Interview with Author Darynda Jones

Hi everyone. Today I would like to welcome to the blog the awesome Darynda Jones. Darynda is the author of the kickass Charley Davidson series, which is about a private eye who just happens to be the Grim Reaper. It is full of awesome and you can see my review for her first book here. Anywho, Darynda was kind enough to let me ask her some questions and I would love to share them with all of you. =)

First off, can you tell us a bit about you?
Sure! I married a guy I fell in love with when I was 10 years old (we didn’t actually meet until I was 18) and we’ve been married for over 28 years. I have two gorgeous sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys. I live in a semi-small town in New Mexico. I’ve been writing since I was about five. The first thing I wrote was a play.

Did you always want to be a writer?
Yes. I didn’t actually know I wanted to be a writer for a long time. I just wrote. All the time. Then, once I figured out some people actually did that stuff for a living, I didn’t think I was smart enough. Took me a while to get over that and try to write toward publication rather than just for pleasure.

What kind of writer are you? Panster or Plotter?
I love to say that I plot like there’s no tomorrow. Probably because I do. I have three distinct outlines before I ever begin actually writing, though I will write a scene here and there while working on the outlines. I also write completely out of order and I almost always write the ending before the beginning.

Where do your ideas come from?
Anywhere and everywhere. Nothing is sacred. I once wrote a story based on an interesting paperweight I saw on one of my professor’s desks.

Did you always want to write a story featuring the Grim Reaper as a character?
Not at all. In fact, I came up with Charley and all that she entails months before I knew she was the grim reaper. That came much later. But it really did fit her personality and helped me expand on her characteristics in the most interesting ways imaginable. I love writing her!

A la Twitter style, can you describe your book (or series) in 140 characters or less.
A female PI who was born the grim reaper spends her days solving mysteries for both the living and the dead and her nights being seduced by . . . (oops, ran out of characters.)

If you could switch places with any of your characters in your books, who would you switch with? Why?
I would have to say Charley. First, she’s the grim reaper and sees things we can only dream about. Or, well, fear. Second, she has a nifty fashion sense. Third, Reyes Farrow really likes her.

What are some of your favorite kinds of stories to read?
I read absolutely everything from historical romance to horror. I love it all. I would have to say my favorites are romance of any kind in any genre and young adult of any kind in any genre.

Do you have a favorite book and if so what is it?
Oh, wow, I have many favorite books. The ones at the top are The Duke and I by Julia Quinn, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, of course, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and pretty much anything by JR Ward, Jeaniene Frost, Stephen Hunter, Jim Butcher… I could go on and on.

Have you ever fallen for another author's hero? If so, who and why?
Well, that’s almost a daily occurrence for me. If I don’t fall for the hero, I rarely finish the book. What’s the point? My favorites are Simon from The Duke and I, Bones from Jeaniene Frost’s books, and Mr. Darcy, among a plethora of others.

Human, Vampires, Demons or Shifters, which are your favorite and why? Describe the characteristics that make up your perfect hero.
I love them all. I love the dark heroes and the humorous ones, the tortured and the tricksters, but they must all have one essential element. They must be powerful whether physically, characteristically, or ethically. They must be willing to fight for what they believe in. They must be willing to die to do the right thing. That is what makes them a hero. Of course, being ridiculously hot helps.

What are the scenes that are the hardest for you to write?
I used to say both fight scenes and sex scenes were the hardest. But I have fight scenes down. There is a trick to them. Once you learn that, you’ve got it made. There is no trick to sex scenes.

There are guidelines, of course. Like, the sex needs to move the story forward. It must be essential to the storyline. Etcetera, etcetera. But that doesn’t really help when it comes down to the nitty-gritty. Writing those scenes and making them sensual and romantic and heart wrenching and toe curling . . . Yeah. Those are frickin’ hard.

If you could have dinner with any three book characters, who would you choose and why?
Elizabeth Bennet, because I admire her strength and dedication to no end. Harry Potter because he is such a great person and has faced so many odds. And I would love the lowdown on Professor Snipe. Katniss Everdeen because no matter what comes her way, she faces it head-on with arrows flying.

If you could have dinner with any three authors, who would you choose and why?
JK Rowling, Neil Gaiman, and Stephen King. Just think of what could come of that!

What do you like to do in your free time?
I love watching entire seasons of TV shows on DVD. It’s cool to see all the arcs in play. You have the scene arcs, the episode arcs, the series arcs, the character arcs. It’s just fascinating. You have that with movies as well, but you generally have one main arc, the story arc. True you have character arcs and scene arcs, but with television, you have a dozen arcs all going on at the same time. Often they will focus on several characters and each will have their own arc. I love those layers. It’s like a puzzle. It kills me that Firefly only lasted one season. Those arcs were going places!

Favorite movie?
Right now it’s How to Train your Dragon. So well done! That movie worked on a hundred levels.

Favorite song?
At the moment it’s What a Life by Noel Gallagher.

Favorite color?
Depends on what it’s on. I love earth tones the most.

Last question, are you working on anything right now?
Right now I’m working on the second in a YA series that sold to St. Martin’s Press. The first one, Death and the Girl Next Door, about a girl’s whose life is irrevocably changed when Death starts high school in her small town, comes out in April.

Thank you so much for having me!!!!


Charley sees dead people. That’s right, she sees dead people. And it’s her job to convince them to “go into the light.” But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e. murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an entity who has been following her all her life…and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely.

Places to purchase:

| Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Books*A*Million | 

***WARNING: MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!!***

*If you have not read book one, stop now!*

When Charley is rudely awakened in the middle of the night by her best friend who tells her to get dressed quickly and tosses clothes out of the closet at her, she can’t help but wonder what Cookie’s up to. Leather scrunch boots with a floral miniskirt? Together? Seriously? Cookie explains that a friend of hers named Mimi disappeared five days earlier and that she just got a text from her setting up a meet at a coffee shop downtown. They show up at the coffee shop, but no Mimi. But Charley finds a message on the bathroom wall. Mimi left a clue, a woman’s name. Mimi’s husband explains that his wife had been acting strange since she found out an old friend of hers from high school had been found murdered a couple weeks prior. The same woman Mimi had named in her message.

Meanwhile, Reyes Alexander Farrow (otherwise known as the Son of Satan. Yes. Literally) has left his corporeal body and is haunting Charley. He’s left his body because he’s being tortured by demons who want to lure Charley closer. But Reyes can’t let that happen. Because if the demons get to Charley, they’ll have a portal to heaven. And if they have a portal to heaven…well, let’s just say it wouldn’t be pretty. Can Charley handle hot nights with Reyes and even hotter days tracking down a missing woman? Will Cookie ever get a true fashion sense? And is there enough coffee and chocolate in the world to fuel them as they do?

Places to purchase:

| Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Books*A*Million |

Paranormal private eye. Grim reaper extraordinaire. Whatever. Charley Davidson is back! And she’s drinking copious amounts of caffeine to stay awake because, every time she closes her eyes, she sees him: Reyes Farrow, the parthuman, part-supermodel son of Satan. Yes, she did imprison him for all eternity, but come on. How is she supposed to solve a missing persons case, deal with an ego-driven doctor, calm her curmudgeonly dad, and take on a motorcycle gang hellbent on murder when the devil’s son just won’t give up?

Places to purchase:

| Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble |

Winner of the 2009 Golden Heart® for Best Paranormal Romance for her manuscript FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT, Darynda was born spinning tales of dashing damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by, annoying man and beast alike. After the Golden Heart final, she pimped herself as best she could, landed an amazing agent and sold to St. Martin’s Press in a three-book deal. Darynda lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband of more than 25 years and two beautiful sons, aka the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys.

Places to find Darynda:

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