Eric Magun on Storytelling, Punk Rock, and His Award-Winning Debut Novel "Thank God For The Sinners"

Eric Magun

Eric Magun is an award winning author and filmmaker who has earned numerous awards for his independent feature film, Toast with the Gods, a surreal reimagining of Homer’s “The Odyssey.” In addition to his filmmaking success, he is the author of several screenplays, short stories and a collection of poetry. 

With three decades of experience as an international business executive, Eric has spent much of his career in China and Southeast Asia. When in the U.S., he divides his time between living on both coasts. Thank God For The Sinners marks his debut novel in fiction and is currently the winner of the NY Book Festival for 2025 for Horror!

Eric recently sat down with Writer’s Life Magazine to share about his journey as a writer, what inspires him, the messages in his new book, the role punk rock music plays in his life, and what we can all expect from him next – this is what he had to say.

Tell us a bit about your background and career.

I began my career as an independent filmmaker, earning a spot in one of the early classes at Robert De Niro’s Tribeca-based NY Film Academy. My first short film, American Angst, portrayed an angry punk disillusioned with society and pop culture, weaving in poems from my self-published debut poetry collection, How To Use A Condom. The film was featured at the NY Underground Film Festival, and it was during that time I began writing my first feature, Toast with the Gods (TWG), with my film school partner, Latino Pellegrini, in 1994.

A gritty reimagining of Homer’s The Odyssey, TWG is set in Seattle and follows a drug dealer battling the gods to return home and rescue his stripper wife from a life of exploitation and abuse. On a shoestring budget, we assembled a crew of Seattle’s early-’90s grunge misfits and shot the film with pure indie spirit. The result: TWG went on to win several international film festivals, earn glowing press and develop a devoted underground cult following.

From there, I made a sharp career pivot, joining my family’s furniture import business after my father’s health began to decline. I never intended to stay long—the plan was to keep things afloat, sell the company, and return to my creative pursuits. But fate had other ideas. What I thought would be a brief detour became twelve years in China, working to turn the company around.

Living in China through the mid-nineties, I witnessed the rebirth of a nation clawing its way out of economic depression into the fire-breathing powerhouse it is today. I saw firsthand the raw chaos of doing business—and surviving—in a place rife with corruption, greed, sexual exploitation, alcoholism and harsh living conditions. Many of those incredible and unimaginable experiences became the raw material for my debut novel, Thank God For The Sinners.

After leaving the family business, I transitioned into senior leadership roles, serving as both Senior Executive and CEO for several major multinational corporations, including Ralph Lauren Home. There, I excelled in Global Sourcing—not just in China, but across Southeast Asia. These years abroad were spent boldly and without hesitation, embracing the exhilaration of international business while often venturing into the darker, hidden corners of these countries. I chronicled these extraordinary experiences along the way, determined to share the chaos and danger I had witnessed firsthand. With a wealth of lived experience and vivid stories etched in my mind, I set out to craft a compelling novel—and from that journey, Thank God For The Sinners was born.

Last year, I left the corporate world carrying a head full of unbelievable stories and an unshakable urge to put them on paper. That urgency became my novel, built around Rick Price—a fictional doppelganger I thrust into volatile, chaotic situations. I raised the stakes by making him not just a psychopath, but also a clandestine double agent. Like me, Rick is a fractured soul juggling multiple lives under relentless pressure. He wrestles with lifelong battles—mental illness, alcoholism, trauma and abuse. The question at the heart of the story is simple, yet unsettling: What happens when you send a damaged man to do a dangerous job?

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

I published my first story in the 11th grade for our school newspaper, The Magnum Opus. It was a bold piece, a fictional eulogy by suicide, narrated through the character Rick Price, who would later become the protagonist of Thank God For The Sinners. The story, though imagined, drew intense and unwanted attention from adults that I felt had already failed me. Within days, I was placed on suicide watch, ordered into mandatory therapy sessions, and inundated with questions about my mental health. The piece even made its way into the local newspaper as a warning to parents. What I had intended as a protest against societal indifference became a lightning rod. Yet, in that moment—finally seen, finally heard—I realized I had found my passion, and I understood the raw, undeniable power a story can wield over its readers.

Has writing always been a passion of yours?

Writing has always been my passion, intertwined with my love for hardcore punk rock. As a self-proclaimed agent of chaos, I thrive on pushing readers into unsettling situations and raw emotions. I never shy away from exploring the darker underbelly of humanity and exposing injustice. My work is unapologetically gritty, unfiltered, and decidedly not for the faint of heart. 

Tell us about your new book, Thank God for the Sinners.

Thank God for the Sinners follows Rick Price, a tortured soul struggling to balance a high-stakes career while concealing his secret life as a clandestine double agent. When a Chinese prostitute dies during a depraved encounter in his hotel room, Rick is hurled into a desperate fight to prove his innocence and stay alive.

His story unfolds through raw, unflinching flashbacks that lay bare the horrors of his twisted childhood. The scars of his past haunt him, pulling him into a spiral of violence, perversion, and reckless choices. Addiction, rage, punk rock, and exotic indulgences fuel his descent, blurring the line between thrill and self-destruction.

A cautionary tale of a reluctant anti-hero, Thank God for the Sinners drags readers into a surreal world where madness and reality intertwine. Is Rick’s darkness born from childhood abuse, his own self-destructive impulses, or the crushing demands of life as a deep state operative? Or was he simply destined to be a sinner all along?

What was your impetus for writing your book?

I’ve battled mental illness for as long as I can remember, and writing has always been my lifeline—a cathartic outlet that’s kept me grounded. Over time, my depressive thoughts evolved into a fascination with trauma and the question that haunts me: are we born broken, or does life break us along the way? I’m drawn to the anti-hero—the unassuming figure whose flaws make them painfully human and deeply relatable. My own life has taken me deep into the shadows of societal depravity and the darker side of humanity, giving me firsthand knowledge of its depths. From this, I set out to tell the story of a dangerous man with a traumatic past, someone waging war with his own demons while concealing multiple identities, all as he navigates a reality that pushes the limits of his sanity.

What are the messages you want readers to take away from reading your work?

This book dares readers to stare down the ugliest truths of life and recognize themselves in them. It’s a raw exploration of mental illness, trauma and abuse, and how those scars shape every decision we make. Beneath the surface, it’s a reminder that no one’s closet holds just one skeleton, most of us are hiding entire catacombs. Thank God for the Sinners challenges the lie of perfection, urging us to own our flaws, our sins, and the darkness we carry… because pretending we’re anything else is the real crime.

How much of your personal self is injected in this work?

Rick Price is, in many ways, my sinister alter ego. I infused him with traits and experiences drawn from my own life, then pushed them further through fiction for dramatic effect. Every story in the book is personal, either lived by me to some degree or inspired by tales I’ve heard that burned to be told. I wanted Rick to be undeniably human, a man with tragic flaws that readers could recognize, relate to, and perhaps, even see in themselves.

Who are some writers or performers who have influenced you along the way?

I’ve long admired Charles Bukowski for his raw, unfiltered tales of depravity and pulp fiction. While I have a roster of authors I turn to for my horror fix, I generally avoid naming literary influences. I want my writing to remain uncorrupted by convention or imitation. My goal is to create work free from the boundaries of traditional storytelling, inspiring others to explore the darkness rather than chase neatly packaged happy endings; unless, of course, that’s what they paid for! My true inspirations come from the punk rock pioneers who defied societal norms with unapologetic ferocity. Henry Rollins stands out as a powerful crossover from punk to poetry, and Howard Stern remains a personal hero for revolutionizing media as we know it—while also becoming a bestselling author.

Who would play Rick Price if this was turned into a feature film?

That’s a question I’ve been thinking about a lot, especially now that my agent is pitching the book to major studios and streaming platforms. Casting Rick is tricky, his story spans an entire lifetime, with versions of him at different ages. For now, I’ll focus on the older Rick, the main protagonist, who we meet in a Chinese hotel room beside a dead prostitute. The actor would need to embody a deeply troubled man, a charismatic psychopath with layers of complexity. My shortlist includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Christian Bale, Jeremy Allen White, and, of course, Brad Pitt. That said, Rick Price could also be the perfect breakout role for a bold, up-and-coming actor ready to show his chops, by tapping into the darkest corners of humanity.

How important is music in this work?

Punk rock is the heartbeat of this story, and of Rick Price’s chaotic life. Every chapter takes its title from a classic punk song, with all 46 tracks compiled into a Spotify playlist so you can read the book while blasting the music that inspired it. I even dedicated the book to the punk who clocked me in the face during my first mosh pit at a Dead Kennedys show—thanks for breaking me in right! Thank God For The Sinners is a full-throttle punk rock opera—Cherry Red Doc Martens stomping, gut-punch fury, loud, brazen and barely held together with safety pins. My writing sessions always kicked off with a jolt of Butthole Surfers, crashed headlong into relentless New York Hardcore, and didn’t stop until my keyboard was begging for mercy.

What are you working on now and what can we expect from you next?

I’m currently juggling two projects—adapting Thank God For The Sinners into a screenplay while halfway through the second Rick Price novel, Thank God For The Drugs. In fact, I’ve included a sneak-peek chapter from Drugs at the end of Sinners to give readers a taste of what’s coming next. 

Where can people find out more about you and your work?

I bit my tongue until it bled, and now I’m out there promoting Sinners across all the usual social media channels. I’ve even joined the masses with my own website (www.ericmagun.com) and an author page on Amazon. Eventually, I had to face the hard truth—if I want this book to be read, I’ve got to play the game.