Hello Everyone, today we have the great pleasure of Interviewing Ms. Darynda Jones *squeal*, author of First Grave on the Right and it's recently released sequal, Second Grave on the Left!! I have to say I had the pleasure of meeting Madame Jones in person earlier this year and she is by far one of the sweetest and most genuine, fantabulous people I have met in a long time. I just wanted to eat her up with a spoon and an itty bitty bit of butterscotch sauce. Mmm.

Anyway...

She is also my assistant's girl author crush, so I figured I ought to meet her. And read her. Besides, the shoes alone on that first cover were amazingly awesome and I was instantly stricken with cover envy. AND shoe envy. I wanted to hate her guts but, dammit, she's too sweet for that. I love her to itty bits and hope you will too.


1. If you could transform into any animal, what would you choose? Please tell us, as only an author can, why you would make this specific choice?
Growing up, I always wanted to be a panther. Sleek. Stealthy. Powerful. Now that I’m older, I think I’d love to be a bird. Probably something like a falcon because they’re cool or a crow because of all the folklore surrounding them and a group is called a murder. But I’d want to be a bird so I could travel more. There is so much I want to see, so many amazing places that I’ll never have the opportunity or honor of visiting. Which is a bummer.

J- Darynda my darling I have been DYING for a travel partner! We could do signings in fabulous foreign countries together! That is a genuine offer. Let's talk. 😊

2. Please share with us your most embarrassing moment with a fan or another author.
With my debut release, I had several amazing blurbs from some of my favorite authors like JR Ward and Kresley Cole, and another was Jayne Ann Krentz. I saw her that year at RWA National in Orlando, so I basically ran her down (she looked like she was in a hurry) and proceeded to thank her for the amazing blurb. She smiled graciously, inching away from me, nodded and took off. Sadly, the look on her face assured me she had no idea what I was talking about. In Jayne’s defense, the lobby was very loud and every sound echoed off the massive walls, so it’s likely she didn’t hear a word I said. Or that’s my hope.

J- That sounds A LOT like my first meeting with Christine Feehan. I was all gushing on her like we were best buds and she kept scooting away from me like I was a freaky little fan girl...which, I was. I did gush and ooze and squeal and all that. 😊

3. Which do you prefer to write? The hero or the villain? And why?
Oddly enough, the villain is easier to write. You don’t have to make him appealing or charming. (Well, depending on what type of villain he is, I suppose.) But the payoff in the end, that rush of heat every time the character walks onto the page, can only come with the hero. So I’ll have to go with the hero, even though he is 10 times harder to write.


4. Do you have someone in your life that you model your heroes after? What about those villains?
My heroes are always the dark, brooding types. It’s weird. And when I met my husband, he was just that. Dark, brooding, mad at the world. Now he’s just a big ole softy, but he did give me fodder for many-a-year.
My villains often take on characteristics of whoever has crossed me that day. LOL



Photo above courtesy of Tricia Schmitt aka Pickyme.
Photo below courtesy of Literal Addiction



5. I am a woman who is 43 years old and has a crush on her 25-year-old gardener, what naughty secret do you have to share?
So, you’re my friend, right? And I’m obviously the wicked one. *grin* I can live with that. Unfortunately, while there is nothing better than real-life experience, I can only offer a healthy dose of empathy. I did have a crush on a bartender once. And there was this state cop with these huge brown eyes…
Right there with ya, babe.

6. I’ll go easy on you this time. What is your sinful pleasure? I have two. Gluttony: where I eat to much Ben & Jerry’s Pistachio Pistachio, and Sloth : where I laze in bed all day watching HGTV (Mike Holmes…mmm nummy!) or Farscape. Please be equally specific.
Wow, we’re like twins! Those just happen to be mine as well. I love to watch TV and I can pick a series and watch the entire seven seasons in two weeks all the while eating popcorn and chocolate and washing it down with Diet Coke. That is heaven on earth, right there.

7. Do you sing in the shower? What would Simon Cowell think of your performance? What is your favorite song choice?
I do! And he would not be impressed. He would give me that scowl. It’s no accident all the letters in the word scowl are found in his name. Just sayin’. And for some reason, I find myself repeatedly singing Amazing Grace even though I only know the first verse.

8. If you could be any of your characters whom would you choose? Tell us why of course.
I would be Charley Davidson in a heartbeat! True, she’s the grim reaper and people try to kill her way too often, but she’s got skill. And spunk. And a nice ass.

9. Who did it the best? Out of all of your favorite paranormal authors’ works, who wrote the BEST SCENE EVA? Explain.
NOOOOO! There are so, so many. (Gideon, anyone? *fans self* Or how about that Zsadist?) I think because it’s the most recent thing I’ve read, I keep coming back to a scene in Jeaniene Frost’s book Halfway to the Grave where Bones is standing on the highway and lets the SUV that is taking Cat away plow into him. That scene took my breath away. But really, there are so many. That is totally an unfair question. It’s like asking which raindrop falling from the sky I like best. 😊

10. You are now a published author, which some would say is the pinnacle for any writer. Now that you have achieved this goal, what is your new dream? What is it that you now aspire to do?
Two things actually. I have so many books I want to write, so many churning in my mind, I dream of having 50 published books under my belt. Maybe even 100! But I aspire to make the NYT list. That is my next major goal. It may not happen and that’s okay too. As long as I get to write for a living, it’ll all be good. But it would be super kewl if it did.

Thanks so much Darynda! I'm so happy to have you here this week. 😊 Third Grave Dead Ahead releases January 31, 2012!! Be sure and pre-order TODAY!!










If you can't get enough of Charley, here is a Short Story you must read, just click on the link, register and enjoy<3
http://www.heroesandheartbreakers.com/forihavesinned/register
“The Best debut novel I’ve read in years! Hilarious and heartfelt, sexy and surprising…I’m begging for the next one!!”
JR Ward, #1 New York Times Bestseller, Author of Lover Avenged

“I am furiously envious of Darynda Jones and rue the day she came up with this concept, damn her eyes. First Grave on the Right kidnapped me from the first paragraph.”
Mary Janice Davidson, New York Times Bestseller, Author of Undead and Unwelcome

“First Grave on the Right is witty, darkly thrilling and oh, so sexy.”
Gena Showalter, New York Times Bestseller, Author of The Darkest Whisper

“First Grave on the Right is a phenomenal debut! This series opener has it all– rollicking humor, sizzling sexual tension and a spine-tingling mystery.”
Kresley Cole, New York Times Bestseller, Author of Pleasure of a Dark Prince