Well, I’ve finally finished Miss Snark’s archives and I’m now making my way through Kristin Nelson’s (although this one’s going to be a bit harder since her blog is still active, working against the tide sort of thing). So I’m making my way through and I came across this older post that basically stomps on the use of portals in YA. I saw this same thing on Rachel Vater’s blog as well–portals = bane. This got me a little worried because I think I might have a portal in a work I’m outlining but I don’t know! Just what, exactly, is a portal?

Ok, lets insert the brain cells back into my head here. I know what a portal is. Takes a person from one world to the next but I’m talking about more specifically. Is it some weird vortex that an MC mistakenly walks into and zap! new world? Does it move? Is it constant? Are incantations involved? Is a doorway without any weird, funky bright lights or traveling through the Circuits of Time involved constitute a portal? Help me!

Here’s my sitch (OMG, like Buffy (the movie, not the TV show)!)–I got my MC, 14-ish year old boy, modern as can be, and his 16/17-ish year old sister, also modern (might be weird if one was historical). They live up in the mountains in California similar to the Santa Cruz mountains, not necessarily so out in the middle of nowhere that they’re inbreeding but far enough out for peace and quiet. Enter earthquake. Surprise, surprise. Did I mention boy plays in the woods a lot? Nothing funny before the earthquake. Some weird noises after the fact.

Turns out the weird noises are coming from a tree, nice large sequoia. Said tree hides an entrance to another world that exists parallel to the modern one. Humans, completely unaware. Members of said fantasy world, fully aware of that door (and others) and have taken the care to maintain their sealed status in order to prevent a bleed from one into the other. Apparently there are some nasty little sprites that would wreck some havoc if they found the breach. Ha! You only thought those were mosquitoes! So if you can tear the bark away enough, you can go into what looks like a dark tree trunk (remember, sequoia, these things are huge) but you come out on another side that isn’t 6 feet from where you were previously standing. The fantasy people are freaking out because the door’s been broken and nasties are seeping out into the standard world and slashing tires and all that fun stuff.

Is this a portal? Deep down I know the answer but humor me here. Am I working with a portal and is it redeemable? I like my sub-world sequoia slide. Help!