Melissa de la Cruz is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens.  She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, and Glamour. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends, and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews.

1. Congratulations on the success that you’re enjoying with Misguided Angel: The New York Times Bestseller list… USA Today Bestseller list… Wall Street Journal Bestseller list!  What amazing achievements! What’s it like to see your name on such internationally recognised lists and how do you keep grounded in order to concentrate on the next project?

I think what keeps me grounded is that I enjoy and celebrate it when it happens, and it’s always a surprise: I never expect it–I am always primed for disappointment rather than triumph. Also, Revelations, the third book in the Blue Bloods series, was my first book to make all the lists; but it was my 16th book, so for books 1-15, I never had this experience. So,I think paying dues and being a veteran keeps my feet on the ground. I know all too well what it’s like on the other side. My motto is “don’t get used to it!” Also, when the lists come out, I’m deep into writing the next book, which is more important than any list. But it is nice to have the accolades and the champagne dinner. We make it special so that it’s not just any other day.

2. When did you first develop an interest in speculative fiction? Which texts, authors and characters were your greatest influences?

I’ve always loved fantasy and sci-fi. My favorite authors are Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, JRR Tolkien, and Stephen King. I loved Roland the gunslinger and Jake from New York from the Dark Tower series, Paul Atreides and Chani and their tragic love story, Aragorn and Arwen…. I love tragic couples!

3. You’ve worked as a fashion and beauty editor for a number of high-profile publications and TV shows for many years. Do you miss that world? If you could give your YA readers only 3 style tips, what would they be?

Sometimes I miss it. Not really. I am much more introverted and more comfortable in the writing world than the fashion world. I think there is an “extrovert mask” that introverts wear, that I wore for many years as a fashion and trend editor and reporter. Style tips depend on age, I would say when you’re young, you can really wear anything. Everything looks great when you are young. So go wild, try all the trends… Vintage–I used to wear these vintage dresses and get them chopped off at the thigh and they looked fabulous. Once you get older, invest in well-tailored clothes–it’s better to buy $40 jeans from the Gap and get them tailored for $20 so they fit perfectly than spending $200 on jeans that don’t. Wear what you are comfortable with and don’t forget to add some flourish. I love a big cocktail ring, a great scarf, crazy high platform heels.

4. Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

I would say all my girls are my stars: Schuyler, Mimi and Bliss are my favorite to write about. They are all part of me so I can’t choose. Schuyler because of her quiet strength, Mimi because, for all of her flaws, she is incredibly loya,l and Bliss because she remains true to herself in adversity.

Click here for the official Melissa de la Cruz website.

Fantastic Misguided Angel trailer here!

Melissa’s Awards Info (woah!!):

The Au Pairs is an ALA Quick Pick, a YALSA Top Ten nominee and on the PSLA Fiction List. Skinny-Dipping is an ALA Quick Pick Nominee, and Crazy Hot is a New York Public Library Book for the Teenage and was named a best teen series book by TeenReads.com. The series has been optioned for a major motion picture by Warner Brothers, with Drew Barrymore’s Flower Films producing.

Blue Bloods is an ALA Top Ten Quick Pick, a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best, a TAYSHAS pick, an Alabama Public Library “Best Fang” nominee, a Cybils nominee and merited a starred review from Booklist. Masquerade is an ALA Quick Pick and a New York Public Library Book for the Teenage. Revelations is a New York Times, USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly best-seller. The Van Alen Legacy debuted at #3 on the New York Times Children’s Series Best Sellers List, #12 on the USA Today Top 150 Best Seller List, #4 on the Wall Street Journal Hardcover Fiction List and #2 on the Bookscan Juvenille List.

Fresh off the Boat is an ALA Quick Pick nominee, a New York Public Library Book for the Teenage and a Bank Street Bookstore Best Children’s Book and a California Readers California Collection.

Angels on Sunset Boulevard was named Best Debut Series by TeenReads.com.

Best friends Eve and Jess have just returned home to the exclusive town of Deepdene in the Hamptons after summer holidays, all geared up for their freshman year of High School. Best of all, two new boys have moved to town: mysterious, dark, and sexy Mal, and Luke, the Pastor’s kid (who’s very cute and knows it and just a little bit bad). Perfect little Deepdene is hiding a horrible secret.

Why are people being plagued by nightmares that drive them insane? And what’s with the sparks that have started shooting out of Eve’s fingers whenever she gets upset? Can Eve and Jess save the town and find out who the big bad Demon is? And will they defeat him, or will they be the next victims?

Overall, Shadows is a fun and entertaining read with plenty of humour, mild horror, angst, and love to keep you hooked. The main criticism I had was the whole ‘poor little rich kid’ drama and constant shopping and designer name dropping; but, if you can look past this, you will find well-developed characters who are mostly believable and a well thought out plot. I found the strength of the friendship between Eve and Jess very heart-warming.

Meredith’s style reminds me of LJ Smith’s The Vampire Diaries but aimed at a younger audience. It also has a Buffyesque vibe, with the whole one-girl-with-a-kick-ass-attitude-gifted-to-save-her-town-with-the-help-of-her-friends plot (but with a different twist). All in all, I found Shadows to be an entertaining read. I would particularly recommend it to pre-teen girls new to the paranormal genre, owing to its fun, mild content.

Shadows is the first book in the Dark Touch series. Book two, The Hunt, was released August 2010.

Book three of the series,  Fever, will be released February, 2011.

Shadows – Amy Meredith

ISBN 13: 9781849410519

ISBN 10: 1849410518

May 3, 2010 by Random House, Australia

Paperback, 240 Pages

Couple of bits of news. First, a thank you to AOBIBLIOPHILE for passing the torch to Burn Bright and naming us in the Versatile Blogger Awards. We will pass the torch in due course.

And an even more huge thank you to my colleagues Margo Lanagan, Isobelle Carmody and Lauren Kate who all gave some wonderful quotes for the Burn Bright cover and pre-release material. Each one of them had to find time in their extraordinarily busy schedules to read the book and write a quote. I know what that means and I’m profoundly grateful to them.

The final cover is here in all it’s glory! Astred Hicks (art design) is a Goddess.

Bel Says

Harajuku isn’t just a place—it’s an attitude.  The 4 most famous Harajuku girls are Love, Angel, Music, and Baby, the entourage of Gwen Stefani during The Sweet Escape Tour of 2007. Google Gwen, you can‘t miss them.

Harajuku is really a mishmash of quite a few fashion styles, but, generally, it’s most celebrated by teens and youngs adults on Sundays on the bridge across the train tracks from Harajuku station to Yoyogi Park, Japan.

Gothic Lolita ~ Looking like either modern day aristocratic Elizabethan debutants or over-the-top French maids.
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Visual Kei ~ The Glam Rock  look – think 80’s goth rock, punk or heavy metal.
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Ganguro & Kogal ~ Get hip with the orange fake tan… orange, gray, or platinum hair… light lipstick, and white eye shadow (like a panda)… slap on a set of fake lashes, bright clothes, and bling… and she’s all ready to go. The most famous Ganguro Girl is called Buriteri, named after a brand of soy sauce. Think Spice Girls with a tan.
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Decora & Kawaii ~ Meaning ‘cute’. The clothes are meant to emphasize the cuteness of the person wearing them, or make them look quite childlike. Accessories include back packs with animation characters on them and oversized stuffed toys.
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People even choose to express themselves dressed as Cosplay of anime or manga characters .

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It looks to me that there are only a few standard rules when it comes to Harajuku:

• Stand out
• More is more
• Weird and cute is good
• Guys may look like girls if they so please (and vice versa)
• Being ignored is NOT an option
• If all else fails, pick something with COLOUR!!!

Gwen Stefani – What You Waiting For? (Featuring Love, Angel, Music, & Baby)

Bec Stafford Interviews Alison Croggon (Pt 2):

Saturday, 4th September, 2010, Midday.

Hilton Hotel, South Wharf, Melbourne.

Alison Croggon is a Melbourne writer. She has published several collections of poetry, for which she won the Anne Elder and Dame Mary Gilmore Prizes, and was shortlisted for the Victorian (twice) and NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Her most recent collection is Theatre (Salt Publishing, 2008). She is the author of the Books of Pellinor quartet, a fantasy series that has been published worldwide to critical and popular acclaim, to date selling half a million copies in the UK and the US alone. She runs the influential review blog Theatre Notes and is Melbourne theatre critic for The Australian, for which last year she won the Geraldine Pascall Prize for criticism. She has written several works for theatre, including the operas The Burrow and Gauguin with the composer Michael Smetanin. They are currently working on their fourth opera together, Mayakovsky, which will be produced by Victoria Opera in 2013. This year she co-wrote Night Songs, a music theatre work for young people commissioned by Bell Shakespeare, with playwright Daniel Keene, and finished her sixth novel, Black Spring. She has three children and is married to the playwright Daniel Keene.

The line-up at AussieCon4 was nothing short of spectacular. Writers from a vast array of disciplines converged on the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre in the first week of September to talk science fiction and fantasy. I had the great privilege of speaking with Alison Croggon: poet, author, playwright, opera creator, and esteemed critic. A couple of hours with Alison will leave you feeling greatly inspired (and incredibly lazy!). Despite her many achievements and awards, she’s not one to rest on her laurels: for Alison, every week brings with it new opportunities for absorbing, engaging with, and creating art. Pretty remarkable, don’t you think?

B: Do you feel that young adult authors have a responsibility to educate, or to moralise, when they write?

A: Not moralise, no. I think moralising is… Uh, I never like it in books. I never did as a kid, I hated being patronised. But I think that education, in a broad sense, is absolutely important.  I mean, it was a big driving thing behind my books, which sort of emerged. I mean, I started writing for young people after the Serbian bombing in 1999…uh…so, sort of before 9/11. But I was doing a lot of reading–a lot of in-depth reading–and when 9/11 did happen, I wasn’t at all surprised. Oh, shocked, but you know, not surprised. If you’re at all politically aware of the world, and if you’re at all concerned about the environmental catastrophe that’s happening right now, and have any kind of public engagement at all, you can end up feeling very despairing about the adults in this world. And one of the things behind the books was just that–oh, it sounds a bit vainglorious–but I just wanted to talk to young people about things that I thought were of value, or about values and ethics. Things that I thought mattered. And one way of speaking to them was by writing stories. But I did not want to moralise. I mean, the things I wanted to explore in the books were ‘what does it mean to be Human?’ … ‘What is not Human?’. You know? ‘What is the natural world?’ ‘What is love? What does love mean?’ ‘What are our responsibilities to each other?’ So, I wanted to look at those things, and dramatise them, I suppose.