Monthly Archives: October 2008

Quickly: My Five Randoms interview!

Okay. I rose to the challenge. Lauren Myracle dared me to face my biggest fear.

So. Yes. I made that dental appointment. Here is the proof. A rather boring video: and actually just putting it up scares me. I have no make-up on. I look really goofy from that angle on my built-in iSight camera. But oh well. If anyone really wants to watch it, go ahead. There are three calls made: To my dentist, and her receptionist (Nazzi), and the surgery center, and then back to Nazzi again. Nazzi of course, always remembers me because I’m the one who comes in every year and they tell me I have to get this done and then I promise to get it done and then disappear for another year. Also: hilarity ensues when no one knows what my name is. This is what happens when you keep your maiden name professionally (Melissa de la Cruz) but use your married name for your personal life (Melissa Johnston) and the name on your ID is Melissa de la Cruz-Johnston. You will try to make appointments and no one (including you) will figure out “who” you are. Sigh.

And the scary stuff: “You want to be sedated, yes?” Me: Gulp. Um. Yes!

Okay: gotta go to Tayhas!!! I love Texas!!!!

November 01, 2008 (2:00 PM)
Texas Book Festival Appearance

Family Life Center
1300 Lavaca St.
Austin, TX

PANEL DISCUSSION
Panel: How Not to Be Popular

Melissa de la Cruz (Revelations & Angels on Sunset Boulevard)
Lauren Myracle (Bliss)
Paula Yoo (Good Enough)
Jennifer Ziegler (How Not to be Popular)

Come see me talk with other fabulous and funny authors!!

Happy Halloween! Everyone be safe tonight!! Anyone dressing up in Blue Bloods costumes: pictures please!!

xoxo
Mel

Okay. Canadian reader wrote in, yay! She received her copy of the book from Chapters on October 28th, and ordered it online. And apparently the store is now listing the book as available now, instead of Dec 1st, and just did this a couple of days ago.
I hope that helps!

Also: if you can’t see the arrows at the bottom of the secret story, you have to make your browser window bigger.

xoxo
Mel

Hey guys,

So you all know the secret chapter is only available to Target customers right? It will be available exclusively to Target guests for the first three months, and then afterwards, I will make it available to everybody on my site.

I’m hearing there are technical glitches to the story. They should be fixed by now. There are arrows at the bottom directing you to turn the page. If you don’t see the arrows, make your browser window bigger. (I had to make mine bigger to see them.) If you still can only see the first page and can’t turn the page, email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and let me know what browser you are using to read it. It might be a browser issue.

Anyway. Sorry some bookstores don’t have it on the shelves yet. They are still unpacking boxes and putting them out. Oct 28th is an estimated date, but it should be at your local bookstore very, very soon. If they give you the December 1st date, tell them that is an OLD date and it’s a wrong one. But just keep checking in, or you can order your copy now from B&N or Amazon which are shipping books as we speak! I assure you, if I could personally deliver each copy to you I would! As long as I had a car and driver to take me, of course! 🙂

xoxo
Mel

Yesterday I journeyed to Catalina Island. And yes, it was a journey – there and back it was a 12 hour day! But I can’t complain, one of my favorite things in the world is to travel via town car with a driver. We drove to the salon to get my blowout, then to a restaurant so I could get lunch, then to the Catalina Ferry. I grew up being driven around by the family chauffeur. In fact, I thought it was the ONLY way people got around. My Dad only drove on Sundays, when the driver had a day off. One of the things I loved about living in New York City was how much like Manila it was – the town car culture was in full-force.

These days the only times I get to experience this treat is on book tour. (And it IS a treat. Usually stocked with magazines, Fiji water, and gum in the backseat.) And every time I climb into a car I remember our old Mercedes and our old driver, who not only taught me to ride a bike, but also drew lots and lots of pictures of Duran Duran on my command. (He was a pretty good artist and I was a pretty spoiled brat. LOL!)

So: Catalina. Gorgeous! I didn’t know what to expect and was utterly charmed. I love the little golf carts zipping around, and everyone was so nice and friendly. And when the ferry pulled up there was a huge mist, and the town was called “Avalon” so of course I was thrilled by all the King Arthur references. Apparently it doesn’t mist like that at all, so maybe the town just knew it was coming and was like, cue: mist!! Very cool. All the kids were bright and lovely and had so many questions.

Also I just wanted to tell you all to go to the official Blue Bloods website and enter the contest. It’s a sweepstakes, so anyone can enter. The winner wins a thousand-dollar shopping spree with me! I love playing stylist and will help you pick out clothes—whee! (Or books -most of you seem to want to buy more books and that’s perfectly fine by me).

And I’m so glad you are all enjoying Revelations—I’ve been lurking to read reviews and I feel gratified and inspired to finish the next book. Back to work!

xoxo
Mel

Thanks so much for everyone who made it last night at Vroman’s!!!! You guys are the best!! And everyone is so cute!! I think my fans are the most stylish ever. Big kisses to everyone who came, including Kady, Adrienne and Heather from the Blue Bloods message boards! And big shout-out to Siddeeqah too!! I loved all your questions!!

I’m getting a lot of emails from people saying the book hasn’t hit your local bookstore yet—it should be in stores now. And the Target books should have a sticker that directs you to the special website. And anyone who can’t buy the book at Target can read the story in three months, when it will be available to everyone. Right now it’s a Target exclusive! Think of it like an Anya Hindmarch purse and a Sigerson Morrison shoe.

And Canadian readers—I hear your frustration. I’m sorry the books haven’t hit your stores yet, but Hyperion’s Canadian account rep SWEARS on a stack of Blue Bloods books that you guys are supposed to get it October 28th also, not December 1st. The information on your bookstore’s computer is old (and wrong). Keep trying. I’m really really sorry about that. If anyone in Canada has found/bought the book at your store, can you email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and tell me where you found it? So I can let all everyone else know?

And now for a real scary story. So, yesterday, I was at the Sherman Oaks mall with my kid, our nanny, my sister and her kid. The kids and nanny were playing a few feet in front of us in the little playspace. Sis and I were gossiping, as usual. When suddenly, ALL THESE PEOPLE BEGAN RUNNING AND PANICKING. And our nanny picked up both kids and yelled, “SOMEONE HAS A GUN!” And we all five RAN into the nearest store with a DOOR that could be locked. I can’t even tell you how scary it was not knowing WHERE to go. Like, WHERE was safe??? We were right by the Bloomingdale’s which looked really “open”. So I chose this jewelry store because I saw they had a door that could be easily locked. We ran in with a couple other moms&kids, told the owner, who locked the door behind us and we all ran to the back room.

Anyway, it turned out that there was a high-speed chase that ended with the gunman running into the Macy’s and the police running after him. (We saw a car with two doors open surrounded by ten police cars in the parking lot.) The got him pretty quickly, and I don’t think anyone was hurt, thankfully. It was just so weird. Completely surreal. Just to see all the people RUNNING—and then the mall completely emptied—and Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s shut their doors with their super-secure aluminum doors. (Hmm: maybe should have run into Bloomingdale’s after all.) I can’t believe this is the second time I have experienced this. When I worked in Wall Street, more than a decade ago, and someone had robbed a bank and the police SHOT HIM DOWN right in the sidewalk in front of our building. During lunch hour. I don’t remember ever running that fast in my life. This was even worse, since the kids were with us. The funny thing was: this time I was really calm because I didn’t want the kids to panic.

What’s just as scary as a gunman, though, is seeing police with THEIR guns drawn out. I remember being just as scared of being shot accidentally as being shot deliberately.

Well, we’re all good. And the kids didn’t even understand what was going on. Mattie told her dad: Someone had gum! But it’s going to be a while until we return to that particular mall.

Be safe everyone! And let me know what you think of the book!

xoxo
Mel

Too many things are happening! I totally forgot to post that I am going to be at the Catalina Island Library tomorrow!

Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008
5:00 PM
Avalon Library
215 Summer Avenue
Avalon, CA 90704

I will be talking Revelations and bringing treats!

Hope to see you!

xoxo
Mel

Lauren Myracle, you suck!

In the best way, of course. Since Lauren is one of the nicest and funniest authors I have ever met. But yes, she SUCKS!

Because Lauren has challenged me and 13 other YA writers: M.T. Anderson, Holly Black, Libba Bray, Meg Cabot, Cassandra Clare, John Green, Shannon Hale, Maureen Johnson, Stephenie Meyer, Kirsten Miller, Sarah Mlynowski and Scott Westerfeld to scare ourselves. And provide proof that we conquered our fear.

Oy. Vey.

Lauren is going to perform the “Thriller” video. Holly Black is going to watch a zombie movie. (But I agree with Lauren: Shaun of the Dead is NOT scary. It is funny. Holly: man up!) Meg Cabot is going to dress up as a fairy for Halloween (Can’t wait for the pics!!). Sarah M. is scared of diapers (who isn’t??? Even I am still appalled I have to change them.) Cassandra is going to eat brains (she’s in book tour in France, lucky gal!).

What am I going to do?

Well. Sadly mine is SO boring and yet SO scary to me. I told Lauren my real biggest fear is going to the dentist. I have to have dental surgery and I’ve been putting it off for about five years now. I always had an excuse: I’m trying to get pregnant, I am pregnant, I have a baby, a one year old, a two year old.  The baby will be eighteen and I still won’t have had the surgery. The reason I don’t want surgery is because I’m scared of DYING from the anaesthesia. That they’ll put me out and I’ll never get up. Arggggh. This is also the main reason I have never gotten lipo. Because of the anaesthesia. (Which have killed other beauty-chasing authors before like Olivia Goldsmith.) Can you imagine??? “She died getting lipo.” She was FAT and DEAD??? LOL!

I’ve never even got up the courage to make the appointment and then cancel. I know if I make the appointment, I’ll have to go. Because I’ll have to make arrangements for someone to take me there and pick me up, and inconveniencing people after I’ve already asked them for a favor (even my husband) scares me even more than breaking the appointment.

My blood is LITERALLY running cold right now at the idea that I am actually going to HAVE TO GO TO THE DENTIST. Arrrgghhh!!!!! Lauren!! (Fist to the sky!)

Okay. I will post a video of making the appointment. I think this Apple Camera built-into my MacBookPro does video that doesn’t it? Otherwise, I’m really Internet-handicapped. As you can see I don’t even know how to post photos on my blog. I don’t think I will be able to get the surgery done before Oct 31st (have you ever met a Beverly Hills dentist who can accommodate you at the last minute?) but at least I can get the appointment in and I’ll post before and after photos when I do go (but since I don’t how to do that on my site, I guess I will have to send them to Lauren. The Taskmaster. I am her bitch.)

Did I mention that Lauren has a new super-scary book out too? It’s called BLISS. Go buy it!

Did you watch the Revelations trailer yet?

Don’t forget – if you buy your copy from Target you’ll be directed to a special website with an extra bonus chapter which you should only read AFTER you’ve read the book! Target has the exclusive on the story for three months!

You can order your copy now from B&N or Amazon!

And don’t forget – tonight! Pasadena! Vroman’s! 6:30! We have treat bags! Oh yes, I’m bribing.
October 28, 2008
Vroman’s Bookstore
695 E. Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91101
Tel: 626-449-5320

And here’s a final quote of the day from Revelations:

Which is actually, the last sentence in the book:

“One day he would thank her for saving his life.”

Now I must return to finishing my other book which is on deadline. The fun never ends, does it?

xoxo
Mel

It’s here! The Revelations trailer!!

Go watch it.

Okay. Are you back now? Isn’t it awesome?? We’ve been working on it for so long. I hired a production company that specializes in animated comic books (they do the Heroes ones on their website too!) and they got some awesome people to write music, hired an actress with this fabulous voice. (Don’t you love how she says “vahhhmpires”). And my cousin, Sigmund Torre, drew the art. He’s a big manga/comic book artist. I wanted it to look a bit like Robotech, my old favorite anime.

Happy Revelations Day! Hug a vampire. Buy some overpriced designer clothes.

xoxo
Mel

Sorry I forgot to put up a quote yesterday. But you can find out lots more about the series in the chat. Join the message boards! It’s a very friendly community! 🙂

And here’s a caveat about the release date: some stores are already selling the books. (Some Targets here and there, Books-A-Million) and some don’t have it out yet. I’m hoping books are in stores this week, (the release date is the date that books are definitely supposed to be out) and if you are in the Los Angeles area, don’t forget to come see me tomorrow night in Pasadena!!!

October 28, 2008
(6:30 PM)
Reading/Signing in Pasadena!

Vroman’s Bookstore
695 E. Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91101
Tel: 626-449-5320

I will be discussing Blue Bloods III: Revelations! Come by for fun treats!!

Aannnd here’s the second-to-last quote of the day!

“Schuyler had to tell another lie.”

Don’t forget – if you buy your copy from Target you’ll be directed to a special website with an extra bonus chapter which you should only read AFTER you’ve read the book!

You can order your copy now from B&N or Amazon!

Hope to see all you Angelenos and Pasadenos tomorrow!

xoxo
Mel

In honor of the impending publication of Blue Bloods III: Revelations, I will be chatting with the awesome members of the Blue Bloods message boards! Come chat with me on Sunday, October 26th at 1PM PST/4PM EST.

You have to be a member of the boards to chat.

I’ll be talking Revelations, what’s in store for the series, and whatever else you want to talk about!

And we’re still taking applications to join The Committee – to plan the Masquerade Ball being thrown by the fab Scottsdale, Arizona Public Library on Friday, November 7th at 7:30 PM! We’re going to have so much fun! First of all, it’s semi-formal! Don’t you love a chance to dress up? I’ll be wearing my new Philip Lim dress with sparkles (if you go to Holiday collection and go see the multi-colored shift with the jewels on the neckline that’s mine!) and my patent four-inch heel Louboutin stiletto Mary Janes (mine are in black). Unless I go shopping between now and then, that is. I’m kind of sickly addicted to netaporter right now. Dangerous 1AM shopping sprees!

Aaaand here’s your Revelations quote of the day.

“This is all my fault.” – Bliss Llewellyn

Books are out in a couple of days! And don’t forget – if you buy your copy from Target you’ll be directed to a special website with an extra bonus chapter which you should only read AFTER you’ve read the book!

You can order your copy now from B&N or Amazon!

And now we’re off to the preschool Halloween carnival. Mattie is a banana. Yellow on the outside, white on the inside! LOL! My friends (who don’t have kids and remember me from my angry Asian journo days) asked, “Are you going to be making that joke all day at the festival???” Oh yeah!!

xoxo
Mel