There’s this crazy idea that we have to be a certain age or of a certain background or whatever in order to do something extraordinary. I think that’s crap. We all have a gift. We all have a reason to be on planet earth, but I think one of the toughest things for most people to accept or align themselves with is discovering what that incredible gift is.

Some people have crazy vocal skills, but are they rushing to the stage, picking up a mic? Or are they in studios giving their gift back to a world who needs it? Many aren’t. Some people have an artistic vision, allowing them to take a blank canvas and paint something beautiful. But are they practicing this craft? Or are they hiding from it? I write. Now, it was never my intention to seclude myself away  and hide my stories from the world. I wanted to write and share my gift and my passion with others. I never had this mentality of “Oh, I’m just not ready to put myself out there like that.” Honestly, what good would that do? Of course, you have those people who write strictly to expand an already bloated ego, but regardless of the reason behind our exposing, the truth remains that we are giving back to the world that we’ve taken so much from. Emily Dickinson, now considered one of the greatest poets ever, was reluctant to publish her stuff. Can you imagine if her writing had never seen the light of day? What a tragedy that would’ve been.

This is why I write. This is why I read. This is why I buy music and go to concerts and watch movies and walk through churches and museums. A conversation is happening. One’s gifts are given to me, and I have an obligation to pass along the things I’ve learned and experienced to a world looking for answers and purpose and…obviously entertainment.

Maybe you’ve been to one of those services where a preacher or healer comes rolling into town and wows a crowd of people by healing someone’s busted leg or curing an illness or whatever. Some of you may be rolling your eyes…but it happened to me when I was a kid.

Wrap your mind around this…Power is real. It exists.

I suffered from seizures, had ear problems, and was forced to take ice-cold baths. It really sucked. My dad goes to this healer one night and the seizures cease. There’s unbelievable, poetic power in that. Power in the human touch. Power in love. Power in hate. Power in words. Power in imagery. Power in sound. These are the things that bind us. This reality of exploring a dimension many haven’t yet tapped into. It blows my mind that there is so much potential out there just waiting to be explored and experienced, but countless human beings are just too embarrassed of their gifts or believe it’s not “super” enough to be considered a gift at all. Crap. Just…crap.

Have you been waiting to use your voice? Go sing. Has your computer been calling to you, begging you to use it to write your next novel? Go write. Can you communicate with a supernatural realm which enables you to heal a dying world? Go and be that healing. You don’t have to be a celebrity. You don’t have to be a psychic. You don’t have to have a ph D.

You don’t have to be a firestarter to spread the fire!

E

So, there is this word going around called best-seller. You also may have heard of the other word that’s very similar called bestseller. ha. Well, at any rate, it’s a word that every author hopes to one day hear before his or her own name. Think of your favorite author, and the ones you usually lean toward, and you know that at the top of the book somewhere there’s this mention that so and so made it to the New York Times bestseller list or whatever. And therefore, they’re amazing. Yada-yada.

But does it mean they are a great writer? Or did they just get lucky, like that time…well…next post maybe.

I think it’s both. We’ve all heard the story of the tortoise and the hare. Tortoise is the underdog, should logically have no shot at winning against this giant rabbit thing, and because the giant rabbit thing slacks off and thinks he has no shot at losing, he ends up taking second place to the turtle. I’m sorry, toroise. I’m finding that in this business, sometimes you’re the hare (rarely), and sometimes you’re the toroise.

Writing is a marathon, not a sprint. Any writer out there. Frick, any artist of any kind, whether it’s music, painting, questionable modeling (joke?), or whatever knows that the entertainment business holds no guarantees, and that the odds of success are usually against you. That being said, anomalies within the system do happen, and more frequently than you might think.

For instance, Allan Leverone (a member of the Stonehouse Ink family) just became an international bestseller. Yup, that means his book speaks many different languages and he occasionally tap dances as his way of entering into a room. But it also means that his eBook made it into the top #25 in the Kindle store and he’s currently ranked in the top #100 in the UK. I’ll drink some tea to that! His book is called The Lonely Mile.

It’s a thriller. You’ll most likely love it. Go get your copy ahora. Now, his story is not unique. It’s happened before. Last year, the same thing happened to Vincent Zandri (another Stonehouse peep), and he made it to #4 on the Kindle store. It resulted in the selling of his entire back-list to amazon last year. Crazy ish, right?

All this to say that you never know. You just never freaking know what’s gonna take off or when it’s gonna happen, but you can be sure of one thing. You don’t want be asleep when it happens. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. So have hope. And whatever you do, be the tortoise. Just be the tortoise.

Your welcome in advance for your ridonkulous success.

Spread the fire!

-evega

And I’m convinced that doing all these signings actually made me hotter. No, seriously, they did. Just check out the pic. That’s me. See? I got way hotter.

Back in the CT soon. Stay fly and spread the fire! New book coming soon. Get stoked.

-Evega

It has come to my attention that I don’t blog nearly as much as I need to, but that’s about to change. Starting now, along with boosting my twitter and facebook presence, I will be blogging more, which may mean you won’t be able to get me to shut up, but hey, it could be fun too. My website will now be the hotspot for a variety of topics from writing and publishing to marketing to posts about genres and pretty much anything I think is cool. So please be awesome and spread the fire!

-E

Ish that happened with me:

I tried my hand at self-publishing for the first time, originally releasing my short story collection (When Colors Bleed) back in the spring. I ended ties with my last publisher Tate Publishing. I signed with Stonehouse Ink…way awesome company bringing some of the best stuff in the industry. I unveiled ASHES in eBook and paperback (book 2 in the Arson series). And I did a crapload of book signing appearances.

For those who missed any of that, I forgive you, you’re still awesome, and 2012 is the year for you to play catch up to see what you’ve been missing.

I’m starting 2012 off right by introducing a brand new Youtube Channel called TheEstevanVega. Follow it and subscribe to it, because it will be awesome, and I’ll be updating it regularly. It’ll allow us to connect in a cool, visual way.

I’ve also got some cool signings lined up. The first is in Idaho. I’ll be in Boise this coming week, and starting Friday  Jan 6, I’ll be spending the weekends signing at the Majestic Theater in Meridian, so if you live there or near there, come hang or send your friends. Should be a good time.

Until we burn again…spread fire.

E

I got some new stuff in the works as well. A new novella and a new book (not Arson related) will be released early next year, so get stoked appropriately for that.

Until next time, spread the fire!

E

A lot of cool stuff happening now (like the first ASHES blog tour) and some killer stuff coming up, like book signings until Christmas and beyond. I am anxious to meet all of you awesome people, so if you can, come out to a book signing and pick up ARSON and ASHES. If you can’t make it, please tell someone about it and spread the fire. Follow me on twitter.com/estevanvega or hit up the We Are Arson page on facebook for constant news and updates. And if you haven’t already, sign up for the official newsletter. A new one’s coming very, very soon.

Stay classy, and um…burn something!

E

-E

Also, ARSON part dos is complete and will be making its way to Kindle and print very soon. More on this in the coming weeks. I promise, this mother will be worth the wait.

Finally, I’m ridiculously stoked to announce that I will be touring this summer. Yes, after a semester of classes and chillin, which really just means writing like crazy and preparing for a summer worth of touring, I am hitting the dusty trail once more. You should definitely spread the fire, and come hang if you can. First stop will be ATLANTA FEST in, you guessed it…Atlanta, GA. Why do I always tend to think of Ray Charles, you know, with that weird look in his eye, when I say Georgia? I digress. Here’s the heads-up. So, Re-release of ARSON is happening now on the Kindle, so go get it. Book two is coming your way very, very soon, and Atlanta Fest begins the summer of touring. Get stoked. It’s gonna be a killer summer. Not to mention, X-men comes out tomorrow. Ohyeah!

-Evega