Mediator Fans

Update on this post from last May where I speculated the Mediator series might not be dead, looks like that's right?

From Meg's newsletter today:

I don't know about you, but last year had so many ups and downs, I thought I was on a roller coaster. Some of those downs included:

[...]

• Netflix bailing on The Mediator series.

[...]

That's why it's important to remember that along with the downs, there are ALWAYS ups, too. You just have to look at things the right way:

[...]

• The Mediator series has been picked up by a different streaming platform/production company (more on that at a later date)!

So it still isn't dead yet... I will post here whenever Meg shares new news!

Bad news about the Mediator Netflix series. Per Meg's blog today:

Q: What is happening with THE MEDIATOR Netflix series?

A: There’s good news and bad news about The Mediator. The bad news is, the people at Netflix who loved The Mediator were let go. The good news is, The Mediator film rights are now available once again! So I’m confident that, like Jesse, The Mediator film/series will live again.

Unlike Meg, I am not too optimistic this will go anywhere now that the Netflix option is out, but it's possible that something may happen if the new Princess Diaries movie is successful.

Meg Cabot posted this to her Twitter a few weeks ago and I basically flipped out:



Can't wait!

Following the speculation of the other day, Meg made an official announcement today! The source includes information about TWO Princess Diaries spin-off series as well, but I will just sum up the Mediator related news here:

2015 is a special year for me. It marks the 15th Anniversary of the publication of The Princess Diaries, Volume 1, and Shadowland, Book 1 in The Mediator series. To celebrate this, in Summer 2015, I'll be releasing three new books: two in the Princess Diaries series, and one in the Mediator series!

Here's the scoop:

In REMEMBRANCE (William Morrow), the seventh installment of the Mediator series, all Susannah Simon wants is to make a good impression at her first job since graduating from college (and becoming engaged to Dr. Jesse de Silva).

But when she stumbles across an ancient murder, old ghosts—and ex-boyfriends—aren't all that come back to haunt her.

REMEMBRANCE will be the first ever adult installment of the Mediator, published by the adult division of HarperCollins, the company that brought you the YA books in the series.

[. . .]

For those of you wondering if Paul Slater is in Mediator 7, the answer is yes, he is. There are a lot of comments I could make about that but I will restrain myself.

There is so much NEWS in that post that I can barely restrain myself. Release date! Synopsis! OMG IT IS ADULT! Jesse and Suze engaged! PAUL SLATER! And the "omg" factor of next year being the 15th anniversary of the series, wow. Time flies!

In other news, this community is now being mirrored on Dreamwidth. Things seem to be a bit more active over there, so I'm hoping it will spark a bit of life back into the fandom. If any of you are on DW, I hope you'll join us! In the meantime, I will still continue to post in both communities, and if things get busy over there, I'll be sure to link back on LJ.

There have only been a few Mediator-related quotes since my last post, but a couple of them are pretty good ones aka Jesse + Suze related... Not that I ship them or anything

( Images behind )

Source: megcabotsays.tumblr.com

A couple of weeks ago, I made a trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea to take some photos of Mediator locations. I've been wanting to do this for years, since I live in northern California, but was never able to plan out a trip. I wasn't able to make it everywhere I wanted to go, but I did get some good shots of the mission and the school!

( The road into Carmel )

( Downtown Carmel )

( The Mission/School )

( Courtyard )

( Mission Graveyard )

My only regret with this trip is that the mission was pretty much the only Mediator location I got to see (and I didn't even get all of it). I went over with a family member who literally only wanted to get lunch, swing by the mission for 10 minutes, and go home again. That's why I missed that other courtyard—I didn't even get a chance to look at the map while we were there. I really hope I'll be able to go over to Carmel again sometime soon and can complete the location tour!

Update, Feb. 2014: I don't know when I'll get another chance to go to Carmel again, since I moved out of state less than a month after my trip. But if I ever can make it back down there, I'll make a point of checking out the big courtyard and getting more pictures of Mediator locations!

Earlier this year, the Things Meg Cabot's Characters Say opened up on Tumblr. This blog basically serves as Meg's official Tumblr account, but it just posts graphics with quotes from Meg's various books on them. Here are all the Mediator quotes that have appeared so far:

( Pics behind the cut )

Personally, most of these aren't really my favorite Mediator quotes, but they're still fun to see. What about you guys? Have any of your favorite quotes been featured?

Seventh Book
Fans learned of Meg Cabot's plans to write a seventh Mediator book in summer 2011. Since then, Meg has made several mentions of the new book on both her blog and her Twitter.

In February 2012, Meg hinted on her blog that she was planning a trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea to do research for the seventh Mediator book.

In January 2013, Meg confirmed her trip and also posted a status update for the books on her Twitter account:

For Mediator fans who are asking, yes, it's true there will be a 7th book. Went on secret research mission to Carmel last year. However...

— Meg Cabot (@megcabot) January 20, 2013

...it's going to be a BIG book so it's going to take a while to write. Thanks for all your support, love, & patience! XXXOO Suze & Jesse

— Meg Cabot (@megcabot) January 20, 2013

She later elaborated in her blog:

A lot of people got excited when a certain gossip blog posted that there might be a new installment of The Princess Diaries series coming soon. That was pure conjecture on the part of that blog (though I appreciate the enthusiasm, and it certainly could happen someday).

But I'm definitely adding a 7th installment to the Mediator series (though it's not written yet, so don't expect it anytime soon)! Sometimes inspiration hits when and where you least expect it.

Around this time, there was also a little teaser posted on the official Facebook page for the Mediator series:

You heard it here first...Suze and the gang will be back in a new full length book (Number 7) sometime soon. A little older, a little wiser, and a whole lot sexier! (Well, maybe not that much sexier. Jesse is still an old-fashioned boy.)

Optioned for a TV Series!
In April 2013, Meg announced on her Twitter that The Mediator has been optioned for a TV series!

Exciting news! The Mediator has been optioned to FremantleMedia (Tim Williams and Julia Pistor producing). Suze is in excellent hands!

— Meg Cabot (@megcabot) April 17, 2013

(She then posted about it on her blog, slightly more info about Fremantle Media but still not a lot of news yet)

Julia Pistor is the producer who had the rights to the movie before they expired. The fact that she continued to pursue the project in TV form after the film rights expired makes me optimistic that she is dedicated to the series and hopefully will create a faithful adaptation that sticks to most of the series' main plot elements!

So there's the news as I know it regarding The Mediator. I'm very excited about all this and am hoping these developments will bring new fans to the series!