Given this is my first blog post, I thought it would be best to do an interview….with myself. However, if anyone has any burning questions that the interviewer (who happens to be me) failed to ask, please send them through and I will try to respond. Now for the interview!
Who inspires you?
First and foremost I am inspired by my wife. Somehow when I am around her, my creativity buzzes around like a hive of busy bees, creating stories instead of honeycomb.
I am also inspired by my favorite author, Dean Koontz, whose writing is as close to perfection as one can get.
Next, I have recently been inspired by Amanda Hocking, a YA author who I am sure many of you have heard of. She had been writing for years, but had had very little success in getting her books published the traditional way, so she began exploring self-publishing. In a little over a year, she has sold hundreds of thousands of books and has recently signed a major 4-book publishing deal. Congrats Amanda! Largely because of self-published writers like Amanda, I have taken the same route and would be ecstatic if I achieved one-tenth of her success.
Lastly, I am inspired by a seven-year-old girl. She’s the daughter of one of my co-workers and I sent home a manuscript for my only children’s novel, which she read and evidently enjoyed immensely. A few months later, my co-worker brought me a short story that the little girl had written and illustrated. She even bound it herself! I won’t disclose the title, as even the youngest writer deserves protection for her creativity but let’s just say that it was really good, really creative, and really inspiring. If my books only inspire that one little girl, then it will all have been worth it.
Where the heck did you come from?
If you mean geographically, originally, I am from hot and dry El Paso, Texas, but my parents moved to the three rivers of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when I was just a tiny tike. I grew up in Pittsburgh with my older sister and younger brother in a little suburb called Mt. Lebanon, before heading for 4.5 years of college at Penn State. After graduating with a boring Accounting degree, I moved back to Pittsburgh and worked at a large accounting firm for 5 years.
It was a job, and paid the bills, but I always knew it wasn’t my passion. While working a full-time job that involved long hours, I managed to write my first book, one that will never see the light of day—because it sucked! I enjoyed writing, but when I stacked my crinkly manuscript next to the masterpieces of some of my favorite books, like JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, it just didn’t compete.
So I put my writing career on hold for a few more years, and took advantage of an opportunity to move to Sydney, Australia for two years with my company. While I had essentially stopped writing at that point, I began to read like a maniac. I had always been an avid reader, but I took it to a whole new level, carrying stacks of books home from the library and voraciously tearing through them. In some cases, it meant I had no life, as I spent my Friday and Saturday nights alone with my books, exploring worlds built on bricks of words, pillars of paragraphs, and foundations of chapters.
Despite my lack of a social life, I managed to meet my future wife within 8 months of arriving in Sydney. Meeting her was life changing for two reasons: One- my perspective on life was shifted, and Two- she sparked my creativity and inspired me. I left the long hours of my accounting job and took a full-time position as a risk officer at a smaller company based in Australia, which I hoped would give me more time to pursue my other interests, like writing and reading.
The two weeks I had off between jobs changed my life.
I always thought I needed a breakthrough idea in order to write a book, but really I just need an idea, any idea. The idea came to me after only three days off from work, and I started writing immediately—Angel Evolution was born. Finally, I had found my groove, and the words began pouring from my fingertips. I wrote incessantly during the remainder of my break and didn’t let my new job slow me down either, writing on my ferry ride to and from the office and during my one hour lunch break. In two months I finished my first draft. In less than a year I had written 5 books, including turning Angel Evolution into the Evolution Trilogy. I was ready to publish.
Why do you like writing so much?
I’m sure there are a million answers that a million different writers could give to this question, but for me, it is simply a thrill. Words thrill me. They are so unbelievably powerful and the way a talented wordsmith like Dean Koontz or Stephen King can conjure up a plethora of emotions with just a few keystrokes is exciting to me. I hope I can do the same with my words.
You mentioned that you’ve written 5 books, but so far you’ve only published the Evolution Trilogy, what happened to the other 2 books?
Good question, Me. My fourth novel aimed at young adults will hopefully be published soon, once again as a self-published book available online via print or e-book. The last book is my first children’s novel, and is currently being reviewed by a large children’s book publisher. While I love the flexibility of self-publishing, I wouldn’t mind the assistance of the professionals to market and brand my books!
So, which do you prefer, traditional publishing or self-publishing?
Considering I have never published traditionally, that is a hard question to answer. I have definitely enjoyed the flexibility of self-publishing, but there were definitely times when I wished I didn’t have to deal with formatting my books and dealing with cover art. I’ll have to get back to you on this one!
Do you have any tips for aspiring writers?
I am still an aspiring writer myself, so perhaps I should be asking someone else the same question! All joking aside, I have learned a lot since I began writing seriously, and have probably only just scratched the surface on my education. However, for those who are just starting out, or have always thought about writing a book, here are my tips, for what it’s worth:
-Write for your readers. Even if you don’t have any yet! If you can move your audience to tears, or to laugh, or to cringe, or to grip the book a bit tighter, then you can call yourself a writer.
-Get professional feedback early on. I can’t emphasize this enough. There are many professional feedback services, many of them literary agents. I personally recommend Andrea Hurst’s First Fifty service. The feedback she gave me, both positive and constructive, helped take my writing to the next level.
-Read more than you write. Let true professional authors inspire you. It also helps you remember who you are writing for and why you started in the first place.
-Never give up. I know I never will.
I’m sure I could go on and on, but I will stop there as I believe these are the most important things I have learned. Later on, I will do a full blog on my tips about writing and publishing.
Where can readers find your books?
The Evolution Trilogy is published at Smashwords.com and can be found through my author’s page: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/davidestes100
However, you can also find my work on Amazon.com (in print using links at the top) or using most e-book download sites, like Kindle and iPad.
If you like my writing, please join my Facebook author page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Estes/130852990343920
Or you can subscribe to my Blog update feed via the Follow button at the top of the screen.
Happy reading and writing!
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