Aiden Thomas, author of Cemetery Boys and The Sunbearer Trials, was at San Diego Comic-Con. He was there promoting the second book in his series, Celestial Monsters. Thomas shared his journey as an author, discussing his early days in fanfiction and roleplaying, and his passion for representation in literature.
He spoke about the importance of his work for marginalized communities and the emotional impact of meeting fans who have connected with his stories. Thomas also revealed his inspiration for The Sunbearer Trials, citing Percy Jackson, The Hunger Games, and My Hero Academia. He offered advice for aspiring authors, emphasizing the importance of reading craft books and plotting out stories. He concluded by sharing his current favorite reads.
Interview with Aiden Thomas
Though his first book wasn’t published until 2020, Aiden Thomas was introduced to the writing world years earlier when he first got into fanfiction and roleplaying.
I was deep into X-Men RPGs on Tumblr. I also ran a pretty successful Hunger Games RPGf or like a year. It was within fandom and nerd stuff that I actually learned how to write and started writing my own stories when i was in grad school.
As a trans-Latinx author, Thomas is very serious about advocating for more representation. As fans know Cemetery Boys features a trans brujo who struggles getting acceptance from his family. For Thomas, being a voice for those without one is important and exciting. However, it’s also overwhelming because he feels a lot of pressure.
When I wrote Cemetery Boys, I wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I’m going to write a trans book.’ I just wanted to write a book that I would have liked when I was a teenager. If one teen read it and felt seen and connected, I did my job the right way.
Thomas loves meeting fans and hearing how he has helped represent their journeys, sexualities, and cultures. However, the thing that hits him the hardest is meeting fans who are transitioning and deciding to name themselves after characters in his stories. “It’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me,” he said. He has also announced that Cemetery Boys is getting a sequel.
For his current series, The Sunbearer Trials, Thomas says the inspiration came from Percy Jackson, The Hunger Games, and My Hero Academia. However, he had a hard time picturing himself in Riordan’s world. As a result, he wanted to create the Mexican Percy Jackson with trials and a tournament.
He also cites The Hunger Games as a big inspiration, which he is obsessed with on what he calls an unhealthy level.
What I found so fascinating were the Careers, who were trained in order to compete in The Hunger Games. With Aurelio, for example, he’s a gold who is trained to undergo the Trials. I was just really interested in unpacking that and what’s it like to have these people trained for a specific thing and who have all this pressure and expectations to be heroes of Reino del Sol.
When it comes to advice, Thomas wants aspiring authors to know that they don’t need to go to college to become writers. It’s also important to read books on the craft—because the first draft is the hardest—and get organized and be able to plot out the story.
Aiden Thomas’ Book Recommendations
To close, Thomas gave us his favorite current reads.
- On the Wings of la Noche by Vanessa L. Torres
- Queerceañera by Alex Crespo
- The Forest Demands Its Due by Kosoko Jackson
- Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao
You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram to stay updated on Aiden Thomas’s work and future projects. His books are available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and various other book retailers.
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