Ever Charming, but Single Contest (With an Actual Prize and Everything) May 29, 2007
Posted by charmingbutsingle in Blog, Contests! Contests! Contests!, Publicists Send Me Things.trackback
We here at Charming, but Single headquarters (And by “We” I mean, um, me. And by Headquarters I mean “my bedroom.” My “field office” is any one of my city’s many coffee shops that serves sugar-free vanilla lattes and has free wi-fi.) don’t often get to GIVE you things, other than maybe something to read when you should be dutifully filling in spreadsheets or faxing your TPS reports or whatever it is that you are supposed to be doing at work instead of reading about my pathetic, if not mildly amusing, attempts at a love life.
Some of you may be familiar with Meg Cabot, the author of “The Princess Diaries,” among other books. Meg’s books aren’t just for young adults and last week her “Queen of Babble” was released in paperback. Next week I’m going to be publishing an interview with Meg on the blog and you, dear readers, get to submit questions.
This is where the whole “contest” thing comes into play. The questions Ms. Cabot answers will be ones you submit. The reader who comes up with the “best” question of the bunch will win a copy of “Queen of Babble” and the fame and fortune that comes with being the First Ever Charming, but Single Contest Winner.
For a description of “Queen of Babble,” click here. To read Meg’s blog, click here.
Booklist’s synopsis of “Queen of Babble” (courtesy of Amazon.com):
Lizzie Nichols, a fashion-history major, wants nothing more than to graduate college and then fly off to London to be with her boyfriend, Andy. But at her graduation party, Lizzie finds out that she can’t graduate until she writes a senior thesis. And when she lands in London, Andy turns out to be a liar, gambler, and a fashion disaster. Lizzie, stuck in London with a nonchangeable ticket home, escapes Andy via the Chunnel in hopes that her friend Shari, who is catering weddings for the summer at a French chateau, can help. On the train, Lizzie meets a stranger, Jean-Luc, and spills everything that has happened, only to find out that he is the son of the chateau’s owner. At the chateau, Lizzie continues to babble when she shouldn’t, ticking off Jean-Luc, shocking his mother, and upsetting a bride. Will she ever learn to keep her mouth shut? Cabot, best known for the young adult series The Princess Diaries, writes adult fiction that is just as playful, irreverent, and entertaining.
Sounds like great summer beach reading. Possible question topics include: Advice for wannabe writers, inspiration for her work, favorite writers/books/vacation spots, etc.
Here are the contest rules:
- Questions must be posted in the comments on this post between now and 10 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, June 1, 2007.
- No more than three questions per reader – if you post more than three, the first three will count.
- You must provide a valid e-mail address with your question/comment. (E-mail addresses will not be published on the site and I won’t spam ya, promise.)
- Winner will be selected by Blogger Extraordinaire and Chick Lit Expert Neil Kramer from Citizen of the Month, with assistance from yours truly. Entrants will be judged on creativity, relevance and spelling.
- Winner will be announced next week when the interview runs on this site. I’ll make arrangements through e-mail to get you your book.
You can post questions (about the contest) in the comments or e-mail them to me, but please post questions for Meg in the comments to this post. Have fun!
Do I get extra points for being the first to post a comment? Even if I haven’t had enough coffee for the day to actually come up with one (let alone, three) questions? Never mind. I just wanted to point out that I loved the fact that you’re judging based on x, y and “spelling”. I guess I’ll get brownie points for spelling you’re instead of your?
PS- Great idea, by the way!
Ooooh. Now I almost wish I would actually want to read the book. No offense meant to Meg, of course. I actually enjoyed The Princess Diaries movie, though.
Gratz on the interview and also on being able to hold a contest. That’s pretty awesome. Should we expect in the future some kind of bachelorette auction or maybe “Win a Date With Charming”?
I’ve got questions. They’re my usual unfair mostly rhetorical questions: When? How? And Why?? Over this Memorial day photo: [Via the NYT]. VJ
“An engaged couple reflects on their future together on a beautiful Memorial Day”.
[http://www.samefacts.com/archives/the_war_in_iraq_/2007/05/i_promessi_sposi.php]
I’ve got questions! Three for Meg and one for Charming, in fact.
Meg 1: Does the relationship you’re in when you’re writing a book reflect on the relationship your characters are having (or trying to have)?
Meg 2: Do people ever ask you when you’re going to start writing “serious” literature? If so, what’s your answer? (I’m looking for tips on how to respond to my pretentious literary friends, one of whom once said to me: “Oh! I didn’t know you wrote *those* kinds of stories”!).
Meg 3: Which do you find harder: writing for teenagers or writing for adults?
Charming 1 (note: this question assumes I have a shot at winning the contest!): Am I disqualified for being from Canada/living in London (i.e., are international shipping charges included in your budget)? If so, perhaps you could donate the book to your local library or hospital?
Phew, checked for spelling errors… post!
1) What steps do you recommend to start ones first book? I have (what I think is) a great concept for a book and a few notes, but don’t know whether it would be best to outline the book first or trudge through the writing at the onset. Both seem to have their pros and cons. What works for you?
2) Many times writers base some of their characters on people they know in real life. Do you find yourself doing that and has anyone ever recognized themselves in your writing and gotten upset over their portrayal?
3) How many times did you have to hear “no” to your first manuscript before you heard “yes”? How did you handle those no’s and did you get discouraged?
mpa /everyone — Now worries, I will pay international shipping charges.
Funny about the typo after saying spelling matters… ZING!
Wailin — Yes, I will dock myself points in the contest for spelling in a comment …
Good luck with everything!
Wait.. shouldn’t you be exempt from participation anyways? I sense shenanigans!!
hmm..interesting stuff..
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Here are my questions!
1) How much influence do you think your books for teens has on today’s young adults? How does it shape the atmostpheres in school?
2) From looking at your website, a lot of the books are written from a feminine perspective, for a feminine audience. Are you specifically writing for girls/women or for anyone with a feminine mind-frame? Do you gear your books towards the GLBT audience as well?
3) How has the competition for the your genre of feminine-humour affected your writing? The books sales? How does it compete with series such as “The Shoppo-holic” or “Bridget Jones”?
My turn.
1. How do the events in your life (including your past) affect the style of your writing, the plot of your story or the characters themselves (if at all)?
2. Do the emotions you feel in your daily life affect the actions of your characters or affect your ability to write at all?
3. How do you get past writer’s block (assuming you’ve ever had it)?
Thanks Charming!
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I absolutely love this book! However, since I already own it, I won’t bother with the contest. That wouldn’t be fair. It’s a great book though and I’m a big Meg Cabot fan.
[...] Things, Contests! Contests! Contests!, Blog. trackback Don’t forget to post your questions for author Meg Cabot in the post below. Best question = free copy of “Queen of Babble” by Ms. Cabot. (And, um, a note from me?) A [...]
Q1: Do you agree that most chic lits follow a certain formula? Why or why not?
Q2: Do you find yourself falling back on a “formula” when you can’t think of anything else to write?
Q3: Are you tired of writing in this one genre, is there any other type that you would like to write?
Okay, I finally thought of some:
a) So, you’ve written a book with Princess in the title, and now with Queen in another title- are you trying to tell us something about how we should see ourselves? If so, what is it, pls?
b) Do you write with a certain audience in mind? E.g. teenage girls, women in their 20s, etc
c) Does your agent/publisher ever edit your plot and say to throw in a certain twist, because, it’ll go down well with some readers?
CBS- me likey the contest idea. Me will even more likey if you let me win. Pretty please?
Seriously, I like the idea of contests. Esp in time for summer reading.
1) Many young adult ‘chick lit’ tales chronicle a heroine’s crazy antics - often flirting with minor disasters of the social/dating variety. Do you think that this is meant to give young women readers a hope that their lives, no matter how scattered, might ‘all work out’ like their fictional counterparts? Is this a means of placating hypersensitive teens, and might that demographic be better served by tales of young women having more focus, setting more definate goals, and achieving them through conscious will, rather than ‘plucky luck’?
2) Do you think that the ‘where the wind blows me’ romantic comedy angle of much of young women’s fiction impacts the seriousness with which young women today approach their own romantic encounters? Might it influence young women to be less ‘in control’ of their dating actions, to be less discriminate in their choice of partners, because “at least it’ll make a good story”?
3) err… that’s it. All I can think up is 2.
Thanks!
(btw, I’m not slamming chick lit - I v.v. much enjoyed BJ’s Diary and other tales, but I do ponder the questions I’ve listed above, and wonder if I’d read more Little Women, would I have turned out more Jo, and less Bridget?)
Charmping: Good to know us internationals stand a chance
Lots of really good questions though - it’s going to be a tight race and a very interesting interview. Looking forward to it!
Hmm, looks like the typo affliction is contagious…
1) On writing in general, how do you start? I find that’s the hardest part, myself.
2) How much planning goes into your writing, or do you let the characters live their own lives?
3) Do you think you’ve been pigeonholed? I mean, you seem to write similar themes into books (which honestly I know little about but the idea seems similar to Princess Diaries) but is that what you WANT to write or what makes money? Not that I could blame you for the wanting to make money.
4) Do you think happy endings give people false hopes about life and leads to the growing problem of depression? Everybody dreams of certain things and showing it to them time and time again seems to exasterbate the issue, leading to true disappointment when one doesn’t get the happy ending they were taught to believe existed. Maybe part of the depression problem in America is the message being pounded into our heads over and over again, when reality is quite far from it for most people.
Moody today… sorry.
I like Nancy’s questions. She asks them more diplomatically than I could have. Also, Wallin’s #4 has some merit although the ‘happy ending’ conundrum has been with us since the beginning of stories.
1. If you couldn’t be a writer, what other profession would you choose?
2. What is your writing process? Where do you write, what times of day do you prefer, do you have a ritual you go through, do you have a goal each day–a certain number of words, perhaps? Once you have your idea firmly in mind, how do you physically get it down?
3. When your books are made into films, are you actively involved in the process, or do you wish your work well and forget about it until opening night?
I forgot to put my email address. You can get if from my blog.
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