Author Crush Friday with Melissa de la Cruz
Glitter girls, you have pressing questions for your favorite authors and we have their answers. Welcome to our weekly segment, Author Crush Fridays.
We love asking questions and we love the answers from some of our favorite authors. Today we’re talking to Melissa de la Cruz, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the new young adult fantasy novel, The Queen’s Assassin (February 4, 2020; G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers). Thank you for talking to us today, Melissa! We’re honored! If you haven’t picked up The Queen’s Assassin yet, run, don’t walk, to grab it!
GLITTER: Tell us five things that people might not know about you.
MELISSA:
- I grew up in Manila, Philippines and moved to the US at the age of 13.
- I was a child model and was on the cover of a teen magazine when I was 11 years old.
- I was a proud room mom of my kid’s 6th grade year!
- I am also a mom to a Maltese pup.
- My closest friends describe me as Garth from Wayne’s World.
GLITTER: How would you describe your writing to a new reader?
MELISSA: Entertaining, fun, emotional and aspirational.
GLITTER: Do all of your ideas turn into books, or do you write a ton down until one resonates with you and then start writing that book?
MELISSA: All the good ideas become books, sometimes after years and years of thinking about them. Not all ideas become books, only those that keep bothering me. If I have an idea and I forget about it, it means it wasn’t a good idea.
GLITTER: How do you find the emotional truths in your writing?
MELISSA: Writing from the heart, writing MY OWN emotional truths make the writing relatable to others.
GLITTER: What one question sparked the whole plot of The Queen’s Assassin?
MELISSA: Who are those hot people hiding in the bushes and what are they doing? I literally dreamt about my characters and wanted to know more about them.
GLITTER: Do you write every day and do you have any particular writing rituals?
MELISSA: When I am on deadline I write all the time. But I find I still need days off. You can’t get burnt out and I work more productively when I have time off. No writing rituals, it’s just butt in chair and getting it done.
GLITTER: Do you believe that cliffhangers are the key to a good book?
MELISSA: Key to a good book series maybe.
GLITTER: What character do you relate to the most?
MELISSA: I relate to Cal in The Queen’s Assassin more than Shadow. Shadow wants to change her life, Cal’s resigned to his duties. I’m kind of more of a Cal, I understand I need to get the work done.
GLITTER: Favorite museum?
MELISSA: The Frick Museum in NYC.
GLITTER: Is there another book of yours that you hope to see on either TV or as a movie next and why?
MELISSA: Blue Bloods for sure, and I’m actively working on it. Crossing fingers it happens!
GLITTER: With your books that have been turned into movies, do you help with the screenplays in any way?
MELISSA: Sometimes, it depends on the book and my other work commitments. But I do always read the screenplays. I loved loved loved the ones for 29 Dates and Witches of East End.
GLITTER: What one piece of advice could you give any teen going through difficult times now?
MELISSA: Delete Instagram. Or unfollow anyone who makes you feel bad. Sometimes seeing people happy makes you feel bad. Don’t look at it.
GLITTER: Did any of the authors you read in high school affect how you write now?
MELISSA: For sure. I learned a lot from Anne Rice, Stephen King, Judith Krantz, Harold Robbins, and Sidney Sheldon.
GLITTER: What are you passionate about in life?
MELISSA: My vacations.
GLITTER: What are you working on right now?
MELISSA: So many things. Half them I can’t talk about yet. Books, screenplays, other creative projects.
Photo credit: Maria Cina
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