by Mike Shea on 8 December 2008
After thirteen months of work, I have finished my first novel, Seven Swords. You can buy Seven Swords from Lulu or read it for free on the web. Thirteen months ago I sat down with an empty notebook and a fountain pen and started dumping out a story that had been spinning around in my head for about four years.
The end result isn't great work. It might not even be considered a good novel. But it is the novel I wanted to write and the novel I wanted to read. I've gone over this book about five times in the past year, revising, tweaking, editing, and discussing every little nuance. Every time I've read it, I've enjoyed it. I like what I wrote and that is more important to me than whether it is a great book or a good book. I like the characters, I like the story, I like the action. I like that it says the phrase "gushing blood" eight times.
I wanted to write a book that was one part Seven Samurai and Magnificant Seven, one part Game of Thrones, and one part Kill Bill. I'm not sure its any of those things, but I like it just the same.
Sure, it'd be nice to get a big publisher to stick this piece of shit up next to Twilight. I'd love to tell Michael Bay to fuck off when he asks to make it a movie, I already have Ridley Scott knocking at the door. None of that is going to happen and frankly I'm just glad it didn't cost me much to publish it myself. The web version is available for free under a creative commons license, and the dead trees version can be bought from Lulu for $10.
Anyway, I'm glad to close the cover and get ready for the next thing. Gods below help me, I already have a sequel spinning around in my head.
Things don't look good for Susan.