Lost in the Never Woods Blog Tour – Author Interview

 I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the Lost in the Never Woods Blog Tour hosted by Xpresso Book Tours.

Check out my Author Interview below!

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About the Book

Lost in the Never Woods
Aiden Thomas
Published by: Feiwel & Friends
Publication date: March 23rd 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

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.

Find it Here:

Goodreads | B&N Amazon | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play

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Author Interview

What is it about Peter Pan that inspired you to write this retelling? 

Honestly, the inspiration for “Lost in the Never Woods” was definitely the slow and creeping kind! I loved the Disney film as a kid and had the BIGGEST crush on Jeremy Sumpter in the 2003 adaptation. There’s also some incredible lines in that movie, but the one that really stuck out to me was when Peter 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 concept that Peter was trapped in Neverland, that he had some sort of duty to the Lost Boys when he was clearly so drawn to Wendy, stuck in brain. I wanted to know why he was in Neverland, what it meant for him to be afraid of his feelings, and what this concept of growing up really meant to him. I read the original “Peter Pan” quickly after that and learned how really dark the canon is, and how deeply troubled and traumatized Peter was. I was really interested in his mental and emotional turmoil, which led me to wondering, “What happened to Wendy after Neverland?” and that was the real beginning of “Lost in the Never Woods”!

What does your writing process look like? 

I am a hardcore plotting! In order to stay focused and not write myself into a corner, I plot everything out in my books to death. I do a general synopsis, a chapter by chapter outline, and then within the chapters I also map out every step of every scene! It’s really intense, and maybe more of a zero draft than an outline. For “Lost in the Never Woods”, I have this notebook I plotted out all my chapters in before I wrote them. I still have it! There’s a bunch of pictures I
pasted in for vibes and I also drew a food plan of Wendy’s house. I also make spotify playlists for all my books and characters, and those always help me get into the mood of the book.

What has been your favorite part about writing for YA readers? 

I think one of the most gratifying things about writing YA is how young adult readers love books and characters SO intensely! Searching for kinship with characters in books is always such an intensely personal thing, and I really love creating characters that help young readers see themselves and their experiences reflected.

Did the success of Cemetery Boys put more pressure on you when writing Lost in the Never Woods? 

I actually wrote and sold “Lost in the Never Woods” before “Cemetery Boys”! So the writing process was very different. LITNW was the first book I ever wrote and sold, so I think I had a lot more freedom and less pressure. After “Cemetery Boys” came out as my debut and did so well, I’ve definitely been anxious about LITNW coming out.

What were your initial thoughts when you found out you hit the NYT Best Sellers List? 

I was absolutely FLOORED! I genuinely thought that there was no way it would ever happen, and a lot of folks told me as much haha So when I got that call from my editor, I was in total shock! It’s one of the coolest things to ever happen to me!

What are you currently working on?

Right now I’m working on the first book of my upcoming fantasy duology! I’ve comped it as Percy Jackson meets “the Hunger Games”. It’s about demigods who have to battle it out in a life or death competition. I’ve also got my first scifi book coming out after the duology which I’ve been lovingly referring to as “Gay Titanic in Space”.

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Giveaway

Tour-wide giveaway (US/CAN)

Prize: Print copy of Lost in the Never Woods

Click HERE to Enter!

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About the Author

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. 

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram

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Follow the Tour

March 22nd
–The Scribe Owl >> Review
–Dragon on a Book  >> Review
–Stuck In Books >> Excerpt
–Westveil Publishing  >> Review
–Books, Tea, Healthy Me  >> Review

March 23rd
–Portals Into Books >>Review
–Lindsey’s Library >> Guest post
–Wonderfully Bookish >> Review
–Betwixt The Sheets >> Review
–Books Beans and Botany >> Review

March 24th
–Whispering Pages >> Review
–The Clever Reader >> Interview
–Ruei’s Reading Corner >> Review
–Twirling Book Princess >> Excerpt
–dinipandareads >> Review
–Whispers & Wonder >> Excerpt

March 25th
–Jazzy Book Reviews >> Excerpt
–Kait Plus Books >> Interview
–The Caffeinated Reader >> Review
–Book-Keeping >> Review
–Chonky Books Review >> Review

March 26th
–Sweaters and Raindrops >> Review
–Windows to Worlds >> Review
–String of Pages >> Review
–The Avid Reader >> Interview
–Brianna’s Books and Randomness >> Review
–Confessions of a YA Reader >> Review
–Viviana MacKade >> Guest post