To create a world that is breathtaking in every sense of the word, many things have to be considered. How does the Other look to the naked eye, and what secrets is it hiding? What are the creatures like? And how can you survive there if you're not an inhabitant? Most of all, is it really as wonderful as it first appears?
In order to display the Other as an almost intangible place, I had to create a dichotomy with our world, so it's been coined the Concrete, the very opposite of air and softness. We see the Other through Ralla's eyes first. She grows up learning how to adapt to this environment, which isn't meant for her. Forced to train to be more like her father, the mysterious and maligned Calder, Ralla is left resenting him for not giving her a more of a taste of the world she's really from. He works to paint the Concrete as dangerous and full of horrible people only out to hurt her. When the chance comes for her to find out more, she's enticed and eager to go, but regretful once she becomes part of the Concrete.
"In the Concrete realm, the world her father seemed to hate so much, this journey they were on would’ve taken hours. In the Other, they were there in minutes; time and distance stretching and folding over to grant them a quick path home. Her father knew how to do these things in the Other with barely the twitch of an eye. Now it was Ralla’s turn to obtain his skills, and she was far from achieving his inherent mastery."
I didn't want to give the Other a fantastic sounding name. I also needed it to be beautiful but full of threats to anyone who wasn't from there. Once Josie and Nick become immersed in this world, they need to adapt much quicker, and Ralla has to give them a crash course on how to navigate the terrain. I thought if the place was more like air, the air itself could still be thin. The physical laws of the Concrete, especially concerning time and distance, are discarded in the Other.
The Other went by a different name and had different aspects when I created it years ago. It was contained and had less definition, and if I'm honest, it wasn't particularly imaginative. World building is one of the major parts of fantasy storytelling, and this takes time. I set this as a challenge to myself as I've not provided too much description in my other stories as opposed to this one. I also wanted to present characters who were essentially flawed or not who they appeared at first glance. Josie has not one but two monsters in her life from the outset, her abusive partner Brent and the conniving Calder. While Nick might seem like the hero who comes to save her, Josie still challenges his devotion with her lies, which aren't intended to hurt him but do almost lasting damage once revealed. Seth has to decide where his allegiances lie once Josie betrays him, and Ralla has much more to learn about her real home when she's thrown into the Concrete. All of them are challenged by the choices they make.
Essentially, Into the Other is a strange tale of choices, and consequences.
Check out some reviews of Into the Other here.
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