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| Photo by Rosie MacLeod |
By Rosie MacLeod
One night in north London, A.N. Porter awoke to see the ghosts of “two little girls at a desk. One was playing a board game and the other was drawing a picture.” The “petrifying” experience inspired her debut novel, Phantom Wedding.
It’s a suspenseful horror story. But why restrict the scary experiences to the pages and its characters? Allowing the action to burst through the covers was the idea behind Porter’s book launch in Central London this summer. After arriving at the venue, we noticed the attire of some in attendance was, well, notable. And after looking around, we realized we were rubbing shoulders with book characters. How had we not noticed the author dressed up as her protagonist, complete with wedding veil?
During the reading, complete with ominous music and atmospheric lighting, the unease and tension that run throughout the pages wasn’t only listened to, it was lived. It was ours. It was real.
WOW: Welcome, Porter, to the WOW! community. Please tell us how you staged your very imaginative book launch, and the reasons behind it.
Porter: Well, I have been to book launches in the past, and they normally involve drinking a glass of red wine in a book shop. And getting your book signed, which is perfectly acceptable.
However, I am a little ostentatious as a person. Hence, why I wanted to go much further than this.
I come from a performing and creative arts background and have a vivid imagination. One day I had an idea that I would like to bring the characters to life along the streets around the London Soho/Piccadilly area. So, this is exactly what I did. And of course, as an ex-model, I decided to add a touch of glamour with models, actors, red carpet, celebrities, champagne, and canopies. And then voila! We had a Phantom Wedding Extravaganza, which was more like a film premier than a book launch. You would have had to be there to know what I mean!
WOW: And that’s why it was so immersive. What did you hope the outcome of your book launch would be? What did you hope the audience would take away from it?
Porter: I wanted to give Phantom Wedding the launch that it deserved. Everyone came away happy and entertained. Everyone will remember the name and be waiting in anticipation for the movie. Major contacts were made, and I also have tons of footage (video and images) for my press page on my website and for my social media content.
WOW: What a great idea to use book launch content for social media posts! What can you tell us about this planned movie? It seems a natural progression from a book launch where actors play your characters.
Porter: When readers read Phantom Wedding, they start to visualize the characters and how they will interact and what they look like. Somehow, the story comes to life on the pages, and so due to popular demand, I decided to bring the book to the screen.
I am currently working with a screenwriter to realize this objective.
WOW: That’s so exciting! I have been to countless book launches, and this is one I will remember for years to come. How would you summarize the event in three words?
Porter: Glamorous! Exciting! Fun!
WOW: And the glitz before the reading certainly lulled us into a false sense of security, making the reading even more chilling. What inspired you to hold a book launch where your audience stepped into the narrative?
Porter: I am a trained actress and am used to bringing characters to life. It was instinctive of me to want to see the characters brought to life. Also, I wanted to see the wedding theme be immortalized.
I saw the book launch as a way of lifting the characters off the page, in the form of tableaus and then the next step will be to bring them to the screen. And perhaps one day … write a Phantom Wedding play, too.
WOW: Is that why you used actors playing your characters—a trial run for a play? Or was this to give readers someone to visualize when they read the book?
Porter: It was to let models and actors be a part of a red-carpet event and to also create a theatrical moment. To create a spectacle so that the public would wonder what was going on, and it certainly worked with everyone stopping in from the street to take pictures of the actors and I. There was a lot of press there, too, including Getty Images, which added to the glamour and intrigue.
WOW: It certainly did create that moment and “buzz.” Why did you choose to dress up as the protagonist?
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| Credit: Luana Radovic - Level 26 studio |
WOW: Spooky stuff. Tell me about the role of the interviewer at the event—was she interviewing you as an author or was she interviewing characters from the story? This role is kind of like a narrator, no?
Porter: There was an interviewer who interviewed people on the red carpet. She was interviewing me as "an author," and she asked me questions like who was my favorite character?—who is the protagonist, Patsy? I had this interviewer conducting these interviews as I thought it would add another dimension to the event. It creates more content, and intrigue and is great for the theme.
There was also an interviewer who interviewed me before the event, Rosie MacLeod, for East London radio.
WOW: Always nice to be popular. You used spooky music during the reading. Why did you want to scare your audience? Our fascination with fear? The love of suspense? To give an insight into the book if we buy it? Or to make the action feel more real?
Porter: Yes, to create ambience in line with the theme of the book. I tantalized the senses (sight, smell, taste, and hearing), with smells from the candle, spooky music, and vegan retro sweets and popcorn to give that cinematic feel.
WOW: And create suspense it did. The presence of actors at the book launch wasn’t announced (unless I missed something…). Was the idea that the audience would cotton onto their presence gradually? If so, why? Is it an extension of how you like characters to crystalize in a text?
Porter: It was put on the subject of the email when the press release was sent out. However, you are correct, I did not announce it grandly. As it was almost like life-imitating-art. I wanted the tableaus (models/and actors) to walk amongst the guests, and people to question what was going on. Who are these people? It created a "talking point" and guests interacted well as they had something to talk about with a stranger. Thereafter, they were able to network with one another.
WOW: Yes, it felt like walking a (very tense) tightrope between life and Art. The use of actors, scary music and the immersive experience—is this all a reflection of how you like to play with your reader’s expectations and emotions?
Porter: Yes, it comes from my creativity as an actress, writer, and performer. I know how I like to be entertained, and I see it as an immersive experience.
WOW: And we were immersed in fear! As you were reading aloud to the sound of a spooky melody, I genuinely thought the two ghosts from the story were going to jump out at us at any moment—you must have loved putting everyone on the edge of their seat? It must have given you a thrill?
Porter: Haa, haa! I didn’t realize that you were so scared. No, the two ghosts are firmly still in the apartment that I left behind.
WOW: Were you attempting to give readers the same scare you had when you saw the ghosts of the two little girls? Was it a leveler, a means of letting us experience your fear?
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| Credit: Luana Radovic - Level 26 studio |
WOW: That is true—I do feel like I have experienced a book I have not read yet. What advice would you give an author looking to do a similarly immersive book launch?
Porter: I would say to not necessarily do things the same as me. Perhaps think things through and possibly come up with something even more exciting! There is a wealth of ideas that one can come up with if we just let our imagination run wild! But if someone wanted to recreate what I have done, just bear in mind that is costly!
WOW: And speaking of tracing your footsteps, readers and (and, I should think, ghost hunters) from the US are flocking to the UK to visit Cricklewood in North London, where the novel is set. What’s it like knowing you’ve written something so compellingly scary?
Porter: Very strange. Surprising. And fulfilling.
WOW: You might not see how people react to seeing the house, but when you were reading, you got to see reader reaction first hand. Does a scary reading serve as a barometer for you, to see the effect of your words in action? To see what’s working?
Porter: Absolutely! It allows me to be in the room with the reader and engage with them by watching their faces whilst I am reading when I look up from the book from time to time. It was fascinating to see all the different reactions. I am happy that it was a success, people are still talking about it, and I am still on cloud 9.
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The ghost sighting that inspired the novel is not the author’s only strange encounter. Somehow "the original published copies had misprints that were not on the original manuscript." When Porter discovered this, she "immediately pulled the book." But these have proved popular! Bookworms "started collecting these extremely rare copies. They then started reselling them at a premium up to £399 ($533.82)" each. More affordable copies of Phantom Wedding are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and all good bookshops in the USA and worldwide.
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