Interview with Aiden Thomas, bestselling author of the novels Cemetery Boys, Lost in the Never Woods, and The SunBearer Trials.
Trans Literature has long been ignored and dismissed as not being worthy of acclaim due to the rampant silencing of marginalized voices by systems of oppression, but trans writers and their work deserves to be celebrated. Which is why this column exists, to celebrate and bring more attention to the work of trans artists and writers, in whatever medium they choose to express themselves in. The first Author Feature for this Column will be on Aiden Thomas, bestselling author of novels Cemetery Boys, Lost in the Never Woods, and The SunBearer Trials. There will be brief book reviews and an interview with the author at the end of this post.
Brief Book Reviews of Aiden Thomas’ Books:
Cemetery Boys
Thomas’ debut novel Cemetery Boys follows 16-year-old Yadriel, a gay trans boy, growing into his powers as a brujo while grappling with the recent death of his cousin and his family’s inability to locate him. Yadriel, although part of a beautiful community of brujx, feels isolated because of his transness. People walk on eggshells around him. People don’t accept him as a true brujo because he wasn’t assigned male at birth. But he wouldn’t let these things follow him for long.
When his cousin unexpectedly dies, and his family cannot locate him, Yadriel seeks to prove himself to his family and find answers to the circumstances that led to his cousin Miguel’s death by releasing Miguel’s spirit into the afterlife. But then, Yadriel summons the spirit of a boy that died on the night of his cousin’s death, and soon the story begins to unravel into a journey that takes the reader along with the characters through each brilliantly-crafted scene.
The story tackles prejudices within a tight-knit community and shows that some reactions to coming out can be subtle and just as troubling. Yadriel’s want of acknowledgement from his father is so well portrayed that it begins to bleed into realism, and yet the novel continues to be joyful and compelling. The vivid portrayal of each character and their relationship to each other is beautiful. While the story deals with important and difficult subjects, it does so with ease and care that doesn’t feel overwhelming to the reader. Yadriel’s relationship with Julian, the spirit he summoned, is hopeful and adds a sense of joy and humor to the story. The novel is a touching tale weaving in wonderful representation and a refreshing perspective. There’s also a second book in the works, so there’s no better time to read this novel.
Lost in the Never Woods
Published soon after the release of Cemetery Boys, Lost in the Never Woods is a Peter Pan retelling that follows the life of Wendy, marking the start of a bittersweet tale revolving around the mystery of her brothers’ disappearance. When Wendy was found in the woods, there were things she couldn’t remember anymore. There were gaps in her memory, and her brothers were missing. Slowly, the story starts to reveal Wendy and her troubling past.
The story grapples with themes of trauma and pain consciously. It is an intense tale of survivors’ guilt and the manifestation of trauma in daily life. It is a beautifully written, captivating story.
The SunBearer Trials
Thomas’ latest novel, published in September 2022, is a Mexican Mythology inspired tale where transness is completely accepted and celebrated. The story revolves around Teo, a trans boy and the son of Quetzal, the Goddess of birds. The sun’s, Sol, the non binary God of Reino del Sol, power must be replenished every decade and so, ten semidioses between the ages of thirteen and eighteen are chosen every decade to participate in The SunBearer Trials. These are the most powerful semidioses in all of Reino del Sol, and Gold semidioses are the ones usually chosen to participate in The SunBearer Trials, so Teo, a Jade semidios, is certain he doesn’t have to worry about himself. He is worried about his best friend Niya, one of the strongest semidioses of the generation, and his friend-turned-rival Aurelio, a powerful Gold semidios. The one who loses has the greatest honor of all, their body will be used to fuel Sol and to replenish the Sun Stones that’ll protect the people of Reino del Sol for another ten years. Then for the first time, Sol chooses two Jade semidioses. Teo is one of them. So begins a deadly game that will kill one of the ten semidioses by the end of the trials.
The story is captivating. The story behind each God is beautiful and rich with detail. There is so much happening with each trial, but every scene is handled in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the reader. In the world of Reino del Sol, transness is celebrated, and there are ceremonies to celebrate coming out as a different gender from the one assigned at birth. Despite the high stakes, the story has light-hearted moments and flows beautifully between the intense and the light-hearted. Gender diversity was effortlessly built into the world of the novel. The world is filled with wonder. This is a beautiful novel with great world building and wonderful characters. Each character is crafted with their own background and story. This is a duology, and the second book is in the works.
Interview with Author Aiden Thomas:
In conversation with me, Aiden Thomas speaks about navigating the publishing world and writing as a trans, queer, disabled writer of color, and their vision for the future of Trans Literature.
Mrityunjay Mohan: Your books have lots of queer characters and the portrayal of queer and trans people in your books is beautifully done, which I absolutely love and see myself in, so has your perception of different identities and people that don’t necessarily share your own identity with changed since you started writing about them? How did you prepare to write about different identities that you don’t share or have no experience with?
Aiden Thomas: I make it a point to write stories featuring characters who reflect my community and the people I share my life with. My characters are diverse because my community is diverse. As a queer person of color, I’m surrounded by queer people of color who share my intersections, and also don’t. I don’t really prepare to write about different identities because I’m surrounded by folks with different identities. It’s really about writing them from my experience and relationships with folks, and also understanding what they go through in their lives because I’m there experiencing it with them, or at the very least talking to them about it.
That being said, I always get authenticity readers for my stories, including ones who have my same intersections. I do that because my experience isn’t the only Latinx/queer/trans masculine experience, and everyone has internalized biases. It’s my job to make sure my blind spots aren’t harmful to my readers.
Mrityunjay Mohan: What is your writing process like? Has it changed significantly since writing Cemetery Boys? Can you take us into how you go about writing a new novel?
Aiden Thomas: I’m a really intense plotter. I know every important plot point in my book before I write it and my outlines tend to be 30 – 50 pages, depending on the book. I have really bad ADHD, so I need to set up a “map” for myself so I don’t deviate from the trail to get lost in the weeds somewhere, so my outlines are incredibly detailed, down to the chapter and the scene. My bullet points eventually turn into paragraphs, and then those paragraphs grow into chapters and eventually I have a book!
I’ve been reading a lot of craft guides since writing “Cemetery Boys” and it’s definitely improved my writing. I’m always investing in honing my craft, especially when it comes to plotting. With each book I’m just trying to produce better storytelling than my last.
Mrityunjay Mohan: Did your identity play any role at all in the publishing process? What would you want to tell a queer trans disabled POC writer about writing and publishing?
Aiden Thomas: My identity informs how I move through the world, and the same goes for moving through the publishing industry. It’s cool because I get to add to the queer/trans/Latinx young adult lexicon, but it also means that things happen like getting my book banned in multiple states and being fearful of traveling to certain states. I recently had to turn down an event in Florida because there was nothing in place to protect me or even ensure I didn’t get arrested going to the bathroom.
The hardest part about writing is finishing the first draft, and then the querying process. In order to survive that, it’s so important to find community – to find folks who share parts of your identity who you can lean on and commiserate with through your publishing journey, because it’s going to be an ordeal and having friends to support you makes a world of difference.
Mrityunjay Mohan: I really love the way you write queer and trans characters in your novels, and I think your novels are excellent examples on what representation should strive to be. What do you envision for the future of representation in media for queer trans disabled POC characters?
Aiden Thomas: The first thing I want is more trans feminine books in YA. But, in general, I want more queer stories in every genre possible. When I was younger, trans books didn’t exist, and when they started coming out, they were all really depressing problem novels. I want to see more queer stories in horror, sci-fi, fantasy and romcom’s. I want kids to be able to look for a queer book and be overwhelmed by their options. I want there to be books that cover all the amazingly diverse experiences that queer people have, so they can feel connected and part of the community, even if they are physically somewhere they can’t have that.
Check out Aiden Thomas’ novels Cemetery Boys, Lost in the Never Woods, and The SunBearer Trials.
Author Spotlight: Aiden Thomas was originally published in ANMLY on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.