Origins
Thomas told me he got his original idea for the book from a Tumblr post a few years ago. "I was on my phone on Tumblr — when that was still a cool app to use — and I saw a prompt, and it was just one sentence, and it said, 'What would you do if you summon a ghost and could not get rid of it?' ...I read that as "What if I summoned a ghost and couldn't get rid of him, and what if he was really cute?"

Once he knew he wanted to write a ghost story, the rest of the work came fast. The idea of the book taking place around Día de los Muertos seemed obvious. "It is my favorite holiday in the entire universe, and I thought it would create a lot of fun moments to flex on how beautiful my culture is," Thomas said.

Thomas wrote the entire first draft in just six weeks, then began the editing process. Despite working so hard to get the book finished and ready for publication in such a short time, the initial release date for Cemetery Boys was pushed back three months due to the pandemic. "I busted my butt to get this book out, only for the global pandemic to push it back, so that was ironic," Thomas laughed.

Latinx culture
Writing Cemetery Boys was a labor of love for him, he said. It was the first book he wrote centering on an LGBTQ+ character and his first to focus on a Latinx family and its traditions.

Día de los Muertos is a traditional Mexican holiday during which families come together to celebrate and remember loved ones who have passed, typically with beautiful candles, artwork, and altars.

"What I think is fun about Día de los Muertos is how my culture understands death," Thomas said. "In Western society, people see death as a dark, sad, and a dreary thing. For us, it's not seen as the end... We have comfort knowing every year that for those two days, we get to celebrate, remember, and welcome the spirits of our loved ones back to the living.

"For me, it was fun to show that difference and put out the idea that death isn't something we should necessarily be afraid of. Just because someone dies doesn't mean we lose them."

Aside from the holiday, Latinx culture in general is a theme in Cemetery Boys. For Thomas, this was very intentional, as many LGBTQ+ stories in the media today center on the experiences of white people. For people of color, especially Trans people of color, experiences with gender and sexuality can look very different.

"All cultures have their relationships to gender and gender expression, and what that looks like," said Thomas. For him and many other Latinx people, cultural ideas about gender sometimes clash with modern expressions.

"That's what's especially difficult in Latinx culture, that it is very traditional, and we are rooted in these beliefs. Gender roles are typically a huge thing in traditional Latinx communities. When you try to press against that, people say you are trying to overthrow this tradition that we have."

Traditional gender roles can be a difficult backdrop for anyone to grow up against, but for Trans people, it is especially challenging. "For Trans folks within the Latinx community, what's especially difficult is you are dealing with a gendered language. There are all these landmines for you to step on where you get misgendered, and I think that's a hard thing for Trans Latinx kids to experience."

Representation matters
Sometimes Latinx LGBTQ people feel like an outsider in both communities as they struggle with balancing a love for their cultural identity and their gender identity. Despite experiencing struggles with rigid gender roles and heavily binary language, Thomas sees hope for future generations.

"We do this because it is the way it has always been, without asking why. I think what's becoming more and more prevalent in younger generations, especially queer ones: asking why."

In his novel, Thomas gives readers a look into types of families that aren't always seen. "I felt like when I was reading stories about Queer teens, and especially Trans teens, the families either completely rejected them and kicked them out of the house, or they became these perfect allies.

"For me, what was important was to show a Latinx family that doesn't hate Yadriel or his identity; they just don't understand him. It's that unknown that has mostly to do with being educated, to have that much more complex family dynamic instead of a cut-and-dried experience."

As a result, Thomas gives readers a refreshing new perspective on what family acceptance and understanding can look like. This can provide hope to teens who may be closeted, or not fully accepted, that those in their world can come around to better understanding.

The future, writing advice, and Halloween
When it comes to his future projects, Thomas plans on continuing to write stories about LGBTQ+ people. "I think it's important, because there are so many LGBTQ+ folks that exist, especially young adults, and we've learned that representation can be life-changing. Our Queer youth right now have it rough. We've just gone through a hellish five years, especially."

The only problem he sees with LGBTQ+ literature today is that there is not enough of it. "For me, it's important to have books and lots of books, lots of different kinds of books for Queer teens. I just want there to be a whole plethora so Queer teens can read a Queer ghost story, or a Queer sci-fi novel, or a horror book."

The best way to solve this problem is to encourage more LGBTQ+ people to get into writing. The best advice he has for aspiring young writers is twofold. First, "to be a successful writer, you have to finish your first draft. It's the hardest part of writing, getting something you can then turn into something better, but you can't revise unless you have that first draft."

Second, "what's important is to find yourself a group of writers or readers to be your people. Finding your little Queer community of writers not only betters your craft but can [be a support for] each other through the low lows that can happen [in] publishing," he added.

Through writing and community, people can find spaces to express themselves more freely and openly. This is also one of the appeals of Halloween.

"I think what's so cool about Halloween is you can be exactly who you want to be without being weird. It carves out a pseudo-safe space where you can dress how you want to dress without putting yourself at risk of being out, if you're not ready to share that with everybody. You can cross-dress, and it's okay, because it's Halloween, and anybody can be what they want to be."

Cemetery Boys encapsulates that freeing feeling of Halloween, where anyone can be who they want to be. It shows us that with time and understanding, those who love us will always continue to do so. It shows that with love, nothing is binding: not gender roles, expectations, or even death.