"The Others" by Kristin Bryant discussion

I love the T-shirt that you were given at your Kicking Cancer/Book Kick Off event. I posted the photo so the group can view what I'm talking about. Were any of the characters in THE OTHERS based on someone you knew?

Definitely! It is probably impossible to divorce your real life from your writing completely. I've had friends and family tell me they've had fun finding parts of my life referenced throughout the novel.
Three characters come to mind:
Aurik was loosely based on Gordon B. Hinkley (Mormons in the house!)I love Hinkley's way of being so unabashedly sweet one moment, but able to shake you to your soul the very next with his powerful words.
I used to live in Tonga, so it was easy to write Chase and Mateo. They are both based on two very fun guys I met and hung out with while I lived over there. Believe me, they were the best kind of guys to be stuck on an island with. They could make anything fun!
I grew up loving the music of Les Miserables. Even before I really could grasp the meaning of the Broadway recordings from the musical my mom always played, I fell in love with the song, "A little fall of rain", sung by Eponine and Marius. It wasn't until I grew up that I understood how heartbreaking that scene was. Emani's character is loosely based on Eponine's plight in love, always the runner-up to the hero's heart. That was an homage to her, one of my favorite literary characters.

Which came to you first? The scripture that sparked the concept for the novel or the concept of the novel and then you found the scripture to go along with it?

John 10:16
And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

The idea came first. I was doing laundry one day while my son was taking a nap and the strangest idea came to me out of nowhere. "What aliens were coming to Earth to find evidence of their savior?"
It came so out of nowhere and so clearly, I actually dropped my laundry basket on my feet. It was such a strange idea, I wasn’t sure what to do with it at first. It took me a little bit of time to put pen to paper and start outlining a story around it, especially because I had never thought of writing a book before. The more I thought about it, the easier it was to connect it with that scripture. :)

Cool! Thanks for answering my questions. I would never have thought of the idea so I have been curious about how the story was developed.

Kristin,
I am curious how you, the author, keeps the writing in the same form that would appeal to a young adult throughout the book? I recognize how and what my daughters like to read, and what will keep their interest. Yet, it is still appealing to an adult, such as myself! Do you have young adult children? Do you think all your novels will be for the young adult genre?

Hey Bonnie!
Great question!
I have two little boys- 2 and 5 years old, and I am extremely nervous about them turning into young adults too quickly!!! Yikes!
First, I love the young adult genre because it sort of represents the most cool-yet-tumultuous time in human life- becoming an adult. It is fraught with mistakes and firsts and all sorts of crazy situations that a 40-something would know better than to get mixed up in. It is when possibilities are endless and big decisions are made. For those reasons, I think I'd always like to write to the YA audience.
This book is a little bit unique because the main characters are a little older than your average young adult main character. There is actually a VERY new genre just starting to gain traction called "new adult", where the main characters are in their mid-twenties.
I wrote the majority of this book when I was about 27, so Ryen, the main character is is my same head space. He is mid-20's in my head. Actually, in one part, I do believe I mention that Ryen is 27 or 28. Savannah is younger, she is about 22. Claire and the boys are mid-twenties as well.

Hi Kristin,

Thank you for this wonderful answer. I am excited to hear that you will continue to write in this genre. I was reading "Under the Dome" by Stephen King, and then I started reading "The Others" at the same time. It is hard to read 2 books at once, but guess what? I kept finding myself putting down "The Dome" to pick up "The Others" to see what was happening with the kids! I will have my 18 year old read it as soon as I'm done...because I found it first! Thank you for this book, and keep those young'uns "little", as long as you can. It goes way too fast!!
Looking forward to the next book already!

Kristin wrote: "Definitely! It is probably impossible to divorce your real life from your writing completely. I've had friends and family tell me they've had fun finding parts of my life referenced throughout the ..."

It's three a.m. and I just finished your novel. It was so wonderful! All the characters were awesome and I loved Aurik. I'm not LDS but I loved Gordon Hinkley, too so I like that connection!