“The rifle was comfortable in his hands. Familiar. Less like a complex weapon
than like an extension of his arms and eye, a part of him. It made him feel
complete, filling the emptiness that lived inside of him.”
Hades is one of the four main characters in my YA thriller, Project Pandora.
Unlike the other brainwashed teenagers in the Project, Hades is conscious during
his kills. He doesn’t hesitate to pull the trigger, because that is exactly what
he has spent his entire life being trained to do.
When I first began writing about Hades, I didn’t intend for him to be a
sympathetic character. He was supposed to be a villain with no redeeming
qualities, who would eventually get exactly what was coming to him. However, as
I delved into his viewpoint, I realized that in his own way, Hades is not a
villain, at least not in the traditional sense. His situation is even more
tragic than the rest of the characters’ situations. He did not begin life as a
monster—he was reshaped into one. And even as he tries to convince himself that
he is the one in control, he has close to no control over his own life.
As soon as I began sympathizing with him, his character became much easier to
write and played a greater role in the story. Usually, at some point in the
writing process, I imagine random bits of dialogue and scenes. With Hades, I had
no difficulty envisioning how he would respond to situations. He isn’t
restricted by the same moral codes as other characters, which makes him more fun
to write about. However, at the same time, his personality isn’t so alien that I
can’t imagine his reactions.
After Hades became a main character, I decided that I didn’t want him to be the
villain. At least not the main villain. With that in mind, I began to give him
more sympathetic traits so that he wouldn’t come across as entirely evil.
Through his relationship with Elizabeth, I showed that he’s capable of loving
someone, even if it’s only one person. I gave him guard dogs and added a couple
scenes where he pets the Rottweilers and shows them affection. Multiple times in
the story, I compare him to a wild animal. I figured that at the very least,
showing that animals accept him helps highlight his feral nature, even if it
doesn’t redeem him.
A couple times in the book, I also showed him in a vulnerable state, which was
kind of strange to write about. In almost all circumstances, Hades is the one
acting out against others, so it was weird to imagine violence being committed
against him. Even though those scenes were difficult to write, I hope that
they’ll allow readers to see a different side of him and sympathize with him.
And if not, I hope that he’ll at least become a character that readers love to
hate, because that’s pretty fun, too.
Assassin Fall
Tyler Bennett trusts no one. Just another foster kid bounced from home to
home, he’s learned that lesson the hard way. Cue world’s tiniest violin. But
when strange things start happening—waking up with bloody knuckles and no memory
of the night before or the burner phone he can’t let out of his sight—Tyler
starts to wonder if he can even trust himself.
Even stranger, the girl he’s falling for has a burner phone just like his.
Finding out what’s really happening only leads to more questions…questions that
could get them both killed. It’s not like someone’s kidnapping teens lost in the
system and brainwashing them to be assassins or anything, right? And what
happens to rogue assets who defy control?
In a race against the clock, they’ll have to uncover the truth behind Project
Pandora and take it down—before they’re reactivated. Good thing the program
spent millions training them to kick ass...
Young Adult Suspense
[Entangled Teen, On Sale: August 1, 2017, e-Book,
ISBN: 9781633756861 / eISBN: 9781633756861]
Aden Polydoros grew up in Long Grove, Illinois, and now lives in Arizona. He
is a writer of young adult fiction. When he isn’t writing, he enjoys reading and
going on hikes in the mountains.
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