A-to-Z Challenge: “X” is for “Xenophobia”

For the A-to-Z Challenge 2016, I am blogging info on my current work-in-progress, a YA fantasy/adventure mini-series tentatively titled “The Other World”.

---

Dictionary.com defines xenophobia as an unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers, or of that which is foreign or strange. There is no lack of such unreasonable fears in our own world, and there is no lack of them in The Other World either.

When Tori first finds herself in the “other” world, the first person she encounters is Jacob, so at first she actually has no idea that there are other species of intelligent people in this land. When she in turn first meets the Maelekanai there is a fair bit of fear and/or hatred on both sides of the coin. Tori feels mostly fear, having been faced with something she previously never would have imagined possible. The Maelekanai tend toward an extreme distrust of the stranger in their midst, with Kaima‘s feelings bordering on outright hatred.

That’s not nearly where it ends, of course. With everything that has occurred in recent years, all of the races have some level of fear or hatred for one another, which is why so many of them hide themselves away, particularly from humans. Some even fear and hate Eden, who wants nothing more than to help and protect them.

How, then, will Tori be able to push past the xenophobia that grips the entire kingdom, and convince each of the different peoples of this world to help her in her quest to rid the kingdom of the evil Iryen?

---

I hope you’re enjoying the A-to-Z Challenge and my little snippets of ‘The Other World’! If you’re interested in what else I’ve written, please be sure to check out ‘Nowhere to Hide‘, available on Amazon in both hard copy and e-book versions!