The Head. The Tail. The Whole Damn Thing.

It’s now just under seven months to go for publication of my novel based around Quint from JAWS. That seems like a long time but not when you’ve been waiting about eight years for it to exist at all.

So Feb 2024 will come around to line up with the 50th anniversary of Peter Benchley’s original novel and then the paperback will follow in 2025 for the 50th of the film. We’ll see what happens to my high hopes then.

I’d like to get some thoughts down on what this book actually is and its purpose.

I write literary fiction, whatever that actually is, but I suppose it means that there are certain sensibilities and themes you don’t find in other genres, a reading experience that fulfils differently.

I write what I want to write. Anyone could write a book about Quint. All you need to do is check all the boxes. USS Indianapolis? Check. Sharks? Check. The Orca? Check. And so on. That’s a book, sure. But that’s not a story.

And most would concentrate on the Indianapolis as the engine for the story. That’s the event, right? That’s what Quint’s all about, right?

That’s lazy. It’s the same trap that filmmakers fall into whenever there’s been an attempt to tell the story of the tragedy. They feel the event is enough, that the action is the drama, is the story. And they fail.

Mostly they fail because we know the story, know it’s tragic and terrible. We know. What else you got?

Obviously I wrote this book from a deep affection for JAWS. The film has been a constant in my life. And what appeals to most fans is the mystery of Quint, and, in contradiction almost, it’s that mystery which makes the character. He doesn’t need a past, all we need to know about him is in the film so, in effect, writing a novel about the character is almost sacrilegious to the mystery. It shouldn’t be done.

So I didn’t look at it like that. I wrote a novel that could actually be about anyone. Anyone that is who had three wives, grew up in the depression, went to war, survived the sinking of a battleship and became a charter captain specialising in shark fishing. And it’s also none of those things. It’s a character story and journey. You can take it as a story about Quint when you pick it up but it won’t be when you finally close it.

I have chosen the non-profit organisation “Beneath The Waves” for charitable donations from myself and the publisher on publication and future royalties. You can help support them.

https://beneaththewaves.org/

Quint 1st edition hardbacks are available for pre-order.

https://smarturl.it/Quint-HB