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Author Jordan Dane has been pursuing
publication since 2003. Since then she has received over
30 awards in national writing competitions, which
includes her 2005 Golden Heart entry NO ONE LEFT TO
TELL. In 2006 she sold her first three books in an
auction to Avon/Harper Collins. She is a member of
Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America,
Sisters in Crime, Kiss of Death, International Thriller
Writers, Inc, and the Oklahoma City chapter of RWA. But
best of all, Jordan is an approachable, witty, and
interesting person as well.
I have had the privilege of corresponding with Jordan
Dane. She willingly answered some questions for me
regarding her writing style, her books, and herself in
general. I hope you will also get a glimpse into her
world. Ms. Dane states that each book has come to her
differently. Sometimes she sees the ending, sometimes
the beginning. With NO ONE LEFT TO TELL, she told me,
"Christian woke me up in the middle of the night to tell
me how his first story would end. I jotted notes and
went back to bed but respected his wishes." She loves to
stay flexible in her writing which allows the story to
ebb and flow based on her research of a topic, or how
the characters seem to come alive through her writing.
Ms. Dane loves to read crime fiction and espionage
thrills. Currently she is reading BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE
by Lee Child. She would also like to soon read the
latest releases from Amanda Stevens, CJ Lyons, Allison
Brennan, and Leighton Gage. She describes her personal
library as eclectic and claims that she has gotten her
inspiration to write from a lifelong dream, and also
from real crime. Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne series
captured her attention and interest, as well as the
works by Robert Crais and Dean Koontz.
Jordan says no one has to worry about showing up as
characters in her books! She rarely uses real people to
model a character, and if she does, it is for secondary
characters only. She states, "When I’m imagining a main
character, I gather images from the Internet of various
things like clothes, stance, attitude, face, lips, eyes,
memorable actors etc. to form a general idea of that
character. I keep these images and use them on days I’m
writing scenes with them in it. Music can inspire me
too." She is influenced by real crime for the topics of
her stories. She loves the challenge of weaving stories
together and keeps notes of interesting topics to pull
out and use later. For NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM, "the
Natalee Holloway case got my attention when speculators
on the Internet believed she might have been trafficked
into Venezuela off the nearby island of Aruba. Seeing
this poor family’s drama being played out on the small
screen broke my heart. I did my best to capture the
emotion of that ordeal in my book, as seen through the
grief-stricken eyes of my woman detective Rebecca
Montgomery after her younger sister Danielle was
abducted and believed murdered—without a body for
closure. It was my take on the destruction of a family
in crisis." Lately she finds herself interested in
international and cyberspace crimes that cross over
jurisdictions and international boards. She enjoys the
fact that in her stories she is not regulated by
jurisdictions and can pursue the criminals she creates
in any way she sees fit.
Writing has it's good and it's bad points. Currently,
Ms. Dane is working on a thriller series called SWEET
JUSTICE for Avon that will be released in February 2009.
She states that getting the pace down for thriller
writing is not easy but that she is developing her
style. In terms of rewards, since her heart and soul
goes into writing each book, she loves it when readers
contact her and let her know how much they enjoyed the
story line. To even relay to her that they got the
meaning of the story, the emotions behind her
characters, and the overall symbolism of the story is
the best reward ever.
It is so much fun to watch new writers grow and expand
in their already mighty talent. When I asked Ms. Dane
which of her books was her favorite, she wasn't willing
to put one in front of the others. And to be honest, it
wasn't a fair question. Each book holds a place in her
heart, and so much of her time and energy that each one
should be celebrated for the gifts that they bring to
the reader. She did say that she likes to think of her
best book as her next book since she is always learning
through the ones before. She is very excited about her
new thriller series due to the fact that it is her first
true series where she has built a world for her readers.
Here is a little about them. "I am so jazzed about my
upcoming romantic thriller series that I’m currently
writing for Avon. I sold the 3-book "Sweet Justice"
series in May 2007 and turned in my first book in
December—a book tentatively titled EVIL WITHOUT A FACE.
And I’m busy on the second book, THE WRONG SIDE OF DEAD.
But here is an overview of the series as published in
Publishers Weekly when the deal was struck:
"An illusive web of imposters on the Internet lures a
deluded teen from her Alaskan home and launches a chain
reaction collision course with an unlikely tangle of
heroes. This is the initial driver to the new 3-book
"Sweet Justice" series from author Jordan Dane and Avon
HarperCollins. With an international setting, these
romantic thrillers will focus on the lives and loves of
three women—a bounty hunter operating outside the law,
an ambitious vice cop, and a former international
operative with a mysterious past."
I lived in Alaska for 10 years and I love that EVIL
WITHOUT A FACE weaves in and out of that setting. It’s
an ambitious plot and very fast paced, based on a real
crime that happened in 2004 in Florida. And I’m
particularly fond of the main character in this first
book, my Fugitive Recovery Agent Jessica Beckett. She’s
scarred both physically and mentally by her past, yet
her inner strength is so resilient. Her scars are the
imperfections in us all. But one of her most endearing
traits is that she’s a real smart-ass. Normally, I fall
in love with my male characters, but this woman has
stolen my heart on so many levels.
This new series electrifies me."
Ms. Dane quit her day job in the energy industry to
pursue a career in writing. As a person who enjoys her
life, travel, and research, being an author seems like a
good fit. She works from home whenever she is inspired.
She enjoys comments from her readers and encourages them
to let her know what they think of her work. When you
contact Ms. Dane, you will get a personal email back
from her. Her upbeat outlook and positive energy flow
through cyberspace to you. Her advice to anyone out
there who would like to pursue writing is "Persevere.
Take risks. Filter out the nay-sayers and write what’s
in your heart. And never give up writing if it is in
your blood. When I made up my mind that I would write
whether I got published or not, that’s when I sold my
books."
Word of mouth is important to all authors, but
especially new ones. If you read one of Jordan Dane's
books and like them, recommend them to your friends. She
is very approachable on line as well on her MySpace page
http://www.myspace.com/jordandanebooks. Check out
her site for information on her recent releases, her
upcoming titles, and contests as well. She also has
listed all of her speaking engagements and tour
schedules.
It was my pleasure to interview Jordan Dane especially
after reading NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM and NO ONE LEFT TO
TELL. I am looking forward to her other release and the
new series as well. Thank you Jordan and Good Luck!
We'll be watching you climb the charts!!
(Click for a review of
NO ONE LEFT TO
TELL) |
