Real life and fairy tales collide in Never After: The Thirteenth Fairy , book one in the new middle-grade Never After series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Descendants series, Melissa de la Cruz.
Would you please give us a short intro to who you are and what you write?
I’m the author of over sixty books for readers of all ages and am mostly known for my many bestselling series from Blue Bloods, Witches of East End, Alex and Eliza, to Disney’s Descendants series.
Can you tell readers about the plot in Never After?
Never After is about 12-year-old Filomena Jefferson-Cho, a huge fan of the Never After series of books, who finds herself living the pages of her favorite fairy tales. It’s a twist and retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story, when I discovered the original Grimm’s fairy tale did not end with the prince waking up Sleeping Beauty with true love’s kiss, but with an ogre mother-in-law, death, bloodshed and betrayal. I thought, ooh this will be fun to play with. What if the evil fairy wasn’t evil at all?
You’ve written adult, middle grade, young adult, fantasy, contemporary – it seems as if you’ve written in all the genres and age ranges, and I’m sure I’m missing some. What is your favorite genre and age group to write and why?
I don’t have a favorite, I very much enjoyed writing in the YA category for a long time, it was about ten years between my first adult novel and my second one because I was writing mostly YA. Now I’m really enjoying writing for the middle grade audience, as young readers are delightful. I usually have more than three projects going at once in different stages for different readerships.
As a little girl, were you captivated by fairy tales and which was your favorite? Which is the scariest fairy tale and why?
I think my favorite fairy tale is Sleeping Beauty for sure, I’ve always been fascinated by the evil fairy. What was her motivation? Why was she so angry? I think maybe the scariest is Rumpelstiltskin, because he wants the queen’s baby. That’s so frightening and creepy.
What is the inspiration behind writing Never After? Was there a moment where you said, “I’ve got to write this book!”?
I was at dinner with my agent and we were hashing out my idea for this fantasy meets reality story, and I literally stood up and said “AND IT’S CALLED NEVER AFTER!” It was a lightbulb moment and I knew it was going to be really fun to write.
What was the first piece of writing you ever had published?
I wrote an essay for the New York Press about racial identity.
When did you say to yourself, “Okay, now I am officially a REAL writer!”? Can you tell us about that defining moment?
When I sold my first novel to Simon and Schuster. It was truly the happiest moment of my life, I had been trying to be a published author since I was 11 years old. It was such a validation that my work was good enough to be published.
If you weren’t a writer, what other job would you want to have and why?
I’ve been a computer programmer, a journalist, a fashion editor and a beauty editor. I probably would have leaned into some kind of lifestyle consulting company. My husband, who used to be an architect, and I, when we were younger said we should have a company that tells rich people what to buy, where to vacation, how to decorate their houses. We had very strong opinions on style and where to go, what was worth your hard-earned money. Something like Goop would have been fun to create. But we like writing books.
Do you have a set writing schedule? What do you need to have near you (or NOT need) in order to write?
I tend to work best in the mornings before lunch and in the evenings after dinner. So that’s been my schedule for the longest time. But on deadline I write all the time, so the last month of deadline I work 15-18 hour days just getting that book in shape. Basically all my waking hours are spent writing the book.
Can you tell us what’s next after the second Never After book?
I believe we will have a third book for sure, as to more than that, can’t say yet!
Words of inspiration for other writers trying to get published?
Don’t give up! Keep knocking on that door, it will open if you persist!
What is something that readers don’t know about you?
I was a child model and on the cover of a teen magazine when I was eleven years old.
