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I am here in Orlando for the NCTE/ALAN conference. (National Council of Teachers of English and Assembly on Literature for Adolescents). It’s fun hanging out with the teachers, librarians, students and fellow authors!

My awesome publisher put all their authors at the Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge, so here is the view out of my window.

Pretty cool right? That’s a giraffe!

I wore my “Tom Wolfe” white suit to the ALAN reception and hung out with old friends. So good to see everyone!!! Authors looking swanky is always good!

With ever-cool Emily Lockhart! Fabulous author of “Frankie” and “Ruby” books (Disreputable History of Frankie Laundau Banks and the Ruby Oliver “Boy” books!)

With cuties David Levithan and Rachel Cohn, the smart and sassy authors of Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist and their latest, Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares!

With always lovely Alyson Noel (Immortals series!) and her publisher, Jean Feiwel of Feiwel and Friends.

The Disney group had a “family” dinner and I caught up with Ned Vizzini, who wrote “A Kind of a Funny Story” which was made into a hot Hollywood movie. Ned and I go waaaay back to the days of New York Press infamy. (A very controversial newspaper that we both wrote for.)  The last time I saw Ned he was 15 (he was our boy-genius writer) and wearing a plaid shirt and carrying a backpack. Now he’s all grown up and I feel like a proud mama! Yay, Ned!

With adorable Ned Vizzini, it’s a NYP reunion! Someone call Mugger and Strasbaugh! (Inside joke. Forgive me I’m excitable around old pals.)

Then it was off to HARRY. POTTER. WIZARDING. WORLD. AAAAH!!!!
Now you all know I am a huge HP fan. In fact, when we got to the park I almost cried. I felt like I was 13 again and seeing Duran Duran in concert. Thank you to my wonderful publisher, Disney-Hyperion, who took their authors Miss Ally Carter, Mr. Sarwat Chadda and me to the park for a field trip!

My handsome editor Christian Trimmer on the way to Wizarding World!! (Or as we called it the whole time Harry Potter Land.)

The Hogwarts Express!! Can you DIE!!!

Hogsmeade!! Words fail me!!!

The newest student at Hogwarts!!! Oh yeah!

Can you tell Ally Carter and I are so FREAKING psyched??? We’re wearing our red Gryffindor scarves! Yeah! So much fun doing the world with a dear friend! Ally jumped up and down in the lobby, in the parking lot, in the park… yeah!!!!

Honeydukes!! I bought Chocolate Frogs and Ton-Tongue Toffee!!!

The gang at the Three Broomsticks! That’s charming Sarwat Chadda in the front, L-R Christian,  the gorgeous girls from Hyperion: MollyAnne Thomas, Dina Sherman and Cat Onder (and me and Ally in the middle)  toasting to an excellent, magical day!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! I am thankful for the opportunity to meet such wonderful people who love YA books and hang out with those who publish and write them, and for Harry Potter, without whom, Blue Bloods would not exist.

xoxo
Mel

Finally home and finally have two seconds to blog about the FUNNEST BOOK TOUR EVER! Omigod, did we BOND or did we BOND? If you are ever LUCKY enough to go on tour with the marvelous Rachel Cohn, the irrepressible P.G. Kain, the splendiferous Jenny Han and the fabulositon Taylor Morris, you will be VERY lucky indeed. Anyway, I still haven’t figured out how to get photos on my blog, so here’s a link to the photos PG took of the tour. Check out how cute we all are!

I was a little worried about going on tour with fellow authors. Writers are sometimes an aloof bunch, so I had no idea what to expect. I hoped everyone would be civilized at least. But everyone was SUCH a DARLING. It was gossip, gossip, gossip in our luxury van all the way to New Joisey and Conneck-ti-cut. We found out that PG and I used to frequent the same, ahem, scandalous after-hours nightclub, that Taylor had lots of embarrassing things happen to her as a child (just a tad exaggerrated for her hey-larious book CLASS FAVORITE), that Jenny’s last name is pronounced Han like Han Solo and not Han like Hand, how Rachel’s insanely awesome book Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is becoming what will be the next-JUNO with Michael Sera, nonetheless and how they got to call him “Mike” and yes, Rachel and her co-author whom she calls J.B, as in James Brown, the hardest-working man in YA, David Levithan, got to be extras in the movie, and Norah is based on Rachel’s fabbity fab English sister, and how we are all absolutely addicted to Tar-jay.

It was SOOOO nice to hang out with such lovely fellow writer-peeps. We managed to survive a death-defying ride back to Manhattan on the last day, and I think we entertained a lot of kids too. I know *I* was incredibly entertained. I really hope S&S sends us out on tour again, we had such a great time! Thank you to our tres chic sweetheart publicist Carolyn Pohmer for putting it all together.

And thank you to all the Ashley cover girls who did the Ashley event! Omigod, that was insane as well!! All the girls are SO MUCH MORE BEAUTIFUL in real life, and I could not get over how poised, and articulate, and just all-around awesome they all were. They were all under the age of 15 and taller than me. Total gazelle models. Loved it! I will post pics from everything as soon as I can figure out how to do that.

Anyway, you must all now go buy everyone’s books—Rachel’s Gingerbread which made me laugh and sob and really really want a cafe mocha with an aching, aching heart, Taylor’s Class Favorite made me cringe, cringe, cringe and giggle, giggle, giggle with total empathy, PG Kain’s The Social Experiments of Dorie Dilts: Dumped by Popular Demand was so charming, fun and breezy I was so jealous I didn’t write it, and Jenny Han’s Shug is simply the sweeeetest book about young love I have ever read.

I’m a bit behind on all my deadlines so blogging is going to be sporadic at best from now on, but carry on without me and let me know what you all are buying! Here’s my latest: Hit the Barneys clearance sale and scored TWO Reyes dresses: one cowl-neck, cinched waist, very cool black “walking around in Soho” dress ($129 from $595), another sleeveless, striped, sailor-y springtime dress ($119 – wrongly marked down b/c it was a Spring dress but the nice salesguy gave it to me anyway from $495), TWO Vince leather jackets, one hip-length and skinny in mahogany ($279 from $700) and one black and boxy ($239 from $600). Was very happy with all my purchases as I had announced to my husband I was “over” shopping since I have “bought everything.” Alas, this is not the case.

Oh and what did I wear on tour? WELL. Let me tell you. I bought these awesome knee-length Loeffler Randall boots from Nordstrom a while back and have been ITCHING to wear them, ($500 from $700) in the softest black suede, with my six-year-old Rock and Republic jeans (tight-tight-tight and a gift from the designer who is a big fan of my first novel Cat’s Meow) tucked into them, with my black cashmere turtleneck Ports sweater ($700) under my this-season military Balenciaga jacket ($2500). And of course, my trusty Mongolian scarf that my husband bought me a looong time ago. And I think he paid $150 for it back then. Then on Day 2 it was black cashmere Diane Von Furstenberg turtleneck mini-dress ($400) over golden-brown Frye tall boots ($250) and my decades-old Helmut Lang cream funnel-neck coat (I think I bought it for $800 from $2000), cashmere and mink ear-flap hat (J. Crew and $120) and extra-long cream Club Monaco scarf ($40 from $100) that always gets me compliments—especially if I do this same combo of cream-colored coat, hat and extra-long scarf all together. Did a kind of black and white thing on Day 2 there. Then on Day 3 it was my new Thread Social turtleneck dress with the buttons all along the side ($600), Christian Louboutin round-toe spike-heel booties ($900) and my new bought-just-for-this-tour Mayle fur and tweed jacket with like a two-foot fur trim on the bottom that was fab ($500 from $900).

I had bought SPANX to wear underneath everything, which was great—so slimming! Except kind of felt like I was being squeezed by a King Cobra the whole day. Hmmm. The $38 Spanx tights are worth it I think, I bought the “Tarjay” line of Spanx—Assets—to wear for one of the events and I got like, A RASH from all the squeezing! For an extra $26 I’ll take the no-rash effect, thanks.

It was heaven being back in New York, except I was so exhausted all the time, because of course when I would get back from the tour events Mike and I would flee the hotel room and go get dinner at like, midnight. We hit Momofuku Noodle Bar (awesome although since we are from L.A. and have great ramen here, didn’t quite knock us out as much as we thought it would), as well as Bobo (faaaabulously snobby and “secret” restaurant—no name on door, you have to buzz to get in, think fab retro-speakeasy-meets-Louis-Quinze elegance inside), Bar Stuzzichini with our gang, our best friends—four gay couples who are our closest friends and whom we vacation with all the time—we’re going to Vegas in a few weeks!—Mike and I are the token straight couple and we are proud to be that—you know how it’s so awesome to be with your best friends because it’s just all teasing and, not to be so cheesy, laughter? With us it’s all SCREECHING and WILD RUMPUSING once we even set EYES on each other.

Screeching and wild rumpusing was how the book tour was too, come to think of it.

Sigh. Now I really miss my friends and those fellow writerinos.

Anyway, back to work!

xoxo
Mel

I ‘m sitting here going through the copyedit for ANGELS ON SUNSET BOULEVARD, my new trilogy coming out from Simon & Schuster in February 2007. This book was a bitch to write, in that I wanted to write about so much: Los Angeles, cults, the Internet, skateboarding, rockstars, private school vs. public school, cars, identity, love, loyalty, friendship, music and magic. So in June I turned in a draft that had all of that and the kitchen sink, but no semblance of a plot, and my amazing editor helped me streamline the story and figure out what the book was really ABOUT.

And now I’m looking at the lean and mean pages, and I am just BURSTING with pride. After months and months of thinking my work is shit, now I think it’s THE shit. Which is awesome. Because if writers can’t please themselves, how can they please their readers? And we all write for ourselves, don’t we? For our own amusement and entertainment. So that we can cackle madly at the keyboard. I write the stories I want to read…(as opposed to writing the songs the whole world sings).

Plus, if you haven’t already – go log on to the Harper Teen Fan Lit site, and join the contest! I will be blogging on Tuesday, Oct 24th so come stop by and check it out!

Also, I will be part of this fun LA YAs Speakeasy Pajama Party with all these fab peeps on Sunday, October 29th. Come in your PJs and hang out! (Although I don’t know if I will come in PJs, who wants to see a pregnant lady in her shortie nightgown? I think I will stick to my fall uniform of Vince tunic and Gap leggings and Louboutin platforms.)

Here’s who’ll be there:

Cecil Castellucci ( The Queen of Cool ), Dana Reinhardt ( A Brief Chapter In My Impossible Life ), Jordan Roter ( Girl in Development ), Kerry Madden ( Gentle’s Holler ), Mark L. Williams ( Danger Boy ), Melissa de la Cruz ( The Au Pairs ), Sally Nemeth ( The Heights , The Depths and Everything In Between ), Amy Goldman Koss ( Poison Ivy, Side Effects ), Rachel Cohn ( Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist , Two Steps Forward ) and Francesca Lia Block (Weetzie Bat)–Woohoo!

LA YA Pajama Party Smart Gals Literary Speakeasy!

Sunday, October 29th 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Mt. Hollywood Underground 4607 Prospect Avenue, Los Feliz

Admission: $7.00 (general), $5.00 (members) Bookmarks: $10.00, purchased separately Information and passwords: (dinky hocker shoots smack!)

323.302.2257 or www.smartgals.org

Hope to see you there!

xoxo

Mel

Remember mix tapes?? I know everyone does mix CDs or iTunes playlists now, but I still think mix tapes were the best… since CDs can hold SO much information, it’s not really a mix but more of a list of all the songs (who really listens to 4 or 5 hour mixes??)… But when I was a teen, those 60-minute mix tapes meant that for a certain specified time, you could control the songlist. In college, making a mix tape for a friend was the HEIGHT of sealing a friendship…and to make one for a crush, or to receive one from a cute boy, the HEIGHT of love.

My friends always laughed at me because I made the WORST mix tapes. I would put two or three songs from the same artist (usually Madonna) in a row, which was AGAINST THE RULES of mixes…we always aimed for a high/low aesthetic–Color Me Badd and then Elvis Costello, Lou Reed segueing into Pump Up the Jam.

One of the most important lessons I ever learned from my friends at Columbia was to cultivate a sincere appreciation for highbrow and lowbrow culture. To say you only listened to opera and classical music made you a stuck-up nerd, but to only listen to Top 40 meant you were kind of brainless. We all aspired to a fun-loving sophistication. Mahler one day, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch the next.

Our mix tapes reflected this ideal– we would put in Mozart’s Concerto No 19 and then play The Connells right after it. I even have a mix tape with the Hallelujah chorus that fades into Like A Virgin.

Anyway, because I am kind of mix-tape handicapped, when I put together the iMix for Blue Bloods, I asked my husband Mike to help me. Mike was a college radio station DJ in his youth, (one of the inspirations for ANGELS, which is partly set at a college radio station) so he has to take the credit (or the blame) for the iMix.

You can also search for it– it’s called Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz Book Soundtrack!

And if you don’t have iTunes, here are the list of songs on the mix that you can get from any other online store I believe. Or maybe you even own these songs already…And don’t worry, there is no classical music on this, but there is a nice instrumental piece.

All these songs inspired/inspire Blue Bloods…

1. Muse: Time is Running Out – Jack and Schuyler’s Theme
2. Love and Rockets: Haunted When the Minutes Drag – Michael and Gabrielle’s Theme
3. I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness: I Want to Die in the Hot Summer – The band’s name sounds like something Mimi would say
4. Jelly Roll Morton: Blue Blood Blues – Is there any other kind?
5. Death Cab for Cutie: I Will Follow You Into the Dark – Bliss and Dylan’s Theme
6. Stellastarr*: Love and Longing – The Blue Blood Anthem
7. The Crimea: Lottery Winners on Acid – Oliver’s Song for Schuyler
8. My Bloody Valentine: Sometimes – A Gothic Love Song
9. Run Run Run: Fade Into You – Schuyler’s Wish
10. M83 : Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun – A Conspiracy Tune

Enjoy! As we used to say, “chair-dance” away….

xoxo
Mel

PS-I will also be putting up an Au Pairs iMix very soon!