Author Interview: Melissa De La Cruz

Melissa de la Cruz is the author of the bestselling Au Pairs novels for teens and the co-author of the popular adult novel THE FASHIONISTA FILES. She is also a frequent contributor to popular magazines like GLAMOUR, MARIE CLAIRE, TEEN VOGUE and COSMOPOLITAN. Melissa lives in Los Angeles with her husband. THE VAN ALEN LEGACY - the 4th book in her Blue Blood Series is in stores today.

When and why did you begin writing?

I've written stories and poems for as long as I remember, I think maybe in third grade was when I put a chapbook of my poems together, along with drawings, as a gift to my parents. They still quote from it! I've always wanted to be a writer--I think the desire really hit me around seventh grade--which is the age that my readers are who write me and tell me they want to be writers. I just found reading so much more fun than socializing, I would go to parties and bring a book. And I thought: I want to do this too. I began writing professionally when I was 25, that's when my first article was published. I had written a novel when I was 22 that didn't sell, and another one at 23 that didn't sell either, but I had an agent, and an editor who encouraged me to keep at it, the editor advised me to write for magazines so I could make a name for myself and learn how work with deadlines. I sold my first novel at 27.

What inspired you to write your first book?

My first novel is called Cat's Meow and it's an adult novel--inspired by Absolutely Fabulous and PG Wodehouse and Jane Austen, I wanted to write a wicked, funny, fashion satire with a dash of Bridget Jones in it. It was inspired by my experiences as a fashion editor and reporter in New York, and it was a lot of fun to write.

You have written several series, do you write more than one story at a time? If so, how do you keep them separate?

Yes I do. I love to procrastinate, so when I have two books going, I always feel I am not working since I SHOULD be working on the other book. In this way that I trick myself into thinking I am not working, I get a lot of work done. I try not to work on two "dark" books at the same time, I usually work on one fantasy book and one chick lit book so that the atmosphere and the tone of the books are totally different.

I love your twist on vampires in the Blue Blood Series, how did you come up with the idea?

I've always loved stories about tragic rich people, and I'm a big vampire fiction fan. Stephen King and Anne Rice are my favorite writers, so I've always been looking for a way to combine those two influences. I was online one day and stumbled on this website that listed all these prominent and wealthy Americans who traced their ancestry back to the Mayflower, and it wasn't just people like the Roosevelts and the Bushes, but people like Marilyn Monroe and Oprah and Alec Baldwin -- which I found so fascinating. So I thought: what if all these people are famous and rich because...they're vampires?

And I've always loved the story of Paradise Lost, of the angels cast out of heaven and I wanted a real mythology that explained how the vampires came to be, so when I put two and two together, I was really excited about it. I've always wanted to write an end-of-the-world kind of epic in the style of the Dark Tower books.

What’s next for Schuyler in the Blue Blood Series, can you give us a little teaser?

In Van Alen Legacy, Schuyler is running for her life--on the wrong side of the Committee, and falling apart in a lot of ways. I always think of "Revelations" as my "Empire Strikes Back" - you know, the bad guys win... that sort of thing. I know the ending of the book didn't please a lot of readers. And not that Van Alen is "Jedi", but there's a lot of action, a lot of spirit and the story was really fun to write. I was consumed by this novel for six months, I couldn't do anything but think about it. I was just obsessed with it and I'm really happy with how it turned out. There's a lot that's explained and resolved in the novel, but a lot of new mysteries as well.

Out of all of your series, which would you like to see on the big screen?

I think Blue Bloods would be awesome to see on the big screen, or the little screen for that matter. Just to see the action and the drama and the romance played out--that would be really cool.

Do you have any books on the backburner that are waiting to be published?

God how I wish that were the case! But I work on what's due--that's all I have time for -- right now I am working on the next book in the Blue Bloods series, MISGUIDED ANGEL, which will come out in the fall of 2010 and I'm also working on WOLF PACT, the Blue Bloods spinoff, which will debut in spring 2011. They're both dark but in different ways, and the setting of both are so different from each other, so it hasn't been too hard to shift between the two.

What’s your most gratifying moment since becoming an author?

The most gratifying moment is getting that call--the FIRST call--that there's been an offer for my novel. I still remember when that happened--I was a corporate drone then (computer programming) and I had to take the call and excuse myself from this incredibly boring meeting. I was so excited. Afterwards I cried in the bathroom. I was so happy. I had wanted to be published so much, and to finally have it happen--that was awesome. And I knew my days of office life were over. Then the other touchstones are meeting your readers--it's wonderful to meet the people who read and love the books. That is so satisfying. But really, the best part of being a writer is the writing, just being so INTO it, and getting into the story and the characters--it's an escape and a joy. The work is its own reward.

Where do you hope to take your writing in the future?

I have so many new ideas for books and for the series, so just really, setting the bar higher and higher and trying to make it. Just doing what I'm doing now, but doing it better. You can always improve, and I'm my worst critic--I just want to do better and better.

What is the one thing that you would like your fans to know about you?

That I'm really really sorry I can't respond to everyone's emails anymore. I do read them all, but I am so overwhelmed by how many there are, I just look at my in-box and feel paralyzed. It's so wonderful to hear from them and I feel terrible about not having the time to reply to everyone (because I feel it isn't quite fair to respond to some but not to all) , but if I did--I would never have time for my books or my family. The best way to see me is on tour. My publisher is sending me to cities I've never visited before, like Chicago and Wichita and Nashville. And I'm finally going to visit Canada as well! So I hope to meet a lot of you guys this fall!

Thanks Melissa!

For more information on Melissa De La Cruz and her books, please visit her website here.