Author Interview: Aden Polydoros

I’m sure that, much like us, The City Beautiful is one of your most anticipated releases. And now, approaching the end of September, there’s only a few more days to go! Just to whet your appetite a little bit more, we have a couple of exciting posts upcoming, the first of which is today’s interview.

So get yourself a drink, make sure you’re following Aden on twitter, and give this a read.

And here’s the preorder link, because you’re going to want it!

Let’s start at the beginning. How did you first get into writing?

As a child, I was a voracious reader. It didn’t occur to me until my early teens that I had the ability to write the stories that I wanted to read, which first led me to take part in collaborative writing sessions with friends, and then later developed into working on my own stories. By the time I was in high school, I was determined to get published. I began drafting my first book, Project Pandora, in my junior and senior years of high school. And after that, it was really just a matter of perseverance and determination.

What are your favourite genres to read and write, and are there any genres or tropes you wouldn’t write?

My favorite genres are fantasy, thriller, and horror. I don’t think I would be very good at writing romance, rom-coms, or slice-of-life stories. Although I enjoy the quieter moments in my books, I feel like what really draws me in are those high-tension action scenes.

How do you get inspiration for your books and what’s your writing process? At what point do you let other people read your drafts and who are they?

Usually, ideas just come to me. Sometimes it is a scene, other times it is an elevator pitch of an idea. Occasionally, I’ll get inspired by other media. With The City Beautiful, I was inspired by an article I read online about H.H Holmes, a real-life serial killer active during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. 

I have multiple critique partners, and usually they’ll read the earliest versions of my drafts. I tend to reread and polish my chapters as I write them, so my critique partners tend to get early drafts.

Which three authors would you say influenced your writing the most?

That’s difficult to say. I’ve read so many stories that have influenced me that I don’t think I can come up with just three names. I will say that the works of Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, and Angela Carter have had a powerful impact on my own writing and made me examine the ways in which horror and the Gothic can be a means of discussing societal anxieties and interpersonal relationships.

And for something that is also very important to us & what we put a lot of emphasis  on when blogging. What does ownvoices LGBT representation mean to you?

Ownvoices representation is important to me in LGBT fiction because I feel like if you’re writing from outside your own perspective, it’s easy to fall into stereotypes or problematic representation. However, at the same time, I feel like ownvoices can sometimes lead to gatekeeping for LGBT authors. I know that for me, I’m thrilled whenever I see a LGBTQ+ author flourishing, and it’s less important to me whether they’re writing LGBT characters or cis/het ones.

What’s one piece of advice you would like to give your younger self?

Don’t give up. Rejection is unfortunately a given in this industry, no matter how far you go. That has been one lesson I’ve forced to accept—that there are forces in publishing beyond my control, and the only thing I have power in is making sure I send my agent or editor my strongest work.

Summarise your most recent/next book in up to 5 words and a meme.

For The City Beautiful, it would have to be “Gays and ghosts in Chicago”

If (when!) your books were to be made into movies, who would you like to direct them?

Definitely Guillermo del Toro. His movies have been deeply influential to me, and I feel like he would capture the gothic atmosphere of The City Beautiful perfectly.

If you could have dinner with one member of the LGBT community, dead or alive, who would it be?

Why settle for just one? I’d love to have a dinner party with Elliot Page, Laverne Cox, Lady Gaga, and all my favorite LGBTQ+ authors.

Which of your characters would you most want to fight a zombie apocalypse with?

Love this question! It would have to be Frankie, a part-time boxer and the leader of a gang of pickpockets. As someone who is very street-smart and knows how to throw a mean punch, he would have no trouble knocking those undead denizens back into their final resting place.

Is there a famous franchise or simply a movie/TV show you’d like to be able to write for?

In video games, I would love to write for the Silent Hill franchise and would utterly die if given the chance to do a novelization. In TV, Stranger Things or Marvel.

Do you have any secret non canon ships in your books you wish people would write fics for?

I think it would be interesting to explore the connection between Alter and Yakov, because Alter had feelings for Yakov when he was still alive, which persist through the possession.

Rec us some great LGBT books you’ve read recently!

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas. Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler. I am also currently reading and adoring an ARC of Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aden Polydoros grew up in Illinois and Arizona, and has a bachelor’s degree in English from Northern Arizona University. When he isn’t writing, he enjoys going to antique fairs and flea markets. He is represented by Thao Le of the Sandra Dijkstra Agency.

Follow on Goodreads | Preorder The City Beautiful