Author Andrew Neiderman Talks About V.C. Andrews's Future, ‘Devil’s Advocate’ Prequel And More

Andrew Neiderman is one busy man. Since 1987 the author has been pulling double duty – publishing novels not only under his own name, but also working as V.C. Andrews’s exclusive ghostwriter. And he has no plans to slow down. International Business Times spoke with Neiderman about his upcoming V.C. Andrews projects, along with the exciting news about a prequel to his well-known novel, “The Devil’s Advocate.”

“I always knew that if we ever got [‘Flowers in the Attic’] made, everything would open up in Hollywood with the whole franchise,” Neiderman revealed of the over 70 books in V.C. Andrews’s collection.

Since the premiere of Lifetime’s adaptation of “Flowers in the Attic,” the writer has seen a huge spike in interest for the V.C. Andrews franchise. The rise in popularity has the author working on making other V.C. Andrews novels come to life on screen – like “Delia’s Crossing” (2008) and the 2010 vampire thriller, “Daughter of Darkness,”

“It’s a world of imitators,” Neiderman said of Hollywood. “So basically when something is successful, all of a sudden all of the people we met with now say, ‘Oh I remember you guys.’”

Currently both books are in development, and are slated to be turned into mini-series. “I’m very excited about the possibilities of that moving forward,” the author said of “Delia’s Crossing.” Meanwhile he dished that “Daughter of Darkness” is a little further along in the process.

“’Daughter of Darkness’ is a story of a girl who discovers that her adopted father is a vampire. So it’s a vampire series,” he explained. “It’s different though because the father has these beautiful daughters who he uses to tempt the prey to him. And basically it’s a girl who wants to love her father -- just like in all the V.C. Andrews novels -- but also wants to get away from him. It’s about family and her attempt to become normal.”

Neiderman has been sticking with the V.C. Andrews “dysfunctional family” formula for over 25 years, sometimes tweaking it to keep up with pop culture – like adding in the supernatural or vampire element in “Daughter of Darkness.” And it’s by following the trends that Neiderman ended up with “Christopher’s Diary,” a spinoff of the “Flowers in the Attic” franchise.

As IBTimes exclusively reported, “Christopher’s Diary” is the story of Kristin Masterwood, a 16-year-old distant relative of Malcolm Foxworth who finds Christopher Dollanganger’s diary in a metal box in the rubble at Foxworth Hall. The Dollanganger kid's time in the attic has become a local legend in the town of Charlottesville, Va., until Kristin unearths the truth. Going against her father’s wishes, Kristin begins to read the diary with her boyfriend and becomes obsessed with the tale, which has a “mystical, eerie effect on her.”

“Christopher’s Diary” is being delivered in two volumes, the first called “Christopher’s Diary: Secrets of Foxworth Hall,” to be released in November of this year.

“I’ve already done two other V.C. Andrews novels that were set to go in November and February, and everybody got so excited about [‘Christopher’s Diary’],” Neiderman explained, revealing that he has a total of eight more V.C. Andrews books lined up. His two other novels got pushed back for the release of the next two Dollanganger books. “I’m not crazy about the word 'sequel.' It’s about the Dollanganger world, but it’s not really a sequel.”

And while Andrew Neiderman isn’t crazy about sequels, he does seem to approve of prequels. Under his own name. the author will be publishing a prequel to his popular 1990 novel, “The Devil’s Advocate.”

Titled “Judgment Day,” the book tells how John Milton’s Satan came to New York to take over the law firm. “It’s how it all got started,” Neiderman dished. “And I have new characters in it, new antagonists. So it’s a whole new story.”

“The Devil’s Advocate” was made into a succesful 1997 film starring Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino, and is still showing signs of life. It’s currently being developed as a stage musical in London, and a production company in the Netherlands is developing it as a play without the music, to debut in spring 2015. And Neiderman believes that the sequel can find similar success. The author is in the process of pitching “Judgment Day” to Warner Brothers as a TV series.

“I enjoy it still,” Neiderman told IBTimes of his busy schedule. “I have 115 published novels, 7 movies and a bunch of things in development.”

Fans can look forward to reading Neiderman’s new work when it hits the bookshelves and websites this fall. V.C. Andrews’s “Christopher’s Diary: Secrets Of Foxworth” will be published this November, along with Neiderman’s “The Terrorist’s Holiday,” which will be published by Premiere Digital Publishing.