ANGELS VS. DEMONS Welcomes NYT Bestseller: DARYNDA JONES
Diana’s note: This is a repost. Since GoDaddy discontinued my old blog, I am reposting a few blog posts I want readers to be able to access. Thank you.
Yes, you’re in the right place for the ANGELS VS. DEMONS BLOGHOP!
Today I’m thrilled to welcome talented Ruby Sister, New York Times bestseller, and she’s beautiful, funny and sweet too! (Okay, I’m a fan girl, all right?). Now, where was I? Oh, yeah–welcome, DARYNDA JONES, author of the Charley Davidson aka Grim Reaper series.
And since we’re talking about Angels and Demons for this super awesome bloghop, we’re going to jump right to what I think are fascinating, the bad boys of the underworld–the demons.
DL: So, Ms. Jones, let’s start with your hero, Reyes, who I venture to guess does not run with the angels. As the Son of Satan he’s gotta qualify as a demon (a sexy one too!). But he’s a demon…with a heart?
DJ: Um, yeah, sure! Let’s go with that! LOL.
Okay, I would definitely say that even though he is dark and sensual and was literally forged in the fires of hell he has a heart. He is very loyal to his friends (of which he has about two), his sister (who is not really his sister), and of course our heroine, Charley Davidson, aka his kryptonite. He was born as a human on Earth to be with Charley, to grow up with her and be there for her, but wrenches have a way of inserting themselves into the best-laid plans.
DL: I have to admit, that’s pretty swoon worthy, coming to earth to be with Charley, who, by the way, isn’t your normal, everyday human. She’s a grim reaper—what a…um…grueso- er, unique occupation. Did Charley just drop into your head one day and start telling you what it was like to have her world populated with lost dead people?
DJ: Why, yes, she did actually. Exactly like that. She literally popped into my head and had such attitude and heart that I couldn’t get her to stop telling me about her life. What it was like growing up with her abilities. How she uses sarcasm as both a defense mechanism and an especially inappropriate form of entertainment. And how she was in love with a horribly abused boy she’d only seen once in her life. At that time, she had no idea he would come back into it. Or that when he did, her own life would get turned upside down.
DL: That is totally cool! So what did you think when you met Charley? I mean, I thought grim reapers wore this creepy black robe and had a skeleton face—was it a shock to learn the grim reaper is a bombshell brunette with a smoking hot a$$?
DJ: Ha! She threw me for a loop, that’s for sure. She was so different than what we imagine the grim reaper to be, at least at this point in the series. *wink, wink* Instead of darkness, she is made of light, a light that the departed who did not cross immediately after death can see from anywhere in the world. When they are ready to cross, they can do so through her. Making her the exact opposite of what was expected was half the fun!
DL: You know I have a ghost in my house. I’m thinking I could use someone like Charley to help me out. Too bad she’s so busy dealing with bad guys, other lost souls and Reyes. (We’re gonna have to get together so you can tell me how I can encourage my ghost to “see the light.”)
And speaking of Reyes, our demon boy, he seems more spirit than form…how difficult is it to write a phantom lover?
DJ: Oddly enough, not as difficult as I initially expected. I had to incorporate a whole new descriptive vocabulary into my writing, but now describing an incorporeal love interest is second nature. Fortunately for Charley, Reyes is just as solid to her as you or I would be. It’s part of who she is. Incorporeal beings are dense to her touch.
DL: That is . . . gosh, I’m going to have to ‘incorporate a whole new descriptive vocabulary’ to write about that concept, that incorporeal beings are dense to her touch. I’m thinking I wouldn’t want to be touching our ghost. It’s bad enough the three-year-old grandson is chatting with him now. What about you? Do you have this fascination with death, ghosts and all that?
DJ: Apparently. LOL. Honestly, I’m finding that everything I write is centered around death in some way. It’s creepy, I know.
DL: Since this is an Angels vs. Demons bloghop–what do Reyes and Charley think of angels?
DJ: While angels haven’t physically entered into their world just yet (not on the page anyway), they will soon, and when they do, you can bet things are going to get much more interesting. Reyes was a general in hell, after all. He fought them for centuries. And won quite often. They are very wary of him and his supposed transformation from a bad guy gone good, and they keep hinting that if anyone can end the human race, it is him. So, yeah, I can’t wait for them to show up on the page.
DL: Wow! That is some teaser! A must read for sure!
So have you always had creep- er, unique characters floating around in your head?
DJ: Sadly, yes.
DL: And coming soon, you’ve got a new series–this one with a teen grim reaper? Now, I bet that causes problems. Does she encounter demons too?
DJ: While one character in my YA series calls the hero Reaper, Jared is actually the Angel of Death. He has an agency no other angel has. He has autonomous power over human life. And Cameron, the character who calls him Reaper, is the only one who knows what Jared is from the start, because Cameron is nephilim. He is half-human, half-angel. So when Jared starts high school in the small town where our heroine, Lorelei, lives, things get a little intense. Partly because Cameron wants him dead, but mostly because Lorelei has been slated to die and Jared is there for her.
DL: Wow, that is going to be some read, I bet it flies off the shelves!
DJ: DEATH AND THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, the first in the Darklight trilogy, comes out in October and it was super fun to write.
DL: Thanks, Darynda, that was fun!
Dear angels and demons fans, below is Darynda’s bio and links where you can connect with her and keep up with what’s going on in the Grim Reaper/Son of Satan/Angel of Death world! And scroll past that to find out how one lucky reader can win a set of hardcover Charley Davidson books.
BIO:
NYTimes and USA Today Bestselling Author Darynda Jones has won numerous awards for her work, including a prestigious Golden Heart®, a Rebecca, and two Hold Medallions, and she has received stellar reviews from dozens of publications including starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, and the Library Journal. As a born storyteller, Darynda grew up spinning tales of dashing damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by, annoying man and beast alike, and she is ever so grateful for the opportunity to carry on that tradition. She currently has two series with St. Martin’s Press: The Charley Davidson Series and the Darklight Trilogy. She lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband of almost 30 years and two beautiful sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys. She can be found at www.daryndajones.com.
Links:
www.daryndajones.com
https://www.facebook.com/darynda.jones.official
https://twitter.com/#!/Darynda
For a chance for ONE winner to win a set of hardcover Charley Davidson books deliverable to wherever Amazon US ships (Fourth Grave On The Left will have to be shipped in October), please sign up for my newsletter (and check out my books) HERE. Let me know in your comment that you have signed up. IF you have already signed up for my newsletter (thank you!), then please subscribe to my blog and leave a comment. (feel free to subscribe either way, lol). IMPORTANT: LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENT SO WE CAN CONTACT YOU!
Keep playing the ANGELS VS. DEMONS bloghop by stopping by the blogs listed below for more entries for a chance for ONE winner to win a Kindle Touch or another lucky winner to win a $60 Gift Card. (YES, TWO Grand Prizes/TWO Winners!)
Good luck!