NBC Insider Exclusive

Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!

Sign Up For Free to View
NBC Insider The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Kate McKinnon Describes the New Book She First Started Writing Before SNL

The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science hits stores on October 1.

By Christopher Rudolph
Kate McKinnon on Spending 12 Years on Her Debut Novel and Running a Resort for Geese (Extended)
Video thumbnail
Now Playing
7:14
Highlight
Kate McKinnon on Spending 12 Years on Her Debut Novel and Running a Resort for Geese (Extended)
Video thumbnail
41:23
Web Exclusive
WWE Superstars Dwayne Johnson, Roman Reigns, John Cena, Cody Rhodes & More Talk WWE and WrestleMania
Video thumbnail
21:59
Web Exclusive
Tom Cruise Shows Insane Upside Down Plane Stunt, Talks The Weeknd Lip Sync & Plays What's Behind Me?
Video thumbnail
23:14
Web Exclusive
Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Young Mazino and Isabela Merced Talk The Last of Us Season 2 Ending
Video thumbnail
7:40
Highlight
Trick or Seat with Shaquille O'Neal
Video thumbnail
7:36
Highlight
Hayley Atwell Filmed a Mission: Impossible Fight Scene While Eight Months Pregnant (Extended)
Video thumbnail
7:22
Highlight
Trump Blurs Lines by Hosting Private Dinner for Top Meme Coin Holders
Video thumbnail
11:48
Highlight
Shaquille O'Neal Lies to Jimmy About His Abrupt Exit on Live TV; Talks Docuseries Power Moves
Video thumbnail
0:53
Highlight
Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, Tom Cruise and Cast Sing the Mission: Impossible Theme Song A Cappella
Video thumbnail
4:22
Highlight
Dasha: Not At This Party
Video thumbnail
0:38
Web Exclusive
Jimmy Helps Jin with His "Don't Say You Love Me" Music Video
Video thumbnail
7:27
Highlight
Pom Klementieff Was Gifted Skydiving Lessons from Tom Cruise After Mission: Impossible (Extended)
Video thumbnail
3:25
Highlight
Jin: Don't Say You Love Me
Video thumbnail
5:15
Highlight
Ana de Armas Talks Training to Fight Keanu Reeves in From the World of John Wick: Ballerina
Video thumbnail
8:15
Highlight
Jin Talks BTS Reunion in June, First Solo Tour and Echo; Takes Over The Tonight Show Desk
Video thumbnail
5:14
Highlight
This But That: Mission: Impossible and Easy Mode, The Tonight Show and News
Video thumbnail
11:45
Highlight
Trump Confronts South Africa's President, Pentagon Accepts Qatar's $400 Million Plane Bribe
Video thumbnail
4:17
Highlight
Whisper Challenge with Ana de Armas

Not only is Kate McKinnon a Saturday Night Live legend, and a bonafide movie star — she's now an author with the release of her first book, The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science.

How to Watch

Watch The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on NBC weeknights at 11:35/10:35c and next day on Peacock

Though her novel just hit store shelves on October 1, McKinnon told Jimmy Fallon that the book has been a labor of love for the Barbie actor for more than a decade. McKinnon started writing Millicent Quibb 12 years ago, even before she joined SNL

RELATED: 20 Kate McKinnon SNL Sketches That Belong in the Comedy History Books

"I started when I was like 26 and I got hired [on SNL] when I was 28, so... I worked on this for 12 years," she told Fallon during her September 30 Tonight Show appearance.

What's the plot of Kate McKinnon's book?

McKinnon told Fallon that Millicent Quibb is about three "dorky" girls who "get kicked out of etiquette school, and they get a mysterious invitation to another etiquette school — run by the infamous mad scientist Millicent Quibb, who pickles brains and has really crazy hair, and takes them on an adventure."

Not only does the book have high-flying capers, it's also full of "really fun art and diagrams" since McKinnon loves manuals and diagrams. She told Fallon she is "obsessed with botanical prints from the 1800s."

While Millicent Quibb is fun for all ages, it is classified as "Middle Grade," which is a genre for readers from around ages 8 to 14, she explained to Fallon.

"I would tell people, 'I'm writing a Middle Grade novel,' and they would be like, 'Don't sell yourself short.' But that's the name of the genre," she continued.

Kate McKinnon wears a red jumpsuit on the tonight show starring jimmy fallon season 12 episode 5

"So it's for middle school, and which is my favorite genre, because it's the age when kids are starting to really think about who they are and how to live a good life, and what they're going to do in the world, and magic," McKinnon added, "and it's just so fun and I love it."

RELATED: Amy Poehler Just Shared the Best Books She Read This Year: See the List

Kate McKinnon "learned so much about writing" at SNL

When McKinnon stopped by TODAY on September 30, she revealed to Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie that she'd actually written the first chapter of the book 500 times.

"I counted in my computer, I have 500 drafts of the first chapter. In retrospect, I should have written the first thing and then gone back, but I was learning how to write in all those 12 years I was at SNL," she said on TODAY.

"SNL has some of the best minds in the United States working, so just being in a room with them watching them work, I learned so much about writing and I was able to finally complete it when I left," she said.

Maybe The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science could be in the running for the next Fallon Book Club pick?