Hi Darynda, please tell us about your latest
release.
Oh,
the pressure! Okay, here goes:
Death
and the Girl Next Door is about sophomore Lorelei MacAlister. Ten years ago, Lorelei's
parents disappeared without a trace. Raised by her grandparents and leaning
on
the support of her best friends, Lorelei is finally beginning to accept the
fact that her
parents are never coming home. Life goes on and is as normal as can be until a
new guy—terrifying,
tough, sexy Jared Kovach—comes to school and he seems to have a specific
interest in Lorelei, something that never happens. To complicate matters even further,
the school's designated loner, Cameron Lusk, begins to stalk her, turning up where
she least expects it, standing outside her house in the dark, night after night.
Jared and
Cameron instantly despise each other and Lorelei seems to be the reason for
their animosity.
What does Jared know about her parents? Why does Cameron tell Jared he can't
have Lorelei? And what will any of them do when Death comes knocking for real?
Was one of your characters more
challenging to write than another?
None
of them are terribly easy, but I’d have to say the biggest challenge was my
hero, Jared. That is partly because between the first and second drafts of the
book, his part changed drastically. Let’s just say he was one being in the
first draft and another being entirely in the second. It took a lot of work to
create his alter ego, but it paid off in the end.
Is there a character that you enjoyed
writing more than any of the others?
I really enjoyed writing Brooklyn and Glitch, my
heroine’s best friends. They are fun, bossy, and fiercely loyal to Lorelei. And
they made for great comic relief.
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? How
do you deal with it?
If I get stuck, I have learned that it means something
is inherently wrong with mymanuscript. I force myself to step back and take a
look deeper look at it. Oddly enough, it’s almost always something with my
hero. They are so cantankerous. Or there’s something wrong with the story
itself. Something just isn’t quite working, and I know it deep down inside.
Do you have any weird writing quirks or
rituals?
My oddest or most reliable writing ritual/habit: Well,
I am easily distracted, so I MUST block the internet. Not just turn off the Wi-Fi, but totally block it.
So I check my email on my phone before I even get out of bed in the mornings and the minute I get on the computer, I use a program called Freedom that blocks access to the internet for the time you allot. It’s fantastic! I think I would still
be on my second book without it. (Clearly, I have no impulse control.)
Do you write in different genres?
I swear, EVERY genre appeals to me! I have manuscripts
started in every genre under the sun. Mostly I write in paranormal, science
fiction, young adult, and I even have several manuscripts started (and one completed)
in historical romance. I love it all. I even have a spy story and a couple of assassin
stories in there somewhere.
Do you find it difficult to write in
multiple genres?
Not at all. I love it and my mind goes a thousand
miles a minute. When I have to complete a manuscript, I just have to force
myself to focus and not get sidetracked, but it’s no harder to write in one
genre than another. It’s all hard.
What was the last amazing book you read?
Well, I am so behind in my reading, but I recently
read Divergent by Veronica Roth and really liked it! The next one in the series
is out and I have it downloaded, just waiting for me to get caught up enough to
be able to read for pleasure.
What can readers expect next from you?
Well,
I’m currently working on rewrites for the second in the Darklight Trilogy,
Death, Doom
and Detention. Then it’s on to Fifth Grave Past the Light, the fifth in the
Charley Davidson
series. I also have three other series started, but I’m trying to focus. Again,
not easy when
you really do have ADD. :)
Would
you like to leave readers with a little teaser or excerpt from the book?
Death and the Girl Next Door (excerpt)
By Darynda Jones
I laughed to
myself and headed toward the back of our favorite and pretty
much only hangout. It sat a mere block from our alma mater,
Riley High, and we practically lived in our corner booth. I
ducked past the snack counter and into a very dark back hall. Judging
by the boxes lining the narrow passage, I’d be taking my life into
my hands if I risked a journey to the little senorita’s room without
illumination, so I ran my hand along a
paneled wall. Where would I be if I were a light switch? Just
as the tips of my fingers found the switch, a silhouette stepped out of the shadows
and brushed past me. I startled with a gasp.
“Excuse me,” I
said, placing a hand over my heart.
“Sorry.” The
guy paused slightly before continuing on his way, and in
that instant, I saw the makings of utter perfection: along arm with
shadowy curves that dipped around the fluid
lines of
muscle; a tall, wide shoulder; dark hair that curled playfully over an ear
and led to a strong, masculine jaw. Something inside me
lurched, craving a closer look at his face, but he walked by too fast
and the hall was too dark for me to catch anything else.
After a couple
of seconds, I realized my hand had brushed against his
arm. It was enough to send a vision crashing into me, like the flash
of a nuclear bomb, bright and unforgiving. Tamping down my
surprise— I hadn’t had a vision in a very long time— I pressed
shaking fingers to my forehead to wait out the familiar storm, to see
what treasures would wash ashore in the aftermath.
Yet the things
I saw were unreal, impossible, and certainly not of this world:
A desolate landscape lay before me with scorched clouds and a
roiling, violet sky. The air was stagnant and so impossibly thick,
breathing it took effort. Then I heard the clanging of metal. I
turned to watch in horror as a being, a boy of no more than sixteen
or seventeen, fierce and somehow not quite human, struggled with
a dark, monstrous beast. The boy’s arms corded as tendon and
muscle strained against the weight of the sword he wielded. He
slashed again and again, but the monster was fast, with razorlike
talons and sharp, gleaming teeth, and the boy knew what
those teeth felt like when they sank into flesh, knew the blinding
pain that accompanied defeat. But he also knew the power he
himself wielded, the raw strength that saturated every molecule of
his body.
Another
herculean effort landed a thrust in the monster’s shoulder and
continued through its thick chest. The monster sank under the
boy’s sword with a guttural scream. The boy
looked on
while the beast writhed in pain, watched it grow still as the life
drained out of it, and somewhere in the back of the boy’s mind, he
allowed himself to register the burning of his lungs as he
struggled to fill them with air.
Blood trickled
between his fingers, down the length of his blade, and dripped
to the powdery earth beneath his feet. I followed the trail of
blood up to three huge gashes across his chest.
Evidently
three of the monster’s claws had met their mark, laying the
flesh of its enemy open. I gasped and covered my mouth with
both hands as the boy spun toward me, sword at the ready.
Squinting against the low sun, I could almost make out his features,
but the vision evaporated before I got the chance. A heartbeat
later, I was back in the dark hallway, gasping for air, one palm
pressed against my temple, the other against the wall for balance.
I squeezed my
eyes shut, fought the memory of the vision, the fear that
summoned the taste of bile in the back of my throat, the feel of
blood dripping down the boy’s arm.
Thank you so much for having me! ~D~
New
York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Darynda Jones has won numerous
awards for her work including a prestigious Golden Heart®, a RITA®, and a
Daphne du Maurier. As a born storyteller, she grew up spinning tales of dashing
damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by,
annoying man and beast alike. Darynda lives in the Land of Enchantment,
also known as New Mexico, with her husband and two beautiful sons, the Mighty,
Mighty Jones Boys.
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16 comments:
I enjoyed reading about Jared and the changes you made. Is that common?
debby236 at gmail dot com
I really enjoyed Death and the Girl Next Door and can't wait until Book 2 comes out!
12Great Post!!
Great post! Love the first book, can't wait for number 2!
Love all these interviews with Darynda. She is so funny. I can't wait to start this YA series. The only reason I haven't started is because I am a new grad and have to wait on for payday lol. DATGND is getting such great reviews.
Thank you for having me, Roxanne!!! And thanks everyone for stopping by! <3
I have so much on my TBR list, but I am definitely looking forward to this YA series by Darynda. Though Charlie will always be a favorite.
Thanks for the giveaway!!
I enjoy YA novels, I am not a YA anymore, but they have a fun quality that I like. They don't talk down to the reader and often have more interesting plots than many adult novels I have read. I love Darynda's novels, all of them. Thanks for the giveaway.
Great interview! It was very interesting reading about how Jared changed between drafts. I also love reading about how diverse Darynda is, it's neat to read that she is comfortable writing anything. I am currently reading this book right now and am really enjoying it.
I enjoyed reading about the writing process and the character development. This sounds like a great YA series. I like the YA genre b/c I can share them with my niece who also loves to read.
Fantastic interview! Loved DGND and i cant wait for the second book in the series! Mrs. Jones sure does know how to create compelling characters and a witty dialogue! Way to go!
Great interview. Thanks for posting. Love me some DJ!
Great Interview, I like reading about how an author develops a character. I don't usually read a lot of YA but this was a great start to a new YA series.
Darynda Jones is amazing and the interview was great!
I loved this book an got done with it about three day after I got it I had to take my time cause I knew once I was done then I would want more and what do u know I WANT MORE MORE NOW!!!!!!!! See I sound just like a little kid.
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