Author Interview: Melissa de la Cruz

I have been a huge fan for a while now of Melissa de la Cruz's books. Lately she has been focusing on supernatural themes, but she's also the author of The Au Pairs series as well as a few non-series books, like Girl Stays in the Picture. She's the author of the highly acclaimed Blue Bloods series, two of which I have reviewed, and her newest two novels are Serpent's Kiss, the second book in the Witches of East End series, and the Wolf Pact series, which will be released in four parts in e-book format only. I was recently lucky enough to have the chance to interview her about her books via email; here's what she had to say.

Melissa de la Cruz
photo credit: Denise Bovee

What is the significance of the title Serpent's Kiss? I may have missed something, but I couldn't figure it out.

I just liked the title, and for me it meant there was a serpent in their midst and they had to find out who it was. The Serpent's Kiss is the Kiss of Death after all! :)

Why did you choose to publish Wolf Pact as an e-book in four parts, and when do parts 2, 3, and 4 come out?

My publisher and I thought it was integral to readers having a richer experience of Gates of Paradise, the Blue Bloods finale, and the speed of publishing it was very convenient. The parts come out every two or three weeks or so leading up to the publication of Gates of Paradise.

Why do characters from some of your series (i.e., Blue Bloods) pop up in other book series of yours? I love this - always fun to see Blue Bloods cameos in other books, like Witches of East End.

For me, to write about a paranormal world, it just made sense that they all inhabited the same world. They're all connected somehow. I always liked the Marvel Team-Ups (see The Avengers) so for me it's a little like that.

What authors have or currently influence you and your writing?

I would say very early on I loved Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace and really wanted to write books that were about society and relationships in the way that he did, and I also wanted to write paranormal, so definitely Stephen King and Anne Rice, and I love the scope of epic fantasy and I loved Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Right now I would say I'm really interested in structuring a book like Gone Girl, I thought Gillian Flynn did such a great job craft-wise and I want to try that out.

If you could pick any of your books or book series to be made into a movie, which would you choose?

Witches of East End IS becoming a TV series. We're shooting the pilot next week! :)

I would love for Blue Bloods to get made one day, and my new series co-written with my husband, FROZEN, a post-apocalyptic fantasy, is perfect for cinema. We would love to see that on the big screen.

What are you currently working on?

Right now, Witches 3: Winds of Salem.
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Keep an eye out for Wolf Pact part II, which will be released on October 23rd, and Melissa's newest Blue Bloods and Witches of East End books, to be released in 2013. And if you've never read any of Melissa's books, make sure to check out her other series' as well - they're all great reads!