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She attended the University of South Florida in Tampa, where she earned a B.A. in English.

In addition to her popular YA novels, McDaniel has written radio and television scripts, promotional and advertising copy, and a magazine column. She is a frequent speaker at schools, writers' conferences, and conventions.

Three of her novels were selected by children as IRA-CBC Children's Choices: SOMEWHERE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH, TOO YOUNG TO DIE, and GOODBYE DOESN'T MEAN FOREVER. SIX MONTHS TO LIVE has been placed in a literary time capsule at the Library of Congress, to be opened in the year 2089.

McDaniel's works include TO LIVE AGAIN, one of the Dawn Rochelle books; ANGEL OF MERCY, the companion to ANGEL OF HOPE; and HOW DO I LOVE THEE, three stories about young couples who are inspired by Elizabeth Barrett Browning's beautiful sonnet. In her novel, TELLING CHRISTINA GOODBYE, McDaniel shows that everything can change in the blink of an eye.

"It's one thing to be

princess of a kingdom; it is quite another to be princess of an entire planet!"

Although she enjoyed writing Cabot never planned on becoming a professional author. Instead, she dreamed of being an actress or a veterinarian.

Seven years and thousands of rejection letters later (Cabot claims she has a mail bag full of rejections), her first novel was finally published. It was an historical romance called Where Roses Grow Wild (1998), and it was written under the pen name, or alias, of Patricia Cabot. Several more romances followed in 1999 and 2000. At the same time, Cabot was busy trying her hand at a novel, called The Princess Diaries, that was aimed at younger readers. Even though she was a published author, Cabot's young adult novel was rejected seventeen times before it was finally purchased by HarperCollins and released in 2000.

"The reason girls are drawn to the book is an element of naughtiness—ooh, I'm reading something that's not supposed to be read."

The Princess Diaries movies may not have been quite as successful if eighteen-year-old newcomer Anne Hathaway had not been chosen to play Mia Thermopolis, the nerdy American who is transformed into European royalty. In fact, even critics who panned the film consistently praised the fresh-faced, fledgling actress. As David DiCerto of the Catholic News Service wrote, "The mediocre material is elevated somewhat by the buoyant and beautiful Hathaway, whose sunny smile could light up a small kingdom of two."