REVELATIONS IS OUT!
Buy the book today! And make sure to do so at Target if you want the link and password to an exclusive story in Jack's point of view.
Be cautious when exploring the information areas on this site. We learned A LOT of information in Revelations so we will be trying to update it all in. =]
Be cautious when exploring the information areas on this site. We learned A LOT of information in Revelations so we will be trying to update it all in. =]
Site Chat
The Q & A session yesterday with Melissa de la Cruz was a huge success. We got tons of activity.
Check back here in a few days for a transcript of the chat.
Check back here in a few days for a transcript of the chat.
Masquerade!
"November 07, 2008 (7:30 PM)
Masquerade Ball in Scottsdale, Arizona!!
Scottsdale Public Library - Civic Center
3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85250
(480) 312-7323
I will be celebrating the release of Revelations with a fabulous masquerade ball! We’ll have fortune-tellers, make-up artists, music, goodie-bags and lots of other fun, fun, fun stuff!"
I hope to see lots of you there! =]
Book Expo 2008
Just last weekend was Book Expo America 2008. And once again, Mel attended. She signed copies of The Ashleys Book 2 as well as four-chapter samplers of Revelations. While there, I snagged and swagged tons of awesome stuff, most awesome of which being some extra chapter samplers. I also have a signed copy of The Ashleys book 1. (For details on how to win it, check the forums).
Melissa talked to myself, Kady (Freaking Amazing Person), Rhiannon (Rhia), and Alyssa (conduit_love05) for the longest time. She's honestly the nicest author I've met and I've met my fair share. She signed copies for all of our admins/mods. We asked about the Masquerade in the works and now its looking like an Arizona location. I'll keep you posted as new info comes up.
Mel's holding a contest on her site for chapter samples. Be sure to check it out! Everyone wins a consolation prize.
Keep a watch on BB @ IF. Serious changes are in the works. =]
FAQ (BB3, BB4, & More!)
THE ASHLEYS (There's a New Name in School) is out January 2008.
JEALOUS? (You know you are!) is out March 2008.
BIRTHDAY VICIOUS (It's her party and she'll freak if she wants to) is out August 2008.
LIPGLOSS JUNGLE (Only the strong survive) is out November 2008
DIFFERENT RELEASE? SAMPLE CHAPTERS?
"BLUE BLOODS III: REVELATIONS
IS COMING OUT DECEMBER 23, 2008!!!
OR NOT.
ACTUALLY I JUST SAW SOMETHING THAT SAID REVELATIONS IS COMING OUT OCTOBER 28, 2008!!!
I’M NOT SURE WHICH OF THESE DATES IS THE CORRECT ONE YET. I kind of think it’s the October date, since that was the date that was on the latest cover proof I saw. Which means it got bumped up! Yeah! Which means I really need to finish this book already.
I can’t believe it’s not done yet. But Act Two is kicking my ass my friends. All the way down the Upper East Side block. Act Two is always hardest to write, because it bridges the beginning and end of the books. Act Three is a breeze since if you’ve written Act Two correctly, then Act Three is just resolve, resolve, resolve, tying plot ends, finishing, etc. Big bow on top. And Act One is not as easy as Act Three but easier than Act Two. The hardest thing about writing the beginning of the book is simply starting it. I would just look at the empty computer screen for hours, frozen, too scared to write.
But ARGH. Act Two! Act Two has gone through several reincarnations now. I think I have it at the structure it’s supposed to have, but GAWD it took a long time to get there.
Revelations is by far my favorite of the series so far. It’s just so juicy!
If you want a sneaky-peek at REVELATIONS, Hyperion is making fabulous little chapter samplers, with the first four chapters of the book. And will be GIVING IT AWAY at BookExpo America, where I’ll be signing copies of the thing on June 1st, Sunday. I think you have to pay a fee to go to BookExpo, but it’s totally worth it and you get TONS of free books. And you get to meet me! And get a sneaky-peek at Revelations! How cool is that?
xoxo
Me"
So, if there are piles of 4-chapter samples on the main floor, I plan on snagging a stack to raffle off. So, let's all hope there are. =]
OR NOT.
ACTUALLY I JUST SAW SOMETHING THAT SAID REVELATIONS IS COMING OUT OCTOBER 28, 2008!!!
I’M NOT SURE WHICH OF THESE DATES IS THE CORRECT ONE YET. I kind of think it’s the October date, since that was the date that was on the latest cover proof I saw. Which means it got bumped up! Yeah! Which means I really need to finish this book already.
I can’t believe it’s not done yet. But Act Two is kicking my ass my friends. All the way down the Upper East Side block. Act Two is always hardest to write, because it bridges the beginning and end of the books. Act Three is a breeze since if you’ve written Act Two correctly, then Act Three is just resolve, resolve, resolve, tying plot ends, finishing, etc. Big bow on top. And Act One is not as easy as Act Three but easier than Act Two. The hardest thing about writing the beginning of the book is simply starting it. I would just look at the empty computer screen for hours, frozen, too scared to write.
But ARGH. Act Two! Act Two has gone through several reincarnations now. I think I have it at the structure it’s supposed to have, but GAWD it took a long time to get there.
Revelations is by far my favorite of the series so far. It’s just so juicy!
If you want a sneaky-peek at REVELATIONS, Hyperion is making fabulous little chapter samplers, with the first four chapters of the book. And will be GIVING IT AWAY at BookExpo America, where I’ll be signing copies of the thing on June 1st, Sunday. I think you have to pay a fee to go to BookExpo, but it’s totally worth it and you get TONS of free books. And you get to meet me! And get a sneaky-peek at Revelations! How cool is that?
xoxo
Me"
So, if there are piles of 4-chapter samples on the main floor, I plan on snagging a stack to raffle off. So, let's all hope there are. =]
Sneak Peek?! Release Date! Masquerade?!
"Oh my goodness, I totally forgot to add that I wanted to say Thank you to the gorgeous Blue Bloods fans who came out to the events!! Thank you for coming to see me, it always makes my day! Special shout out to Andrew, who asked if Schuyler was a Niphilim (yes she is since she’s half-angel) and also to The Fabulous Amanda, whom I will always think of that way, as The Fabulous Amanda, ("TFA") who runs the Blue Bloods message boards--ooh I finally figured out the links! TFA came all the way from Boston to New Jersey and taped the event - you can see it here on YouTube and see our gorgeous cover girls and how wise-beyond-their-years they are.
Anyway, I’ll be giving the Fabulous Amanda and the Blue Bloods message boards a special first-ever exclusive sneak peek of REVELATIONS so sign up if you haven’t already! I’ll probably do it sometime this spring.
xoxo
Mel"
Anyway, I’ll be giving the Fabulous Amanda and the Blue Bloods message boards a special first-ever exclusive sneak peek of REVELATIONS so sign up if you haven’t already! I’ll probably do it sometime this spring.
xoxo
Mel"
BLUE BLOODS 3: REVELATIONS IS OUT DECEMBER 23, 2008!
A Masquerade might be in the works for early next year. There isn't a lot of info released yet but a little birdy may have mentioned something about a possible January date. I'll keep you posted.
NJ Signing
Since it was a long trip for me, I went early. Even though I was stuck in traffic for an hour, I was still to early so I left the Barnes and Noble and came back. When I got back they had set up a seating area and there were a bunch of people there. Most of the girls were pretty young so I felt a bit out of place.
(By the end of the night, all of the books were sold. Plus the sales associate went to the back and got the rest of the copies they had in stock, all sold.)
The models for the book cover were special guests. They were standing in the corner, looking... well... model-like. They were thin and modelesque with pretty clothes.
Melissa was a little late arriving. It seems she got stuck in traffic too; her hotel was an hour and a half away.
(from left to right: Melissa, Danielle, Chelsea, Mimi, and Jessica)
1- “Did you get discovered or did you try to find a modeling agency?”
2- Question 1 continued and “So has it [modeling] lived up to what you thought it would be? What’s the best thing about it/the worst?”
3- Answer to Question 2
4-“How are you classmates? Jealous? Supportive?”
5-“What are some of the magazines/fashion shows you’ve worked on?”
6-“Is this something you want to do when you grow up or is it just a hobby?”
7-“Do you have any advice for someone who wants to get into modeling?”
8-“How does your writing schedule work?”
Also, though I don’t have it recorded I remember someone asking what the models thought about their characters. Danielle, who portrays A.A. said that she thought the Ashleys were horrible and it’s not really that bad in school. She also said A.A. was sleazy. Chelsea and Mimi hadn’t read it yet. Jessica said that she thought her character was so bad and mean to everyone, especially Lauren. Also, someone asked about a television show. She said there’s nothing in talks for the Ashleys but someone who does Gossip Girl is writing a script for an Au Pairs movie but there’s a delay because of the strike. She said if any of her works get made into movies, she’d be sure to alert the fans to any casting calls.
And then after the questions lulled Melissa was randomly like "Hi Amanda." I was standing in the back so everyone turned around. I was just like "Hi." I was kind of startled. Then we did the whole “Happy Birthday” deal to one of the models, Danielle. I want to say she turned 14 or 15… And then it was time for signing. Melissa is so nice. I got several hugs. And she was just talking to me about everything. Revelations should be coming out in December; however, she's not done so it's uncertain. She's seen the cover; she said she wants a different one so she's not releasing it to the fans yet. She's going to Book Expo again so wooot, I'll see her again there. =] Gahh, I really don't like this picture. I feel like I always look bad in pictures when it counts. I seem to look fine when I take random ones for myspace. sdksjdksjksjd.
Danielle and Chelsea (aka A.A. and Lauren)
Chelsea and Mimi (aka Lauren and Lili) (Mimi is also Aya on the cover of Scott Westerfeld’s Extras)
(By the end of the night, all of the books were sold. Plus the sales associate went to the back and got the rest of the copies they had in stock, all sold.)
The models for the book cover were special guests. They were standing in the corner, looking... well... model-like. They were thin and modelesque with pretty clothes.
Melissa was a little late arriving. It seems she got stuck in traffic too; her hotel was an hour and a half away.
(from left to right: Melissa, Danielle, Chelsea, Mimi, and Jessica)
1- “Did you get discovered or did you try to find a modeling agency?”
2- Question 1 continued and “So has it [modeling] lived up to what you thought it would be? What’s the best thing about it/the worst?”
3- Answer to Question 2
4-“How are you classmates? Jealous? Supportive?”
5-“What are some of the magazines/fashion shows you’ve worked on?”
6-“Is this something you want to do when you grow up or is it just a hobby?”
7-“Do you have any advice for someone who wants to get into modeling?”
8-“How does your writing schedule work?”
Also, though I don’t have it recorded I remember someone asking what the models thought about their characters. Danielle, who portrays A.A. said that she thought the Ashleys were horrible and it’s not really that bad in school. She also said A.A. was sleazy. Chelsea and Mimi hadn’t read it yet. Jessica said that she thought her character was so bad and mean to everyone, especially Lauren. Also, someone asked about a television show. She said there’s nothing in talks for the Ashleys but someone who does Gossip Girl is writing a script for an Au Pairs movie but there’s a delay because of the strike. She said if any of her works get made into movies, she’d be sure to alert the fans to any casting calls.
And then after the questions lulled Melissa was randomly like "Hi Amanda." I was standing in the back so everyone turned around. I was just like "Hi." I was kind of startled. Then we did the whole “Happy Birthday” deal to one of the models, Danielle. I want to say she turned 14 or 15… And then it was time for signing. Melissa is so nice. I got several hugs. And she was just talking to me about everything. Revelations should be coming out in December; however, she's not done so it's uncertain. She's seen the cover; she said she wants a different one so she's not releasing it to the fans yet. She's going to Book Expo again so wooot, I'll see her again there. =] Gahh, I really don't like this picture. I feel like I always look bad in pictures when it counts. I seem to look fine when I take random ones for myspace. sdksjdksjksjd.
Danielle and Chelsea (aka A.A. and Lauren)
Chelsea and Mimi (aka Lauren and Lili) (Mimi is also Aya on the cover of Scott Westerfeld’s Extras)
"Merry Christmas Blue Bloods Fans!"
Hey! It's Christmas and it's been a frenzy of over-shopping and over-indulging chez moi, as well as over-angsting over deadlines. I am drunk on champagne and good feeling since the baby is asleeep! Which means I can now go watch the TiVo'd Crowned and Gossip Girl, woohoo!
As a Christmas present to all the Blue Bloods fans I thought I would post my outline notes of the first chapter! Please note that the first chapter that has come out of this outline is actually very different from what I planned here. (But not that different--the essential bones are the same, but there are a few big changes.) Anyway, wow, I managed to say nothing and everything in that paragraph huh?
The following has been directly copied from my REVELATIONS-OUTLINE document!
Author's Notes in Italics.
Blue Bloods III: Revelations
By Melissa de la Cruz
(A Novel of Secrets and Lies) --> a hint of what is to come! For Masquerade, I wrote "In which no one and nothing is as it seems." I like to write little themes so I remember to stick to them when writing the book.
Here is the epigraph I chose. The quotes that begin the novel. I looove epigraphs. I think because I grew up reading Stephen King and he always chose great epigraphs for his books. You will notice all my novels have epigraphs. How can you start a book without it?
Now war arose in heaven,
Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon;
and the dragon and his angels fought,
but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven….
“But woe to you, O earth and sea,
for the devil has come down to you in great wrath,
because he knows that his time is short!”
Revelation 12:7-12
-->Can't you just hear Samuel L. Jackson saying those lines?
Chapter One: SCHUYLER POV ---> I always write POV=Point of View so I can remember whose mind I'm supposed to be in.
It has been a month since Schuyler returned from Venice, and she’s now living with the Forces in their townhouse across from the Met. Life is complicated. She is forbidden to see her grandfather as well as her best friend and human conduit, Oliver.
But on gray days when no one notices, Schuyler repairs to a penthouse apartment in a gleaming all-white tower in downtown Manhattan. There, inside the famed Richard Meier building, she waits for her secret rendezvous. A secret she finds hard to admit even to herself.
Finally, someone arrives. Schuyler looks up expectantly. “Hello Schuyler,” a friendly voice says. But the boy who appears is not the one she was waiting for.
--->OOOOOH!!!!
I know. I probably should not have done this. But, it's Christmas and some of you have begged so nicely.
xoxo
Mel
As a Christmas present to all the Blue Bloods fans I thought I would post my outline notes of the first chapter! Please note that the first chapter that has come out of this outline is actually very different from what I planned here. (But not that different--the essential bones are the same, but there are a few big changes.) Anyway, wow, I managed to say nothing and everything in that paragraph huh?
The following has been directly copied from my REVELATIONS-OUTLINE document!
Author's Notes in Italics.
Blue Bloods III: Revelations
By Melissa de la Cruz
(A Novel of Secrets and Lies) --> a hint of what is to come! For Masquerade, I wrote "In which no one and nothing is as it seems." I like to write little themes so I remember to stick to them when writing the book.
Here is the epigraph I chose. The quotes that begin the novel. I looove epigraphs. I think because I grew up reading Stephen King and he always chose great epigraphs for his books. You will notice all my novels have epigraphs. How can you start a book without it?
Now war arose in heaven,
Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon;
and the dragon and his angels fought,
but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven….
“But woe to you, O earth and sea,
for the devil has come down to you in great wrath,
because he knows that his time is short!”
Revelation 12:7-12
-->Can't you just hear Samuel L. Jackson saying those lines?
Chapter One: SCHUYLER POV ---> I always write POV=Point of View so I can remember whose mind I'm supposed to be in.
It has been a month since Schuyler returned from Venice, and she’s now living with the Forces in their townhouse across from the Met. Life is complicated. She is forbidden to see her grandfather as well as her best friend and human conduit, Oliver.
But on gray days when no one notices, Schuyler repairs to a penthouse apartment in a gleaming all-white tower in downtown Manhattan. There, inside the famed Richard Meier building, she waits for her secret rendezvous. A secret she finds hard to admit even to herself.
Finally, someone arrives. Schuyler looks up expectantly. “Hello Schuyler,” a friendly voice says. But the boy who appears is not the one she was waiting for.
--->OOOOOH!!!!
I know. I probably should not have done this. But, it's Christmas and some of you have begged so nicely.
xoxo
Mel
BLUE BLOODS DELETED/CHANGED SCENE - FIRST CHAPTER
AUTHOR'S COMMENTARY: I had a LOT of fun writing the first chapter of Blue Bloods because it was based on true-life experiences. Me and my best friend Morgan used to go to this club called THE BANK which was the only goth club in New York. Unlike a lot of NYC clubs, it was an all-access kind of place, there were no snooty velvet ropes and no annoying traders commandeering tables and ordering $500 bottles of vodka. But a lot of the descriptions of the club was making the story very SLOW. So it had to go. Here's one of the earlier versions of the first chapter.
Every weekend the club was filled with hundreds of black-clad teenagers humming, swaying and drifting to the Trance music's lazy, intermittent rhythm. Already that night, the line in front of the club wormed down the block, a raggedy mix of thin, neurasthenic girls swathed in oversized blazers and gypsy skirts, and pretty, frail boys wearing eyeliner.
"Why did I wear this skirt, I hate this skirt," Schuyler muttered. She didn't know why she was so worried. The Bank was the last place in Manhattan that wasn't overrun with celebrities and wannabe celebrities and the gawkers suitably star-struck enough to pay money to be near them. The Bank was too corny, too earnestly weird, and too cheap for that. The days when passed-out WB starlets were found in the VIP room were long gone. Which was the only reason she had agreed to go. That and the promise of dancing in The Pit (a mosh pit behind the teller windows).
Just then, the line began to move. Oliver grinned. She was glad she hadn't chickened out on their evening after all. Even though she could never really say No to Oliver. Aside from her grandmother, he was the only one in the world who cared about her. She took a step forward.
She should never have let Ollie talk her into buying a fake ID—her first foray into identity theft! It was a Maryland license, easier to duplicate because unlike the New York kind, it lacked a watermark. Oliver coolly surrendered his Hawaiian one—another easy state, Dylan's connection had assured, since few bartenders in the city knew what a real one looked like. Schuyler blanched as the stone-faced doorman slid the cards under the infrared machine.
Nothing happened.
It felt like time had stopped. Then just like that, the doorman suddenly returned their cards and waved them forward.
Schuyler exhaled. She and Oliver exchanged a restrained look of glee.
They floated inside the club, feeling heady from smell of the beer-sweat and musk, the music slithering into their blood, already making them dizzy with the sopoforic sound, powerless to the pull of the relentless bassline. They were inside.
_____
BLUE BLOODS/FIRST CHAPTER: ALTERNATE ENDING
AUTHOR'S COMMENTARY: My original idea was to end the chapter with the end of their evening. But in rewriting, I realized that getting IN the club was a good place to end it. Sometimes it's better to say less than more.
It was almost five in the morning, the technical end of the evening, (since by law, the nightclub had to close, but it opened again at six until noon for the dawn crowd), and Schuyler took one last lap around the balcony, looking for Oliver. It had been a manic, surreal night. They'd wandered around the club for hours, taking in all the strange and delightful sights—the downstairs bazaar that sold all kinds of rubber bracelets and studded jewelry, the hang-out room by the co-ed bathrooms where six-foot-tall drag queens repaired their makeup and gossiped about the DJs, the upstairs lounge, where Schuyler had sat, Indian-style by the floor-to-ceiling windows to get some rest, and two frat boys in alma mater Ts and new Diesel jeans ('alterno-seeking-tourists from the tri-state hinterlands' Oliver called them) tapped her politely on the shoulder and asked, "Got any?"
Schuyler was flattered to have been mistaken for a drug dealer. She liked The Bank. She liked the fact that someone had fashioned a bed out of the metal chairs by the balcony and was snoring loudly on it. She liked how empty it was—she and Oliver rattled around the topmost floors like pebbles in a big glass jar, lost in an Alice-in-Wonderland funhouse. She'd been disoriented for a minute there, when she'd turned the corner to the ladies' room and encountered a blank wall instead. For a moment, she had no idea where she was. The walls were suddenly bright and clean instead of dark and grimy, and in the distance, she could hear the soft sounds of typing.
A tall man came out of the shadows. He was handsome, with a fine crown of silver hair. He was wearing a well-cut English suit and looked completely out of place at The Bank. He locked eyes with Schuyler for a moment.
"Hey where are you--?" she tried to ask.
But as soon as she did, he disappeared into the darkness.
And then the noise faded and when she blinked her eyes, she was in the shadowy recesses of the nightclub again. Still, it didn't scare her. Absurdly, The Bank felt like home.
She was alone. Dylan had gone for a smoke and had never returned, and now even Oliver was missing. He'd promised to get another round of drinks, but that was hours ago. It wasn't like him to leave her in the lurch like that—she'd been looking forward to splitting a ride back uptown and having an early, ravenous breakfast of pancakes and milk shakes before he dropped her off at home. She tried his cell again. No answer. She didn't know what to do. Stay or go? What if he'd already left?
So she bundled up, folding her hands underneath her armpits, cold in her thin sweater, walked downstairs, to the front, past many posted signs that warned NO RE-ENTRY! EXIT FINAL! LEAVE AT YOUR OWN RISK! before finally finding the swinging doors that led outside. She stood in front of the sidewalk to hail a taxi.
Oliver could take care of himself, and she could do the same.
----
AUTHOR'S COMMENTARY: In re-reading this, I kind of wish I had kept some of it in. Especially seeing the old guy (who turns out to be Charles Force later). But like I said earlier, the chapter really needs to end with Sky and Ollie getting IN the club. After that, it's just extra...
This chapter reminds me of how much I love nightclubs. The part about some guy sleeping on a few chairs upstairs? Totally true. I always felt very at-home at New York City nightclubs. We used to go to this after-hours club called The Sound Factory (which then became Twilo and now I think is closed). And I looked so at home there that nightclub newbies thought I was a drug dealer! Because who else looks at home at a nightclub right?? Like Schuyler, I felt flattered. It just showed that I belonged there. Sound Factory was the place where Madonna hired all her dancers. We would see them at the club (we knew them from the documentary). It was this illicit, fabulous, only-in-New-York kind of place. I loved it.
Wow. This is really fun. And I found a great deleted scene in another file which I'll post tomorrow!
xoxo
Mel
Every weekend the club was filled with hundreds of black-clad teenagers humming, swaying and drifting to the Trance music's lazy, intermittent rhythm. Already that night, the line in front of the club wormed down the block, a raggedy mix of thin, neurasthenic girls swathed in oversized blazers and gypsy skirts, and pretty, frail boys wearing eyeliner.
"Why did I wear this skirt, I hate this skirt," Schuyler muttered. She didn't know why she was so worried. The Bank was the last place in Manhattan that wasn't overrun with celebrities and wannabe celebrities and the gawkers suitably star-struck enough to pay money to be near them. The Bank was too corny, too earnestly weird, and too cheap for that. The days when passed-out WB starlets were found in the VIP room were long gone. Which was the only reason she had agreed to go. That and the promise of dancing in The Pit (a mosh pit behind the teller windows).
Just then, the line began to move. Oliver grinned. She was glad she hadn't chickened out on their evening after all. Even though she could never really say No to Oliver. Aside from her grandmother, he was the only one in the world who cared about her. She took a step forward.
She should never have let Ollie talk her into buying a fake ID—her first foray into identity theft! It was a Maryland license, easier to duplicate because unlike the New York kind, it lacked a watermark. Oliver coolly surrendered his Hawaiian one—another easy state, Dylan's connection had assured, since few bartenders in the city knew what a real one looked like. Schuyler blanched as the stone-faced doorman slid the cards under the infrared machine.
Nothing happened.
It felt like time had stopped. Then just like that, the doorman suddenly returned their cards and waved them forward.
Schuyler exhaled. She and Oliver exchanged a restrained look of glee.
They floated inside the club, feeling heady from smell of the beer-sweat and musk, the music slithering into their blood, already making them dizzy with the sopoforic sound, powerless to the pull of the relentless bassline. They were inside.
_____
BLUE BLOODS/FIRST CHAPTER: ALTERNATE ENDING
AUTHOR'S COMMENTARY: My original idea was to end the chapter with the end of their evening. But in rewriting, I realized that getting IN the club was a good place to end it. Sometimes it's better to say less than more.
It was almost five in the morning, the technical end of the evening, (since by law, the nightclub had to close, but it opened again at six until noon for the dawn crowd), and Schuyler took one last lap around the balcony, looking for Oliver. It had been a manic, surreal night. They'd wandered around the club for hours, taking in all the strange and delightful sights—the downstairs bazaar that sold all kinds of rubber bracelets and studded jewelry, the hang-out room by the co-ed bathrooms where six-foot-tall drag queens repaired their makeup and gossiped about the DJs, the upstairs lounge, where Schuyler had sat, Indian-style by the floor-to-ceiling windows to get some rest, and two frat boys in alma mater Ts and new Diesel jeans ('alterno-seeking-tourists from the tri-state hinterlands' Oliver called them) tapped her politely on the shoulder and asked, "Got any?"
Schuyler was flattered to have been mistaken for a drug dealer. She liked The Bank. She liked the fact that someone had fashioned a bed out of the metal chairs by the balcony and was snoring loudly on it. She liked how empty it was—she and Oliver rattled around the topmost floors like pebbles in a big glass jar, lost in an Alice-in-Wonderland funhouse. She'd been disoriented for a minute there, when she'd turned the corner to the ladies' room and encountered a blank wall instead. For a moment, she had no idea where she was. The walls were suddenly bright and clean instead of dark and grimy, and in the distance, she could hear the soft sounds of typing.
A tall man came out of the shadows. He was handsome, with a fine crown of silver hair. He was wearing a well-cut English suit and looked completely out of place at The Bank. He locked eyes with Schuyler for a moment.
"Hey where are you--?" she tried to ask.
But as soon as she did, he disappeared into the darkness.
And then the noise faded and when she blinked her eyes, she was in the shadowy recesses of the nightclub again. Still, it didn't scare her. Absurdly, The Bank felt like home.
She was alone. Dylan had gone for a smoke and had never returned, and now even Oliver was missing. He'd promised to get another round of drinks, but that was hours ago. It wasn't like him to leave her in the lurch like that—she'd been looking forward to splitting a ride back uptown and having an early, ravenous breakfast of pancakes and milk shakes before he dropped her off at home. She tried his cell again. No answer. She didn't know what to do. Stay or go? What if he'd already left?
So she bundled up, folding her hands underneath her armpits, cold in her thin sweater, walked downstairs, to the front, past many posted signs that warned NO RE-ENTRY! EXIT FINAL! LEAVE AT YOUR OWN RISK! before finally finding the swinging doors that led outside. She stood in front of the sidewalk to hail a taxi.
Oliver could take care of himself, and she could do the same.
----
AUTHOR'S COMMENTARY: In re-reading this, I kind of wish I had kept some of it in. Especially seeing the old guy (who turns out to be Charles Force later). But like I said earlier, the chapter really needs to end with Sky and Ollie getting IN the club. After that, it's just extra...
This chapter reminds me of how much I love nightclubs. The part about some guy sleeping on a few chairs upstairs? Totally true. I always felt very at-home at New York City nightclubs. We used to go to this after-hours club called The Sound Factory (which then became Twilo and now I think is closed). And I looked so at home there that nightclub newbies thought I was a drug dealer! Because who else looks at home at a nightclub right?? Like Schuyler, I felt flattered. It just showed that I belonged there. Sound Factory was the place where Madonna hired all her dancers. We would see them at the club (we knew them from the documentary). It was this illicit, fabulous, only-in-New-York kind of place. I loved it.
Wow. This is really fun. And I found a great deleted scene in another file which I'll post tomorrow!
xoxo
Mel
--------------------------------------------------------
Another Deleted Scene: Aggie’s Death
AGGIE'S DEATH/ALTERNATE DELETED SCENE
AUTHOR'S COMMENTARY:
Here's another cool deleted scene I found in the hard drive. This was a very early version of Aggie's murder. In this version, Aggie is Schuyler's friend, not Mimi's (as it is in the final book) and she's also Dylan's girlfriend. I cut it and changed it because it seemed too much to have Schuyler be very close to the murder victim, also it took away from how intense her friendship was with Oliver. Also, in my mind it seemed like Aggie was a lot like Schuyler and we couldn't really have that. There's only one Schuyler! I also didn't think being at the hospital really added anything to the story. Much better for them to find out about Aggie's death Monday morning at school.
It's weird, in re-reading all these cut scenes, I realize that my editor was so right: WRITING IS A PROCESS. You have to write your way through the plot problems to realize what the story is really about.
The story about The Closet (also called the Land of Nod in the final book) is absolutely true. There was a certain nightclub in New York where if you passed out, they put you in the back, and if it looked like you had OD'd, they would dump you in the ER, taking you there in the club's "ambulance" otherwise known as the nightclub owner's SUV.
I cut this pretty early on. I didn't think it added anything to the story. But it's fun to see here, isn't it?
---
They think I have something to do with it. Bliss couldn't help but notice the way Dylan's friends—Schuyler Van Alen and Oliver Hazard-Perry, were looking at her. The way their eyes had gone from assessing the situation to assessing her. She'd been a step behind Dylan when he ran outside. All of them had climbed into the taxicab, Jack Force and that loser girl-Schuyler up front, while she'd had to squeeze in between Dylan and some guy wearing eye shadow in the back seat, Dylan's girlfriend Aggie—that's what he called her—stretched out lifelessly on their laps.
The rest of the trip was a surreal nightmare—the cab screeching up Broadway, past red lights, the driver cursing at them, and as soon as they'd arrived at the hospital, a squadron of doctors, nurses and emergency personnel scrambling, and Aggie immediately whisked away on a stretcher and none of them allowed to see her.
That was half an hour ago. The five of them were sitting in the plastic chairs in the waiting room, still waiting. Bliss wondered how long she would have to stay. It's not like she knew any of these kids, she'd just met them all that night. But Jack Force was still there, and he didn't know them either, so it seemed rude to want to leave.
"She's not dead," Schuyler whispered. "She's not." Aggie, please don't be dead, please don't be dead. Schuyler prayed. But god, she'd certainly looked dead. Her eyes had rolled to the back of her head, and her lips were purple. Her skin, normally so pale already, was almost translucent. And all through the cab ride, Schuyler had searched vainly for a pulse without finding one.
"Yo, dude, I'm telling you, she wasn't breathing," Dylan argued.
"What happened?" Oliver asked, hunched forward, dark circles beginning to form around his eyes.
"I told you, I went out to get a smoke, and when I got back inside I couldn't find Aggie anywhere," Dylan explained in a slightly defensive tone. "So I looked around, tried calling her, texting her, nothing, so I just hung out, I figured she might be in the Pit—you know how she likes to dance down there." The Pit was in the basement of the Bank, so crowded and dark it would be impossible to find anyone, especially a tiny girl who was slam-dancing by herself. "So I thought I'd wait it out. Then, I dunno, I kind of passed out somehow. When I woke up, and I was in this little room that was locked."
"The Closet," Oliver said wisely.
"I guess. It was small enough to be a closet," Dylan nodded. "And there were all these people passed out back there."
"It's where they put the wastoids," Oliver explained. "So the club doesn't look like one big slumber party."
"They do that?" Bliss asked, Thaydewthaat? She cleared her throat. Damn her accent. "Why?" She'd never heard of such a thing.
"Usually they truck them away in the 'ambulance'—Big Rob's Cadillac with the big trunk, dump them all at the ER. But that was starting to cost, and mostly the kids weren't OD'd, just out of it." Oliver shrugged. "They'd wake up, and well—what a long strange trip, right?"
"It's disgusting," Schuyler said, although she'd always found the practice funny, until now.
"What did she take?" Jack asked.
Dylan looked up, startled. "What do you mean?"
"She must have been on drugs, right?"
"No," Schuyler said emphatically. "Aggie's straight-edge." It was one of Aggie's quirks, like her obsession with proper afternoon tea at the St. Regis. Aggie even had a blue-pen X mark that she scratched on her left hand every day to remind herself of her dedication to sobriety.
"Totally." Dylan nodded.
"And how did you get involved?" Oliver asked, looking straight at Bliss. Bliss knew they were all wondering the same thing. Something about Dylan's story wasn't adding up. He'd gone for a smoke—yes—but he hadn't mentioned for how long—the two of them had ended up talking for ages in that back alley. When they'd smoked every last cigarette they had between the two of them, he finally went inside, and she'd secretly followed him—because after meeting him the last thing she wanted was to go back to Mimi and her demands at Block 122. Dylan hadn't noticed.
She'd wandered around The Bank, alone, fascinated by how dank and disgusting it all was—the floors were covered in slime, and in contrast to Block 122, everyone was so ugly, when suddenly she'd heard screams from inside a wall. She'd found a door—unlocked it from the outside—Jesus, they locked you in there—and Dylan had burst out—his dead girlfriend in his arms.
"I was with a friend," Bliss shrugged. Let them wonder. Why did she owe them an explanation? Why did they have to look at her that way? She didn't kill her.
The ER doctor who'd taken Aggie in emerged through the swinging doors in his green scrubs. "Are those her friends?" he asked the nurse. Schuyler and Oliver approached him. "Is she OK?" Schuyler asked, her voice quavering.
The doctor slowly shook his head. He began explaining—it looked like an overdose—not quite sure what had caused a fatal reaction like that—cardiac arrest, pulmonary failure—extreme loss of blood—the doctor said they were very, very sorry, they did everything they could, but she was dead upon arrival.
Schuyler twisted her hands onto the wings of her cardigan, not hearing or comprehending the words—but when she heard "failure to resuscitate" she crumpled into Oliver's chest, heaving sobs that racked her small frame. "It's Ok, It's OK," Oliver murmured, soothing her, holding her to him, holding her up as she threatened to slide down against the wall.
Dylan turned to the side and quietly threw up on the floor.
"I think we uh, should probably leave them alone?" Bliss asked, elbowing Jack.
Jack nodded, his face grave. He walked towards the huddled duo. "I'm sorry about your friend, Schuyler." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Schuyler, lost in her grief, nodded through her tears.
---
A lot of my writing is influenced by people I knew in real life. A good friend of mine in college used to be straight-edge and he would mark the inside of his wrist with blue pen with an "X" all the time to resist the temptation of drugs and alcohol.
The scene at the hospital was also totally inspired by a similar event that happened in college, when a friend of mine broke his ankle, and the whole gang of his friends waited in the waiting area for him to get fixed.
I'll try to post more deleted scenes, but I really have to get back to writing Blue Bloods 3: REVELATIONS!!!
xoxo
Mel
AGGIE'S DEATH/ALTERNATE DELETED SCENE
AUTHOR'S COMMENTARY:
Here's another cool deleted scene I found in the hard drive. This was a very early version of Aggie's murder. In this version, Aggie is Schuyler's friend, not Mimi's (as it is in the final book) and she's also Dylan's girlfriend. I cut it and changed it because it seemed too much to have Schuyler be very close to the murder victim, also it took away from how intense her friendship was with Oliver. Also, in my mind it seemed like Aggie was a lot like Schuyler and we couldn't really have that. There's only one Schuyler! I also didn't think being at the hospital really added anything to the story. Much better for them to find out about Aggie's death Monday morning at school.
It's weird, in re-reading all these cut scenes, I realize that my editor was so right: WRITING IS A PROCESS. You have to write your way through the plot problems to realize what the story is really about.
The story about The Closet (also called the Land of Nod in the final book) is absolutely true. There was a certain nightclub in New York where if you passed out, they put you in the back, and if it looked like you had OD'd, they would dump you in the ER, taking you there in the club's "ambulance" otherwise known as the nightclub owner's SUV.
I cut this pretty early on. I didn't think it added anything to the story. But it's fun to see here, isn't it?
---
They think I have something to do with it. Bliss couldn't help but notice the way Dylan's friends—Schuyler Van Alen and Oliver Hazard-Perry, were looking at her. The way their eyes had gone from assessing the situation to assessing her. She'd been a step behind Dylan when he ran outside. All of them had climbed into the taxicab, Jack Force and that loser girl-Schuyler up front, while she'd had to squeeze in between Dylan and some guy wearing eye shadow in the back seat, Dylan's girlfriend Aggie—that's what he called her—stretched out lifelessly on their laps.
The rest of the trip was a surreal nightmare—the cab screeching up Broadway, past red lights, the driver cursing at them, and as soon as they'd arrived at the hospital, a squadron of doctors, nurses and emergency personnel scrambling, and Aggie immediately whisked away on a stretcher and none of them allowed to see her.
That was half an hour ago. The five of them were sitting in the plastic chairs in the waiting room, still waiting. Bliss wondered how long she would have to stay. It's not like she knew any of these kids, she'd just met them all that night. But Jack Force was still there, and he didn't know them either, so it seemed rude to want to leave.
"She's not dead," Schuyler whispered. "She's not." Aggie, please don't be dead, please don't be dead. Schuyler prayed. But god, she'd certainly looked dead. Her eyes had rolled to the back of her head, and her lips were purple. Her skin, normally so pale already, was almost translucent. And all through the cab ride, Schuyler had searched vainly for a pulse without finding one.
"Yo, dude, I'm telling you, she wasn't breathing," Dylan argued.
"What happened?" Oliver asked, hunched forward, dark circles beginning to form around his eyes.
"I told you, I went out to get a smoke, and when I got back inside I couldn't find Aggie anywhere," Dylan explained in a slightly defensive tone. "So I looked around, tried calling her, texting her, nothing, so I just hung out, I figured she might be in the Pit—you know how she likes to dance down there." The Pit was in the basement of the Bank, so crowded and dark it would be impossible to find anyone, especially a tiny girl who was slam-dancing by herself. "So I thought I'd wait it out. Then, I dunno, I kind of passed out somehow. When I woke up, and I was in this little room that was locked."
"The Closet," Oliver said wisely.
"I guess. It was small enough to be a closet," Dylan nodded. "And there were all these people passed out back there."
"It's where they put the wastoids," Oliver explained. "So the club doesn't look like one big slumber party."
"They do that?" Bliss asked, Thaydewthaat? She cleared her throat. Damn her accent. "Why?" She'd never heard of such a thing.
"Usually they truck them away in the 'ambulance'—Big Rob's Cadillac with the big trunk, dump them all at the ER. But that was starting to cost, and mostly the kids weren't OD'd, just out of it." Oliver shrugged. "They'd wake up, and well—what a long strange trip, right?"
"It's disgusting," Schuyler said, although she'd always found the practice funny, until now.
"What did she take?" Jack asked.
Dylan looked up, startled. "What do you mean?"
"She must have been on drugs, right?"
"No," Schuyler said emphatically. "Aggie's straight-edge." It was one of Aggie's quirks, like her obsession with proper afternoon tea at the St. Regis. Aggie even had a blue-pen X mark that she scratched on her left hand every day to remind herself of her dedication to sobriety.
"Totally." Dylan nodded.
"And how did you get involved?" Oliver asked, looking straight at Bliss. Bliss knew they were all wondering the same thing. Something about Dylan's story wasn't adding up. He'd gone for a smoke—yes—but he hadn't mentioned for how long—the two of them had ended up talking for ages in that back alley. When they'd smoked every last cigarette they had between the two of them, he finally went inside, and she'd secretly followed him—because after meeting him the last thing she wanted was to go back to Mimi and her demands at Block 122. Dylan hadn't noticed.
She'd wandered around The Bank, alone, fascinated by how dank and disgusting it all was—the floors were covered in slime, and in contrast to Block 122, everyone was so ugly, when suddenly she'd heard screams from inside a wall. She'd found a door—unlocked it from the outside—Jesus, they locked you in there—and Dylan had burst out—his dead girlfriend in his arms.
"I was with a friend," Bliss shrugged. Let them wonder. Why did she owe them an explanation? Why did they have to look at her that way? She didn't kill her.
The ER doctor who'd taken Aggie in emerged through the swinging doors in his green scrubs. "Are those her friends?" he asked the nurse. Schuyler and Oliver approached him. "Is she OK?" Schuyler asked, her voice quavering.
The doctor slowly shook his head. He began explaining—it looked like an overdose—not quite sure what had caused a fatal reaction like that—cardiac arrest, pulmonary failure—extreme loss of blood—the doctor said they were very, very sorry, they did everything they could, but she was dead upon arrival.
Schuyler twisted her hands onto the wings of her cardigan, not hearing or comprehending the words—but when she heard "failure to resuscitate" she crumpled into Oliver's chest, heaving sobs that racked her small frame. "It's Ok, It's OK," Oliver murmured, soothing her, holding her to him, holding her up as she threatened to slide down against the wall.
Dylan turned to the side and quietly threw up on the floor.
"I think we uh, should probably leave them alone?" Bliss asked, elbowing Jack.
Jack nodded, his face grave. He walked towards the huddled duo. "I'm sorry about your friend, Schuyler." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Schuyler, lost in her grief, nodded through her tears.
---
A lot of my writing is influenced by people I knew in real life. A good friend of mine in college used to be straight-edge and he would mark the inside of his wrist with blue pen with an "X" all the time to resist the temptation of drugs and alcohol.
The scene at the hospital was also totally inspired by a similar event that happened in college, when a friend of mine broke his ankle, and the whole gang of his friends waited in the waiting area for him to get fixed.
I'll try to post more deleted scenes, but I really have to get back to writing Blue Bloods 3: REVELATIONS!!!
xoxo
Mel
Book Expo 2007
At about 10 I was bored so I figured I might as well get in Melissa de la Cruz's line. I was the first person in line! At 10:30 and I went to meet Melissa.
Me: Hi, I'm Amanda. -insert awkward silence- I made your forums.
Melissa: Oh, Hi! Oh you're so cute, you're so sweet, How old are you?
Me: -answers and blushes- -whips out envelope- I have some letters and drawings from a few of the fans.
Melissa: Oh you're so sweet. So, you've been talking to my sister about … (hahaha, I can't tell you). –starts to sign book-
Then suddenly a woman in one of the electronic scooter/wheelchair things crashed into the table and the pile of books falls all over and the table collapses. But, we were all fine. I think it's funny though. That when I finally got to meet Melissa de la Cruz, we almost got run over by an electronic scooter. So she finished signing my book, [For Amanda-/ the fabulous queen of the/ Blue Blood forums! Thank/ you so much for all/ your enthusiasm! / with love, / Melissa de la Cruz/ 2007] after we found it and fixed the table.
