It's Jordan Dane

I am so excited to have Jordan, award winning mystery suspense author joining us today.
She is the nicest person you could ever meet. Plus, she has three books coming out and you can pre order them all right now.
Jordan's gritty suspense plots weave a tapestry of vivid settings, intrigue, and dark humor. She loves challenging a reader's moral barometer with the borderline ethics of her characters and their flawed personalities—dark, angst-ridden antiheroes pitted against unforgettable villains.

Let me first start off with sharing a quick summary for No One Heard Her Scream

A relentless detective with the San Antonio Police Department is barred from an investigation into the disappearance and murder of her younger sister and forced to take another assignment. Skeletal remains buried in the wall of an old theatre destroyed by arson make an intriguing new case. But when the bones turn out to be of a woman, close in age to her sister, the hunt for a killer gets personal—a vendetta for justice.

A seductive enforcer to the mob, with secrets of his own, stands between the detective and a powerful man she believes is linked to the murder. Will the reluctant henchman become an ally or betray her to his treacherous 'benefactor'? Drawn into the sinister world of human trafficking, the modern-day slave trade, the detective unravels a grim trail of destroyed lives—leaving her little hope for vindication in the death of her sister and a nameless young woman buried alive.

Thank you for agreeing to answer some questions.

My pleasure. Thanks for asking me.

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

I can’t really say that it was a driving passion early on, no. I considered myself a generalist and most subjects intrigued me. I had a creative side to my brain that needed attention, however, that could manifest itself in the theatre, film, short stories, storytelling, jokes, and yes, even pranks.

As a kid, for example, I wrote screenplays for TV show parodies (complete with mock commercials) and my siblings recorded the material on a tape recorder, even doing sound effects. We did videos for quirky school projects even before they were in vogue. We’d perform at the drop of a hat. None of us were shy.

In that environment, I learned to try anything and went after it without fear of failure. I can thank my parents for this. But always in the back of my mind, the written word was important. I had become an avid reader, content to spend hours in a library and loving it. And even though I wrote with some humor as a teenager, I also loved examining more weighty subjects like growing old and death. But I never thought I could make a living doing what I loved, so I got an education and a degree in accounting, believe it or not. I secured a career in the energy industry and traveled the country, broadening my experiences—a move I can’t possibly regret. It helped set me up today to write full time.

But as an adult, I never forgot about my passion for writing. I wrote and sent funny Christmas letters to friends, more fiction than reality. And I gravitated to creative projects at work, especially if it involved inventing clever slogans or developing marketing brochures. But just prior to 2003 when I started writing, I attended an event that would change my life. I went to hear a speech by Zig Ziglar, motivational speaker. In it, he said that he wrote his non-fiction book doing it a page a day. And I said to myself, “Hell, I can do that.” From that day forward, I’ve been writing and haven’t stopped. I learned that passions can be squelched, but if they’re truly important, they’re not forgotten.

What were the first books you can remember reading?

I wish I could remember the name of the one that made such a powerful impression, but it was a fantasy book involving a little boy and a flying horse. I was a big reader of anything with horses in it. I devoured any book in the library that had them in the pages. I soon got into westerns and when I developed an interest in the men riding those horses, I got into espionage thrillers and other genres. I love a lone wolf brooding male. And still do.

Who are your inspirations? Why?

Creative people who are passionate about their craft (whatever that is) inspire me. But in the world of fiction, I have to say that Robert Crais is the first author that I read who I completely understood the way he crafted a story. I picked up The Forgotten Man and later read LA Requiem and he blew me away. I finally saw something of my writing in someone else. Not where I am today, but where I’d like to be. Another author who continually surprises me and keeps getting better is Dean Koontz. Love him.

What is the one thing you want readers to take away from your books?

I’d like my readers to expect the unexpected. I hope they’ll find a basic foundation of consistency in my books (mystery and suspense, an edgy atmospheric world and the gut wrenching stories of memorable characters), but I don’t want my readers to get too comfortable with status quo or traditional story lines. For me to develop my craft, I need to flex my muscles as a writer. With each book I learn something new and it excites me.

I want to again extend a big thank you to Jordan Dane for stopping by and sharing with us all. To read an except of this book or information on any of her other books, check out her website at http://www.jordandane.com/
So remember to pick up all of her books and be ready for a spine-tingling ride of your life!