AUTHOR BIO
Aiden Thomas is a New York Times Bestselling author with an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. Originally from Oakland, California, they now make their home in Portland, Oregon. As a queer, trans Latinx, Aiden advocates strongly for diverse representation in all media. Aiden’s special talents include: quoting The Office, winning Jenga, finishing sentences with “is my FAVORITE”, and killing spiders. Aiden is notorious for not being able to guess the endings of books and movies, and organizes their bookshelves by color. Lost in the Never Woods - Synopsis
When children go missing, people want answers. When children go missing in the small coastal town of Astoria, people look to Wendy for answers.
It’s been five years since Wendy and her two brothers went missing in the woods, but when the town’s children start to disappear, the questions surrounding her brothers’ mysterious circumstances are brought back into light. Attempting to flee her past, Wendy almost runs over an unconscious boy lying in the middle of the road, and gets pulled into the mystery haunting the town. Peter, a boy she thought lived only in her stories, claims that if they don’t do something, the missing children will meet the same fate as her brothers. In order to find them and rescue the missing kids, Wendy must confront what’s waiting for her in the woods.
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PURCHASE LINKS: AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY | BOOKSAMILLION | GOOGLEPLAY BOOKS | INDIEBOUND | INDIGO | KOBO | WATERSTONES The Interview
Several times, you've said that while you decided to debut with Cemetery Boys, the novel you'd originally planned first.. Lost in the Never Woods.. is an incredibly personal story for you too, would you tell us a bit about that connection?
“Cemetery Boys” is so important to me because it’s so much about my identity, but “Lost in the Never Woods” is super personal because, at its core, it’s a story about trauma. I started writing LITNW when I was first diagnosed with C-PTSD, and it was a really cathartic way of me processing my own experiences with mental health, trauma and grief. I wanted to write a book about those experiences and for others who have gone through similar experiences, especially for teens and young adults who were forced to grow up too fast and had adulthood thrust upon them. I understand while you were an undergrad you wrote about the psychological trauma of Peter Pan and how that affected who he was. Would you mind sharing those thoughts with us? Oh my gosh, yes! That’s where my obsession with Peter Pan started! When I first watched the 2003 Peter Pan film adaptation, at one point Peter Pan says, “I want always to be a boy, and have fun” and Wendy replies, “You say so, but I think it is your biggest pretend.” That line just STUCK with me, I rewatched the movie and then read the original book by JM Barrie. At this point I already know I wanted to double major in psychology and English so I did this deep dive and tried to figure out Peter as a character. One of the first things I realized was that he has dissociative amnesia from a line where he states that he forgets people after he kills them. There’s really so many examples of Peter dealing with trauma, which spiraled out into me wondering what would happen to Wendy after her experiences in Neverland, and that’s how the original idea for “Lost in the Never Woods” was sparked! I know you did a good bit of research on Mesoamerican culture for Cemetery Boys, was there any research involved for Lost in the Never Woods or is it a story purely from the heart? I think it’s definitely both. I did a lot of literary theory research of the original Peter Pan story, and then I also brought in my personal experiences and academic research about mental health and specifically trauma. I always thought Wendy never got the story she deserved! She’s such a unique and complex character who is often overlooked by Peter’s much more dominating presence, so I wanted to give her her very own story and focus. Peter is cool, but Wendy has a really special place in my heart. This is probably like asking you to choose between your plant children.. but who's your favorite character to write in Lost in the Never Woods.. and why? Peter was fun to write because he’s flighty and scatter-brained, but I really enjoy the challenge of writing Wendy! It was definitely like a case study in writing about what fear and anxiety feels and affects us. She’s really complicated and going through a lot, so she’s probably the hardest character I’ve ever written, but I think I did a good job and I hope readers can connect and kind kinship with her. Since you enjoyed Hill House (created by Mike Flanagan) and Hannibal (created by Bryan Fuller), have you checked out any creepy new shows like Flanagan's The Haunting of Bly Manor? YES! I thought Bly Manor was absolutely brilliant! I think I’m an outlier when I say that scary TV shows and movies are my comfort media? I’ll put on Hill House to fall asleep to all the time. Talk about a story that really explores trauma and complex characters! What are three songs on your playlist for Lost in the Never Woods? Oh my gosh this is always one of my favorite questions! I have a whole dedicated playlist for “Lost in the Never Woods” which you can find (below): But the top three songs I associate with LITNW are: “Crime” by Grey with Skott “Out of the Woods” by Taylor Swift “Cardigan” by Taylor Swift
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