But not on Facebook. Facebook scares me so I’m keeping away.

Here I am: www.twitter.com/melissadelacruz.

xoxo
Mel

I’m the featured author in Free Book Friday Teens! Thanks Jessica for inviting me! It was fun chatting on a rainy day!

I just listened to myself ramble and I’m feeling a little Caroline Kennedy right now. First off, I sound like a total Cali girl, with all my “like, you knows”. Thank goodness I’m not gunning for a Senate seat! And just want to add that the answer to the question, what do I have planned for the series is: the main story with Jack, Schuyler, Oliver, Bliss and Mimi will most likely go to ten books, but no worries because in book four a lot of big things are resolved. In books 5-7 the main focus will be the prequel series I talked about a long time ago, but I decided I like it better weaved with the front story (I kind of think a lot of prequels fail right? PREQUEL FAIL!) So I’m doing it that way. But I have lots of ideas for more Blue Bloods books with new characters, so who knows, never say never. I like playing in the Blue Bloods universe.

Enjoy your Saturday!

xoxo
Mel

A couple of people have emailed saying that the link to the story I originally wrote for Target (and should be read AFTER you have read all of book three, Revelations) is not working. I just went to the site and it worked for me. Go to http://www.bluebloodsbooks.com/target. The password is BLUEBLOODS in all caps. Try it now. Everything ok? Ok. Good. 🙂

And now some questions:

How do you pronounce Schuyler? And why is it spelled that way?

It’s Sky-ler. (In the books Oliver calls her “Sky” so I thought that was a nice hint.) Also, I spelled it that way because it is an old English name, I took it from Elizabeth Schuyler, who was married to Alexander Hamilton (the first Treasury Secretary and a founding father), Elizabeth Schuyler came from a very prominent family, her father was a general in Washington’s army and they were American aristocrats. In my imagination, Schuyler traces her roots to that family and is given an old family name. Also, one of my pet peeves is phonetic spellings of names. I don’t like when Antoine is spelled “Antwone” or Brittany is spelled “Britney”.

Is Oliver-Hazard Perry named after the commodore from the war of 1812?

Yes! He is.  But it was partly subconscious, since I found the last name “Hazard-Perry” in my little Astors family history book, and I thought “Oliver” would go well with it. And then Mike pointed out it was the name of someone from history, and I thought excellent! Because of course the Hazard-Perrys are an old family of human conduits, so it makes sense that Oliver would have an ancestor like that.

What’s the Rufus Wainright song they listen to in Revelations?

I purposefully did not name the song because—I couldn’t choose! Like Jack and Sky, I love Rufus Wainright. But I think their song was “Foolish Love” although I also like “Nobody’s off the Hook” and “Natasha” and “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” and his version of “Hallelujah”. Put them on and swoooon.

When is the next book coming out?

September 1st! Six months away!!! It’ll be here in a blink! I promise!

xoxo
Mel

Some fun stuff this morning: Blue Bloods will soon be available on audio! That’s right, you can sit and stew on your commute, or you can listen along to the story of Schuyler and her friends as they kick some vampire ass!

Also: welcome Russian Blue Bloods! Or should I say zdravstvuyte? Rights to the series have just been sold to Russia! Woohoo!

I have been shopping. I know, down economy and all. But as I’ve said before, I’m an optimist. I think things will get better. And anyway, there’s so much fun stuff out there and good sales! At the Fred Segal 80% off sale I scored a Giambattista Valli cocktail dress. I just like saying Gee-ahm-bah-tees-tah Vahh-leee. It’s so fabulous, a black knit figure-hugging dress with this insane collar of feathers kind of exploding at the top. It’s one of those dresses that are either extremely fabulous or completely ridiculous. I’m kind of hoping for the former. I like things that are over-the-top and skirt the line a little. And you know, it’s all about context. It’s the kind of dress you can wear to the Whitney Young Collector’s Ball and no one will blink. I miss New York so much sometimes. I miss getting dressed for people who are just as invested in fashion as you are.

Although I was walking around on Friday in my printed Marni dress and I got so many compliments from people. I was a bit worried since it is a little “offf” it’s a bit on the sack-dress side, kind of slouchy and hippie-ish with big printed flowers. But as I was shopping so many women came up to me and whispered, “loooove the dress! I looove Marni too!” like it was a secret between us.

What else did I buy? A really pretty black silk Collette Dinnigan cocktail dress, that I’m going to wear with my pink patent Manolo stilettos. (Remember I was obsessed with this lady at Intermix who was wearing a black cocktail dress with the pink patent Stella McCartney heels?) The Colette dress was also 80% off. And at Madison I bought a really comfortable flannel shirt, which I wore on Saturday night with my skinny black jeans and the hot pink heels and an old black Chloe “boyfriend” blazer. I was so 1980-meets-1992. Mike laughed and said did I really buy a DESIGNER flannel shirt?? And I remember being 20 in 1992 and scoffing at the stupid people who would pay $100 for a Marc Jacobs flannel shirt. Well, fast-forward a couple of years and there I am. Sigh. I know. But I don’t have time for thriftstores anymore.

One of the nice things about designer clothes is how forgiving and flattering they are to a not-20-anymore body. You have to pay to play these days.

What else did I buy: A really cool fringed Chan Luu scarf from the Fred Segal sale. And at Madison, a bright yellow ruffled off-the-shoulder blouse (kind of cha-cha) and snakeskin gladiators. It’s 85 degrees here and everyone is wearing summer clothes again.

Everyone trendy in LA is rocking the flannels, which I kind of love. When I was in college we called it the grunge-bunny look. Dark kohl eyes, messy hair, ripped flannel shirt (unbuttoned to show the absence of cleavage), battered suede jacket, old Levis jeans. I guess it was very “Winona”. I mean, who wanted cleavage? Cleavage is so not-fashion. I’ve always been the kind of girl who dressed for other girls and gays rather than guys. I wanted fashion admiration and not male attention. Dressing for guys is so boring. The trick is to be the kind of girl whom other girls admire for your style and yet whose style still pulls in the dudes. My friend Caitlyn always did this so well. She made wearing those large men’s v-neck t-shirts half-tucked into pegged Levis jeans so sexy… So some girls can get away with both…

Anyway, I’ve got books to write and deadlines to meet and miles to go before I sleep.

Das vedanya for now!

xoxo
Mel

And Blue Bloods is hanging on at Number 10 or Numero Diez on the New York Times Best-Seller List!! Awesome pawsome!!

For those who are counting (cough, me, cough) that makes six weeks on the Times list and six weeks on the USA Today List. Double sixes! Thank god it’s not triple sixes or you know I’m in trouble!

Before I ever hit the list, Wednesday was always just another day. Hump day, perhaps, because it is in the middle of the week. But now that I have tasted the best-seller life, in the back of my mind, I always wonder, “So did we hit the list this week?” And it is a WE. It’s my name but there are so many people behind that book: my husband who is my co-conspirator, my editor, my agent, everyone at Hyperion, and all of you who are reading the story. Yay, us!!!

xoxo
Mel

I was driving around yesterday and the iPod spat out TinaMarie’s “Lovergirl”. I heart this song so much. It brings me back to 1985, when we first moved to the U.S. That song should not bring back good memories, because that was a hard year for me and my family…we had to leave Manila and our lovely home and all our things and all our friends and family…but when I hear that song I remember being EXCITED about life… hearing that song on the morning commute to school, my dad at the wheel, I usually got shotgun ‘coz I was the oldest, and even though school was pretty miserable…why is it that when I listen to that song I remember feeling happy?

I think it’s because everyone has an inner life…and my inner life was pretty great, because I loved books and art and music, and even though I was lonely at school and had no friends, I had this wonderful family around me, who treated leaving everything behind and starting anew in America as a Great Adventure. Also, something about that catchy beat and TinaMarie’s tough-girl-rap is so hilariously cheesy and great at the same time.

Anyway, all this is a big introduction to my news: we have ourselves a cover! Oh yes. The Van Alen Legacy has a cover!!!! And it is sooooooo pretty and romantic and gorgeous. I will share once it is 100% done, as we are still tweaking with colors still. But my editor loves it, I love it, my husband loves it, the sales team loves it, so there’s a lot of love going around.

Shooting down more rumors about the Blue Bloods series. Is the Internet a huge game of telephone? You remember that game, you sat in the circle and the first person whispered something to person next to them and so on and so on and then the person at the end has to say what he/she heard. And it’s ALWAYS wrong.

Anyway, the latest rumors are about the Blue Bloods movie. Because I had an animated trailer produced for the third book, there’s a misconception that there is a movie or TV show coming out, and that it might be animated. I am here to say all that is wrong. I produced the trailer in anime style to promote the book. That’s all it is.

And I’m sad to say there is no movie in development. There was a TV show at one point, and we got close enough to getting it made that I was starting to, you know, get that big head that people get when they think their project is actually going to get produced. But the journey to TVland is a very long and very fraught journey, there are so many hoops to jump through, and so very many people have to say YES before you actually get on the network schedule.

We got about midway through the process, with lots of Yes’s piling up, and you know, my head kind of getting HUGE, (oh yes, ask Mike, I was kind of annoying to be around during this time). But then we got stopped cold in our tracks.

A big bad NOPE.

Then pfffftttt—all the air went out of my balloon-sized head.

I got back down to earth. And I think I was sad for a day but then the next week, I was fine. I finished a book, I wrote new outlines, I wrote a new proposal, and I know one day not far in the future, I’ll go on the Hollywood merry-go-round again.

The funny thing is: I’ve been on this road for ten years now. Hollywood is sooo seductive. It’s a dream factory. The first time was with the How to become Famous reality show, that was going to star me and my co-author Karen. We really thought this was going to happen. And then it didn’t. And the movie didn’t get made either. After that, I swore I would never believe anymore. Not until I saw my show on TV or the movie in theaters.

But you know what: I am an eternal optimist. And I BELIEVE. I really thought that by this time, Blue Bloods would be in pilot mode and picked up for series. But we got killed before we could even write a pilot script (the first episode of a show that’s a test episode).

It was a fun couple of months, and the people I met and worked with were awesome, and I know one day, like I said, I’ll get my head puffed up again and maybe my heart broken again. But so what?

I have my books. It was always my dream to be a novelist. The TV show or the movie or whatever comes from it, is just gravy. A bonus.

In the end, it’s the books that are the most important. (Although I don’t mind driving to the studios for meetings: I have to say: it’s ALWAYS a thrill.)

So: The news: No movie. No TV show. At this time. Maybe one day. Who knows?

But what I do know is:

GIRL STAYS IN THE PICTURE is out June 2009!

BLUE BLOODS IV: THE VAN ALEN LEGACY is out September 2009!

WOLF PACT (The awwwwwsome Blue Bloods spinoff about werewolves) is out Spring 2010!

And there will be more Girl books and Blue Bloods books and Wolf Pact books in the future…

In the meanwhile, the iPod is cranking out another fave song: Don’t Stop Believin’!!!! Oh yeah!! (Hold on to that feeeeeeling!!!)

xoxo
Mel

It feels like your whole life is going well too…

I am nicer to my husband, play more with my kid, I exercise more, I eat right, I sleep better at night.

When the writing goes well, it’s like everything in your life is dipped in golden honeydew good-writing light.

The birds are chirping, the rainbows are rainbow-ing, the skinny jeans fit!

But when the writing is going badly, it’s like I’ve gained ten pounds, am on the brink of divorce, and the kid is bawling…

Right now, though, the pistons are firing and the words are being written and the book is growing and all is good in the world.

xoxo
Mel

You all know the sales are still going on right? I mean, wow, things are really, really cheap out there. I went to Barneys the other week and walked out with five pairs of shoes. The prices were ridick. I mean, Alaia heels for $300??? They were originally $1700. Okay, so $1700 is an exorbitant price to pay for footwear. Granted. And $300 used to buy you a pair of Miu Mius. When did prices get so out of control?

When I was shopping in the 90s, you could buy nice designer shoes for $300. Which seemed a normal price to pay because Nine West was around $80. Nine West is still $80 but now Miu Mius will run you around $600. And Blahniks are $700 on average and Louboutins, forget about it, if you want a pair of those, they are $900. Sigerson Morrison used to be around $200 but now they cost $500-$600 and their “cheap” line, Belle, costs $300.

So anyway, it was nice to see shoes for what they used to cost retail. I bought hot-pink Blahnik patent pumps for $280 (from $775) and a pair of those gold metallic flat Louboutins for $249 from $675 (I guess flats are cheaper for Loubs if you want a heel they add $300), they have that cool turban knot in front with the peep-toe and are so comfy. Then the two pairs of Alaias, one a zebra ponyhair with a cone heel and the other a square-toed black school-marm-ish pump with lizard detailing, both were $300 and $350 from $1600 and $1700 respectively. Then the piece de resistance: THE Balenciaga boot of the season, that white knee-high one with the built in and hidden wedge? $600 from $1900.

I was at Intermix the other day and this lady came out of the dressing rooms wearing a one-shoulder black cocktail dress and hot-pink stilettos (the new ones from Stella). I just thought she looked so fantastic and I want to wear the same outfit sometime this year for one of the weddings I’m going to. Which is why I bought the hot-pink Blahniks. Now I just need the one-shouldered cocktail dress to go with it. You would think that in my closet I would own something like this right?? I mean, a one-shouldered black cocktail dress??? And yes, yes, I do! I bought this Marine Sitbon black cocktail dress about eight years ago and it still looks LOVELY. I think I bought it at Century 21 for $200 from $800 or something like that. I wore it to my rehearsal dinner the night before my wedding. Maybe I’ll wear it again. It’s the last time I wore it.

This discovery has made me wonder what else in my closet I can dig out and wear again. The olive green Gucci dress from Tom Ford’s last collection? I wore it once during the Fashionista book tour. I haven’t worn it since. The Burberry trenchcoat dress, that I wore once to a meeting with the TV studio that bought the How to be Famous book? (They were going to put Karen and I as on-air hosts for the reality show based on the book. I was thrilled and appalled. I had and still have no desire to be on television.)  Oh my god I just found the sexy backless Clements Riberio dress I wore to the Fashionista book party in Boston, that was co-hosted by Shoshanna. She was so very sweet and so pretty and called everyone “Sexy” like “Hey, Sexy!” How do you not like someone like that? I miss my old life sometimes. What else? I just found a yellow halter sundress I bought at Bloomingdale’s for $80 that I have never worn. And a Helmut Lang gown that also still has price tags. Back when Helmut was still designing his own line. And how exciting that the First Lady wore Isabel Toledo??? Soooo very fashionista. Barneys just tore down all their displays and put Isabel’s dresses all over the windows to celebrate. Now I want an Isabel Toledo for my collection too, but first I’ll have to try to wear something AGAIN that I only wore once.

Remember, it’s not old—it’s vintage!

xoxo
Mel

Oh yeah, baby, Blue Bloods is back on the New York Times series list at number ten!! Woo-hoo!

Also, thanks to all of you who have been emailing me with questions about the Van Alen Legacy. Apparently, there are some websites that are posting the “first chapter” or “sneak peek chapters” of the Van Alen Legacy. None of those posted chapters are mine and real. They are fan fictions. Also, The Van Alen Legacy is the correct and ONLY title of the book, NOT “The Van Alen Legacy: Eternal Ties” or any other title you might read about.

All official and authentic Blue Bloods news or sneak peeks will come from this site only, or the official Blue Bloods website, or from my publisher, Hyperion.

Phew! Now I know what Jennifer Anniston feels like. 😉

It’s kind of flattering to get gossiped about, and I’m so psyched interest is so high! That is so very cool. So to assuage you all, I will post a sneak-peek on Valentine’s Day, February 14. Consider it my valentine to all of you. 🙂 

xoxo
Mel

I have to hide behind sunglasses because my eyes are so puffy. Spent the whole morning blubbering with Mike as we watched the Inauguration. Dressed the kid in an Obama Girl t-shirt and dropped her off at pre-pre-preschool late, late, late.

How fantastic was the whole thing??? Michelle Obama looked INSANE, I was shocked when I saw what she was wearing but now I love it and I’m so glad she wore it. The gold brocade coat in that gold/green-y color. It was dramatic, unexpected, and had FLAIR. It was SO her and looked awesome next to Laura Bush’s conservative pastels, the usual wardrobe of the American aristocracy. There was something really brash and wonderful about Michelle’s outfit, it was an outfit that somehow had a Beyonce-put-a-ring-on-it-sistahs-attitude while still being incredibly tasteful and beautiful. Bravo!

And the little girls looked wonderful too, just so appropriate and festive. And loved how Obama was kind of nervous and flubbed the Oath of Office a bit. And that speech! Wow, wow, wow. And how wonderful to have music and poetry—YoYo Ma playing “Simple Gifts” – a Quaker hymn (Remember learning it at school? We sang it every Thanksigiving at Convent). A wonderful event all around, and really a proud day for all of us.

xoxo
Mel