Blue Bloods: Keys to the Repository by Melissa de la Cruz

KEYS TO THE REPOSITORY
(a Blue Bloods book)

by Melissa de la Cruz

Paranormal Young Adult

Disney/Hyperion
www.Melissa-delaCruz.com

5 autographed copies will be given away on Friday, July 16, 2010!!!

New York Times Bestselling Author!





About the Book:

Lavish parties. Passionate meetings in the night. Bone-chilling murders. Midterms. The day-to-day life of Schuyler Van Alen and her Blue Bloods friends (and enemies) is never boring. But there's oh-so-much more to know about these beautiful and powerful teens. Below the streets of Manhattan, within the walls of the Repository, exists a wealth of revealing information about the vampire elite that dates back before the Mayflower. In a series of short stories, journal entries, and never-before-seen letters, New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz gives her hungry fans the keys to the Repository and an even more in-depth look into the secret world of the Blue Bloods.

Won't you come inside?

Check out our exclusive interview with the Author!

1) If you could have dinner with one of your characters who would it be?

Lawrence would be fun I think, although we'd have to find somewhere he can smoke cigars. He reminds me of my first ever corporate boss, who was very grandfatherly and used to take all the young people in his firm to Le Cirque for Christmas, where we'd have this huge, decadent boozy, eight-hour nine-course dinner. Conversation flowed, as did the 500-year-old wine. I imagine dinner with Lawrence Van Alen to be something of that nature, at the Explorer's Club of course, where we would admire the elephant heads on the wall that he shot himself in the 1800s.

2) If your main character, Schuyler, could give one piece of advice to teenage girls/boys, what would it be?

Schuyler would tell all teenagers, girls and boys, to follow their hearts and not to shy away from happiness. Some things are just meant to be, and you can't fight it.

3) How do you come up with your character names?

I've always liked the name Schuyler, it's an old American name, and it's a little bit of an n insider one, where you have to know how to pronounce it correctly because you can't tell from the way it's spelled. One of my friends is from an old WASPy American family and his name is Schuyler so I stole it and gave it to my heroine. Bliss came from Blythe Danner, I always liked that name but I thought Blythe was too singular and everyone would imagine Blythe Danner. So I changed it to Bliss. I was doing some research and Madeleine Force was a socialite who went down in the Titanic, so of course she became my Mimi Force. I've always liked the name Jack, since the early 90s, and I'd written two unpublished novels with heroes named Jack so I was glad to finally have a Jack. One of my best friends growing up was named Benjamin, but we never called him that, just like no one ever calls Jack Benjamin. (My friend was called Jam.) I liked how Jack Force sounded, sort of like a superhero, with a lot of strength built in the name alone. Dylan was my rebel hottie crush in college, Kingsley came from Kingsley Amis. I steal names from people I know, or from other books. It's hard to find a good name that's evocative and original but doesn't careen too much into soap-opera territory.

4) Blue Bloods: Keys to the Repository is a great title! Who came up with it? Was it the original title or did it change along the way?

Yes, the original title was The Repository Files but my awesome editor suggested Keys to the Repository, which was perfect!

5) Thinking back to the way beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?

I think the important thing I've learned is that in the end, you always have to write for yourself. I always make sure I am proud of the story, and that I love it, and I am entertained by it, and that I pushed it as hard as I could. I'm my own harshest critic, so as long as it passes my test, then I'm okay with it. And then you have to learn to accept the reactions to your work as something you cannot control. I put the same heart, effort and imagination into all my books, but some books are more well received than others, and I am always surprised because it's never the one you expect. You can't predict anything, you can just work really hard and try your best, and then be satisfied because you have done that. I don't beat myself up about things I can't control. I can control how good the book is, and that's pretty much it. I can't control if people are going to like it or not. That's up to them.

For instance, with Revelations, I was kind of worried because the ending is a bit dark, with an unpopular pairing, so I was worried I would lose some readers, but I figured they would have faith in the story and keep with the series, and I was very moved when Van Alen Legacy did so well because it meant my readers were on board, and would wait patiently for the next installment. So that's awesome. For me, the most fun is living through the story with the characters. If it's not fun, it's not worth doing anymore. I love writing the Blue Bloods story, and it's kept my interest even though so much of it has been plotted years before, and sometimes I get impatient--for instance I can't WAIT to write Book 8. But I have to write Book 7 first, which is also exciting, and has this huge scene that I have been salivating to write for more than a year now...but oh...Book Eight!

About the Author:

Melissa de la Cruz is the author of many best-selling novels, including all of the books in the Blue Bloods series; the Au Pairs series; the Ashleys series; and Angels on Sunset Boulevard. She lives in Los Angeles, California. Visit her online at: www.Melissa-delaCruz.com.

**Please enter to win using the form on the left side bar. Comments left on the post, while appreciated, are not used as entry. Thanks!