Interview with Estevan Vega

http://www.estevanvega.com/

First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.com! My name is Jen, and I’ll be your server today…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.


Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?

It’s so weird you ask me that, because as I recall, I was visited by a gorgeous blonde angel. She hovered down from the sky with golden wings, and she told me that my fate was to become a great writer, and that through my work I would change the world. It was like a vision. But no, as cool as that would be, I guess I’d have to say that I realized writing was pretty cool back when I was 11. We had these short stories/essays we’d have to write for class every day (drag), and after much frustration and procrastination, my dad sat me down and told me to close my eyes. Then he told me to form mental pictures of what he was saying. After enough arguing back and forth (I was extremely stubborn) a story would somehow come out of it. He’s really good at making me do things I don’t want to do, only for me to eventually realize that it was beneficial in the long run. But I guess that’s his job as a father, right? After getting a few of my stories read out loud in front of the class (and a few good grades), I set out on an ambitious quest to write a book when I was 12. I had no idea what I was getting into.

Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?

A lot of people think that writing a book is easy. And they’d be almost wholly justified in thinking so. Writing the book is a cinch…in comparison to getting it published. Before you can even think about getting anything published, you’ve got to write the book, which for me could take as little as six months to complete a first draft but as long as three years to get truly completed. Servant of the Realm, my first book, came out in 2004 when I was 15, but I had started writing it three years earlier. Not only do you have to write it, but then comes the excruciating process of re-writing, editing and revising what has somehow made it out of you and onto the page. Next comes the convincing. Getting an agent or publisher to even look at you or your manuscript can be a painful process, but in time, if your work shows enough promise, it will get noticed. But be aware, it’s hard work, especially when you’re backed by a small publisher. You are your own selling machine. I continue to learn and re-learn this concept with my second book The Sacred Sin. It’s a never ending struggle. But it’s also part of the fun.


Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?

The Sacred Sin is about something very real and very human: that darker side of ourselves we try to hide. Everyone has a darkness. This story takes the curtain that separates light from dark. It has a real edge, but I’ve managed to sneak in some supernatural stuff as well. That was really fun. So anyone who hasn’t read it for themselves should go check it out.

What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?

I would have to say humanity. Our frailty as people. We all seek to be so invincible, to make ourselves look so strong, but in reality we are all quite weak, and we all have something that gets the best of us and brings out the worst in us. I think it’s interesting to put humanity on a canvas, and paint him as he really is, or as I would like to see him. I’ve realized that our humanity is something no one can truly figure out 100 % of the time, but hopefully with every book I write I’ll be able to at least understand it a bit more. As far as personal inspiration, I would have to acknowledge my father. He has been a pillar to me of the man I could become, and he has helped me develop my craft and my mind to better reflect the pieces of broken mirrors in my life. Oh, and I’m a huge fan of The Great Gatsby and Stephen King.

Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!

Yeah, my family has been pretty supportive of my efforts all the way through. Although my family isn’t now what it started out as. Two years ago, my mom left my father for one of my bosses (gulp, how do you swallow that one, right?), and then three months later, my older brother gets shipped off to boot camp, and the relationship there has been virtually severed, leaving me, my two younger brothers and my dad a mere remnant of our once united family. But you know what? It’s too laborious to force people to be a part of your life when they don’t want to be. You can’t make someone love you, because love is a choice. But as far as I’m concerned, I’ll take a remnant of real over a bounty of fake any day. The four of us and a few aunts and uncles and cousins have been there during this tumultuous time, and I’m thankful for that. Hopefully, one day we’ll all move past this and become a family again, but we’ll see.


Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?

I’m gonna go with ice cream. I love scoopin a massive portion into a bowl right before a movie late at night (probably not the best idea, I know). My favorite ice cream used to be mint chocolate chip, hands down. But now it’s a tie between black raspberry and mint chocolate chip, with all the necessary additional toppings of course.


What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?

Groan. Stretch. Go back to sleep.


If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

I’m a little bit ashamed to have to admit this, but I still have a box of TY beanie babies, the ones that used to be popular about a decade ago. I know, it doesn’t really add up, a writer and a beanie baby fascination, but we were all nine once, weren’t we? Other than that, some sketches of comic book characters from when I used to draw. There’s a few bodies underneath the floorboards, too, but I’ve been trying to keep that hush-hush.

Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?

I really like the color blue (not the girly blue). I like navy or dark blue, denim. I’m not entirely sure why I like that color, I just do. Maybe it’s because I like Best-buy a lot. Or it might be because it’s the color of waves or something to do with my psyche. Who knows? I’m just a writer; it’s not like I give much thought to anything.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Wolverine. I realize he’s a comic book/cartoon character. But if you won’t accept him, probably Taz.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

If I were to guess, Daffy Duck. He talks a lot and everyone is usually tellin him to shut up. It reminds me of high school.

If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history, where and when would it be—and why?

As far as places go, I wouldn’t mind going back to Barcelona. But as far as time goes, I would really like to see how it all began. The world. To see what this place was like before we screwed it up.

So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?

I love rock music. All kinds (except classic) from slow to fast, soft to heavy. I listen to a ton of music, but some favorite bands are: Switchfoot, UnderOath, Thrice, Anberlin, Skillet, Flyleaf, Emery, Mat Kearney, Jon Foreman. I would love to go on and on, but the list would stretch on forever. My Zune has a little over 8gb left, and that’ll probably get filled before 2009. As far as writing is concerned, I’m not a big fan of listening to music while I write or even while I sleep. I love listening to it when I’m online or something, but having music blasting when I’m working on a novel is hard for me. I like concentration and I like focusing on what I’m trying to convey.

Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you saw at the theater?

Definitely, Heroes is a big one (although I was pissed when the strike happened and robbed me of the rest of a terrific season!), Smallville, One Tree Hill ( what? Lucas is a writer), Supernatural and 24. The last movie I saw in theatres was Charlie Bartlett. (Side note, Charlie Bartlett takes place in Connecticut, so being from that lovely, over-taxed state, I was happy rather thrilled).

You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?

I encourage you to read everything I’ve ever written, because if you don’t, many random bad things will happen, things which cannot be disclosed here and now.

But really, instead of spending your teen years drinking, going to lame parties, flunking algebra, or sleeping with that random person, why not spend your time doing something that matters to you? Read, write, watch movies, live life without regrets. Follow your dreams, even if you’re the only one who believes in them.

One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?

Right now, I’m working on my third book, tentatively titled A Boy Called Arson. Look for it…whenever it’s done, which I hope is soon.

Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!