Earlier this month St. Martin's Minotaur published "Teaser," the fourth book by Westwood mystery novelist Jan Brogan, and third in her series on her Providence reporter protagonist, Hallie Ahern. In "Teaser," Hallie wades into the murky world of girls who strike provocative poses online using webcams that men buy them. The author's website, janbrogan.com, features a two-minute video teaser for the book. Brogan is a former staff reporter for the Providence Journal who has worked as a correspondent for the Boston Globe. She will next appear Jan. 6 at 5:30 p.m. at a Kate's Mystery Books event to be held at Redbones in Somerville's Davis Square. Brogan is writing a screenplay about the 1976 murder of Andrew Puopolo, a Harvard football player who was stabbed to death in Boston's Combat Zone.
Q: You've now spent years with this character in your head and on the page. At some point, does she become such a presence in your life that she seems almost real?
A: The characters seem real from the first book. Changing her name was really a hard thing to do. (Hallie appeared in Brogan's debut, "Final Copy," under a different name.) And after four books, there are things that you want for them. We did a "Teaser" trailer, and we shot it here, and so when the girl came to play Hallie ... I cast these people through Craigslist, on the Internet, through universities, so I didn't really see them until they came for the shoot. And I was so oddly proud that she was pretty - it was like she was my daughter, because she was playing my Hallie character. So yes, you become almost parental towards them.
Q: Who directed the trailer?
A: Well, I have a friend from New Jersey who's got a production company, which is why I was able to do this, because it would cost a fortune otherwise. We kind of grew up together in high school. ... In college he was making short films, and so I'd be an extra in his short films. He said, 'I want to do this for you. You write the script, you cast, you do the props, you do the siting.' And he's working the camera, so we basically co-directed. He's got the equipment, he's worried about the technical stuff. It was so much fun to be like, 'No no, try to feel this way when you say that line,' and 'Let's move that cup, because it changes the whole scene.' It was the most fun you can have. It was like rewriting, but it was in three dimensions.
