"Death and the Girl Next Door" Blog Tour

I'm totally stoked to have Darynda Jones, Author of the "Charley Davidson" series and now her new YA series "Dark Light" visiting with us today!! 

Here is the synopsis of "Death and the Girl Next Door": 

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.  For Lorelei, life goes on.

High school is not quite as painful as she thinks it will be, and things are as normal as they can be.  Until the day 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.  Things get even more complicated when a new guy—terrifying, tough, sexy Jared Kovach—comes to school.  Cameron and Jared 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?  Thrilling, sassy, sexy, and inventive, Darynda Jones's first foray into the world of teens will leave readers eager for the next installment.

Welcome Darynda and Thank You for taking the time to answer a few questions. 

Viviana: I’ve heard that "Death and the Girl Next Door" had another name.  Is this true?  And if so, what was the original name of the book? 

Darynda: My YA series went through several different titles. It was first called Riley’s Switch, which is the name of the fiction town the series is set in. Then it was called Grimsight, but my editor didn’t really like it. Death and the Girl Next Door was actually the brainchild of a friend of mine’s. I absolutely loved it, presented it to my editor, and she loved it too. 


Viviana:  Is Lorelei  a younger version of Charley? 

Darynda: She definitely has her sassy moments, but she’s not quite as sarcastic as Charley. Then again, she has two best friends, Brooklyn and Glitch, who help her out with that. 


Viviana: Will the "Darklight" series be ongoing like the Charley Davidson series?

Darynda: The "Darklight" series will be a trilogy: "Death and the Girl Next Door"; "Death, Doom and Detention"; and "Death and Other Distracations". 


Viviana: Are any of the characters based on people you know in real life? 

Darynda: I do actually use people I know in real life as physical inspiration quite often. It makes it easier to envision my characters. But for most of the characters in DATGND, I just used my imagination. Still, there is a set of twins, Ashlee and Sydnee, who are based on two of my nieces. 


Viviana: What is your favorite scene in the book? 

Darynda: There is a fight scene between Jared and Cameron that I’m rather fond of. I really
liked writing that scene. But right after that, there is a scene in the back of Cameron’s pickup where Jared starts to realize something is different, his world has changed. He is wounded, angry, and scared, and he thinks Lorelei has done something to him, to her utter bafflement. I really love that scene. It shows the lengths of Cameron’s animosity for Jared and the fact that both Cameron and Jared see Lorelei as something else, something she is clueless about. It’s harsh and raw and leaves Lorelei reeling with knowledge of a world she never knew existed.


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Here's a snippet of Chapter 1

The small town of Riley’s Switch, New Mexico, had only one coffee house, so that’s where I sat with my  two best friends, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that only two of us would make it out of there alive. Though I did tend to exaggerate.

The fresh scent of pine from the surrounding mountains, which mingled with the rich aroma of coffee, lingered forgotten. In its place was a tense silence. It thickened the air around us. Emotions soared and rage simmered as I glowered at the traitor sitting across from me, waiting for him to flinch, to cower under my scrutiny. I would make his life a living heck if it were the last thing I did. Mostly because I wasn’t allowed to use the word Hell, being the granddaughter of a pastor and all. Otherwise, Casey Niyol Blue- Spider, aka the Glitch, would be toast.

“I swear, Lorelei,” he said, caving at last as a telling bead of sweat trickled down his temple, “I didn’t take it.” He shifted nervously in his seat and scanned the Java Loft, most likely to see if anyone was paying attention to the unscrupulous activities going on right under their noses. Since we were the only patrons in the place, probably not. “And even if I did, and I’m not saying I did,” he added, jabbing an index finger toward me, “who the heck cares?”

I lowered my voice, controlled the tone and inflection of every word, every syllable, striving to make myself sound menacing. I took up a mere five feet of vertical air space, so menacing was not always easy for me to accomplish. Slipping into a cryptic grin, I said, “You realize the minute I touch your hand, I’ll know the truth.”

His gaze darted to the hand he’d wrapped around his whipped almond toffee cappuccino with nonfat milk, and he jerked it back out of my reach. His hand. Not the whipped almond toffee cappuccino with nonfat milk.

My best friend Brooklyn leaned in to me and whispered, “You  know he accidentally deleted seventeen songs off your classic rock playlist, right? And he used your toothbrush once without asking.” She glared at him, the contempt in her eyes undeniable. “I say make the traitor squirm.”

Glitch’s jaw tightened, and I could sense his inevitable defeat like a dog senses fear.

“Tag- teaming?” he asked, indignant. “Isn’t that a little unsportsmanlike?”

“Not for a couple of heartless dames like us,” Brooklyn said.

I turned to her with a smile. “Oh, my god, I love it when you talk pulp- fiction detective.”

“I know, right?” she said, her dark skin and brown eyes a picture of joy.

Brooke and I met when we threw down in the third grade. By the end of my first and only catfight, I had a few missing hairs, a broken fingernail, and a new best friend. And we were practically twins. If not for the fact that she had long sable hair, chestnut skin, and light brown eyes, and I had curly auburn hair, pasty white skin, and eyes the bizarre color of chimney smoke, people would never be able to tell us apart. Probably because we were both exactly five feet tall. Not a centimeter more. Not a centimeter less. It was eerie.

In choreographed unison, we refocused on the slimeball sitting across from us.

“Spill,” she said.

“Okay, sheesh.” He pushed back his cappuccino and folded his arms over his chest, a defensive gesture that only added fuel to my suspicions. “I admit it. I had a copy of the test beforehand, but I didn’t steal it.”

“I knew you cheated.” I reached across the table and whacked  him on the arm. Thankfully, Glitch wasn’t much bigger than either of us, so the punch quite possibly registered somewhere deep in the scary depths of his boy mind. Or that was my hope, anyway. “You blew the curve, Glitch.”

Guilt washed over him. I could tell by the thin line of his lips, the chin tucked in shame.

“You’re such a wiener,” Brooklyn said. “I really needed those extra points.”

“And where on planet Earth did you get a copy of the test?” I had to admit, I was more than a little astonished. And a tad jealous.

He shook his head. “No way. I’m not giving up my source. And besides, you both got B’s. It’s not like you failed the stupid thing.”

For the rest of the snippet please visit Darynda Jones's Website

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