Musings from the basement...

FICTION: Storms

October 7, 2011 0 Comments

As I blogged previously, this story first appeared in Boston Literary Magazine. Now you can read it here. It’s called Storms, and like a piece I’ll be posting on Halloween called The Symphony, it’s about war. I don’t know why I have two flash fiction pieces about war, but I do. I had just got done reading Cormac McCarthy’s brilliant The Road, and wanted to see if I could steal elements of its style and make them my own, purely to challenge myself. This is the result. Enjoy. (This also appears in a previously mentioned but as yet unpublished collection of short fiction I’ve put together.) STORMS By Eric San Juan A week in a trench. Mud. Every little while a machine gun barked. Chattering…
Read more

Works by Eric, Writing

, , , ,

Do Golden Age sci-fi authors still matter?

October 4, 2011 3 Comments

Science fiction is great, a genre associated with lasers and spaceships by the general populace but which historically has done a remarkable job of exploring big questions about who we are, why we’re here, and what we can accomplish as a species. The “science” part of the equation can be pesky, though. As our scientific understanding of the universe advances, stories that once seemed rooted in a potential reality — say, the existence of intelligent life elsewhere in our solar system — can now seem dated, quaint, or downright silly. So with that in mind, this blog post poses an interesting question: Are ‘Golden Age’ stories too dated and is it worth it to recommend Heinlein, Asimov, etc. to the new SF reader? The answer…
Read more

Books & Authors, Geek Stuff

, , , ,

J.R.R. Tolkien is the reason why I write

September 30, 2011 4 Comments

I’ve no interest in writing epic fantasy, have gotten past the days when I wanted to construct a complex mythology, and hell, haven’t even rolled a 20-sided die in many years. Yet I would not be writing today in any capacity were it not for the work of J.R.R. Tolkien. Middle-Earth first entered my consciousness in the sixth grade or so. The Hobbit was assigned reading. Unlike most students, I didn’t consider assigned reading a form of torture. (Well, except when the books sucked — which they often did.) I liked reading, and the books we had to read were often excellent. The Outsiders, Lord of the Flies, The Pigman, 1984, and many other books I still cherish today were introduced to me through school…
Read more

Books & Authors, Geek Stuff, Writing

, , , , ,

Yes, Virginia, there is a Pitched! 3

September 26, 2011 2 Comments

In my head, at least. After two comic anthologies, both of which I’m very proud — thanks to my collaborators, Pitched! and Pitched! 2 were quite awesome — it would be natural to assume a third is on its way. And in fact, as I’ve posted, Pitched! 3 was at one time in progress. Key words being “at one time.” Life happens. A host of factors (none of which are necessary to go into here) ground it to a halt this spring. Though there were brief moments throughout the late spring and summer when I thought maybe I could light a fire under it and get things cooking again, that never materialized. Not the time. Not the energy. Not the people. And most importantly, I…
Read more

Comics & Graphic Novels, Works by Eric

, , , , , ,

WRITING: Blank books, book sales, and expectations

September 21, 2011 0 Comments

A blank book reaching #44 on Amazon? Yep. It happened. A blank book — blank — became a top seller. They spend years writing a book, then even more years trying to get a literary agent and publisher to back it and then, when their book finally comes out, the author breathes a huge sigh of relief and assumes that their book will be discovered, widely read and will sell around the world in bucketloads. Well, any new author needs to wake up and smell the rankings. Most books, however well written, hardly sell many copies at all. And that’s the reality most people don’t see (including, sadly, many aspiring authors). For most folks, the world of books and publishing and authors and the like…
Read more

Writing

, , , ,