Winner of the 2009 Golden Heart® for Best Paranormal Romance for her manuscript First Grave on the Right, Darynda Jones landed a three-book deal in a pre-empt from St. Martin's Press. Her debut novel is scheduled for release in 2011.

Darynda lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband of more than 25 years, who has a slight car fetish but is trying a new medication, and her two beautiful sons, aka the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys.

Darynda's oldest son was born Deaf. When he was five, she packed up her boys and moved to Albuquerque to put him in a Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing program. Her husband stayed behind with the business, and they took turns going back and forth on the weekends to see each other for seven long years.

While in Albuquerque, Darynda attended the University of New Mexico. She graduated summa cum laude in 2001 with a degree in sign language interpreting and interprets full time in an educational setting. None of it would have been possible without an incredibly supportive family and an amazing husband who still takes her breath away.