Escaping the hard realities of life seems to be all the rage these days, with superhero and fantasy movies pulling in major bucks at the box office. Now, one Jericho resident is delving into that world with his new, self-published book.
Sean Brogan, 25, a Jericho High School graduate and fledgling author, recently completed work on his first book, The Shadow’s Relic; a genre-bending novel that combines zombies, superheroes and Colonial America into one spellbinding saga.
“The book has elements of adventure, drama, lots of humor and heart,” said Brogan. “Ultimately, even though it’s fiction, it has a strong message of never giving up. It’s got a message that applies to real life and I hope it inspires people.”
Set in the late 1700s, The Shadow’s Relic finds heros Curtis Reynolds and Kaie Ellinger joining forces to protect the Caribbean and the recently united Thirteen Colonies from The Dark Warrior, a powerful killer with telekinetic abilities and an undead army at his bidding. Brogan describes the book, which he plans to turn into a series, as “fighting the end of the world with muskets and cannons.”
“I’m a big fan of all the Marvel superhero stuff and the supernatural,” he said. “This is something that as I was writing I kept having ideas on how to expand the universe. I’m definitely planning to do four or five other books. Every character has a back story and an integral part in the universe. Once I started writing, I found coming up with ideas was contagious; I’ve already started working on the first few chapters of the second book.”
Brogan was bitten by the creative bug early in his life, and took that interest with him to Jericho High School. He said that while he did not know what he wanted to do in terms of a career, he always had his mind in the creative cloud. This, he said, put him under the influence of some visionary minds in high school and in college.
He took video production classes in high school, getting plenty of positive feedback from teachers including Mr. Malkush, who helped on numerous projects. During his college years at C.W. Post, Brogan enjoyed lots of hands on experience. Aside from film classes, Brogan took a screenplay class that he said taught him how to kick projects into gear by simply getting some words down on paper.
“The hardest part of any project is starting it,” he said. “You have to understand that you are never going to get it pefect the first time. Sometimes you feel like you’re writing gibberish just to get the scene out. But you have to go back through it, hammer it out and bend everything into shape.”
Brogan found time to write while working as a manager at a local restaurant chain. After work, he would clock out and go into the conference room with his laptop and would not leave until he completed a chapter. It took about nine months for the book to go from an abstract idea to a finished product. In all, Brogan said the book went through four revisions.
Deciding to self-publish his book ensured that The Shadow’s Relic would match his creative vision.
“I tried going through some publishing companies, but it’s very tough, especially for a new author,” he said. “Having full control drew me to the idea of self-publishing. It allowed me to take the story exactly where I wanted to go with it.”
The direction for Brogan’s heroic tale is a combination of outside influences from movies, books and, most importantly, his own vision of what it means to be a hero.
“Some of my biggest influences include Dan Brown and Nelson DeMille,” he said. “It feels great to have a book out and I hope that one day I’ll be able to see myself competing against them.”
The Shadow’s Relic is available in hard and soft cover books, as well as on the Kindle ebook. To order the book, and to learn more about Brogan and his novel, visit. www.shadowsrelic.weebly.com.
