Overmorrow
Publication date: 16th October, 2023
It's the mid-18th century and the world of Overmorrow is troubled by the mysterious condition, The Sepia, which causes sufferers to disappear to an unknown place, gone from the visible world.
Foxy Raine is working on her parents’ farm when her father, Almus, a prominent Handfacturing engineer, contracts the condition in Town; her world is shattered and she watches in horror as The Sepia slowly consumes him.
Foxy watches her father's last moments with her family as he disappears before their eyes like many others before him. She decides to channel her grief into discovering why this has happened. Her quest will take her around the world, where she will meet an array of people from different walks of life, confronting corruption and other social issues of the day, determined to make a difference.
Overmorrow is heavily influenced by Danny Boyle's 2012 London Olympic Opening Ceremony which formed the backdrop for a story which gradually began to write itself.
I found this difficult to start, but once I did I had trouble putting it down! The plotline felt unique while still having all of the fantasy elements I enjoy. I would recommend this this to fantasy readers who like darker moodier reads.
This uses the mid-18th century element perfectly and thought the overall story worked well. I could see the influences of the Olympic Opening Ceremony 2012. It had a great overall feel that I was hoping for and enjoyed from the genre. I thought the characters worked well in this world and enjoyed going on this story with them. Anselm Rajah does a great job in writing this and left me wanting to read more from him.
On Writing Overmorrow
Who could have forgotten Danny Boyle’s 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony? How vibrant and picturesque. He portrayed a picture of Great Britain paying homage to its agricultural and industrial heritage, showing the rest of the world where this nation has come from, celebrating that rich history and cultural diversity that the United Kingdom has now become.
I admit I shed a few tears, hoping this would herald a new era for UK’s future. It definitely planted a seed.
So, how does this fit with Overmorrow? As I mentioned earlier, I’m a song-writer and play instrumental hard-rock/metal guitar. No, I’m no rock star. I play for fun and make music for the pleasure of being able to do it. Here’s how Overmorrow unfolded.
Piecing Overmorrow Together
It began by finding this random pin on Pinterest called Overmorrow, which I thought I used for my next set of lyrics. When I finished writing, the title lingered in my mind, challenging me to take it further.
A while later I found an image on deviantART which I, can’t show you here because it’s not my work, but the two fitted seamlessly together, if you’ve ever played the app, Doodle God and how it combines ideas, then this is how I linked these two aspects together. To me it cried out ‘story’.
At first, all I had was a name, Foxy, going through my mind. I wondered who she might be and where she might live and then it came to me that Overmorrow would be the setting for this mini-set of lyrics.
After a while, I found a suitable surname for her, Foxy Raine. It suited her perfectly, and her family followed. Danny Boyle’s presentation resurfaced once to form the backdrop for whatever story which wrote itself, and I parked the idea there. I also wanted to retain some history, so I utilised an archive of almost extinct surnames to provide some steampunk-esque mid-18th century authenticity for my world.
By now, a fictional world took shape, but I had another problem to solve. One evening whilst eating dinner, I looked up towards an old Sepia photograph of my mother with her family taken when she was a child in the mid 1940s.
It made me think about how people lived in earlier times, especially how Native American Indians never enjoyed having their pictures taken because they feared it might steal their spirit.
Following this break, I had something based around the colour of Sepia. I thought to myself, what if this sepia became a medical condition? Another seed planted.
After a while, I randomly read about some people mysteriously disappearing. I found these stories fascinating and began linking all these aspects together.
I hoped whatever emerged it would reflect my inner social-commentary style that runs through my lyrics. In our present times, global warming is an area of growing concern. After engaging in some solid research, I wanted to highlight this as a character mirroring Danny Boyle’s optimistic backdrop and using it in my own cynical way. Another breadcrumb.
By now, I had my key elements. Where next? So, like the pieces of a jigsaw, I had all the parts just like writing a new song. I had a crude framework. Now I could start piecing together a plot and place Foxy Raine into the story. Yet there was still one outstanding element to consider.
The answer found itself once more in photography. I disliked doing this at college as part of my journalism training. I was the one who kept soaking the photos in the wrong bath, not having a clue about what I was doing. You had to be there to see it. For the record, I always enjoyed writing.
I wrote Overmorrow during both Covid and the passing of my late father. It is not a covid novel, but the events happening around me found its way into the story comparable to the overarching theme of my novel, if that makes sense.
I am very pleased with how Overmorrow came to be; it became my biggest piece of writing I have undertaken and I hope you will follow Foxy Raine to find the answers to her questions. Maybe you’ll find your own as well.