This amazing blog tour will be giving away
1 complementary copy of
Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet
Every month of the tour.
Q & A with Darynda Jones ~ Author of Fourth Grave Dead Ahead
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.
Hello Lovies!
I am tickled to death today because I have the super sweet and uber talented Darynda Jones visiting with us today to talk about her upcoming release-FGBMF-and get the deets on what to expect. She is a huge helpin’ of awesomesauce.
I had the pleasure to meet this smexy woman back in June of 2011 in NYC, and let me tell you, people—she ROCKS! Not only did she NOT run in the opposite direction when I met her, (shocking, right?) she was nice enough to not call the police, lol. THAT happened much later into the night, BWAHHHH…seriously.
DJ: Hahaha! As I recall, the police were called on both of us. Some people are so easily shocked.
CS: That's suppossed to remain a secret, D--it's in the agreement we had to sign, remember? LOL...
CS: Welcome, D -- **motions to chair** Have a seat and get comfy. I have the BUNN coffee maker percolatin’ some Maxwell House and I know that you have a weakness for the juice…hehehe…
DJ: Smells amazing. I most definitley have a weakness.
CS: Your newest book comes out October 30—and for those of us who haven’t read it—what kind of trouble can we expect Charley to get into in this installment? Any major surprises? Hot smexy times? Pleeeeease hot smexy times?
DJ: The hot smexy times will be there, I promise. As far as major surprises, we do learn quite a bit more about Charley, which I hope will be fun, and she does a couple of things near the end that might be a bit of a shock.
Here is a quick blurb to whet the old appetite, not that the aroma isn’t already doing that, but . . .
Sometimes being the grim reaper really is that. Grim. And since Charley’s last case went so awry, she has taken a couple months off to wallow in the wonders of self-pity. But when a woman shows up on her doorstep convinced someone is trying to kill her, Charley has to force herself to rise above. Or at least get dressed. She quickly realizes something is amiss when everyone the woman knows swears she’s insane. The more they refute the woman’s story, the more Charley believes it.
In the meantime, the sexy, sultry son of Satan, Reyes Farrow, has been cleared of all charges. He is out of prison and out of Charley’s life, as per her wishes and several perfectly timed death threats. But his absence has put a serious crimp in her sex life. While there are other things to consider, like the fact that the city of Albuquerque has been taken hostage by an arsonist, Charley is having a difficult time staying away. Especially when it looks like Reyes may be involved. Just when life was returning to normal, Charley is thrust back into the world of crime, punishment, and the devil in blue jeans.
So, as you can see, Charley is in a funk. Thankfully she has the son of Satan to drag her out of it. :)
CS: And speaking of sex—why do you think your readers are sooooo attracted to the Son of Satan? I mean, he’s not the first person I’d think would be picked as Peoples Sexiest Man Alive. What do you think makes Reyes so damn attractive to women?
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| Drawing by PickyMe |
DJ: I think his attraction is due to several factors, actually. He is hot, no doubt about it, but it’s only partly due to his dark and mysterious nature and his physical attributes. He has had a very hard life as a human, and that makes him even more appealing. He has been abused and has flaws, but through it all he has loved Charley and protected her the best he could. That makes him a hero despite his dark side. I think the difficult part is making him hot, sexy, angry, and yet vulnerable all at the same time. Reyes is an alpha, so he is smart, tough, sexy as hell, and yes rough around the edges, but his vulnerabilities, namely his love and devotion to Charley, creates that soft spot in our hearts. We all want someone who, if we run up to him crying, takes one look at us and says, “Whose ass do I have to kick?”
CS: Will your readers ever find out about the ghost (Mr. Wong) in Charley’s apartment? Will he ever speak?
DJ: Mr. Wong has a destiny I’ve only recently discovered, and it may be a while before it is revealed. Let’s just say, he isn’t hanging out in her corner for the view. There is something coming. Something big that will shake the foundations of humanity. He is a part of that. He is waiting. Quite patiently.
CS: Will there continue to be or will there be a love triangle between Garrett, Charley, and Reyes?
DJ: While I’ve never really considered what they have as a love triangle, whatever it is will continue for a while. I basically wanted a rub for Reyes. He can’t have it too easy, after all. And what better way to get his hackles up than to have someone who is definitely interested in Charley in her life? In my mind, however, Charley isn’t interested in him in that way, though she does find him attractive. Which, who woulnd’t?
CS: OMG- I’ve never seen this question asked, or if it has, I must have missed it. My brain can only retain so many deets before they all start to leak out again. I need to increase my Geritol dose now that I’m **ahem—whispers next words** over forty. How many books are you planning in this series?
DJ: LOL! Right now it’s simply ongoing. We aren’t sure how many there will be in all, but I will say I know exactly how I want the last book to go and what will happen after that. I have a spin-off in mind. That being said, I do hope it continues for quite some time.
CS: Okay, confession time—Have you ever taken one of Charley’s T-shirt slogans and made it into a shirt? What is your favorite one?
DJ: While I didn’t do that personally, my publisher did and they were great. They took several and made them into shirts for promotional purposes. I love so many of them! I also want to put some up on Café Press or something. I’ll get on that the minute I can catch my breath.
CS: Now let’s have some fun. I’ll start a sentence, and you fill in the blank, kay? And careful, you’re being graded, lol. Or maybe I’ll give you a booby prize.
DJ: Booby prizes??? I love booby prizes!
CS: **Snickers...** I'll not make the obvious comment that's rolling in my pervy mind, D--
• If I could write like any author, I wish I could write like Terry Pratchett.
**( I had to look this author up, as I had no friggin clue who this author was. If you want more info, click here for a listing of Terry's books. He writes fantasy).
• One thing that I cannot exist without every day is my coffee. (I know. Big surprise.)
• If I could have a superpower I would pick invinsibility so that I could save the world without getting my @$$ kicked.
• My most embarrassing moment was when I left my bra on the floor this morning while men were working on my closet. (Not the MOST embarrasing thing that’s ever happened to me, just the most recent.)
**It could've been a helluva lot worse, Love--like your panties, or say, a certain "toy"...just sayin'.
• If I wasn’t a world’s famous author, I would probably be doing my day job again. I was a sign language interpreter for many a year.
• My favorite Black Dagger Brother is Zsadist…sigh…
**Cool, won't have to hurt you, lol. V is the Brother for me. And Butch, Then John, and oh HELL--Quinn and Blay...
• My favorite scene that I’ve ever written between Charley and Reyes is a fight scene in Fourth Grave Beneath my Feet.
**you are a merciless tease, D. You're luck that I love you so~
C.S. : Thank you soooo much for stopping by Darynda. You are always welcome to come visit anytime.
DJ: Thank YOU so much for having me!!!
Book Excerpt:
With renewed energy, I pulled back onto Academy— after hitting a drive- through for a mocha latte— and had just started for home when my phone rang.
“Yes?” I said, illegally talking on the phone while driving within the city limits. Scoping for cops, I waited for Uncle Bob to stop talking to whomever he was talking to and get back to me.
My uncle Bob, or Ubie as I most often referred to him, was a detective or APD, and I helped him on cases from time to time. He knew I could see the departed and used that to his advantage. Not that I could blame him.
“Get that to her, then call the ME ay- sap.”
“Okay,” I said, “but I’m not sure what calling the medical examiner ay- sap is going to accomplish. I’m pretty sure his name is George.”
“Oh, hey, Charley.”
“Hey, Uncle Bob. What’s up?”
“Are you driving?”
“No.”
“Have you heard anything?”
Our conversations often went like this. Uncle Bob with his random questions. Me with my trying to come up with answers just as random.
Not that I had to try very hard. “I heard that Tiff any Gorham, a girl I knew in grade school, still stuffs her bra. But that’s just a rumor.”
“About the case,” he said through clenched teeth. I could tell his teeth were clenched because his words were suddenly forced. That meant he was frustrated. Too bad I had no idea what he was talking about.
“I wasn’t aware that we had a case.”
“Oh, didn’t Cookie call you?”
“She called me a doody- head once.”
“About the case.” His teeth were totally clenched again.
“We have a case?”
But I’d lost him. He was talking to another officer. Or a detective. Or a hooker, depending on his location and accessibility to cash. Though I doubted he would tell a hooker to check the status of the DOA’s autopsy report. Unless he was way kinkier than I’d ever given him credit for.
I found his calling me only to talk to other people very challenging.
“I’ll call you right back,” he said. No idea to whom.
The call disconnected as I sat at a light, wondering what guacamole would look like if avocados were orange.
I finally shifted my attention to the dead kid in my backseat. He had shoulder- length blond hair and bright blue eyes and looked somewhere between fifteen and seventeen.
“You come here often?” I asked him, but my phone rang before he could say anything. That was okay. He had a vacant stare, so I doubted he would have answered me anyway.
“Sorry about that,” Uncle Bob said. “Do you want to discuss the case?”
“We have a case?” I said again, perking up.
“How are you?”
He asked me that every time he called now. “Peachy. Am I the case? If so, I can solve this puppy in about three seconds. I’m heading down San Mateo toward Central in a cherry red Jeep Wrangler with a questionable exhaust system.”
“Charley.”
“Hurry, before I get away!”
~ Click here for more tour information on where you can find Darynda Jones hanging out ~
Twelve. Twelve of the
deadliest beasts ever forged in the fires of hell have escaped onto our plane,
and they want nothing more than to rip out the jugular of Charley Davidson and
serve her lifeless, mangled body to Satan for dinner. So there’s that. But
Charley has more on her plate than a mob of testy hellhounds. For one thing,
her father has disappeared, and the more she retraces his last steps, the more
she learns he was conducting an investigation of his own, one that has Charley
questioning everything she’s ever known about him. Add to that an ex-BFF who is
haunting her night and day, a rash of suicides that has authorities baffled,
and a drop-dead sexy fiancé who has attracted the attentions of a local
celebrity, and Charley is not having the best week of her life.
