Monday, January 12, 2009

Guest Appearance: Jan Brogan, Author

Please join me in welcoming Jan Brogan, author of the Hallie Ahern, investigative reporter, series! Her most recent book, Teaser, was released just this past month in stores. The author offers a glimpse into Hallie Ahern's growth as a character.

Be sure and come back tomorrow for my review of Teaser.

Many thanks to Jan for taking the time to stop in and visit!


Sometimes, a character talks to you. And after I wrote Yesterday’s Fatal, my protagonist, Hallie Ahern, spoke up.

“I need to grow up, a little,” she said.

Hallie is thirty-five years old --a grown up by any account -- but she’s also a newspaper reporter, and newspaper reporters tend to be single-minded. Anyone can tell you that newsroom dynamics are awful lot like high school.

So I wasn’t sure I wanted Hallie to grow up. I like inner conflict in a character and her insecurities not only drive her to take some heart-pumping risks, they also provide for a lot of entertaining subplots.

But Hallie is my main character, and after three books, she had rights. And Teaser offered the perfect opportunity.

That’s because Teaser is about teenagers. What better way to confront your own immaturity than by having to cope with the inner demons of teenage girls?

I forgot to mention that Hallie is in recovery for a gambling addiction she developed in A Confidential Source. Now, struggling to keep herself away from online poker, she’s spending a little too much time on her social networking site. There, she stumbles on a provocative video of two teenager girls on a beach blanket. Recognizing a high school sweatshirt in the background, she realizes that the girls are local.

Hallie convinces one of the girls to meet her and soon has material for a front page exposes on teenage girls and webcams. But when those girls start disappearing, Hallie’s story becomes a mission.

The bad guys aren’t Hallie’s only problem. Her newspaper pulls its support of her investigation when it begins to conflict with the failing paper’s online business plan. And when the trail takes her to Newport, Rhode Island, she has to decide between pursing the story or upholding her promise to her boyfriend, prosecutor Matt Cavanaugh, who has asked her not to cover stories that conflict with his own investigations.

Hallie has a lot of difficult decisions to make. But isn’t it the difficult decisions in life that force us all to grow up?

Ultimately, she has to look beyond herself into a heart of a teenager. The sadness she sees makes her question her own motives and decide what is most important in life.

* * *
Jan Brogan is a published author as well as a part-time journalist for The Boston Globe and as a freelance magazine writer. Visit the author's website for a peek at the first chapter of Teaser and to learn more about the author. You can also find the author at the Jungle Red blog.

Follow this link to view the book trailer for Teaser.

12 comments:

  1. That sounds great. I studied journalism so I like books in newsy settings.

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  2. I'll have to look up these books...I'm always looking for another series to obsess over! I will await anxiously for your review of Teaser tomorrow.

    By the way, every time I open your site now, my heart melts at that picture. I just have to sit and stare at it for a little bit.

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  3. Ohhhhh! I like your new look! I usually just read your posts on Google Reader, but decided to pop over here today - and viola - it's a different place. :) I LOVE the kitty in the header. Absolutely adorable.

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  4. Wow! Your new look is great! (Not that I didn't like the old one...!)
    Oh, the pic of that kitten just makes me want to adopt another. S(he)'s adorable.

    This is a new author for me and sounds very interesting. I like these kinds of novels - I'm going to see if my local store has the first in the series.

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  5. The teenagers in this book are a little scary, because they're playacting at being grown up. Jan, it's great to see you over here!

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  6. This sounds like a great series... I love it when a character really develops over time - I mean, that's what keeps me coming back. Looking forward to the review!

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  7. It's a lot of fun over here! So many great ideas on what to read!
    And how can anyone resist the kitten?

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  8. Loved this feature today!! I'm really intrigued by this book and author!! Here I go again, adding another book to my TBR pile :)

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  9. Jan - Thank you so much for being my guest today! It's been such a pleasure to work with you.

    Lenore - I like the newsroom setting too. I had the opportunity to work for a small newspaper for a couple of months one summer during college. I was only a receptionist, but it was a good and interesting experience.

    Sandy - I haven't yet read the earlier books in the series, but after reading Teaser, I definitely would like to.

    I love that kitten photo too. :-)

    Joy - I thought I would try something different for awhile. I am glad you like it!

    Myckyee - My husband's had to restrain me from adopting another kitten--our house is quite full as it is. LOL

    I really like these kinds of novels too.

    Karen - It's frightening how easily tempted and lead into that kind of lifestyle they are.

    Iliana - I really like where Hallie ended up in Teaser and I look forward to seeing where she started.

    Staci - We can never have too many books in that ol' TBR pile!

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  10. Wow, Hallie seems like an interesting heroine!

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  11. I haven't heard of this series, but I enjoyed the guest post. I'm working on a novel right now, and I know what it means to have characters talk to you! Usually people think I'm crazy, though. LOL

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

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  12. Jen - I really liked her. :-)

    Anna - LOL I don't think you're crazy. While I am not working on a novel, I do enjoy writing and my characters talk to me too sometimes.

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