When we first broke the news that Richelle Mead was writing a "Vampire Academy" spin-off series called "Bloodlines," she was a little bit vague about which of her beloved vampires and half vampires would star in the new books. With good reason! After all, if you haven't yet read "Last Sacrifice," the conclusion of the adventures of vampire-bodyguard/murder suspect Rose Hathaway and her teacher/lover/mortal enemy Dimitri, you wouldn't really want to know who survives to see another series. So, yeah, SPOILER ALERT.
Though we eventually learned that the series would focus on human alchemist Sydney and Moroi vampire Jill's fish-out-of-water experience at a California boarding school, many readers were persistent in asking: Is Adrian in the book? And will he get a new love interest after being dumped by Rose?
"I felt a little bad about the mystery at first," Richelle told Hollywood Crush earlier this month. But now that she's being open about Adrian's inclusion, she's happy to please fans of the charming Moroi playboy. "They liked the ending of 'Last Sacrifice,' but everyone felt really bad for Adrian. It's like his second shot at happiness, we hope."
Not that a happy ending for him will be easy to come by. "Oh, there's all sorts of romantic entanglements, as usual—people who love people who don't love them; the usual epic tragic things standing in the way of love," Mead teased. "When we run into Adrian initially in 'Bloodlines,' he's still hurting a little over the end of the last book. He's his usual flippant self, you know; he's not staying in a room wearing black. He's not that depressed, but you can tell through all the witty quips that there's still a little pain there. He's got a little healing to do."
Adding the witty vampire to the spin-off wasn't just something she did for the fans, she admitted. "I'm often asked, 'Which character do you like the most?' And that's a different answer from, 'Who do you like to write the most?' And [Adrian's] the one I like to write the most," she said. "Some days, I wish I didn't have to deal with plot. I wish I could just have witty dialogue for a whole book and that's it. And that's what he is. Every scene, no matter how tragic or happy, he's always rolling there with his one-liners. It's a lot of fun to write."
Well, since she brought it up...if she were Rose, would she have chosen easygoing-and-funny Adrian or dark-and-mysterious Dimitri? "I don't think I'd like to choose either of them!" laughed Richelle, who's expecting her first child at the end of August, around the same time "Bloodlines" hits shelves. "I married a software engineer with health benefits. That's my kind of guy. As exciting as Dimitri and Adrian are, I'm not sure they're ready for the suburban lifestyle I demand."
Check out last week's story about Richelle Mead's new graphic novel adaptations of "Vampire Academy" and her adult fantasy series "Dark Swan."
Will you be running out to pick up your copy of "Bloodlines" when it hits store shelves August 23?
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