I started writing the first Blue Bloods book alllllll the way back in 2003. It was the fall, and we had just moved to Los Angeles from Manhattan. Saying Blue Bloods changed my life is not an exaggeration. Once we had sealed the book deal, the largest of my nascent career, I told my husband, “we make enough money to have a kid now.” Literally, I could afford to become a mom, we could start trying to have a family, because of my little vampire squad.
I hung up the phone with my agent and did a little happy dance in our Los Angeles apartment. We had just moved—and for the first time in my adult life we had a dishwasher and a washer and dryer. (New Yorkers learn to live without both in our cramped walk-ups.) But it was a new century, and we now had appliances. I don’t think I’ve ever felt richer than that moment. And we hadn’t even sold one copy of the book series that would launch five spinoff series. The editor who bought Blue Bloods for Disney said, “here’s to nineteen books!” I think with the new After Life series we have made it to nineteen. (Thank you Helen, always, for putting that out in the universe from the start. NINETEEN!)
So yeah, it’s kind of weird that we’re going back to the beginning here. Blue Bloods: After Life is about a rebirth. A reboot. A reinvention. Things are different now in 2022 than in 2003. Our kid who was just an idea back then is now a teenager, the same age as Schuyler Van Alen.
Blue Bloods: After Life was fun to dream it up. It was fun to write. I hope you have fun reading it.
Pre-order here!