Interview with author Estevan Vega

I interviewed the awesome Estevan Vega, author of the book Arson that came out this year!

Describe Arson in one sentence: A boy who can create fire and a girl who only feels normal behind a mask explore the darkness and dysfunction of humanity while coming to grips with who they are.

Did you plan the outcome of your book or did it change while writing the story?
No. I find that I'm not all that good at planning. I can hear Heath Ledger's Joker snickering...."Do I look like a man with a plan?" But seriously, I find it easier to just write the book. The other stuff comes and the story gets complicated all on its own. Sometimes I'll know where I'm headed, but usually I'm just a backseat driver to the unfolding story.

What aspect of Arson was the hardest to write?
The beginning and the end are always complicated for me, probably because they are both equally important. You gotta hook the reader from the start, and then you gotta shock the reader as it ends, giving them something they didn't necessarily expect. I love that. It's hard, though, choosing the right way to start and end a story. I think while writing ARSON, I changed the opening scene, like, 5 times. The end I altered too from what originally I had intended. I'm stoked how it all came together, though. That's the best part...when the war of deciding is over and you can see the finished product...only to begin the headaches all over again when you start a part two or another book.

Do you have any writing rituals?
Well, apart of dancing around a campfire doing a weird chant while puffing out smoke, no. I just write whenever I can, whenever something hits me, or when a story's been gnawing at me for a while.

If you could travel to any place in the world where would it be and why?
I'd like to take a road trip, really see the country, because I've just always wanted to do that. And it sounds like an awesome nightmare I've gotta experience before I die...or get old.

What's the most outrageous/fearless thing you've ever done?
Roll out of bed in the morning and commit to doing another day.

If you could have three wishes, what would they be?
To be transported to a different time, so I could see what life was like in another time. To have a conversation with God. To wish for more wishes, because there's tons more I could ask for. But I think I might settle for having a genie to chill with...as long as he sounds like Robin Williams.

Anything else you'd like to say?
Stay in school. Don't do drugs. Talk back only when it's worth getting hit upside the head. Avoid first dates or awkward goodbyes. Buy ARSON immediately. And, um...burn something.

P.S. I am throwing an ARSON rock show on September 10 in Hamden, CT at The Space. Tickets are 12 bucks in advance, 14 bucks at the door. The headliner is The Letter Black, and other bands opening are Abel, The Best Week Ever, and Sleeping Lessons. We're all gonna be rockin out and talking about ARSON. Come hang. And bring posse!

Thanks so much for answering my questions Estevan! Readers, be sure to check out his book Arson. Also, try stalking him on facebook or on twitter.