In the second installment of Darynda Jones’ Darklight series, heroine Lorelei learns more about a supernatural war that she is destined to stop. But as Jones writes, “Sadly, she has no idea how to stop a war, supernatural or otherwise.” Don’t you just hate it when that happens? Read below to find out more about the latest book and the author behind it all.
YOUNG ADULT: What made you decide to start writing?
Darynda Jones: Actually, I’ve been writing YA since I was a YA! I later switched and wrote a couple of adult manuscripts, one of which sold first, but I went right back to writing YA the first chance I got. I love writing it and I’m not 100% certain why. If I had to take a guess, I would say it boils down to the discovery aspect of it all. The discovery of a first love. The discovery of self. The discovery of a strength the main character didn’t know he/she possessed. I simply love how raw everything is in YA.
YA: Tell us a little bit about your latest work. What is different about Death, Doom, and Detention, and what does it bring to the Darklight series?
DJ: In DDD, our heroine, Lorelei, is dealing with a lot. The fact that she’s possessed is only one aspect of her new life that she has to come to terms with. Her grandparents are being very secretive and her love interest, Jared, aka the Angel of Death, is keeping her at arm’s length at their request. In the meantime, her visions are getting stronger and harder to deal with and there’s a new kid at school who is not what he seems. It goes downhill from there.
Death, Doom, and Detention moves us one step close to a supernatural war that will be fought on Earth, the very one that Lorelei has been prophesied to stop. Sadly, she has no idea how to stop a war, supernatural or otherwise, and the stress is beginning to take its toll.
YA: How did the idea for this book/series arise? What are your major inspirations (TV, film, other literature/stories)?
DJ: I am inspired by tons of wonderful books, films, and TV series. Anything by Joss Whedon earns my seal of approval. I love JJ Abrams and Ridley Scott and scores of others. And while I’ve always written, I think the writer who sparked that fire in me to make the move to novel-length works was Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. As far as my inspiration for the Darklight trilogy, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact source. I started it and wrote the first in the series almost a decade ago, so that initial inspiration has since fled the premises. But I’ve always had a thing about death as an entity, as a material being instead of a state of being, and that includes the Angel of Death. What a job, right?
| YA: Take us through a typical writing day for you. DJ: Writing has to come first. This is a lesson I’ve learned the hard way over the last couple of years. Writing first. Social media, promotion, blogging, interviews . . . everything else has to come second. So now I am at my computer every morning at 7 a.m., coffee by my side, butt in chair, fingers on keys. The only thing I do in terms of business-before-writing is check my main email account on my phone every morning before I even get out of bed. That way I know if I need to respond to anything when I hit the computer. If not, I don’t even open email. I just write. I get in around 3-4 hours of solid writing before I even get dressed. Then it’s check email, shower time, lunch, back to work. Usually my afternoons are full of all that other stuff I mentioned. |
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YA: Besides the classic ‘never give up’, what advice would you give to aspiring young writers today?
DJ: First, read. Read anything and everything you can get your hands on. Analyze why you like something. What was it about that book/scene/line that affected you so? And, just as important, analyze what you don’t like. Why didn’t you like it? What did the author do that distanced you? Second, write. Write a little everyday and don’t just start manuscript after manuscript. Finish one. Then another and another. It takes that kind of tenacious determination to be a writer. It takes work. Third, learn the business. If your desire is to be a published writer, learn the business of writing by joining a professional organization or a local writer’s group and by reading about the other side of writing, the publishing aspect of it. There are a lot of options out there for new writers. You won’t know which is best for you until you dive into the deep end.
YA: If you hadn’t become an author, what path would your career have perhaps taken?
DJ: Well, I was firmly planted into the world of sign language interpreting when I sold. I have a BS in interpreting and interpreted, as well as taught at a local college and worked with families with Deaf children, for many years. I’m sure I would still be doing that with a little drawing and cake decorating thrown in for my creative outlet.
The normal part of Lorelei MacAlister’s life didn’t just slip away quietly the day Jared Kovach came to town. Nope. The normal part of her life shattered. It exploded. It burst into a gazillion shards of fleeting light. It went out with a bang.
While her best friend, Brooklyn, is focusing all of her energy on helping Lorelei hone her abilities, Lorelei is dealing with the reality that Satan’s second in command has taken up residence inside her body. Oh, and the fact that she has a crush on the Angel of Death. But what a beautiful death it is. If those weren’t bad enough, something sinister has come to town and it wants nothing more than to hear Lorelei’s dying breath as it strangles it out of her. Thank goodness the gang has a supernatural champion. But what happens when the only being who can save them switches sides midstream? How can a group of misfits capture one of the most powerful beings ever created? And will they find out how to bring Jared back to them before it’s too late?”
Webisite: http://www.daryndajones.com
Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet Out Now!
Death, Doom and Detention (March 2013)
Fifth Grave Past the Light (July 2013)
From St. Martin’s Press