Today we have the opportunity to have national best-selling and award winning thriller author Jordan Dane with us at Fallen Angel Reviews! Jordan, pull up a seat and let’s share a cup of tea. The readers are anxious to learn something about Jordan.

Thanks for hosting me, Linda. It’s great to be here with you and FAR. I’m enjoying a pungent spicy Russian tea and I’ve got my feet up and I’m ready to chat.

Jordan, wow you have penned some great stories. Why not tell your readers how your day begins?

Not one day is the same as another, especially if I’m in the middle of a project like I am now. I could start my writing day at 1:00 AM or sleep in. Think LONG DAYS. My mind never stops working and the creativity of writing isn’t always at your fingertips when I want to sit at the computer. Sometimes I have to let my mind work at a problem and resolve it while I’m doing other things. It’s a strange life. Bad men talk to me in my head…and I like it. I write every day, usually in the morning. The block of time I mostly work is 9AM-3PM. I take a break to be with my husband for a few hours then hit it again later in the evening.

Your latest release, Evil Without A Face, has a nice cover. I can definitely see the fear in the woman’s face. We would love to hear about your latest release. Can you enlighten us?

I really liked the cover too. It reminded me of those slasher babysitter movies where the audience yells at the screen, “Don’t open the door!”

In EVIL WITHOUT A FACE, 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. A new kind of criminal organization becomes the faceless enemy behind an insidious global conspiracy. And the life of one young girl and countless others hang in the balance. This is the initial driver to my new series. And I absolutely LOVE being in the world of these characters. These novels have been a blast to write.

With an international setting, my Sweet Justice thrillers will focus on the lives and loves of three strong women—a bounty hunter operating outside the law, an ambitious vice cop, and a former international operative with a mysterious past. These women give Lady Justice a whole new reason to wear blinders. And their brand of justice is anything but sweet.

Wow, with locations in Alaska and Russia, the stories you pen really take shape, practically coming to life. Not to mention with you living in Alaska for ten years. I know that had to be a great experience. When you are sketching a story, how much of yourself, if any, do you find in the story?

Every writer puts their worldview in a book. I call this “free association” where an author writes without censorship to see what comes out, like brainstorming. As an example, there was one line in my debut book that read—“If she wanted to engage the only brain he had, all she had to do was unzip it and Free Willy.” My sister posted this one-liner in her guest bath at a private book launch of my book. Taken out of context, I had to laugh. But I remembered that this line came from a time my husband and I traveled to Vancouver and saw where they’d filmed Free Willy, the movie about an Orca whale.

It’s hard not to put yourself into your books because you give voice to your characters by imagining what they would think, for example. And that takes a little exploration into your own life’s experiences to build that character’s world and make them interesting to a reader. When I lived in Alaska, I had an adventure of a lifetime. I couldn’t see Russia from my house but I’ve had Russian friends. I went on backpacking trips, mountain climbing, kayak and canoe trips, fly-in fishing adventures involving small bush planes to remote areas.

But one of the crazier things I've ever done was when I was a race official for the Alaska Iditaski race. The competition of cross-country skiers and snow shoers followed the sled dog racecourse of the Iditarod trail. I checked mandatory gear for the international race participants in the dead of winter in the middle of nowhere. I got flown in the cargo hold of a small plane, taking off on a frozen lake and landing on a frozen river. And not once did it occur to me that I might DIE OUT THERE!!!

You have received some great reviews as well on your outstanding book releases. With your series, do you find your schedule of events, in your life, have multiplied, stayed the same, or wow, took you on a high flying ride?

My life is CRAZY right now. I’m in the middle of writing my 6th book, part of this Sweet Justice series—and still have to find time for promotion. But I love being busy. And yes, the reviews have really been great for this book and the accolades are still coming in for my debut series. My debut book, NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM, was named Best Book of 2008 for Mass Market by Publishers Weekly in New York. And Romantic Times gave me two top picks for my 3-book debut series PLUS nominated NO ONE LIVES FOREVER as the Best Intrigue Book of 2008. I am stunned by all this attention. But I try to stay focused on the only thing I have control over—my writing. I’m here in Okieland, writing away and having fun living my dream. My publisher is very pleased by all the attention.

Jordan, I love your books. I love your picture of San Antonio at night. I have visited it a number of times, and loved every minute. Your pictures really capture the ambience of it all, and No One Heard Her Scream, was set there. Is it hard for you to choose names for your characters or titles?

Character names come to me sometimes in the middle of the night. I have to jump up and write them down. For other character names, I use many resources to match up a good combination of first to last names, usually involving the white pages of the phone book. I say the names aloud to make sure they slide off the tongue easily or fit the personality of the character. Sexy guy names like Payton, Garrett, Jackson, Seth, Christian, and Nicholas. Or strong women’s names like Raven, Jasmine, Alexa, Jessica, Samantha, and Rebecca. I usually also like names that suggest a good nickname. So Nicholas becomes Nicky to his friends, Jessica becomes Jessie, Rebecca becomes Becca and Samantha becomes Sam or Sammie. I also use ethnic names. Since I’m Hispanic, I use more Hispanic surnames than many other writers.

Titles matter to me. I usually make the title significant enough to put it as part of the dialogue or in the narratives of the book. In my debut book NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM, the title came from dialogue. My beleaguered woman homicide detective is plagued by grief over the death of her younger sister. So when she sees the skeletal remains of a young woman buried behind a brick wall of an old burned down theatre and realizes the girl was buried alive, she says, “No one heard her scream.” And her CSI tech tells her, “Until now.” I like giving the reader an “Ah, ha” moment when they understand the title.

What would you say is important to you, Characters, plot, or intimacy?

If I reply intimacy, I’m not sure we’d be talking about books any more. (grin) But when you’re talking about characters and the intimacy I feel in writing them, then yes that is very important. For me as a reader, I really have to have both working hand in hand to get a compelling story. Characters usually come to me first because it defines why I think this story is worth telling. The human factor is very important to me as a reader and as a writer. My plots tend to be action oriented, but it’s how the character reacts to the roadblocks I set up for them that really matter.

What's least important?

The first thing that popped into my head is promotion. I actually love doing interviews and talking to readers about my books, but other aspects of promo (like maintaining blog & websites and traveling to and from book tours) can be draining and take time away from my writing that isn’t as much fun as talking to people.

What other remarkable books can we expect from Jordan in the future?

My next book in the Sweet Justice series is already written and will be coming out in November 2009 – THE WRONG SIDE OF DEAD. Each series book will be standalone in plot, but the characters and their relationships continue. They all have personal journeys. And this story focuses on my mysterious computer wizard Seth Harper who is framed for a heinous murder. And between his gaps in memory and reluctance to reveal his secrets, fugitive recovery agent Jessica Beckett, vice cop Sam Cooper and international operative Alexa Marlowe have an uphill battle to help the boy genius. But Harper’s plight is not what it seems. And with one fatal mistake, more innocent lives could wind up on the wrong side of dead.

And I’m currently working on book #3 in the series – tentatively titled THE ECHO OF VIOLENCE. Think pirates on the high seas, terrorists abducting hostages from a missionary school fundraiser in Haiti, and a life or death struggle in the mountains of communist Cuba to rescue them. The reader will learn more about mysterious operative Alexa Marlowe and her boss Garrett Wheeler and the covert world of the Sentinels—an anonymous group of high-powered international vigilantes who wield their own kind of justice.

Since everybody needs a break, even when doing something they love, how do you like to spend your time away from writing?

I love spending time with family and friends. I write full time now and get carried away with the worlds I build. Today, I was in the mountains of SE Cuba trailing terrorists with my international operative Alexa Marlowe and her team, trying to rescue hostages. But when I can’t play with my imaginary friends, I slip away to dinners, movies, trips with my friends and family. And spending time with my very patient husband is the absolute best.

You have plans for a very romantic evening and would like to share the tips with your readers. Tell the readers what you consider the best plans to really make the night shine? And what delicious dish would you like to accompany your delightful night?

I love ethnic and exotic foods so I might make an evening of exploring something new in an atmospheric setting that’s surrounded by the country’s music, décor, and culture. Good conversation, candle light, excellent wine and intimacy. And to make the evening special, I would cater to his every whim and make him the focus.

Do you have a favorite song that you never grow tired of?

I have a lifetime of songs that I love hearing over and over, but lately I’ve been building a playlist for one of my characters in EVIL WITHOUT A FACE. Seth Harper is my quirky 25-yr old computer genius who seems to live his life in music. He is devoted to Jerry Springer and has strange connections to a borderline criminal world that focuses on computer hacking and system manipulation—for the side of good, of course. When I’m on my blog at MySpace, I search for songs he might like and I’ll write them into my novels. I’ve got a few songs on my playlist for him and when I need inspiration to write about Harperworld, I crank up the tunes. He likes Sherwood, Sick Puppies, Lady Gaga, Secondhand Serenade and Three Days Grace to name a few groups. I have images of him (and my other main characters) on my website in a ‘Story Behind the Story’ feature for EVIL at the link below.

http://www.jordandane.com/evil_photos.php

You are asked to write a good crime book and a lawyer based on a great TV lawyer. Which of any of the TV lawyers would you choose?

You’d never catch me writing about a lawyer. Crime books, yes. Lawyers, not so much. I made a New Year’s resolution to cut back on dull and egotistical in 2009.

Do you have a website, myspace, blog or any other links to your books that you would like to share with your readers?

Yes, I have a website and I blog on MySpace, Facebook, and have a great site at HarperCollins that has a Browse Inside feature to get a peek into my books. Here are those links:

www.jordandane.com

http://www.myspace.com/jordandanebooks

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jordan-Dane/1464946740

http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/33056/Jordan_Dane/index.aspx

Do you have a favorite pair of shoes that you just cannot get rid of?

I go for comfort these days, so I mainly wear sneaks or a good walking shoe. I used to play volleyball for years and now have knee injuries that make comfort very important. I don’t have a favorite pair of shoes. I’m probably not a very girlie kind of girl. Living in Alaska cured me of becoming a fashionista for footwear.

Thank you so much for spending the morning with us, Jordan. I have certainly enjoyed the time we shared.

And thanks for having me here, Linda. You guys ROCK!

Interviewed by: Linda L.