Author Event Recap and Giveaway: Darynda Jones

Hello there, lovely readers!  I finally feel like I getting a little better after a week long fight with a horrible chest cold!  I was a walking ad for Nyquil or maybe patient one for the plague.  At any rate, I perked right up today, knowing I'd get to meet the lovely Dayrnda Jones at the Southern California independent book store Mysterious Galaxy in Redondo Beach.  Darynda Jones is famous for her adult series, Charley Davidson series, and her fourth one in the series just came out: Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet.  She recently also came out with a YA novel: Death and the Girl Next Door.  You know I always like to share the joy of these events so we're giving away a SIGNED copy of Death and the Girl Next Door.  So be sure to scroll down and fill out the rafflecopter below.

Darynda Jones

Darynda was a lot of fun and you can see how she easily writes humor as it comes effortlessly to her.  I asked her what made her want to transition from adult to the YA genre.  She said she loves the idea of experiencing things for the first time and YA is perfect for that.  Also, she wrote this story even before her Charley Davidson series but put it aside.  Darynda said she pulled bits of Death and the Girl Next Door and wrote them into the Charley series, thinking she'd never publish Death and the Girl Next Door, and then had to rewrite portions when it came time for this story to see the light of day.  It actually took her almost four months to re-work the story without the bits she took for the Charley series.  She is finished with book two and working on book three, which will be the last in the series.  Book two: Death, Doom, and Detention, which is expected to be out March 5th 2013, will include a bonus sneak peek of Book three: Death and the Girl He Loves, which should be out later in 2013.  Wow, she writes fast!  Darynda also has plans for two more YA series which have yet to be sold.

Fun facts for Charley Davidson fans:

• She came up with the names: First Grave on the Right, Second Grave on the Left, etc., because she hates going to book stores trying to figure out what number a book is in the series.  No wondering with these titles. 
• Her good friend and fellow writer, Jacquelyn Frank came up with the title for Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet.
• The T-shirt chapter intros are actually T-shirts.
• She has plans for a spin-off series. Mr. Wong will be in the spin-off where his story will finally be revealed. 
• She knows who Charley ends up with, but is not sure how many books will be in the series.  

Wrap-around YA selection

As I said the signing took place at Mysterious Galaxy, which is a fabulous independent bookstore with a coffee shop inside.  I was in awe of their wonderful selection and book goodies.  To the right you see their excellent YA selection and the below, I couldn't resist this little post-it note thingy, perfect for the millions of pages I mark while reading a to-die-for book! (How do you think I keep track of all my swoony quotes?!)

post-its-a-plenty

  I have a SIGNED copy of Death and the Girl Next Door to giveaway to one lucky reader.  The giveaway is INTERNATIONAL and runs for two weeks.  The only requirement is that you follow the blog.  Good luck and thanks for visiting! 










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