
Melissa de la Cruz

Melissa de la Cruz (born 1971) is a New York Times bestselling Filipina-American author known for her work in young adult fiction. She has written several series of young adult novels, including the "Au Pair" series and the "Blue Bloods" series, and a contemporary fiction series following "The Beauchamp Family", as well as a number of stand-alone novels.
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. The family 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. After graduation, she worked as a computer consultant.
Personal life.
De la Cruz is married to author Michael Johnston, with whom she co-authored the Heart of Dread series.
She lives in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, California with her husband and daughter.
Career.
She wrote her first full-length novel at 22 while living in New York City and working at Bankers Trust. The novel ultimately didn't sell, but she received a suggestion by an editor at Little, Brown to try becoming a journalist to work on her professional writing credits and started working freelance. She published her first essay in New York Press in 1996 and worked as a beauty and fashion editor up until she sold her first novel, "The Cat's Meow", in 1998. De la Cruz has published articles with "The New York Times", "Cosmopolitan", "Seventeen", "Teen Vogue", and "Harper's Magazine". After her first novel's publication in 2001, she started pursuing writing full-time, after getting laid off from the U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley.
Her work as a fashion writer for "Marie Claire" was the inspiration for "How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less" which she co-authored with Karen Robinovitz.
Her work as a nanny and her visits to The Hamptons formed the background for the book series "The Au Pairs". With the first published in 2015, she has also written the original novels for Disney's "Descendants" franchise.
Bibliography.
Au Pairs
Blue Bloods
Blue Bloods Novellas
The Ashleys
The Beauchamp Family
Heart of Dread, co-authored with Michael Johnston
The Ring & the Crown
Summer on East End
Disney Descendants
Alex & Eliza
29
Never After
Stand-alone novels
Anthologies