Author Archive: Eric San Juan
Eric San Juan
June 25, 2009
Is there anything in the world that was better than Calvin & Hobbes? I’m not sure there was. Sure, sure, there is eating and sex, but Bill Watterson’s masterpiece of a comic strip is right up there. Far more than three panels of humor each day, the full scope of the work will long stand as one of the great achievements of sequential art. And no, I don’t think I’m overstating the case. In 10 years, Watterson evolved his strip from a quirky and funny comic strip that was a slightly edgy, modern version of Peanuts into something wholly unique. Something with a pretty amazing range. Something that could be risque one day and charmingly quaint the next; dealing with childhood antics on Monday…
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Eric San Juan
June 23, 2009
WARNING: The following contains MAJOR 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. Indulge me for a moment while I write about Lost, in my estimation one of television’s greatest dramas and something with which I am currently obsessed. Of all the overriding themes of Lost, one of the most powerful is that of faith. Or more accurately, the struggle between faith and reason. The belief in fate and external forces beyond our comprehension, and the disregard of those concepts in favor of accepting only that which we can see and touch. Representative of this is the sometimes overt, sometimes spiritual conflict between John Locke, a…
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Eric San Juan
June 22, 2009
I write because I love to write. But sometimes I write because it provides a check. I don’t apologize for that. We all need to eat. Still, taking assignments you don’t love can be a slog. You take a freelance assignment because it will make you a few extra bucks — always welcome in this economy — but if it saps all the joy out of being in front of the keyboard, is it worth it? I don’t have an answer to that. I still throw my all into each project, even if it bores me to tears. I always strive to do my best work. And hey, I must be doing something right or I wouldn’t get hired for this stuff, right? But let…
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Eric San Juan
June 20, 2009
When it comes to writing, I obsess a lot about keeping productive. I do this because at heart I am a lazy, unmotivated person. People who see my list o’ projects might think otherwise, but believe me, if I could lounge around all day I would. That, and I am a horrible, horrible procrastinator. It’s not that I don’t love writing — I’m absolutely passionate about it — it’s that I’m allergic to work and obligation. I can jump into something with great vigor and tear through a project like it’s the only thing in the world, but once I decide it’s a Real Project and not a Fun Distraction it becomes work, and I don’t like to work. So needless to say, I struggle…
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Eric San Juan
June 18, 2009
I penned a flash fiction piece last year called “Storms,” a brief war story about a man’s experience on the front lines of World War I. The story is now available at Boston Literary Magazine. Surf over here and give it a read. It’s short. Won’t take you but a few minutes to read. My thanks to editor Robin Stratton, who forced me to take a hard look at the story and pare it back to its most essential elements.
