Interview with young novelist Estevan Vega

Estevan Vega

At twenty, Estevan Vega is already the accomplished author of three books. He wrote his first suspense novel when he was but a lad of thirteen. To promote the release of The Sacred Sin, Estevan has been touring the blogosphere with BronzeWord Latino Authors for the past two weeks. You can see his full schedule HERE. The generous author has been giving away an autographed copy of his book to one lucky winner on each stop. It's an honor to have him here at the Examiner for his last tour stop.

Estevan will be giving away a copy of his novel, The Sacred Sin, to one lucky winner, so be sure to leave a comment below in order to be eligible!

Thanks for being my guest, Estevan! I heard in a radio interview about your father's influence in your writing. Tell us a bit about that.

It's rather interesting that you ask me about that, because I was recently talking to my father about why I became a writer. Like, why do we become the things we become, and why are we attracting to certain lifestyles? He said that maybe it's destiny, maybe our subconscious knew that we'd become something great. The truth is that if it weren't for him, I question whether or not I would have ever even picked up a pen and paper. He has more than just influenced me; he has inspired and encouraged and pushed me forward when I was ready to throw in the towel or was feeling completely down about writing. It's sometimes hard for us to see that people care about us and about what we are doing, even if we can't necessarily see it. That's why it's great to be reminded of what greatness runs through our veins, to be reminded that our journeys are ones we take together. So, yeah, he is definitely part of this journey. From talking about story concepts to discussing characters and techniques, my padre is to blame.

What inspired you to write The Sacred Sin?

My latest book is titled THE SACRED SIN. It’s a really cool story, one that I was playing around with for a few months before I actually started typing. The novel opens with a tense scene between a worn-out, cynically self-loathing and world-loathing detective (Jude Foster) and a shrink. Jude is forced to endure mindless sessions in order to be reinstated back into the department because of a past situation: his partner tried to kill him a year ago and left him for dead. The book is super-fast paced, which a lot of people have sort of gravitated to. In the first few chapters, there’s a murder, and the victim is left with a mark in his skin. An investigation is set in motion when the murders keep occurring. Jude leads the homicide case with a new, annoying interim partner…a fiery red-head who doesn’t really know the meaning of “play nice”. As the novel progresses, they discover that the bodies are linked to a more sadistic pattern of evil; the murderer is stealing people’s souls without ever touching them. Only question is: how do you stop a ghost killer? On the surface, the book’s about trying to stop a demonic entity, but there’s a lot underneath.

Who is your target audience?

My books have always tried to bridge some sort of gap, or defy convention. Being tucked away in a box or specific genre can be kind of stifling. THE SACRED SIN is my second book, so I wanted it to be different than my first, and I knew it had to be, especially given the subject matter I’d be working with. I knew it’d be dark, and I wanted that, but at the same time, I edited it down enough to the point where some kid’s mom might be index_11.jpgokay letting him check it out. Probably give him a nightmare or two, but that’s the fun part, I think. Kids and adults find different things to appreciate, and I’m totally cool with that.

From the moment you conceived the idea for the story, to the published book, how long did it take?

My books have taken three years from first page to publication. For some reason, that seems to be the magic number. The first draft of THE SACRED SIN was completed in about six months, but everyone knows that once the first draft is done, you’ve just started.

Would you describe your working environment?

Most of the time, it consists of a messy desk, some post-its, CDs and DVDs, my Zune, cell phone, water bottles, movies. Basically, whatever I haven’t cleared away.

Agatha Christie got her best ideas while eating green apples in the bathtub. Steven Spielberg says he gets his best ideas while driving on the highway. When do you get your best ideas and why do you think this is?

Usually when I don’t have a pen. I say I’ll remember it, and the really good ones I do, but sometimes, it’s tough to keep all the potential plot lines and characters together. I suppose it’s unfair to complain about not having a pen, though, because as I think about it, I almost never use one. A spark of inspiration can come from anything: sometimes it’ll be a movie, a brief passage, some Scripture reference. Other times, the ideas just come, and I’ll get the whole concept in about a minute…those I try to write down if I can. Then there’s moments when I’m just sitting in class or looking at someone from a distance at the mall and I’m like: “Whoa, that’s cool, or interesting, or…definitely going in a book.” Most of the times, though, my inspiration comes from lamentation. For some reason, it seems like writing feeds on people’s misery. It’s kinda sick, but I guess there’s something beautiful in pain and darkness, sometimes even confusing. It’s harnessing that into a good story, that can be tricky, but at the same time, very therapeutic.

Congrats on your next book, Arson. I heard it was just accepted by Tate Publishing. What is it about?

Yes, you have heard correctly. Arson has been accepted by Tate Publishing. The book is about playing with fire and getting burned. It's about a boy and the strange girl who walks unexpectedly into his life, a girl with a mask. It's about questioning the difference between love and loathing. It's about growing up and becoming normal, if such a thing is possible. Arson is a kid whose body heats up during moments of heightened stress, fear or rage, but that's about all I want to give away at the moment.

I heard you were inspired by a song. When will it be released?

Yeah, I kinda got inspired by a song. Anberlin is one of my favorite bands. And I had always liked one of their songs called "Glass to the Arson". I had just written a dark book, a very dark book called The Sacred Sin, and I wanted to write something about where I was at, for people struggling with a lot of similar things as I was. So, I created a character who was loved and hated by the ones he cared about most. A character who lives beside a lake in Connecticut, not far from where I live. A character who starts fires. This character became Arson Gable, a seventeen year old trying to make sense of an unbalanced, imperfect existence. Look for Arson in stores and online later this fall.

How do you go about searching for publishers and what made you decide on Tate for your last book?

I absolutely hate searching for publishers and agents. The very thought terrifies me. It's all about trying to impress in five seconds flat somebody whose got nine million other projects on their desk. I sent Arson out over fifty times to publishers, agents and editors. While this submission process received a great deal more full manuscript requests than The Sacred Sin, all of the agents and publishers who had requested it turned it down. "It's too adult and not YA enough." "It's too YA and not adult enough." "There isn't enough of a supernatural element to it...we want more." Then there was my favorite: "It's just not right for us at this time." I spent about a year trying to get it published, went to a conference and spoke to editors, but it all led to dead ends.

That's when I decided to do some manuscript house cleaning. I tweaked the writing a bit, went through a bunch of edits, but kept the storyline intact. I then sent out Arson to two different publishers at the same time. One of them was Tate Publishing. After a few back and forth dialogs with the founder of the publishing house, I was beginning to feel down about my opportunities for publication. But I kept e-mailing him. My dedication paid off. A few weeks later, the president of the company sent me out a contract. I signed the contract in April, turning down the other publishing opportunity. I am very excited to begin working with the editor this summer!

As a writer, what scares you the most?

Being forgotten.

You have an amazingly cool website! Did you design it yourself? Do you maintain it?

I hired 123triad to design it for me. They made it very cool. It gave me a much more professional and eerie look. It really fit with the novel. And apparently, a lot of people like it, so that's always a plus. As far as maintaining it goes, I do a lot of the updates on the homepage and throughout the website. I also manage my blog The Closed Door, a place for me to just unwind, talk about whatever I feel like and be vulnerable and honest. It's fun. You should check it out. There's also a link on the site where readers or reporters or anybody can contact me.

Thanks, Estevan, and good luck with your writing endevours!

More info:

http://booktalkcorner.today.com/2009/03/01/only-20-years-old-and-already-the-author-of-three-books-meet-estevan-vega/

http://www.estevanvega.com/

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3901021355896523876

http://bronzeword.wordpress.com/

--Mayra Calvani is the author of the supernatural thriller, DARK LULLABY. Visit her at www.MayraCalvani.com