Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Marc Estes is a two-time winner of the Vermont Playwright’s Award for his plays, What Would Dickens Do? and Glass Closets in 2010 and 2011. What Would Dickens Do? also won the 2012 Robert J. Pickering Award for Playwriting Excellence.
His play, Gumbo (adapted from the short story by Charles Huckelbury) was a finalist in the 2011 Safe Streets Arts Foundation Short Play Competition and was presented at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
His play The Practice of Killing (co-written with Robert Johnson and adapted from the short story by Mr. Johnson) has been published in the Spring 2013 edition of Tacenda Literary Magazine.
His Play Glass Closets won the 2013 Robert Chesley Award. Attaining this award earned him the Artist In Residence Grant from the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico in 2014.
Early in 2014 Marc Estes proudly presented his debut novel, Four Pieces For Power: Book One of the Vendicatori. This marks the first in a series of Vendicatori novels developed by Mr. Estes. Rekindle The Flame: Book 2 of the Vendicatori will be released in early 2015.
In September of 2014, his play, Going Home, was presented at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC as part of the the Page To Stage Festival.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Vendicatori Series, started out as a high school writing project. I started writing Four Pieces For Power as an exercise in character development and it grew from there. In college I continues to develop it, and turned it into what it is today.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I think my most unusual habit is the lack of a written outline. I know where the story is going to start and end, but most of what comes in between is developed as I go along. I like to just free write and let the characters tell me where the story goes next. It makes for a more interesting story and it always seems to come together in the end for me.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
As most of my writing career has been in plays, I would have to say Shakespeare is an influence. I also like Dickens, Koontz, Faulkner and Joseph Campbell.
What are you working on now?
Currently I am finishing up the final draft of Rekindle the Flame. This is book two of the Vendicatori series. I hope to have it out by Feb or March 2015. It is a thrilling follow up to Four Pieces For Power.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So far, I have found Goodreads and Goodkindles to be the most effective promotion tools, but I am also finding a whole new set of websites out there like Awesomegang that I hope will prove even more effective.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. Even when you get writer’s block, keep writing about something new. You will be amazed at the new ideas that will come forward, all while you continue to improve your craft.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Keep Writing. See above 🙂
What are you reading now?
I’m actually reading Anne Rice’s new book. I was thrilled to see her get back to what she does best.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I am continually developing further ideas for the Vendicatori Series and I’ve started work on another series called 33. I am also continuing my play writing, and seeking out productions.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Alienist by Caleb Carr, The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens, My Antonia by Willa Cather, and the Complete Works of William Shakespeare.
Author Websites and Profiles
Marc Estes Amazon Profile
Marc Estes’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile