Authors in Isolation: Aaron Hodges
Back with a new interview! Apologies on the delay with these, I’ve been sick a lot the past few weeks. Let’s kick things off again with an author interview with Aaron Hodges.
First of all, tell me about yourself! What do you write?
My name is Aaron Hodges and I’m a fantasy author from New Zealand! I mostly write in the epic fantasy genre, you know, dragons, swords, magic, etc, but I’ve also got a dystopian scifi that was a pet favourite of mine.
How do you develop your plots and characters?
I think my characters generally tend to take on a mind of their own, with each becoming more a reflection of the circumstances in which they’re place—and those circumstances in turn being a result of their own decisions! In that way, a lot of my plot is character driven, although I try to constrain them within the greater plot of the world I’ve created, with general goals they have to achieve and an ultimate conclusion they have to reach.
Tell the world about your current project!
My current project is set in a fallen world, where two species of humanity are at war with one another. The mindless, superhuman Tangata have already conquered one kingdom of humanity, and now the remaining kingdoms must ally together to hold them at the river Illmoor.
Who would you say is the main character of your latest novel? And tell me a little bit about them!
One of the main characters is Lukys, a raw recruit sent from the island nation of Perfugia to fight on the frontlines. Lukys soon learns he and his fellow recruits weren’t sent south because of their ability, but because their Sovereigns had judged them as lacking any useful skills for their society. Untrained, they are thrown straight into the action by a general uninterested in wasting time on useless recruits. If he wants to survive, Lukys will have to find someone to teach him the skills of his new trade—before the Tangata attack and slaughter them all.
Have you been to any conventions? If so, tell me a little about them!
I’m afraid not, might be looking at some this year though!
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I think I always kinda wanted to be an author, even in primary (elementary) school I was always writing creative stories for my teachers!
If you had the opportunity to live anywhere in the world for a year while writing a book that took place in that same setting, where would you choose?
Haha I literally already do this quite a bit, except its more I choose someplace to live or travel, and then end up incorporating places from there into my stories. I loved travelling through Europe for just that reason. But if I really have to choose, I’d probably say I’d go back to Argentina, where I’d been living for a year before the pandemic struck! Such diverse landscapes there, many of the locations in my current series are drawn from there.
What advice would you give new writers?
I always give the same advice—finish your first book, then worry about editing, publishing, etc. Until you finish the first, you’ll never know if you can actually do it!
What inspires you to write?
I enjoy it (well, for the most part, editing is hard!). I like the freedom this profession gives me in life, I like the feeling of creating new worlds and characters and stories, and I like to hear how my fans have been enjoying what I’ve written!
What is the hardest part of writing for you?
Definitely editing haha. Well that, and advertising!
What is your routine when writing, if any? If you don’t follow a routine, why not?
I always head to my local café and get myself a flat white, put in my headphones with my music track, and then get down to work. This was a habit I got into when I first started writing again, as I’d had writers block for years, and now I really struggle to get anything down without it!
What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write in any of your books, and why?
I think strangely my favourite chapter was in my dystopian series, when one of my characters completely derailed the entire book. She’d been through a lot, really, and instead of continuing with the plot as planned, she decided no, I’m done, and just had a nervous breakdown in the middle of the book. It really made me realise just how alive these characters are for me, that they can’t just go do something that doesn’t make sense for them, and after everything this character had been through, she needed that breakdown.
Did you learn anything from writing your latest book? If so, what was it?
I’ll tell you a secret, I learnt quite a bit about the geography of the west coast of North America 
