Monday, March 24, 2008

Jordan Dane is in the House!


I'm crazy about Jordan Dane. When we finally met in person at Bouchercon in Alaska, I felt as though I were getting together with an old friend. She has a big heart, and talent to match. On March 25th, she's going to step out into the world with a brand-new book, her debut and the first in a three-book series from Avon. No One Heard Her Scream has been labeled by Avon as Romantic Suspense, but what it really is is damned good suspense. Jordan's brisk, highly physical prose will grab you and leave you breathless until the book's--well--terribly appealing, sexy conclusion. She's such a dear, she wrote a little piece just for the Handbasket. Welcome, Jordan!

Yet Another Great Shoe Story
By Jordan Dane

Do you remember little Dorothy Gale? She was a terribly naïve teen from Kansas with questionable taste in fashion who owned a scruffy little dog named Toto. Dorothy used to daydream about traveling “over the rainbow.” (During the 60s, anyone might have accused her of partaking in one too many shrooms—but for the sake of this post—work with me.)
Before I sold, Dorothy and I had a lot in common, but like her, a looming cataclysmic event would change my future.
Avon HarperCollins purchased my debut series in auction and is about to launch an aggressive back to back release event for all three books April through June 2008. By the time my releases happen, I have no doubt my experience will be comparable to little Dorothy’s. She’d been swept away by a tornado from her black and white world into the cosmic rainbow colored realm of Oz with its Munchkins, Emerald City, and enchanted ruby red slippers.
Getting published in this manner can be exhilarating and frightening at the same time, like being sucked into a life-changing vortex and whisked away to a distant and strange land. Here’s my take on it.
Selling felt like it had taken an Act of God. But now that I have embraced a full-time writing life, there are days it feels like winged primates are dive-bombing my head with deadlines, copy edits, and promotion. And whenever insecurity creeps up like bad underwear—when I ask myself, “My God, what were you thinking?”—I pray my good witch Glinda (my agent) will swoop down and reassure me that I had the power all along. And that my bodacious red slippers, that I’d worn from day one, had indeed helped me weather the storm. The similarities are astounding. Don’t you think? And for a chance at finding charming reader companions like Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man, my future journey down yellow brick road may be fraught with wicked naysayer witches and indifferent review wizards.
Are you beginning to see the parallels like I did? (Pass the shrooms. It might help.)
I believe that if you squint real hard and get your head wrapped around this concept, getting published can feel like being blown into an alternative universe where snappy red slippers are not just a fashion statement. Depleting hourglasses, flying chimps, burning scarecrows, and witches who melt when doused by H2O can be daunting unless you know how to wield the power of a good pair of shoes.

So my question is—if you could possess magic ruby red slippers, what powers would they have and how would you use them?

7 comments:

JT said...

Hi Jordan! Wow! The book is here! That is awesome and I look forward to reading it!

Ok - the ruby slippers, that is a no brainer for me. They would have the power to cure deseases and I'd cure Muscular Dystrophy. I have two nephews with the degenerative desease.

Jennifer Talty

Jordan Dane said...

Wow, Jenn--That is the best wish ever. If I had the power to grant you that wish, it would be a privilege. And you'd have snappy red shoes too.

Thanks for the good wishes. It's been nearly two years since I sold to the first release but I've been very busy on my next series. One of the best things about all this was meeting Laura. I feel like I have a new family with the ITW debut authors and Laura is like a sister. There are some people you can instantly connect with and Laura was one. I think that's why I love her writing so much.

Anyway, thanks for swinging by and sharing your wish for those snazzy red shoes.

Jordan

Jordan Dane said...

Hey Laura--I didn't know you were such a sushi hound. I'm addicted too. I even have a sushi addicts card for a place here in OKC that gives their diners frequent sushi points. The next time we get to a conference, we'll have to "eat it raw".

Joe P. Frick said...

Why, the power to make them match/correspond with any outfit I might happen to be wearing. Duh!

And maybe to make a house fall on Hillary Clinton? I don't know--that might be a bit much...

Jordan Dane said...

Shame on you, Joe. You go from fashion to villainy in one swoop. Bwahhh HAA HAAAA!! My kind of guy.

Anonymous said...

Well, Jordan, all I can think about is my childhood self, which would have asked those slippers for unlimited wishes (most involving that most forbidden fruit, McDonald's fries) . . .

But wishing is a slippery slope, and any one thing that changes has that potential to wreck havoc with everything I love and care about right now - so I think I'd definitely pass on the temptation right now.

I've been looking forward to your books ever since I heard you talk about them in Anchorage - congratulations on all the excitement!

Jordan Dane said...

Humanity thanks you, Maggie, for weighing McDonald's fries against toppling the space time continuum. Nice.

I hear my book is even at good old Freddie Meyer's up there. Very cool.

Thanks for the smile.