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Your new graphic novel eJUNKY - in a few words, what is it
about?
In a society that has eliminated pain and suffering through emotional
regulation devices, a former Alternative Reality Investigator is
haunted by visions connecting him to a dangerous cult, knowing he needs to
stop them from unleashing painful, cellular memory experiences capable of
starting a revolution. What were your sources of inspiration when
writing eJUNKY?
eJUNKY was conceived after years of working as a biotech consultant and seeing how
the effort to use technology to make life easier and to even avoid pain
and suffering can have dire consequences. It is also inspired by the
suffering I've had to deal with caring for a child with a life-threatening
illness. As someone who has visited the hospital over a hundred times in
the past few years, I've seen the benefits of science and medicine as well
as its pitfalls. I've witnessed intimately how pain and suffering are
inevitable parts of life.
By writing eJUNKY, I wanted to explore the value of pain in a way that gave it new meaning
and purpose. As a society, we try everything possible to erase suffering
from our lives. However, after embarking on a deep spiritual meditation
practice to combat anxiety and depression, I've learned to confront pain,
to transform it, and to give my life new meaning.
Do talk about your graphic
novel's approach to science fiction for a bit! I
try to think of something that has never been done before, then imagine
turning even that on its head. You always see the cliché line in those
silicon valley tech gatherings with people pitching new ideas to venture capitalist with the trite line: “I want to make the world a better
place.” Most technology is an attempt to do that in some way by working
to solve a perceived problem. But every solution brings with it new
problems. Where does it end? With eJUNKY I
ask the reader if we could use tech to eliminate all pain and suffering,
would that make the world a better place or would it simply turn the
“dream” into another nightmare?
What can
you tell us about the overall mood of eJUNKY? It’s
most definitely dark and dystopian. It’s set in a world in which people
make money by becoming walking billboards, essentially, with ad-apparel.
Emotional regulation devices are becoming mandated, people in prison
choose to be cloned to allow their clones to work off their prison time,
and a good chunk of the population is forced to live in restricted zones.
I’d say that’s pretty dark and dystopian. Not to mention the central
antagonists are a cult group known as The Guardians of Pain. Do
talk about eJUNKY's artist Kyle Faehnrich, and what made his style
perfect for your story? Kyle’s
style captures the Paul Pope punk, glam, neon-noir mixed with H.R. Giger
gothic sci-fi grit, which most definitely fits the dystopian mood. eJUNKY
is set in a society of extremes; extreme tech like emotional regulation
devices to make citizens happy because all the advertisements from
ad-apparel made people anxious and depressed. Then, there’s the abusive
use of DNA memories and the sharing of dreams until people can’t even
discern their own experiences from another’s, losing their identity
altogether. Kyle’s line-work and colors are nearly as maddening as the
world, and insanely addictive and appealing at the same time. A few words about the whole
creative process of bringing a graphic novel to life?
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eJUNKY started
as a screenplay. I shifted it to be a graphic novel after I wrote the
screenplay itself. To transform it into such, I start with the script.
Things get paneled out afterwards and then it’s necessary to edit the
dialogue to make it better fit the panel pacing. It’s also possible to
add FX and inner thoughts. It was very much a back and forth process. I
wrote the script. Kyle came in and helped panel and illustrate. I tweaked
the script and gave notes on panels when I felt it necessary to help with
pacing and narrative. I got very involved in evolving the colors, too. We
sort of found a grove from the beginning. That said, I found myself
suggesting changes to the story to fix holes right up until the end to
leave the reader wanting more. It wasn’t until the final stages that I
decided to include all the inter-chapters, which were essentially my
backstory and notes, to help to flesh out the characters and world. It
really added a richness to the world. Having
so far mostly worked in movies, how does making a comicbook compare to
filmmaking? I’ve
actually turned Hell’s
Kitty into
a comic. I’ve also been hired to write a Snow White story for
Disney and
I’ve written short stories for The Horror Zine, along with plays and
even a number of children’s books. Due to that, I would say I’ve had
equal experience in writing prose, including comics. eJUNKY is
the biggest and most ambitious comic project so far though. Unlike much of
my work it isn’t overtly funny either. The graphic novel is 256 pages!
Comics, film, and TV are pretty closely linked. Comics are like movie
storyboards in a way, only you had SFX added. The inner dialogue is like
the voice over. Of course, a storyboard is never meant to be a finished
product while a comic is!
The $64-question of course, where can eJUNKY
be obtained from? You
can get the Issue #1 comic or ashcan on Scout
Comics website - www.scoutcomics.com/
collections/ejunky. It’s also possible to pre-order the graphic
novel on Simon & Schuster’s website - www.simonandschuster.
com/books/eJunky/
Nicholas-Tana/
9781639691814 -, too! Anything you can tell us about eJUNKY's
audience and critical reception yet? It’s
early but the reviews so far have been great. The book trailer - www.youtube.com/
watch?v=GAUUoqpcMUA - has well over 6,000 views in months so that’s
cool. A pretty seasoned Hollywood producer of sci-fi asked for a copy
recently as well. Any future projects
you'd like to share, in whatever medium? I’m
working on a middle-reader book that’s sort of a unique spoof on the
superhero genre, and a sci-fi comedy horror called Hillbillies
vs. Alien Chickens that
I wrote as a screenplay and I got Charles Chiodo of The
Killer Klowns From Outer Space excited
to read. It’s a finalist in Scout’s Script to Comic competition right
now as well. I’m also planning to turn eJUNKY into
a motion animation movie. Your/your
graphic novel's website, social media, whatever else?
Thanks for asking! You can find most anything about eJUNKY on our eJUNKY
website - https://www.smartmediallc.com/ejunky.php - where you can join our newsletter subscription to
keep posted on everything an eJUNKY would want to know, and that’s a
whole lot! We have an eJUNKY Instagram
and Facebook page as well.
Anything else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
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I’ll be doing various panels like San Diego COMIC-CON as well as signings
around the country. If you like what you see, please pre-order the book or
contact your local bookstore to order it from them and pick up a copy.
It’s important to support your local bookstores if you care about them
or they may just disappear sooner rather than later. I’d also love it if you
followed me on Instagram and Facebook or Twitter. They say the more
followers one has the more likely one will sell books. If that’s true,
I’d love you to follow me since I’m totally excited to share what I
feel is one of the best things I’ve written to date. Thanks
for the interview!
Thank you and my pleasure! Hopefully, I’ve made you an eJUNKY yourself, if you
weren’t one already.
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amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
