Author Crush Friday with Aden Polydoros
Glitter girls, you have pressing questions for your favorite authors and we have their answers. Welcome to our weekly segment, Author Crush Fridays.
We love asking questions and we love the answers from some of our favorite authors. Today we’re talking to Aden Polydoros, the author of the YA assassin thriller, Project Pandora (August 1, 2017; Entangled Teen). Thank you for talking to us today, Aden! We’re honored! And, PS, we love to collect owls too!
GLITTER: Tell us five random facts about yourself.
ADEN:
- I collect owl figurines, old photos, and candle snuffers.
- I live with five cats, four dogs, and more poultry than I can count.
- I stare at surrealist paintings for inspiration.
- In addition to being a novelist, I would like to eventually go into screenwriting.
- I’d take rain over sunshine any day.
GLITTER: How would you describe Project Pandora?
ADEN: Project Pandora is a contemporary thriller about teens who have been brainwashed to kill by a fascist organization hell-bent on overthrowing the United States government. It’s divided between four different POVs: Tyler, Shannon, Elizabeth, and Hades.
GLITTER: Do you love to create complex characters?
ADEN: It’s kind of a love-hate relationship. I love writing about characters who don’t fit the traditional “hero” mold, but at the same time, I’m unsure if readers will like my protagonists as much as I do.
GLITTER: What do you hope readers will get out of reading Project Pandora?
ADEN: Satisfaction. I hope readers will be drawn into the story, and fall in love with the plot and characters. Or, with Hades, I hope that if readers don’t love him, they’ll at least love to hate him.
GLITTER: Did you always want to be an author? Did you ever feel like giving up? Did you receive rejection letters in the beginning? How did you get over them?
ADEN: I’ve always wanted to be an author. Multiple times, I have struggled with the infamous “imposter’s syndrome” and felt like tossing my unfinished manuscripts into the nearest bonfire. Every time I want to give up, I just have to remind myself that writing is a process. It takes time, it takes perseverance.
As for rejections, I’ve received my fair share of them. I still find it slightly discouraging, but I realize now that rejections are a part of the writing process. I need to emotionally detach myself from the submission process, and tell myself that the rejections are not a criticism of me as a person. Besides, I’m kind of desensitized to rejections now, so they don’t hurt as much as they used to.
GLITTER: Do you hope that your books will one day be turned into a movie or on TV?
ADEN: Definitely. I would love to see Project Pandora go to the big screen one of these days.
GLITTER: Do you have any crazy writing rituals?
ADEN: If I’m writing a book with multiple POVs, I listen to different bands for different characters. I also try to listen to music that fits in with the plot. With Project Pandora, my playlists featured a lot of rock, techno, and heavy metal.
When I was writing Tyler’s chapters, I listened to Apocalyptica, A Perfect Circle, and Tool. My playlist for Elizabeth’s POV consisted almost exclusively of No Doubt, The Cranberries, and Fleetwood Mac. Shannon’s chapters were written to Daft Punk, Seether, and The Dresden Dolls. With Hades, I listened to Slipknot, System of a Down, and Marilyn Manson.
With the gothic horror story I’m currently working on, I’ve been listening to a lot of old gramophone recordings and classical music.
Also, I always try to keep something near my work space that reminds me of the story I’m working on. If I get bored, I fiddle around with the object.
GLITTER: What are you working on now?
ADEN: I’m working on a YA gothic horror novel about a cursed girl and a young Holocaust survivor who are dragged into a conflict between Lovecraftian entities that feed on human suffering. I also have a couple contemporary thriller and fantasy ideas floating around my head, and am editing the sequel to Project Pandora.
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