The Curse She Wore by Jordan Dane

By George Ebey

Author Jordan Dane brings us a tale of paranormal suspense in her latest work, THE CURSE SHE WORE.

Homeless on the streets of New Orleans, Trinity LeDoux has nothing to lose when she hands a cursed vintage necklace to a wealthy yet reclusive clairvoyant.

During a rare public appearance, Hayden Quinn is unexpectedly recruited into Trinity’s perilous mission—a journey back through time to the exact moment of death for two very different victims.

Hayden and Trinity, two broken people with nothing but death in common, begin a dangerous quest to stop a murderer from emulating the grisly works of a notorious serial killer. But trespassing on Fate’s turf comes with a price—one they never see coming.

The Big Thrill recently checked in with Dane to learn more about this chilling new story.

Which took shape first: plot, character, or setting?

A group of writer friends challenged me to create a time travel book that fit my crime fiction roots. In this case, plot came first. To make it work for me, I had to create a plausible way for the time travel sequence to occur, similar to the well told ghost stories shared around a campfire that give listeners the visceral feelings of goose bumps and an adrenaline rush. With a story set in New Orleans, the possibilities for stretching the imagination are endless.

A strong secondary element is character. Trinity LeDoux, a homeless young woman on the streets of New Orleans, embraces the peculiar and believes in things she can’t see. She’s a strong driver behind the plot and makes it come alive.

Jordan Dane

What attracts you to this book’s genre?

I write cross-genre books so it’s hard to merely think of THE CURSE SHE WORE as only paranormal when it’s so much more. It’s hard to pigeonhole a romantic suspense, paranormal, time travel book. But I write the story I want to tell and stay true to it, not worrying about where the book will be shelved. A common denominator is my crime fiction roots. Crime fiction is my comfort read. Even when I wrote young adult novels for Harlequin Teen, I kept my crime fiction roots so my young readers would eventually discover my adult suspense/thriller books.

Was there anything new you discovered, or that surprised you, as you wrote this book?

My biggest challenge was how to incorporate the historical time period elements for Victorian London into the plot with my contemporary heroine stepping into the past. I had to imagine how she would accomplish her time travel in a reasonable yet believable way.

I never thought I would write a historical novel, and I have a great deal of respect for historical writers. The research seemed daunting until I had a good reason to tackle it. Never say never. After finishing the research, I’m proud of the choices I made that best captured the period and fit into my story.

No spoilers, but what can you tell us about your book that we won’t find in the jacket copy or PR material?

After finishing my novel, I created a list of Book Club questions. The story and motives of my heroine raise questions we might ask ourselves about destiny and fate, loyalty, what makes a family, and how much we would sacrifice for friendships. After a significant death in my family, I wanted to explore my thoughts on my own mortality and spirituality. Writing helped me heal, and this book allowed me to explore my grief. I hope the open-ended questions posed in the book will give depth to a reader’s experience.

*****

Bestselling, critically-acclaimed author Jordan Dane’s gritty thrillers are ripped from the headlines with vivid settings, intrigue, and dark humor. Publishers Weekly compared her intense novels to Lisa Jackson, Lisa Gardner, and Tami Hoag, naming her debut novel No One Heard Her Scream as a Best Book of 2008. Dane is multi-published in crime fiction thrillers, has books in over seven countries, and has written young-adult novels for Harlequin Teen. Formerly an energy sales manager, she now writes full time and shares her Texas residence with three lucky rescue dogs.

To learn more about the author and her work, please visit her website.