Monthly Archives: December 2007

Hey! It’s Christmas and it’s been a frenzy of over-shopping and over-indulging chez moi, as well as over-angsting over deadlines. I am drunk on champagne and good feeling since the baby is asleeep! Which means I can now go watch the TiVo’d Crowned and Gossip Girl, woohoo!

As a Christmas present to all the Blue Bloods fans I thought I would post my outline notes of the first chapter! Please note that the first chapter that has come out of this outline is actually very different from what I planned here. (But not that different–the essential bones are the same, but there are a few big changes.) Anyway, wow, I managed to say nothing and everything in that paragraph huh?

The following has been directly copied from my REVELATIONS-OUTLINE document!
Author’s Notes in Italics.

Blue Bloods III: Revelations

By Melissa de la Cruz

(A Novel of Secrets and Lies) –> a hint of what is to come! For Masquerade, I wrote "In which no one and nothing is as it seems." I like to write little themes so I remember to stick to them when writing the book.

Here is the epigraph I chose. The quotes that begin the novel. I looove epigraphs. I think because I grew up reading Stephen King and he always chose great epigraphs for his books. You will notice all my novels have epigraphs. How can you start a book without it?

Now war arose in heaven,
Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon;
and the dragon and his angels fought,
but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven….
“But woe to you, O earth and sea,
for the devil has come down to you in great wrath,
because he knows that his time is short!”
Revelation 12:7-12

–>Can’t you just hear Samuel L. Jackson saying those lines?

Chapter One: SCHUYLER POV —> I always write POV=Point of View so I can remember whose mind I’m supposed to be in.

It has been a month since Schuyler returned from Venice, and she’s now living with the Forces in their townhouse across from the Met. Life is complicated. She is forbidden to see her grandfather as well as her best friend and human conduit, Oliver.

But on gray days when no one notices, Schuyler repairs to a penthouse apartment in a gleaming all-white tower in downtown Manhattan. There, inside the famed Richard Meier building, she waits for her secret rendezvous. A secret she finds hard to admit even to herself.

Finally, someone arrives. Schuyler looks up expectantly. “Hello Schuyler,” a friendly voice says. But the boy who appears is not the one she was waiting for.

—>OOOOOH!!!!
I know. I probably should not have done this. But, it’s Christmas and some of you have begged so nicely.

xoxo
Mel

I stumbled on the first Ashleys review!! Yeah! From a book review site called “The Page Flipper.”

The Ashleys always buy the most stylish clothes and expensive shoes; they have the trendiest haircuts and wear perfectly applied makeup, setting an example for their seventh grade class. They are the rulers of their school, and they don’t let anyone forget it. You’re not in until you get The Ashley’s Seal of Approval. That’s the way it’s always been. But when Lauren Page comes back to school with a new makeover, thanks to her father’s new company, The Ashleys fear an upstaging. Enter in some shocking dares, harsh remarks, and school dances, and it’s beginning to look like an interesting year for the students at Miss Gamble’s Preparatory School for Girls.

The Ashleys was a fun, fast read. Melissa de la Cruz, author of the Blue Bloods and Au Pairs series, writes with amusing accuracy at these girls’ materialistic nature. Although the girls are of a younger age than the characters in books that I usually read, it wasn’t an issue. They all act much older than their 12 years. If you like Lisi Harrison’s Clique series, you might want to check this out.

—-

Awesome!! Yeah! Now that’s something I’ll stuff in MY stocking this year. LOL.

Will post a new Ashley excerpt soon!

Ho, Ho and Double Ho,
xoxo
Mel

I just heard from our publicist that the anthology I co-edited with my dear friend Tom Dolby, GIRLS WHO LIKE BOYS WHO LIKE BOYS, has been named a "Top Ten Non-Fiction Best Queer Book for 2007". YAY!!

And last week I went with Philip Himberg (a contributor to the book, fabulous writer, insanely talented director and all-around suave, awesome guy, head of the Sundance Theater Institute AND proud father to very cool daughter) to the "Come out as an Ally" event at Loyola-Marymount University hosted by the Gay-Straight Alliance. It was such an amazing night–all the college kids were so fabulous and enthusiastic and shared their stories and there was just all this love and celebration of the bond between gay men and straight women. It was so "my people."

You know when you walk into a place and you can immediately tell if you are among "your people" or if you are the alien who’s landed in town? Well, walking into the event was like coming home. I saw myself in the girls in the audience, and I saw my gay friends in all the young handsome gay men there.

I used to work the LBGC (Lesbian Bisexual Gay Coalition) dances when I was in college. My BFF Morgan and I were the coat-check kids. We made a lot of money in tips because we looked so cute! I always wore something insanely over-the-top and fabulous.

ASHLEYS excerpts will continue later in the week. I have deadlines! And for everyone who has emailed me to ask: YES, there is a sequel to Masquerade! Yes, there is a third Blue Bloods book! It is called REVELATIONS and it is scheduled for Fall 2008. I can’t say any more because I’m still writing the book.

Thanks for asking, thanks for emailing. I respond back to everyone but sometimes it takes several months to do it. But know that I do READ all the mail. And I love hearing from all of you.

xoxo
Mel