Paranormal romance is all the rage with all ages

“Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet” by Darynda Jones
St. Martin’s Press, $24.99, 320 pp.

“Death and the Girl Next Door” by Darynda Jones
St. Martin’s Griffin, $9.99, 286 pp. 

“Death and the Girl Next Door” by Darynda Jones
St. Martin’s Griffin, $9.99, 286 pp.

This fall is a noteworthy season for New Mexico author Darynda Jones.

The fourth book in her paranormal romance series for adults starring protagonist Charley Davidson is out.

It’s titled “Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet.”

And Jones’ first paranormal romance book for young readers has just been published – “Death and the Girl Next Door.”

Jones, a Portales resident, said she believes that she writes with a young voice regardless of her readership.

But there is a structural difference in her books for the two audiences.

“I have a lot of layers in my adult books. So there are several story lines going on at the same time,” Jones said in a phone interview. “So in my young adult books I try to keep it a bit more focused on one major story line. There are always subplots in both.”

And her books for both audiences, she said, share other structures. Jones tries to keep her sentences short, with crisp imagery and snappy dialogue.

“Death and the Girl Next Door” tells of Lorelei, a high school sophomore whose parents had disappeared 10 years before. Lorelei has the support of her grandparents and her friends. But when the terrifying Jared, a new student, arrives at school, Lorelei wonders if he knows something about her parents. Jared must also contend with Cameron, the school’s designated loner.

She said the readership of the adult books is largely women of all ages.

“The oldest one I’ve gotten letters from is a great-grandmother. And I get really young preteens who’ve said they’ve read them. Obviously in the young adult books I don’t put sex in my pages, but there is in the adult ones,” Jones said. “I also have a lot of male readers, which surprises me. I just didn’t think as many male readers are interested in what I write. … It’s nice. I love it.”

Jones is humming right along. Her next book in a planned young adult trilogy, “Death, Doom, and Detention,” is due out next spring. And she’s currently working on No. 5 in the adult series, “Fifth Grave Past the Light,” scheduled to be published in the summer of 2013.
❈ Darynda Jones discusses, signs “Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet” and “Death and the Girl Next Door” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30, at Bookworks, 4022 Rio Grande NW.Paranormal romance is all the rage with all ages”Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet” by Darynda JonesSt. Martin’s Press, $24.99, 320 pp.”Death and the Girl Next Door” by Darynda JonesSt. Martin’s Griffin, $9.99, 286 pp. By David SteinbergJournal Staff Writer

This fall is a noteworthy season for New Mexico author Darynda Jones.

The fourth book in her paranormal romance series for adults starring protagoinist Charley Davidson is out. It’s titled “Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet.”

And Jones’ first paranormal romance book for young readers has just been published – “Death and the Girl Next Door.”

Jones, a Portales resident, believes that she writes with a young voice regardless of her readership. But there is a structural difference in her books for the two audiences.

“I have a lot of layers in my adult books. So there are several story lines going on at the same time,” Jones said in a phone interview. “So in my young adult books I try to keep it a bit more focused on one major story line. There are always subplots in both.”

And her books for both audiences, she said, share other structures. Jones tries to keep her sentences short, with crisp imagery and snappy dialogue.

“Death and the Girl Next Door” tells of Lorelei, a high school sophomore whose parents had disappeared 10 years before.

Lorelei has the support of her grandparents and her friends. But when the terrifying Jared, a new student, arrives at school, Lorelei wonders if he knows something about her parents. Jared must also contend with Cameron, the school’s designated loner.

Jones won a Golden Heart for Best Paranormal Romance for the manuscript for “First Grave on the Right.”

She said the readership of the adult books is largely women of all ages. “The oldest one I’ve gotten letters from is a great-grandmother. And I get really young preteens who’ve said they’ve read them. Obviously in the young adult books I don’t put sex in my pages but there is in the adult ones,” Jones said. “I also have a lot of male readers, which surprises me. I just didn’t think as many male readers are interested in what I write. … It’s nice. I love it.”

Jones is humming right along. Her next book in a planned young adult trilogy, “Death, Doom, and Detention,” is due out next spring. And she’s currently working on No. 5 in the adult series, “Fifth Grave Past the Light,” which is scheduled to be published in the summer of 2013.