Interview & Giveaway with Melissa de la Cruz

 

 

 

A few weeks ago I had the honor to interview Melissa de la Cruz, author of the Blue Bloods series and she revealed some very nice details about the series! Make sure to read along to discover more and for you chance to win a complete set of Blue Bloods Books!

 

 

 

Key to the Repository release is only in a few days, Can you give us a little teaser of what's to expect?

There's a plot and mythology synopsis, so readers can get caught up with the story easily now that we're on to Book Five with Misguided Angel. There are also several short stories, one about Jack and Schuyler's first meeting at the apartment, their last meeting at the apartment from Jack's point of view, Kingsley's story and point of view - he explains a lot and hints at what happened in the past that hasn't been revealed yet. There are sneak peeks at Wolf Pact and Misguided Angel. And there's a story about Dylan--what happened to him between Blue Bloods and Masquerade.

Misguided Angel is also right around the corner (Oct 2010), How is Schuyler dealing with the fate of all vampires on her hands?

Schuyler is figuring out her strength, she's pretty kickass in Misguided Angel and she's growing and learning and loving... it's amazing how much she has matured, but she's still herself. I love writing series books because my characters can change and develop like real people.

I love the Blue Bloods series covers, do you have any say on the matter?

Yes. I always have an idea for the covers and I'm really lucky that the team at Hyperion is awesome at executing them. For Masquerade, I thought it would be great to have a Venetian mask, and our art director happened to have one from Venice in her office. (Talk about luck!) For Revelations, we worked on Lucifer's five-point mark for a long time, and then for Van Alen Legacy, I really wanted a beautiful bride and selected the model for the book. For Misguided Angel, I wanted wings to be part of the cover, and they came through beautifully.

I've always been wondering, how do you chose the name of your characters?

It's kind of subconscious, I'll meet someone and think "that's a cool name" and kind of keep it in my mind for awhile. For Blue Bloods, I really wanted old-fashioned names that resonated as part of the American elite. I have a friend named Schuyler from a very old Waspy family (he's a guy though - I turned him into a girl. :) ) And I always liked the name Blythe - but I thought it was too recognizable as coming from Blythe Danner, so I came up with Bliss. I've always thought the name Mimi was a very bitchy, popular girl name. I've written two unpublished novels with the hero named Jack, so I'm glad I finally got to have my Jack in Blue Bloods! "Jack" seems to be a name that will be "Mike" in a few years. So many Jacks out there--Jack Shepherd, Jack Bauer, etc. All the little boys in my daughter's preschool are named Jack. I think in my generation there weren't enough Jacks and now there are too many. But it's a great name, and I think that's why it's back. Dylan I named after this boy I had a huge crush on in college, who was the ultimate rebel hottie, and Oliver just seemed like the kind of name a nice guy would have. I love Martin Amis and his dad's name is Kingsley so that's where that comes from. I think I was reading Martin Amis's memoir Experience while I was writing Masquerade so Kingsley kind of seeped in. Lawrence is from Little Women, another book I love. Another old-fashioned name that sounded really great with Van Alen. I went to Columbia and there was a Van Alen prize or society, I can't remember, but it's an old New York name that just seemed to fit.

You wrote both YA and Adult books, what's the biggest difference as a writer?

Not too much really, I write for myself and the label is just marketing. I think with YA books the story does move more quickly and it's a little more of a black and white kind of world, with good and evil very much differentiated and very idealistic, which is why people love YA - not that it's simple, but that it doesn't have that greyness, that moral ambiguity, that adult books have. It's more of an escape and I think we all remember what being a teenager was like: all that promise, the world being new, and discovering so many things for the first time. It's a wonderful time to write about.  All that being said, I am also looking forward to exploring that grayness in my new adult series Witches of East End and anyway, in Blue Bloods, the good guys and the bad guys aren't too easy to tell apart either. It's hard to answer that question, because there's really not much difference in my mind. All readers want to be entertained and be told a good story.

May I ask what project you are currently working on?

I'm putting the last touches on Bloody Valentine, a Blue Bloods novella that's three love stories, and the first draft of Witches of East End, my new adult series.

Last but not least, If I were a genie and I grant you one wish, what would it be?

That my deadlines would be extended indefinitely so that I had more time to write my books! :)

Thank you very much for your time Melissa! It’s been a pleasure =)

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Disney – Hyperion Generously offered a complete Blue Blood Series to one lucky reader!

(Cover edition may vary)

Open to US & CAN Only

To enter please FILL THE FORM

Ends July 4th, 2010.

Please feel free to leave a comment for Melissa and spread the word about the giveaway!

Posted by Tynga at 13:20

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Tynga is a 32 years old mom of two, from Montreal, working as a lab technician in an hospital specialized in heart disease. In her free time, she enjoys reading all things Paranormal and photography.

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