Interview with Melissa de la Cruz

Melissa de la Cruz.com

First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.com! My name is Jen, and I’ll be your server today…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.

Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve known I wanted to be a writer as long as I can remember, although maybe it was more like, I wanted to “write” more than I thought “oh I want to be a writer.” I always enjoyed reading books and preferred reading to socializing. When I was in third grade I put together a book of my poems, stapled it, and handed it to my parents. Sadly, they still quote from it! I wrote in my journal, I wrote short stories, poems, and tried my hand at several different novels (uncompleted) all though middle school and high school. I won a bunch of writing internships, and poetry contests. When I was in college, I wanted to major in creative writing, but I thought that would be limiting, since I was trying to be “practical” and thought maybe I would be pre-law and go to law school. But my junior year in college I realized that if I went to law school I would be miserable for the rest of my life. So I wrote my first completed, yet unsold, novel at 22, and finally sold my first novel at 27.

Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?

At 22 I found an agent, but he was unable to sell my novel, so I found another one, and wrote a new novel, but that one didn’t sell either. I felt like I was getting old (I am always in such a hurry for things to happen) and feeling like maybe it would never happen for me. But along the way, that first novel I wrote at 22 attracted the attention of an editor at Simon and Schuster, who took me out for drinks and told me I should write for magazines so I would have a “name” when I eventually sold my novel. He liked my writing and thought I had potential. So I started writing for the alternative press, then from there magazines hired me to write some pieces, and when I finally sold my novel Cat’s Meow, about a New York City fashionista, at 27 I had a huge clip file of published clips. My agent sold it in a week.

I thought the first novel would be the hardest, but really, I think it’s about the second book, the third book, and a career arc. I wrote my first YA novel, The Au Pairs, published in 2004, and that’s the one that changed my life. I found out that I LOVED writing for teens, and that I was a natural at that genre and it was a huge relief to finally realize—this is what I am meant to write, what I’m meant to do. I still enjoy writing for adults, but my writing for teens is the real me, I think.

Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?

My newest series is called THE ASHLEYS and it’s about the three prettiest and most popular girls in school, all named Ashley, and the one not-so-new-girl, Lauren, who used to be a total nobody but now looks more like an Ashley than the Ashleys themselves. Lauren sets out to join the Ashleys only to destroy them. The one thing I would tell my readers about the book to get them to buy it is the fun phone game the girls play—it’s called “Rank Calls” wherein you call your crush to find out what he thinks about you. It’s really fun and hilarious when the girls find out what the boys really think of them!

What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?

It’s hard to say what the “greatest” inspiration is, because I get inspired by so many things—my life, my friends, something I’ll see on TV or the movies, or something I’ve read, or just stepping out of my house and going to the In-n-Out Burger. Although I do think that the greatest inspiration for writing is all the wonderful books I’ve read over the years. I love books, and loving books makes you want to write them.

Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!

I come from a very close-knit Filipino family. My parents go to every reading they can, and have always encouraged me as an artist. My sister and brother are my best friends. I come from a family of bankers, my dad was an investment banker who started his own investment bank in Manila, my mom was a corporate officer at Bank of America, my sister and brother-in-law and my brother are all MBAs. I’m the “weird” sister. But I have to say this—my family are the funniest people I know. They have such a hilarious take on the world—everyone in my family is really funny. They have a great sense of humor and don’t take anything too seriously. My husband is also the funniest guy I know, which is why I married him. He’s an artist and an architect, and he’s the one I show all my books to before they go to my editor. My husband plots the books with me. He’s like my secret weapon. My baby girl is totally verbal—she was talking at eight months! She’s just like me, a total chatterbox. She’s also always laughing.

Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?

Filipino food! It’s all I ate when I was pregnant—the only thing I craved—crispy pata, which is this deep-fried pork shank, kare kare (oxtail pregnant stew), garlic fried rice, pinakbet, adobo, god I am getting hungry just thinking about it.

What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?

Literally, the minute I open my eyes, I turn on Sesame Street for my one-year-old daughter. She wakes up before we do so half an hour of Elmo and company means we get to sleep in a little.

I go back to bed.

Then Mattie demands to have her breakfast so I take her downstairs and feed her cereal, yogurt and fruit.

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

Trying to think what would surprise you—everyone knows I’m a huge shopper of both high and low fashion, so the fact that I own seven ponchos and three pairs of gauchos shouldn’t come as a surprise. I do every trend known to woman.

Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?

I’ve always liked the color fuschia. It’s my favorite—striking, too bold even, a little intense. Kind of like me, I’m not for everybody.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Right now it’s Sponge Bob. I have a kid as an excuse to watch this show.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Probably Lucy from Charlie Brown. I’m crabby and I am the kind of girl who would pull away the football!

If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history, where and when would it be—and why?

I’ve always loved the Gilded Age. But only if I get to be one of the fabulous debutantes who wear those great huge dresses and are presented to society and marry a Prince. But then I’d have to have some kind of sad tragedy or have married for money, like in a story by Edith Wharton or Henry James. But I guess that’s fine. As long as I get to shop at Worth’s in Paris!

So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?

I like bad pop music. I also like techno and house music—club music. Specifically gay anthems, like “If Madonna Calls!” by Junior Vasquez. I grew up in gay danceclubs. J I don’t listen to music while writing, it’s too distracting. But I do listen to it on breaks. I’ll take a break and dance around to Rihanna. I love all new music—I like new things, new trends, it keeps me young.

Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you saw at the theater?

The last movie I saw in the theater was Cloverfield. Excellent. I love the authenticity of the going-away party. I so remember being in New York in my early 20s and going to all these going-away parties for various friends. “Doug’s going to Vietnam! Say something to the camera!” It was all so TRUE.

I like to watch romantic movies several times in the theater by myself. I saw Brokeback Mountain four times. I also saw Moulin Rouge four times. I cried every time for both movies. I love a sad love story.

You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?

I would say, don’t waste your youth growing up. I think a lot of kids want to grow up so fast, and I would say, slow down, take your time, have fun, be young, enjoy it. Don’t worry so much about the future, and don’t rush to do the adult things so soon—drinking, sex, etc. It’s so much better if you wait until you’re ready. Seriously. I was a bit of a late bloomer and so was my husband, and it works out well for late bloomers. The kids who are living as if they’re 25 when they’re 15 are the ones who get burnt out and end up working at the Dairy Queen for the rest of their lives. It’s okay to be a little nerdy. I had the life of a nerd in high school, but I knew I wasn’t a nerd. I knew one day, I would get the chance to rock out and have fun. And I think I’m having the most fun now.

One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?

There will be more Ashleys stories, more Blue Bloods stories, a new series called Social Life, about three girls and their globe-trotting, social-climbing adventures. And I’m working on several new fantasy series that I can’t talk about yet, but hope I can share them with you soon.

Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!