Naperville shop combines vampire book launch, blood drive
The only bloodsucking going on at a vampire book launch Tuesday in Naperville took place in a white bus with an American flag parked behind Anderson's Bookshop.
There, in the Heartland Blood Centers mobile donation van, “Blue Bloods” and “Witches of East End” author Melissa de la Cruz joined a small group of people who donated blood before the first stop in a six-city tour promoting de la Cruz's new book, “Vampires of Manhattan: The New Blue Bloods Coven.”
The author was among five people who let a needle — not a vampire like the ones de la Cruz writes about in her tale of “living between heaven and hell, love and death, life and blood” — suck their blood in advance of a discussion and book signing.
With a big bottle of water and a can of pop by her side, de la Cruz told about 25 fans she chose to donate “on an impulse” before launching into the story of writing her new book, which takes the characters from her popular “Blue Bloods” young adult series and advances them 10 years in age, depth and complexity.
“I wanted to write about adult disillusionment,” de la Cruz said.
The author who provided the stories on which the Lifetime TV series “Witches of East End” are based also wanted to delve into mystery, and the result is a blend of “Law and Order” and “Blue Bloods,” she said.
“I really wanted to write kind of a vampire detective story,” de la Cruz told fans.
“Vampires of Manhattan” went on sale Tuesday from Hachette Book Group, and audience members such as Corina Perez of Chicago and Verna Tornatello of Sycamore got their hands on a copy right away.
“I could not stop reading,” Perez said about the “Blue Bloods” series, which she began devouring three years ago when she was a freshman in high school. “I've kept up with her books religiously.”
The author said she works hard to offer loyal readers like Perez plenty of intrigue along the way, and a big plot twist at the end of “Vampires of Manhattan” came to her late in the writing process and required her to rework much of the novel.
But it was worth it to avoid predictability.
“That's a big part of books is being able to be surprised,” she said.