Author Archive: Eric San Juan

Lost – On daddy issues

WARNING: The following contains SPOILERS for the television show Lost. If you have not caught up through season 5, do not read this. It will spoil your enjoyment of the show. Lost makes no great attempt to hide its recurring themes. Faith versus reason (as I’ve already discussed), free will versus fate, and redemption and rebirth are not just subtle thematic elements of the show, they are right up front and center. These aspects of the show’s thematic heart are oft discussed, but a common element more infrequently discussed is the sins of the father; trying to rise above deep parental issues, specifically father issues. Not that Lost has made this theme a big secret. After all, the eleventh episode of the very first season…
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Anthology in its final stages

I’m exceedingly happy to report that my upcoming comic anthology is in its final stages. Finished art is coming in every day. Only one script left to finalize. Some pages are being sent off to my pal John Mietus (creator of the awesome Sir Chuck) for lettering. Stories are looking done and complete and excellent. In the damn near immediate future, this 100-page beast — nine stories in all by nine different artists, all nine written by yours truly — will be shipped off to the printer. I’ll get some proofs. And if it looks good, it will then be made ready for purchase. One last major preview coming up in the next week or so, this time with lots of awesome finished art, then…
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New album of guitar noise

If you don’t check out my music archive blog, you may have missed the latest release from my m2 project, which focuses on ambient guitar soundscapes and walls of sound. Unlike the much softer and more somber Six Stories, released earlier this year, this new one is very raw and ugly. Check it out: m2 Ashes 1) Choking on Ashes (7:18) 2) Sleep Paralysis (8:48) 3) Dry Story (7:11) 4) Are His Defenses Going To Hold Up? (3:28) 5) Climbing Mountains and Falling Short (16:16) All songs (c) Eric San Juan 2009. Free to distribute, just ask. More information on this release here.

Writers, put your work in front of people

One of the hardest points to reach as a writer is the point at which you’re willing to put your work in front of people and are not seeking validation. In other words, when you’re ready for real opinions rather than pats on the back. The praise of family and friends is the bane of the aspiring writer, though too often the aspiring writer does not realize this. Your mother and your close friend tell you your work is good, and you believe it because that’s what you want to hear. However, praise for its own sake does you more harm than good. It blinds you to flaws in your own work and gives you an elevated sense of where you are in your development…
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Trunk novel? What the hell is a trunk novel?

Trunk novel. Somehow I had never come across the term, only seeing it for the first time these last few days. Don’t know how it eluded me. If you’ve never heard the term, you’ll certainly be familiar with the concept. A trunk novel is an old, unpublished manuscript stuffed away in a trunk (or drawer, or closet, or box, or whatever), in most cases because it’s terrible. You pull out your old trunk novel, read it, and remember how bad you were. I can relate to that! My trunk novel — and dear god I hope I don’t build up more than, say, three of them — was an epic fantasy, the first book in (naturally) a trilogy. The delightfully bland title was The Fortress…
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