Melissa de la Cruz (born September 7, 1971) is a Filipina-American writer known for young adult fiction. Her young-adult series include ''Au Pairs'', the '' Blue Bloods'', and ''The Beauchamp Family''.

Early life and education

Melissa de la Cruz was born in Manila, Philippines and says that she has wanted to be an author since she was eleven years old. She immigrated to the United States with her family when she was 13, in 1985, and they settled in San Francisco, where she graduated from Convent of the Sacred Heart High School. She went on to study art history and English at Columbia University in New York City."About Melissa"
Melissa-delacruz.com. Retrieved 2010-10-03. After graduation she worked as a computer consultant.

Personal life

De la Cruz is married to Michael Johnston, another writer, with whom she co-wrote the Heart of Dread series. They and their daughter live in Los Angeles and

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...

Career

De La Cruz wrote her first full-length novel at 22 while living in New York City and working at

Bankers Trust Bankers Trust was a historic American banking organization. The bank merged with Alex. Brown & Sons in 1997 before being acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. Deutsche Bank sold the Trust and Custody division of Bankers Trust to State Street Corpor ...

. That novel ultimately did not sell, but an editor at Little, Brown suggested she become a journalist to work on her professional writing credits. She started working

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

and published her first essay in New York Press in 1996. She also worked as a beauty and fashion editor until she sold her debut novel, ''The Cat's Meow'', in 1998. De la Cruz has published articles in periodicals including '' The New York Times'', ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'', ''

Seventeen Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

'', ''

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'', targeted at teenagers. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and celebrities. Since ...

'', and ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

''. After publication of her debut novel in 2001, and layoff from the U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley, she pursued writing full-time. Work as a fashion writer for ''

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on wo ...

'' was the inspiration for ''How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less'' (2003) by de la Cruz and Karen Robinovitz. Work as a nanny and visits to The Hamptons formed the background for the 2004 to 2007 series ''The Au Pairs''. De la Cruz has also written original novels for Disney's '' Descendants'' franchise, with the first published in 2015.

Series

* Au Pairs – featuring three girls working as au pairs in The Hamptons, inaugurated 2004 with ''The Au Pairs'' * Blue Bloods – vampire novel series inaugurated 2006 with ''Blue Bloods'' * The Ashleys – featuring girls who attend an exclusive

prep school Preparatory school or prep school may refer to: Schools *Preparatory school (United Kingdom), an independent school preparing children aged 8–13 for entry into fee-charging independent schools, usually public schools *College-preparatory school, ...

, inaugurated 2008 with ''The Ashleys: There's a New Name in School'' * The Beauchamp Family – featuring a family of witches in the Blue Bloods universe, inaugurated 2011 with ''Witches of East End''; adapted as 2013–2014 television series '' Witches of East End'' * Wolf Pact – spin-off from Blue Bloods, released September to December 2012 as four short ebooks * Heart of Dread – co-written with her husband Michael Johnston, inaugurated 2013 with ''Frozen'' * The Ring and the Crown – historical fiction about five young adults embroiled in love, politics, and magic during a London coming-of-age season * Alex and Eliza – historical fiction following the 18th-century romance between American founding father

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...

and his wife

Elizabeth Schuyler Elizabeth Hamilton (née Schuyler ; August 9, 1757 – November 9, 1854), also called Eliza or Betsey, was an American socialite and philanthropist. Married to American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, ...

, from 2017 * 29 – contemporary fiction featuring a South Korean teen and her path to finding love, from 2019 * Never After – inaugurated 2020 with ''The Thirteenth Fairy'' * The Queen's Assassin – inaugurated 2020 with ''The Queen's Assassin''

Works

Au Pairs #''The Au Pairs'' (2004) #''Skinny Dipping'' (2005) #''Sun-Kissed'' (2006) #''Crazy Hot'' (2007) The Ashleys #''There's a New Name in School ...'' (2008) #''Jealous? You Know You Are ...'' (2008) #''Birthday Vicious'' (2008) #''Lipgloss Jungle'' (2008) Heart of Dread"Series: Heart of Dread"
ISFDB. 2022-04-29.
De la Cruz and her husband Michael Johnston wrote the Heart of Dread trilogy together. # ''Frozen'' (2013) # ''Stolen'' (2014) # ''Golden'' (2016) The Ring and the Crown"Series: The Ring and the Crown"
ISFDB. 2022-04-29. #''The Ring and the Crown'' (2014) #''The Lily and the Cross'' (2017) Disney Descendants"Series: The Descendants Universe (Disney)"
ISFDB. 2022-04-29.
The Isle of the Lost novels are one series of print books in the Descendants franchise inaugurated by the 2015 Disney musical fantasy TV film '' Descendants'' #''The Isle of the Lost'' (2015) #''Return to the Isle of the Lost'' (2016) #''Rise of the Isle of the Lost'' (2017) #''Escape from the Isle of the Lost'' (2019) #''Beyond the Isle of the Lost'' (2024) Alex & Eliza # ''Alex and Eliza'' (2017) # ''Love & War'' (2018) # ''All for One'' (2019) 29 # ''29 Dates'' (2019) # ''29 Boyfriends (2019)'' Never After"Series: Never After"
ISFDB. 2022-04-29. # ''The Thirteenth Fairy'' (2020) # ''The Stolen Slippers'' (2022) # "The Broken Mirror" (2022) # "The Missing Sword" (2023) The Queen's Assassin"Series: The Queen's Assassin"
ISFDB. 2022-04-29. # ''The Queen's Assassin'' (2020) # ''The Queen's Secret'' (2021) Blue Bloods universe"Series: Blue Blooks Universe"
Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved 2022-04-29. : Blue Bloods # ''Blue Bloods'' (2006) # ''Masquerade'' (2007) # ''Revelations'' (2008) # ''The Van Alen Legacy'' (2009) # ''Misguided Angel'' (2010) # ''Bloody Valentine'' (2010) # ''Lost in Time'' (2011) # ''Gates of Paradise'' (2013) :* ''Keys to the Repository'' (2010), "companion novel", or collection : The Beauchamp Family # '' Witches of East End'' (2011) # ''Serpent's Kiss'' (2012) # ''Winds of Salem'' (2013) #''Triple Moon'' (2015) #''Double Eclipse'' (2016) : Wolf Pact : ''Wolf Pact'' was first published October to December 2012 as four ebooks entitled ''Wolf Pact: Part One of Four'' and so on, followed by a paperback first edition of the whole. :* ''Wolf Pact'' (2012) : The New Blue Bloods Coven # ''Vampires of Manhattan'' (2014) # ''White Nights'' (2017) Stand-alone novels * ''Cat's Meow'' (2001) * ''How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less'' (2003), by de la Cruz and Karen Robinovitz * ''The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four-Inch Heels and Faux Pas'' (2004) *''Fresh off the Boat'' (2005) *''Angels on Sunset Boulevard'' (2007) *''Girl Stays in the Picture'' (2009) *''Surviving High School: A Novel'' (2016) *''Something in Between'' (2016) *''Pride & Prejudice & Mistletoe'' (2017) *''Someone to Love'' (2018) *''Once Upon a River'' (2018) *''Gotham High'' (2020) *''Jo & Laurie'' (2020), by Melissa Stohl and de la Cruz *''High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Road Trip'' (2021) *''Cinder & Glass'' (2022) * ''A Secret Princess'' (2022, expected June), by Melissa Stohl and de la Cruz *''Snow & Poison'' (2023) *''Going Dark'' (2023) Short stories * ''Mistletoe'' (2006) – anthology with de la Cruz a contributing author * "Shelter Island", in ''666: The Number of the Beast'' (2007), anthology * ''21 Proms'' (2007), anthology by de la Cruz * "A Manhattan Love Story", in ''

Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys ''Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys'' is an American reality television series that premiered on December 7, 2010, on the Sundance Channel. The series chronicles the lives of four gay men and their female best friends. Season 2, which saw the sho ...

'' (2007), anthology * "Shelter Island", in

The Eternal Kiss ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

(2009), anthology * "Code of Honor", in ''A Thousand Beginnings and Endings'' (2018), anthology, eds.

Ellen Oh Ellen Oh (née Ha) is a Korean-American author, and founding member and CEO of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books. She is the award winning author of young adult and middle grade novels including the Prophecy trilogy, also known as the Dragon Ki ...

and Elsie Chapman

References

External links

*
Melissa De La Cruz
at Twitter
The Au Pairs
official)
Blue Bloods Books
official) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:De La Cruz, Melissa 1971 births Living people Writers from Manila Writers from San Francisco American children's writers Columbia College (New York) alumni Filipino emigrants to the United States Schools of the Sacred Heart alumni American women novelists American women children's writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers Nannies American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Filipino domestic workers