Synopsis
A fifteen-year-old Miami native has to relocate when her father gets a job with a tech company in Utah county. However, Chelsea is also a second-generation Jamaican-American, which makes her feel uncomfortable in the predominantly white culture of her new home.
Her first week at school is hectored with the difficulties of a move and trying to fit in. To make matters worse, she has started to suffer from sudden, bizarre bouts of déjà vu and inexplicable electric disturbances. Chelsea's isolation grows as fledgling friendships break and her father becomes consumed by work.
In her fragile emotional state, Benton, a being from an alternate plane of existence, appears in her home and tricks her into going to a magical world called Pandra. There, Chelsea meets up with three guides who agree to help her return.
As they traverse the mind-bending landscape, they learn that Chelsea's father has been attacked by Benton and is now in critical condition. The fastest way to get to her father, however, is through the darkest part of Pandra: the Path of Night. There, Chelsea will be tested against all of her fears and insecurities. If she can make it through, she can save her dad. If not, she'll become a permanent resident of Pandra--and be barred forever from returning to Earth.
Her first week at school is hectored with the difficulties of a move and trying to fit in. To make matters worse, she has started to suffer from sudden, bizarre bouts of déjà vu and inexplicable electric disturbances. Chelsea's isolation grows as fledgling friendships break and her father becomes consumed by work.
In her fragile emotional state, Benton, a being from an alternate plane of existence, appears in her home and tricks her into going to a magical world called Pandra. There, Chelsea meets up with three guides who agree to help her return.
As they traverse the mind-bending landscape, they learn that Chelsea's father has been attacked by Benton and is now in critical condition. The fastest way to get to her father, however, is through the darkest part of Pandra: the Path of Night. There, Chelsea will be tested against all of her fears and insecurities. If she can make it through, she can save her dad. If not, she'll become a permanent resident of Pandra--and be barred forever from returning to Earth.
Magic System
I didn't want to make a new magic system with the complexities and intricacies of some of my other work. Instead, I wanted to focus on a location that felt magical. I'll be honest, I don't know of a Young Adult fantasy writer who isn't reacting toward or against Harry Potter, so I had to decide, from the beginning, how Rowling's work would affect mine. So I decided to take everyone's favorite character of the Harry Potter series (Hogwarts) and make my own version: Pandra.
I looked at a lot of surreal landscapes and let my imagination roam to whatever I thought sounded cool. (Mild spoiler: I've always thought it would be hilarious to see a creature that was made entirely of human feet, and would walk around like sagebrush. So I put that in: my Foot Ball.) Since it was, by its own definitions, a place unlike any other, I didn't have to worry about continuity and rules to get the cool stuff to happen. I could just let it go.
As a result, it has an Alice in Wonderland flavor to it, though (I like to think) a little bit more when it comes to the character development.
I looked at a lot of surreal landscapes and let my imagination roam to whatever I thought sounded cool. (Mild spoiler: I've always thought it would be hilarious to see a creature that was made entirely of human feet, and would walk around like sagebrush. So I put that in: my Foot Ball.) Since it was, by its own definitions, a place unlike any other, I didn't have to worry about continuity and rules to get the cool stuff to happen. I could just let it go.
As a result, it has an Alice in Wonderland flavor to it, though (I like to think) a little bit more when it comes to the character development.
Background
Chelsea is from Miami, one of the only other cities I'm acquainted with (having lived there for two years), so taking her from that familiar clime to Utah (where I've lived for all except those two years in Florida) was a way to give her some depth of character and plenty of conflict.
The additional problem, however, was that Chelsea is Black. I did this for two reasons: One, that's who she was when she came into my mind (which is a pretty frequent occurrence for me, to have characters enter my brain already partly formed); and two, it gave me a chance to really push myself as a writer.
I studied up on diversity, representation of minorities in literature, and even talked to one of my former students who was half-Black. I did a lot of research for my fantasy book that, for the most part, doesn't even take place on Earth. I tried to make Chelsea feel real without it seeming like I was "just being diverse" (which, I think, is a perfectly fine reason for including diversity--I personally want a little more than that).
The matter of her race is instrumental to her feelings and outlook for the world she's found herself in. Accidental and casual racism are rife in America, and I wanted to juxtapose that with her experiences in Pandra. In short, thematically, structurally, and fundamentally, the book only works with Chelsea being Black.
The additional problem, however, was that Chelsea is Black. I did this for two reasons: One, that's who she was when she came into my mind (which is a pretty frequent occurrence for me, to have characters enter my brain already partly formed); and two, it gave me a chance to really push myself as a writer.
I studied up on diversity, representation of minorities in literature, and even talked to one of my former students who was half-Black. I did a lot of research for my fantasy book that, for the most part, doesn't even take place on Earth. I tried to make Chelsea feel real without it seeming like I was "just being diverse" (which, I think, is a perfectly fine reason for including diversity--I personally want a little more than that).
The matter of her race is instrumental to her feelings and outlook for the world she's found herself in. Accidental and casual racism are rife in America, and I wanted to juxtapose that with her experiences in Pandra. In short, thematically, structurally, and fundamentally, the book only works with Chelsea being Black.