Best-selling Fil-Am author Melissa de la Cruz launches own brand new studio, partners with Disney Publishing Worldwide

Los Angeles — Ever since the time Melissa de la Cruz learned how to read, she fell in love with books.

Books were her constant companion, even when she grew up to become a teenager and went to parties. “I was an introverted kid and books were my best friends,” she told us in a virtual interview while she was self-isolating in her home in Los Angeles. “I even brought books with me when I attended parties,” she recalled.

Now the bookworm has become one of country’s bestselling authors having penned such popular titles as the vampire series "Blue Bloods," the historical fantasy epic "The Ring and the Crown," and "29 Dates," a romantic comedy about a Korean exchange student, which is scheduled to become a feature-length movie on Disney’s streaming service, Disney+.

She is also the author of the "Isle of the Lost" series of novels, based on the Disney Channel’s Descendants universe.

At 11 years old, Melissa de la Cruz had already dreamt of becoming a writer. “Then I discovered that you can write books and you can publish them and that was something that I wanted to do,” she disclosed.

She remembers winning a poetry contest when she was in high school at The Convent of the Sacred Heart where she graduated salutatorian.

At 13, she moved to San Francisco with her family and ultimately, ended up going to college at Columbia University where she majored in art history and English.

Today, the 48-year-old bestselling and award-winning author breaks barriers once more as she launches her brand new studio, Melissa de la Cruz Studio.

By: Denise Bovee

She teams up with Disney Publishing Worldwide to provide original storytelling and diverse voices to create original content with the goal of further developing stories across multiple platforms for a global audience.

Her series and standalone books have been published in more than 20 countries and among her upcoming projects include a bridge novel for the next season of the Disney+ series, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and a new Blue Bloods series that will debut in fall 2021 with Blue Bloods: The Return.

She's penned more than 50 books, which have topped USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times bestseller lists.

Melissa is also the co-director of YALLFEST (Charleston, South Carolina) and the co-founder of YALLWEST (Santa Monica, California), the two largest and most vibrant young adult book festivals in the country, attracting more than 30,000 readers every year.

We recently talked to Melissa and below are excerpts of our exclusive conversation with her.

You are an award-winning writer but then you got involved with Disney. Can you tell us how this came about and how is the working relationship or collaboration with Disney going to be?

They asked me to do "The Descendants" franchise and it kind of gave me some experience with the company and how they do their projects. It is not just about books or TV and movies but I also had to deal with toy makers which was really interesting and fun and it became a natural collaboration. I was so excited for the opportunity to work with Disney.

Why did you decide to have your own studio and to work with Disney?

Who doesn’t want to work with Disney? I have been working with them for the past 20 years and I have that trust. I am proud to be part of the company and to collaborate with them. It is just so exciting.

How are you going to choose the writers you are going to support? Do you have a committee who will do that or will you just do it yourself?

I can’t really speak about that yet and am not sure of the process yet. We just started and we just had a call today to discuss that matter. I don’t know yet.

Will your studio be based also in Burbank like Disney?

I don’t know yet. My editors are in New York and I am in Los Angeles. We have always worked that way. We are bicoastal – West Coast and East Coast. So wherever Disney will be based.

You grew up in the Philippines and you migrated with your parents. Was it your dream already to become a writer? Were your parents writers as well?

No. My parents were both bankers. My dad was an investment banker and my mom worked for Bank of America. But they always encouraged me to be creative and they supported me with my creative aspirations.

I have always wanted to be a writer since I was 11 years old. I won a poetry contest in high school and when I moved from New York to Los Angeles, I did not know how to drive so my dad drove me around. When I went to meetings, he would stay in the car and tell me who the celebrities he saw were.

What made you want to become a writer?

Ever since I was young, I loved books. I was an introverted kid and I was always the kid who had a book. I would go to a party with a book. Then I discovered that you can write books and you can publish them and that was something that I wanted to do.

What were your memories of growing up in the Philippines and how did that influence you into the writer that you are today?

The Philippine culture is so much a part of me since I grew up there until age 13. I went to elementary school there. All my memories as a child were while I was in the Philippines. My sense of humor is very Filipino. And I am lucky to have that because Filipinos take it easy.

My dad is a happy-go- lucky kind of guy. My love for Disney developed when I was a kid because we would usually go to the U.S. for vacation and go to Disneyland or Disneyworld. I just loved Disney as a kid. So when I did Descendants, it was a dream come true to be able to write about the characters that I love. I was a Disney kid.

When was the last time you went back to the Philippines?

The last time I went back was eight years ago, when I did some promotion and then five years ago when my cousin got married.

Both your parents are from Manila?

Yes they are both from Manila.

What challenges did you encounter as a Filipino-American female writer trying to make a name for yourself as a writer in America?

I went to high school here in the States and I went to Columbia University, New York for college. I do not know. I feel like I don’t think there was a challenge. That’s why I tell young writers to start writing early, write for a small newspaper because they really are open to listen to new writers. They are excited for new talent. They are always looking for the next fresh voice. I was encouraged to write.

Young writers should not hold that. They should keep on trying. I was confident to write because my parents instilled in me confidence, hard work, and diligence; and I think especially since I was in New York, it was not an obstacle then.

By: Maria Cina

You moved from New York to Los Angeles. What made you decide to move and how is it living in L.A. now?

My parents lived in Pasadena and I wanted to be closer to them. I love L.A. although I am a New Yorker by heart. I lived in New York for 15 years. I met my husband in New York. I was living in New York at a young age. By that time, I had the soul of the city. So my husband and I consider ourselves more of New Yorkers than Angelenos. But we love L.A.

You mentioned your husband who is also an author. Do you guys compete against each other or collaborate with each other?

We do not compete with each other. We are each other’s biggest fans. We even wrote a book together. We support each other. He writes science fiction and fantasy. We speak the same language of the books and we are getting our kid to love books as well. She is reading Dune now which is our favorite. She is 13 and she is not yet into writing.

Are you familiar with the Philippine myths and legends and do you plan to incorporate or write about them in your future books too?

I think so. Yes I am familiar with them. I wrote a little bit of that in a short story about a Filipino vampire. I have a couple of projects that are coming up that I cannot talk about yet but yes, I grew up reading Filipino folktale. Filipinos are very superstitious and it really helps to grow up in that culture if you are a paranormal author because I love hearing all those stories.

So you heard from your grandparents about multos and aswangs?

Yes I definitely heard those stories. It is good to being open to that supernatural world and listening to all the superstitions. It is good for fantasy writers to grow up that way.

You worked in a bank before you became a writer and you were also a nanny?

No I was not a nanny but I had a child care gig in high school. I was a former computer consultant in the bank.

So how did you transform into a writer?

The only thing I wanted to do was to become a writer. When I was in New York, my day job was working with computers. But on the side I was writing. Then when I was able to support myself as a writer, I wrote full-time.

Who among the current crop of writers that we have inspires you?

Stephen King is my favorite. I am a big Stephen King fan and he inspires me. He is such a lovely person. I was lucky to meet him at a writers’ conference one time and he was wonderful and generous. I grew up reading his books.

How are you adjusting to the new normal these days being on lockdown?

It is definitely harder but I kind of got used to it. Yes we do a lot of Zoom. It is the new normal indeed. Now I can’t remember how life was like before this. We quarantine and we just see people in our quarantine pod for our mental health. We don’t go out. I am the designated person to go out. We are very careful. We have a lot of masks and sanitizers.

How do you go about promoting your books and movies during these times?

Just like this…by Zoom. Yes it is all virtual.

What advice would you give to writers who want to make it to mainstream and be like you?

They should not give up. And that would be the same advice I would give to young writers. Write about what you know and even what you don’t know. Follow directions because agents have directions on how to submit. Get your stuff as polished as possible. Start small like a blog or a website. Get yourself out there and work professionally which means learn how to meet deadlines.

Do you see your studio opening doors to the Filipino community?

I hope to be able to give support to anybody who is interested to write books and I am honored that the Filipino community is proud of me. I definitely feel their love. — LA, GMA News